New York Books

This book had lots of good ideas for reasonably priced places to eat in NY. A few were already out of business though. It would have also been nice to have a map to more easily find the locations. Nice reviews though.

I was first introduced to Robert Sietsema's excellent taste in the Village Voice, when it featured the top 100 Italian restaurants in New York City.

Several amazing Italian experiences later, I knew I had to find more of his recommendations. When I stumbled across this guide, I felt as though I'd hit the jackpot. It features practically any cuisine you can think of, from Venezuelan to Tunisian with concise descriptions and suggestions of which entrees to order.

The best part of the guide is that the restaurants featured are generally priced below $20 per person, a godsend in one of the most expensive cities in the world! I immediately dined at a restaurant I'd found in the guide and was bowled over by the quality and amount of food I received for the amount I paid.

This is a must for any New Yorker who isn't afraid to experiment with different cuisines.

This leads a curious eater away from the formula and predictable eateries in Manhattan to inexpensive and delicious places in outlying neighborhoods. Highly recommended.

We have now tried many listings in this book, and were only disappointed on one occassion (even then the food was not bad... just not noteworthy). This book has pointed out many hole-in-the-walls we've been walking past for years, like Snack on Thompson, or Soul Fixin or 34th, that were just amazing. Even in areas where we thought we had favorites (like curry hill) the recommendations in this book topped them all (Chennia Garden). Its true there is some risk that some places might be out of business, especially in NY, but none of our attempts have found a closed shop. The only negative about this book for Manhattenites is that many listings are in the outter boroughs, but believe me, once you've experienced this book it will make you want to get on the subway.

While perhaps not as streamlined as some others like the Zagat Survey, this is my favorite restaurant guide of the five or six I own. Its priority is the same as mine: good and interesting food, rather than decor, service or even "star quality." Most of the selections are very affordable (for New York City), which helps.

In my area so far, I've tried two or three restaurants in three ethnic groupings. This guide has been accurate: the restaurant which the guide features in each group has been the best, and only in one case the most expensive.

My only complaint would be that browsing for a particular type of ethnic food isn't always fast. The groups are logical but not totally intuitive, so it may take a few minutes to locate Indian food in the "South Asian" section. It's all here, though, from any sub-category of Chinese to Uzbekistani.

This book puts flesh on the bones of Brendan Gill's observation that for most of Wright's clients, working with Wright was one of the highpoints of their lives. Reading the book was entertaining and instructive, as well as inspiring.

Martin's rise to the very top of American business is portrayed with sympathy and insight, as is his continued search, beyond that, for a sense of security and fulfillment. Wright's immense talent is granted full respect, but his towering ego and his insouciant disregard for all things practical are also presented fully and fairly.

The relationship between these two compelling figures is presented with drama and flair. I felt as though I had spent time in their company. As Martin's career wound down and he died, I felt bereft. The history of the house after his death was shocking. What a great thing that people have come together to rescue it and restore it to its former grandeur.

At least once a year, I make the three-and-a-half-hour drive from my home to Wright's Wyoming Valley School, which sits vacant some five miles south of Taliesin. I walk around the school, peek in the windows, and feel Wright's presence under the stunning cantilevered roof of the entryway as I look out from under it and across the highway at the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin that so captivated Wright. This book gave me a similar feeling of closeness to Wright. It is a magnificent contribution to our understanding of Wright and his clients.

This book puts flesh on the bones of Brendan Gill's observation that for most of Wright's clients, working with Wright was one of the highpoints of their lives. Reading the book was entertaining and instructive, as well as inspiring.

Martin's rise to the very top of American business is portrayed with sympathy and insight, as is his continued search, beyond that, for a sense of security and fulfillment. Wright's immense talent is granted full respect, but his towering ego and his insouciant disregard for all things practical are also presented fully and fairly.

The relationship between these two compelling figures is presented with drama and flair. I felt as though I had spent time in their company. As Martin's career wound down and he died, I felt bereft. The history of the house after his death was shocking. What a great thing that people have come together to rescue it and restore it to its former grandeur.

