Bishop Books

As a current member of the 10th Mountain Division, this is a must read for any 10th Division member - past, present, or future. Excellent read on the 10th's WWII history - a proud legacy.

My father, a 10th Mountain Division veteran of the Italian Campaign, gave his approval and was amazed at the photos. He found himself playing volleyball in one.Soldiers On Skis: A Pictorial Memoir Of The 10th Mountain Division

A very interesting read about a unique WWII division. Very informative and the photos do an excellent job of helping tell the tale. A high quality work and very interesting for history and ski buffs.

The book is written by the son of a 10th veteran who took the time to write the story of the 10th Mountain Division in the veterans' own words. The photographs and accompanying comments paint a picture of the struggles that this most unusual US Army unit went through, both in training here in the States as well as in combat in Northern Italy.

If you enjoy WW2 history, like to research unusual units, or just want to know how skiing grew in the USA, this book is for you!

I purchased "Soldiers On Skis" as a coffee table book for my home in the Colorado Mountains. It is obvious that alot of work went into making this book happen.

It only touches lightly on the training at Camp Hale, on 8 out of 234 pages. It's fine for history buffs, etc. My two complaints about the book have to do with printing and photography.

Anybody with a decent scanner and a copy of Adobe Photoshop could have brought most of the photos to life and made a huge difference in the book. The vast majority of the photos are small, grainy and washed out. You will not lose yourself in the photos and be transported to another time. Some of the photos even have text from the previous page bleeding through and ruining them.

Overall, I'm surprised that the ball was dropped and so much effort was allowed to be spoiled. It could have been a great book.

Everything that Father Groeschel has written is excellent in one way or another. Some of his books are more deeply theological or philosophical; some, written as much from his perspective as a world-renowned psychologist, and former teacher at Columbia as from his priestly perspective - require pondering and meditating in order to absorb the teachings. Others - like this slim volume - present his practical spirituality and his almost Zen-like outlook on resting in our trust in God. Half of this book is a fascinating interview, and the remainder is taken from his speaking and writing on the terrible events surrounding his near fatal accident. The reader does come away with a feeling of hope and courage to face life's challenges.

This product was delivered in a timely manner and was just as the description had listed... Positive purchase experience.

Done in an easy conversational style, this books reads quickly and easily. Every couple pages, though, a profound concept is delivered so clearly that it just might change your life.

Father Groeschel, a Franciscan priest living in the Bronx, reflects on part of his philosophy of life, formed from a lifetime of contemplation on religious and other issues. If you have seen him talk, you already know his straight-forward, frank approach, combined with his deeply religious approach to life. This books helps the reader know him better, and provides some worthwhile incites. He is the holiest man I've ever met (I met him in 1992 and 1993, spoke with him for only a few sentences).

On January 11, 2004, a car in Orlando, Florida struck Father Benedict Groeschel and nearly took his life. I heard about the accident on the morning of January 12th when I arrived for work. News about Father's condition was slow in coming that morning and like countless others who were shocked by the news that day, I did what I knew Father Benedict would want me to do- I prayed.
Later that same morning as I was opening my mail, I found among the parcels received a large envelope from overseas. Contained within the packet was a letter that began--"Father Benedict Groeschel, C.F.R. suggested that you might be interested in publishing this..."
The "this" in question was a lengthy interview, book length, which the author John Bishop had conducted with Father Benedict. Reading it I was reminded of the greatness of this humble friar and the difference that he and his religious community the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal have made in the Church in the United States and throughout the world.
As I read through the interview, I was struck with the irony of receiving it on the very day that Father had suddenly been silenced, and how John Bishop had asked all the right questions-the range of which covers every conceivable question that a Catholic living in the United States in the twenty-first century would like answered.
I have known Father Benedict for over twenty years, first as a Capuchin friar and then as a co-founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. I have benefited from his wisdom while making both individual retreats with him and as a member of group retreats he has preached. I have been blessed to work with him on two previous books that Our Sunday Visitor has published: The Cross at Ground Zero-a response to the attacks of 9/11 and From Scandal to Hope-a response to the current crisis in the Catholic Church. I have seen Father in action and what he is able to accomplish on an average day is nothing short of miraculous. Even now recuperating from his injuries he continues to reach out through the Friars Internet site with daily meditations drawn from his recovery in the hospital and now in this book that you hold in your hands.
This book contains the interview that I first read on the morning following Father Benedict's accident in Part One. In Part Two you will read Father Benedict's reflections upon his accident, recovery and how all that he has experienced has only validated what he has preached to others throughout his years of ministry.
There is one part of the interview where the John Bishop, quizzes Father about how he came to start all the charitable enterprises that he has during his life. Father Groeschel repeats his answer a number of times..."No plans, be led." Whatever God wants, Father Benedict will be led in that direction, hopefully you and I can learn that lesson too, as Father says after the accident, "there are no accidents"-may this great man's faith help you and I to trust in God ever more, no matter what may happen!

This book was pretty good, but it seemed to go by to fast and I couldn't really feel the character's emotion lke some other books I have read(even though I did cry a little at the end). I read it in one day and it seened like everything just happened at once, then it was over. Over all it was a good book, but I can't really get into books that are as short as this.