At least once a year, I make the three-and-a-half-hour drive from my home to Wright's Wyoming Valley School, which sits vacant some five miles south of Taliesin. I walk around the school, peek in the windows, and feel Wright's presence under the stunning cantilevered roof of the entryway as I look out from under it and across the highway at the rolling hills of southwestern Wisconsin that so captivated Wright. This book gave me a similar feeling of closeness to Wright. It is a magnificent contribution to our understanding of Wright and his clients.

As an Owner of FLW's Davenport House, Architect, and Wright Researcher, I found this to be the finest recent book on Wright. The insights into the development of the design, client relationship, Wright,s letters, the extraordinary quality of the photographs, the quality of the writing and the exquisite physical quality of the book make this an exceptional book. This book is a sheer pleasure to read, immersing one's self into the thinking of Wright as he deals with a nearly unlimited budget, a supportive client, and the usual challenges of getting a building built.

As a owner of dozens of books about Wright and having spent countless hours learning about Darwin Martin this book is an extraordinary glimpse of not only the Client relationship but of the enormous growth of Buffalo business at the turn of the century. The quality of each photo is worth the purchase price alone

There is much to be recommended in Quinan's exploration of Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House. The book vividly illustrates the tangled-up dynamics of client/architect relations through a fascinating selection of letters, and it thoroughly documents the evolution of the house's design from concept sketch to finished product. Quinan has assembled a wealth of analytic drawings, comparison drawings with other Wright houses, details, original working drawings, period photographs, and construction photographs. There are few such thorough studies of any house in print.

Wright's enormous talent and equally outsized ego shines through the entire work. Indeed it's in the smaller moments that one realizes how relentless his own mythmaking really was - for instance a cable in which Wright answers his patron's request for 26 items of furniture, with "Not yet designed on paper -will be soon." It conjures an image of confident Wright bringing the design complete out of the rarified air of his genius, like Mozart writing out symphonies in one pass.

But unfortunately Quinan seems to have fallen under this spell as well. While a provocative concept, Quinan's concluding discussion of "architecture as portraiture" really draws little further insight into Wright, the house, or the client. The book too quickly rests its case on the aesthetic merits of the house without challenge, and doesn't seem to consider the possibility that the house may be anything but a total masterpiece. By the end of the book Quinan has documented what might be considered as failures of the house - from typical cost overruns, delays, to more serious client dissatisfaction and eventual abandonment of the house - but these are treated as merely historical accident. That the evidence could be read differently is a testament to the thoroughness and inclusiveness of Quinan's work.

Joel Rifkin, the most prolific serial killer in New York history, was adopted at the age of 3 weeks and raised by loving, community-minded, and educated parents. Rifkin's parents also raised an adoptive daughter who was popular, intelligent, and conscientious. So what happened to Joel?

It is highly likely that Joel was born with brain abnormalities (e.g. undiagnosed brain lesions, cognitive processing delays, etc.). As a child, Joel was physically awkward, socially delayed, and exhibited odd and eccentric behaviors. However, no one could have predicted the murderous impulses that were later unleashed on the prostitute population of New York.

The final chapters of the book make reference to another book, "Guilty by Reason of Insanity." I have read this very well researched and thought provoking book. The authors, who studied many violent criminals, including Joel Rifkin, provide documentation of congenital brain abnormalities and/or a history of head truama associated with many, many violent criminals and serial killers. While this in no way excuses the behavior of Rifkin, it does provide explanation. Rifkin probably never had a chance.

There are numerous Rifkin quotes throughout the entirety of the book, providing a glimpse into the contradictory thinking and bizarre rationalizations of a serial killer. My only complaint about the book is that Rifkin was less than insightful at times, leaving the reader with more questions than answers. But then, what should one expect of a serial killer? I would suggest that more inquiring minds read "Guilty by Reason of Insanity" for a more comprehensive understanding of the enigma Rifkin always was and continues to be.

A friend gave me this book to read on the plane, I am glad I had it, we were delayed two hours. I really liked this book, it is a little different than the other true crime books I have read, the writer shares his life, his own shortcomings, fears and insights with the reader. I also thought the book a had a good pace, there was always something around the corner...

This book was well written. I enjoyed the many comments directly from the subject of the book, and I really appreciated the author's sharing of his own thoughts-both good and bad. I felt the author was very honest with the reader and found it easy to identify with this author and his feelings of confusion.

In the late 1990s, Joel Rifkin was a serial murderer of prostitutes who is jailed for life in the New York prison system. Author Robert Mladinich was a New York detective and writer who, in college, had briefly known and liked Joel Rifkin. It was inconceivable to Mladinich that someone he had considered a kindred spirit could have committed the senseless murders Rifkin did - murders of people who had not threatened him nor harmed him in any way - and he began a mission to understand the soul of Joel Rifkin and ultimately of himself.
Rifkin as an adult was insecure, fearful, and socially inept, and - as might be expected - was the same as a child. He was the sad child we have all known: friendless, excluded, and the perennial target of bullies. As an example, Rifkin's mother reports that Rifkin, a photographer who played a major role in the production of his high school yearbook, was subsequently not invited to the yearbook wrap party. This seems to have been a pattern throughout his life.
Mladinch allows the personality, psyche, and soul of Rifkin to emerge through Rifkin's own words, provided to the author during numerous visits to Rifkin in prison and through Rifkin's letters to Mladinich. There is no bias and almost no personal judgement by Mladinch which is impressive given the despicably vile acts Rifkin committed. The reader can read Rifkin's words without any commentary by Mladinich about how he is supposed to feel.
The resulting book is simply one of the most outstanding I have read of any kind. It is really not a true crime book at all, but rather in in depth, often painful, character study. Describing the aftermath of Rifkin's first murder, Mladinich writes, "As he sopped up the blood and cleaned up the mess in the living room of the home where had always found refuge from his tormentors, Joel did not realize that, in essence, he had died along with Susie on that cold, damp March morning."
The last two chapters thoughtfully and in considerable depth summarize Rifkin's soul and, due to the bond Mladinich still feels with him all these years later, Mladinich's as well. "What was most apparent was that Joel, living within the artificial environment of a prison, was finally experiencing, in his own mind at least, what it was like to be normal. For the first time in his life he had....a social network of friends who were in no position to betray or abandon him." And, "Joel had finally found his utopia, a place where the disenfranchised and the dissociated were welcomed with open arms...."
Even as he is repulsed by Rifkin's murders, Mladinich retains a bond of humanity with his old friend and, amazing to himself, finds him to be intelligent and in some ways still likable. He writes thoughtfully and intelligently and with a depth, personal honesty, and humanity which are extremely rare, resulting in a book of much greater value than either a dry psychiatric report or many of the often superficial true crime books currently written.
This book is simply outstanding. Although it would obviously be more difficult to obtain material as the subjects are dead, I would love to read a book by Mladinich about the lives of Rifkin's victims. I'm sure it would be fascinating due to Mladinch's obvious personal feelings of a human bond between himself and all other people. I will read anything else he has written.

It is very rare to see an author transform himself during the writing process. Mladinich, a seasoned NYPD Detective, lures the reader in with the gripping details surrounding the well-publicized slayings of serial killer Joel Rifkin. In the true form of a master interrogator, Mladinich draws Rifkin out of his "sociopathic lair" but at the same time enters the domain of a murderer's psyche. He succeeds in drawing parallels between his own seemingly "normal" life and that of a confessed executioner of innocent young women and asks, "what makes an individual cross the line?" It is a must read for any student of psychology as well as fans of the old-fashioned murder and suspense fiction novel ... only this story actually happened. Gripping, insightful, and intelligently written ... I anxiously await Mladinich's next book.

Brian Wilcox captures in this lovely book the true majesty of New York. The magic the city evokes is splashed upon these pages. His incredibly detailed, beautiful drawings are just wonderful. They're facinating to adults, as well as children.

Anyone who has been fortunate to have a groovy grandmother in their lives or who just digs that Big Apple should buy this book.
A great gift for all ages.

A young boy searches for a lost grandmother as he's transported on a magic journey through nighttime New York City. A magic crystal globe transports him in this beautiful story, which holds black and white illustrations by Wilcox throughout.

Full Moon is a different enrty in the vast field of children's books. Black and white pencil drawing force the reader's mind to come alive as a vivid yet simple story is told that every child can relate to. Each page of Brian Wilcox's Full moon is a work of art sure to capture the rapt attention of any child with whom you share this short story. For a first work, Wilcox has a sure winner. I bought this book for my two-year old god-son and plan to buy several more for my nieces and nephews this Christmas.

The illustrations are full of incredible detail such that you discover something new each time you read it. The story line is reminiscent for any grandmother that influenced a grandchild during the child's lifetime.

My seven and four year old children enjoy reading this book at bedtime. We live far away from my kids grandmothers and this book keeps their grandmothers' presence alive in their daily lives. We visited New York City this summer and Brian Wilcox' creative interpretation of America's most vibrant city is truly a delight for their young minds.

In the wake of the World Trade Center disaster last September 11, I couldn't think of a more appropriate children's book to showcase New York City.

Evie grieves for her sensitive and imaginative mother, angry that her practical father has taken her far from home to a lonely house by a cemetery. As her father tends to a blackened orchard, Evie befriends a dead boy and an elderly woman who gives her an ancient seed that brings the children to an alternate world. Evie dreams of finding her mother there, but instead discovers the love of her father.

Chapters flow from one to another with suspense that should not frighten the "average" child. My fifth grade daughter and I read this aloud and thoroughly enjoyed the fresh, natural dialogue between Evie and the strange boy, the mysterious magical happenings and the realistic relationship troubles between father and daughter. This might be a good book to read to upper elementary or middle school children dealing with the loss of a parent, or even a sibling as the boy grieves the loss of his brother, but might be disconcerting to some younger children.

The storyline is creative and although the last chapter does wrap up a little too well, we are glad that Evie finds a final, surprising connection to her mother.

I got this book to read to my kids. It's amazing even on the first page! I LOVE this book. Can't wait to get to the end. Such an easy read!!!!

Dead mothers are always a good plot device. There is nothing like the absence of a mother to create a suitable amount of angst, heartache, uncertainty, and self-doubt. Think of the Alice books by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, where the first couple of books in the series are driven by the fact that pre-teen Alice is growing up without a mother, surrounded by men in her family, and suffers the nagging fear that she is not approaching the formative years of her life with due female influence. And more recently we have had the mother-less Bee from Being Bee, and Jack from The Night Tourist. Now there is Evie Adler in K.L. Going's The Garden of Eve. Her mother is ten months dead from cancer, and Evie is left with her botanist father who has never appreciated--or even understood--magic the way her mother did. He is too much of a scientist to put much stock in fairy tales, or stories in general. When he takes on the job of trying to revive a dead apple orchard in Beaumont, New York, far from their Michigan home, Evie is resentful. They move into a house right next door to a cemetery--but the only cemetery Evie cares about is the one back in Michigan, where her mother is buried. Her father devotes his time to the orchard--but all Evie can think of is the magic garden she used to plan with her mother, a perfect garden with magnificent trees and noble beasts where the three of them would always be together. When Evie is given a seed supposedly from the Garden of Eden, Evie thinks she has her chance to find that perfect garden, and consequently find her mother, too.

There is a lot going on in this book, some of it allegorical and some of it just old fashioned mystery. There is the boy Alex, whom Evie meets hanging around in the cemetery. Is he really dead, as he claims to be? Is the orchard where Evie's father toils really cursed, or has it simply been abandoned? When Evie plants her seed and enters the magical garden--by way of eating an apple, of course!--is she in Eden or is it a trap? There is another Eve who grew up in Beaumont and disappeared many, many years ago. What happened to her? And will Evie find peace after the death of her mother?

Some of the pieces in the book are tied together a little bit too neatly, but for the most part this is an engaging and thoughtful book. Evie is disillusioned without being broken. The father is pragmatically devoted to his work but all open-hearted and open-minded business when Evie needs him most. The supporting characters range from saintly (the dead mother)to utterly convincing (Alex). Readers who like their books with magic and symbolism will enjoy this.

Sometimes when bad things happen, the whole world seems shriveled and dark, as if nothing good will ever grow again. But life isn't like that. Really.

Here comes Evie, strong and brave and wise. She's searching for truth, hoping for magic, yearning for comfort. Like Lucky in The Higher Power of Lucky, Evie is trying to make sense of world made barren by the loss of her mother. Like Lucky, Evie needs someone to help answer questions a girl really needs her mother for, especially, "How do I know what is true?" But while Lucky's story stays anchored in the rather imperfect real world, Evie finds her truths through a purer magic in the very best fairy-tale tradition. A ghost-boy, some ancient mysterious seeds, a warm wind swirling over frozen soil--K.L. Going breathes her magic into these elements to bring forth a rich tale of new life after loss. Here in The Garden of Eve, the truth is magic and magic is truth. And if you can't see it with your eyes, maybe you should look "with your ears or your nose, instead."

Read this book. It is beautifully crafted and deeply satisfying. As soon as you finish it, you'll want to share it with someone you care about. As it whispers its truths, it brings comfort and warmth and hope that life can begin again, even when all seems lost.

Janet Gingold
author of Danger, Long Division and Finch Goes Wild

The author of my book is K.L Going, the title is The Garden Of

Eve. I think the book should fall under the category of being a

fantasy fiction.

The story starts out in Michigan with a father and a daughter who

have just lost his wife, and mother. They move to Beaumont new

York, and move into a knew house. The house is beside a

cemetery and an apple orchard. That is one reason why they

moved, so the father could be a apple farmer. Evie, the daughter,

keeps seeing a boy in the cemetery and she is the only one that can

see him. The boy had just died so she thinks. The townspeople

believe the orchard is cursed. They think this because a guy named

Rodney is buried in it. Rodney gives Evie a seed, but he said to not

plant the seed. Maggie ( Rodney's sister) gives Evie the seed

because Rodney is dead. The story continues into a place that she

and her friend named Alex go when they plant the seed that she

received from Maggie.

this book had me looking foward to reading page to page-didn't want the book to end...

We continue to be completely satisfied with the excellent service we receive through Amazon.com and its affiliates. Everything is sent quickly (usually ahead of the estimated delivery date), cleanly, in excellent condition, and exactly as advertised. Thank all those involved with this process.

This book is a must have. It takes a look back at some of the greatest moments of Saratoga's top class racing. It is written so well, that you can not put the book down even if the president of the United States called. I strongly advise you buy this book because, if you don't, you will miss a once in a lifetime reading opportunity.

Bill Heller, Graveyard of Champions: Saratoga's Fallen Favorites (Eclipse Press, 2002)
There are few things in racing that one can count on. Churchill Downs (and certain other tracks) are notorious horse-for-course tracks, and you can count on a parade of longshots the crowd ignores who have previously raced well over the track. Artificial surfaces and speed biases do not mix. Horse owned by the Sheikhs will be retired at the end of their three-year-old seasons. These things just happen, as regular as clockwork.

There's another one, the oldest of them all: odds-on favorites in graded stakes races will fall at Saratoga. And you know what they say about the bigger and the harder. Hardly a year has gone by (if one ever has) where at least one odds-on favorite hasn't delivered the goods at the Spa. Sometimes they lose by a nose, sometimes they finish dead last, but they all have one thing in common: they don't win. The roster of horses who have dropped the bit, sucked dirt, bid and hung, flattened, fell victim to a cuppy track, whatever your euphemism is, and the roster of America's greatest horses sure does have a lot of overlap in it. The two best horses in the history of American racing both got stomped at Saratoga, both by horses who never did a damned thing otherwise. That's the stuff legends are made of.

Bill Heller attempts to make sense of the legend, applying some research and codification to the track tales. And you know what he found out? There really is some kind of a jinx on top-class horses at Saratoga. He runs a list (how comprehensive it is, I don't know) at the back of this book of odds-on favorites who have failed in stakes races at Saratoga over the years. It's a long, long list, and it looks a lot longer when you remember that Saratoga's meet runs three to five weeks every year. A list this long at someplace like Calder or Thistledown, tracks that run nine months of every year, wouldn't be a big thing. But Saratoga?

The book is more a collection of articles than a book, really; the stories of some of those favorites and the races in which they failed. If you like really good descriptions of races past, there are few better at writing those descriptions than Bill Heller. It's hard to make a description of a harness race pulse-pounding, but Heller's recounting of "the weirdest race in Saratoga Harness history" works, and it works well. (The accompanying photo is terrifying. It's hard to believe anyone, or anything, survived, much less that both horse and driver walked away almost uninjured. Even more so when you realize that harness horses do this sort of thing far more rarely than thoroughbreds.) And, of course, it would be hard to not recount Secretariat's losses to Prove Out and Onion, or Man o' War's to Upset, and not captivate readers.

What seemed to be missing, to me, was a greater sense of unity than just "look at how these horses fared." A couple of summary chapters that took a more statistically-minded approach would have been an excellent addition here, a closer look at the bigger picture before (or after) the individual stories. But this is not to take away from those individual stories, which are classics. *** ½

I found this book a very exciting read for anybody in horse racing. This book is suitable for fans, horseman, and executives. Saratoga has a long history as the place where many great horses have been sent to the "Graveyard". This book is well detailed, filled with facts, and contains quotes from people who have played a strong role at Saratoga. This book is as great as the track itself.

This is a really interesting cookbook. Unfortunately our local farmer's market isn't quite as extensive as this one so I have had had a hard time finding all of the ingrediants. In fact I've sometimes found myself having to look up what certain ingrediants actually ARE. That being said, all of the recipes I've actually made out of this cookbook were wonderful, and the pictures are absolutely fantastic.

An inviting, beautifully designed book about the Union Square Greenmarket, New York City's oldest and biggest farmers' market.

The author gives you the inside scoop on what goes on behind the scenes at a farmers' market. I loved the anecdotes about the farmers, chefs and the assorted characters that populate the place (some of which I know as a shopper).

The book is separated by season, and contains detailed charts on the different varieties of produce available, such as tomatoes (varieties include banana legs, green zebra, and purple calabash), peppers, apples, herbs, etc., as well as when and where to find them, and how to prepare them.

There are lots of unusual recipes by local chefs who frequent the market, assorted food writers, etc., which are quite creative.

The author's wife did the photography, which is stunning. You really get a sense of some of the characters of the market and the lushness and bounty of the products available. The book is very nicely designed - it could be a keepsake, coffee-table type book, or a well-thumbed addition to a collection of cookbooks.

As someone who regularly relies on this market, I think the book is a great practical guide to it, as well as providing background on its history and stories on the individual farmers.

A very complete and informative book on when,and what to buy during each of the four seasons, along with some great recipes.
Also some wonderful photography and stories of some of the vendors at the market. I cannot say enough good things about this book. I found it very hard to put down once I started reading it.Forget the Supermarkets and learn about buying FRESH from the growers themselves.Very educational and would highly recommend this book to anyone who cooks, be it on the amateur or professional level.

This is a fun introduction to a little piece of New York's history, the famous Urban Farmers' Market, as well as a handy guide to cooking with produce that is in season. If you use fresh fruits and vegetables in your cooking, you are undoubtedly aware that, while some foods may be available 365 days a year, they are usually most flavorful when they are grown and ripened naturally. Charts help make sense of the many varieties of produce available, and recipes are organized around the calendar, so you may find 'Red & Green Fresh Vegetables with Pasta' for summer, and 'Bread and Cabbage Soup' for winter. Each of four seasonal chapters lists the produce, flowers, dairy and meat available during that season. In general these are basic recipes that can be made by the beginner cook.

My only complaint is that, with all the gorgeous photographs of the people and the market, there are no pictures of the finished dishes, a feature that I appreciate in a cookbook. Otherwise this is a great, and fun, cookbook with good recipes.

At first glance this book is beautifully laid out with sections divided by the seasonal produce that you can obtain at the greenmarket and recipes to go along. Incredibly handy for someone who has been lured by a cookbook's recipes only to find that the ingredients are out of season. Not only do you get the recipes, but also a wonderful history lesson on the greenmarket and mini interviews with the "market people." Straight forward, uncomplicated, with the accent on fresh delicious produce right from the farm. But if you are unable to make it to the market many of the ingredients are also available in your local grocery store. A great addition to any cooks library.

Half Empty is not the sort of book that offers easy solutions or neat and tidy endings. The characters are flawed, sometimes self-destructive human beings. They do things that you know are wrong, that they know are wrong, but they do them anyway.

There are no heroes in white hats or cookie cutter archetype characters. Even Denis, the main character, has moments where he is really an unlikeable person. Having been sober for 30 days he now has to deal with the result of his drinking: the rest of his life. His stuggle to find love, not strangle his boss, and somehow still have something like a social life when all his friends continue to drink is well written in a sparse, almost spartan style that doesn't hide the ugliness and struggle behind flowery words or rationalizations.

Physically, my copy of the book was actually a cut above those issued by larger publishers with a good tight binding and crisp printing on good quality paper.

There is some rather explicit sexual content so Half Empty is probably not a good book for the children, but other than that I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys good literature.

Half Empty is about a guy who was drunk for a long time and one day decided to stop drinking and realized that he had surrounded himself with idiots and that he drank because life sucks and to face reality head on without booze or drugs or religion ain't easy. The book is about him facing life and romantic relationships.
It is better than junky novels because when you are on junk or booze you can hide in it. Because to face life without the booze or junk is where the horror is, where truth comes into play. It is easy to deny reality and lie to yourself when you are drunk.
What is really great about this book that blew my mind is how accessible the prose is. If you read romance, pop horror, Bukowski, or Ellis you can easily get into this book. Tim Hall is obviously well read and has worked on his craft to the point of madness to get this kind of accessibility. It is a perfect synthesis of several genres in one, and he doesn't fail to displease anyone who reads those secluded genres.
The book is action packed too, no filler. He wastes no time in the book. The prose uses concrete langauge with few big words and it always conveys a clear picture in the mind so your imagination can sink into the story.
I call this review a new type of lit because the book appeals to so many different people, it is for everyone. I wouldn't even know what section of the store to put it in, romance, literature, or young adult it could easily fit into.

Tim Hall uses "Half Empty" as the gateway into the average, psychotic New Yorker's mind. At times, I felt as if he were reading my own mind and writing my internalized thoughts in his book.

I was especially pleased to see heavy Camus influence in Hall's writing. Imagine if Camus were able to write "The Stranger" in a NYC setting with a twist of modernism and a hint of individualistic rebellion! And such wonderful ways to bring suspense and drama to the reader!

Tim Hall's Half Empty perfectly captures the twilight moments between your last drink (not that long ago) your next drink (not today) and all of the mind-numbingly horrific moments in-between when one has to deal with a lousy job and desperately trying to put up with people who you can tolerate drunk, but would rather kill yourself than talk with a second longer while sober. It's the mundanity of sobriety that Hall captures well, the lingering moments, the desperate attempts to kill time on weekends and evenings that makes this book not just another cautionary tale for newbie friends of Bill but a gripping tale of the search for an honest feeling in a dishonest world. I'll drink to that.

Half Empty is not only an engrossing read --compelling plot, witty voice, believable characters, in a vivid urban setting-- but it's an important novel. So much literature has either romanticized drunks and addicts as "hip" heroes, or demonized them as evil villains. At last, with Half Empty we get a novel that portrays the nitty gritty and hardships of maintaining early sobriety in a world that clings stubbornly to its myths and ignorance about addiction. More than that, this is a novel about resistance to change, about a struggle for human transformation just when it's needed most.

This is a truly moving, inspirational and heartrendering book. It reads like a Greek Tragedy, but is so real because the Authors were there. Written by Mickey's wife Merlyn, and his 3 surviving sons, it is by far the most honest work regarding Mickey. This book is so much more important that that trashy, tabloid like "Mickey Mantle: America's Prodigal Son" by Tony Castro, that I would suggest you never bother with that thing. Besides, Castro took most of his book directly from this one.

This story is also one of the finest studies of the dysfunction in an alcoholic family, with all the roles being lived out and understood by the participants. These are real, caring and heroic people, not because of baseball, but because they became winners in life by facing their problems together. A great, great book!

Mickey Mantle's wife, Merlyn, and their sons tell the unique and inspirational story of their very separate, often harrowing private lives with the husband and father that was there for them through their lives before cancer took him away. Merlyn and the boys discuss how the effects of alcohol and the spotlight of fame play a role on him and how they all came to be. Merlyn talks about Mickey Mantle the most because they were the closest, and she discusses what she went through as a wife and as a mother. The boys tell their vivid stories of what they can remember while the father was emotionally and physically absent. The dexterous Mickey, played ball everyday and is still a very well-known name in the histroy of baseball. This story explains his lief and career while alcohol impacted himself physically, hi gamily, and his life mentally. It also touches base on his career achievements and how he became the amazing Mickey Mantle.

I have read several books on Mickey Mantle and this one is one of the best. Mickey's story is one of the best in baseball and he remains one of the most popular players in history. This book is an excellent look at the effects of fame and alcohol on the family and how the family members came to grips with things. The stories presented here are told by his wife Merlyn and his sons. Through his family, Mickey's story lives on and he continues to inspire us.

I'm only 13, and Mickey Mantle is my favorite baseball player to live. I have read about 6 books on the "Commerce Comet" and this book is exceptional. In the first chapter the Mick talks about his alchohol abuse. Then Marilyn talks about her highschool sweetheart. This is a great book.

I have read most of the books written by Mickey and when I picked this one up I was not quite ready for it's contents. The first chapter, written by Mickey himself address his views on his alcoholism and subsequent recovery.

The following chapters by Merlyn and one by each of his surviving sons was indeed an eye openner into his private life. A lot of information I had not known before was given first hand by his family members.

It took a great deal of courage on their parts to put this book into print and although their lives were not what we might have imagined, it still showed Mick's heart felt side and the love he held for his family and the respect and love they hold for an American Icon.

A must reading for Mantle fans and a true story of courage.

My oldest daughter loves this book. The entire series by Esther Averill is terrific!

Great book for any cat lover

author of "Hobo Finds A Home"

What a wonderful book! I didin't want it to end. The cat characters were wonderfully realized, very "cat-like", with distinct personalities and catty quirks. The slightly primative illustrations were charming and enhanced the narrative. I loved the story, and look forward to reading the rest of the "Cat Club" books!

I'm hoping that The Hotel Cat will soon join the other Cat Club reissues. Somewhere over the years I lost my original copy and recently replaced it with a used one I came across on EBay, but I'd love a new copy that would hold up long enough for my children to pass on to their children. If I read this book once I read it a thousand times, and I'll never forget the fifth-grade book report I wrote---or the crude mobile I created for which my mother helped me knit a little red scarf for Jenny! The illustrations and the story captivated me, transported me to a place I could only imagine, and inspired me to ask my parents all kinds of bizarre questions that they probably never could have expected---like what's a hornpipe dance and why is it called that?! A real treasure.

The other day I came across a copy of "Jenny and the Cat Club" at a bookstore and was overcome by memories of the hours I spent with the Cat Club as a child. "The Hotel Cat" was the first of my experiences with the Cat Club, and has always remained my favorite. For several years in grade school I would check it out over and over at the library to have the pleasure of reading it again and again. At one point I became convinced that my own three cats had a secret club with the other neighborhood felines! Eventually of course I moved on to longer and more difficult reads, but I never forgot Tom and the other Cat Club members. Sadly, when I looked for "The Hotel Cat" at the library a few years ago I discovered that it and the other Cat Club books had been sold or donated due to a low check out rate. Since then, I have been looking for my own copy of Cat Club books. Now that they are being republished, I absolutely plan to buy a copy of each so that I can pass these wonderful books that meant so much to me on to my own children some day.