Just finished this book and really enjoyed it -- not so much that it was a thriller or a page-turner, but I did feel that I was there with the other characters, and the storyline was good enough that it kept me interested in picking the book up again once I put it down. It's a quick and easy read, but also very memorable. A light read. Enjoy.

I was drawn in from the first page. You can see the old abandoned house, you can feel the heat, and you can sense the panic in the air. I have read this book over and over again, and I can still pick up this book and turn to any page and be instantly drawn in. It is a wonderful mystery and I could really feel the main character's confusion and terror. Although I can't recommend all of Dorothy Eden's books, I do recommend this one!

The late Dorothy Eden is amazing. I am only sorry I have just recently discovered this amazing lady. I am working on collecting all of her novels. "An Afternoon Walk" caught me immediately. I felt the frustration of the young wife who cannot convince her husband that things are not what they seem. As her frustration grew with events she could not explain, I found myself turning the pages faster and faster. I really found myself caring about whether she was losing it, or was there an undercurrent of human evil present. The conclusion was well worth my time. Dorothy Eden is a word master. Read and enjoy. I also suggest "Death Is a Red Rose." Wow! What a tale of mystery!

If you love feisty heroines, then Cat is for you! Laurie Bishop is gifted at mixing romance with witty banter, and I love how Lord Weyland "helps" her find the perfect husband. This is a really fun book.

just read this book last night...it's a very quick read, pretty short. anyway...this book is pretty cute, weyland sure is a likable character, and cat is your untypical regency character. the romance was slow to come which is nice...but i can't say i really liked how cat came onto him and not the other way around so much. also there was pretty much no sensuality in this novel, which was surprising. it would have been more fun with that ;) that's why i took away a star. ah, also the ending seemed really rushed...

If you're looking for a wickedly witty regency romance, look no further! This book is a delight! The heroine is a bit annoying at first, but, once you get to know her as you proceed in the book, she quickly grows on you.
Her love interest one is easily fond of right away because he is SO charming a character! It is an extremely funny book and very romantic! Both of the main characters have these little quirks that just match up with each other very well.
Catherine has a list of eligable men to get married to. Unfortunatley when she meets up with Jack, he is not on her list. So, she pushes aside whatever attraction she has for him, goes along with her plans.
Luckily, it's not so easily put aside. Jack lives close to where she's staying at her cousin's house. Jack is attracted to Catherine, but has the ability to hide it and does so as much as possible because he has an astute sense of pride and dignity.
Catherine, though into clothes, remains a practical character who would not shy away from lifting up her skirts way past the ankle to prevent it from dragging in the mud or water.
The two principle characters also engage is an almost, unwittingly, flirtatious banter which grows increasingly heated as the story goes on and their attraction to each other increases! :

"'She is too young.' [Catherine says]
'She is old enough, it seems.'
'Not for you.'
'What? You would have me bowlegged and gray at eight and twenty?'
'Do not be absurd. It is your age relative to hers.'
'And I suppose your own age is of no consequence.'
Cat straightened her shoulders. 'I am two and twenty.'
'I now see.'
'Do not attempt to make fun of me, Lord Weyland. Miss Millington is eighteen at most and very inexperienced. I am quite different, and well you know it.'
His eyes narrowed slightly. 'Do I?'
'If you do not, then you have not the perception I thought you possesed.'
'And if YOU are wrong about my perception, might that say something of your own discernment?'
Cat drew a shaky breath. The man was driving her quite mad. He stood so close, and stared at her in such a way, and persisted in bandying words with her, when all she wanted from him was to assist her to mount her horse!
She wanted nothing more of him. Surely, she did not."

One of my favorite moments is when Jack (Lord Weyland) has to take Catherine across the river or stream, whatever it was . . . On his horse and it's a hard path to negotiate. Catherine has to sit in front of him. Throughout the entire incident, Jack desparatley to concentrate on his task, but Catherine's closeness was very distracting. It is so funny to visualize, which the author gives just the right amount of info so it is possible, Jack fighting his . . . *ahem* manly urges:

"Miss D' Eauville reached down and grasped a handful of her skirt, gathered it safely above the rising water, and pressed against Jack as she did so. Her action was completely unselfconscious and wholly practical.
Jack smiled grimly to himself. When one carried a woman on one's horse with her ankles on display and her most enticing form pressed against one, one dreamed of circumstances considerably different than those Miss D' Eauville presented. As it was, his fancy was rapidly outstripping his sense.
Clinging to logic as a dog clings to a bone, he spoke. 'I admit to puzzlement. I cannot see how you can make me seem more ridiculous than I do now. My boots are soaked, my kerchief is askew, and Lord Johnston will likely shoot me in a jealous rage.'
'I should not think it ridiculous to be shot.'
'There is comfort, at least.'"

If you love romantic comedies and have a love of Jane Austen's time-period, GET THIS BOOK! NOW! DO IT! :)

American heiress Catherine D'Eauville has come to England with one goal in mind: to marry a titled gentleman, preferably an earl. After all, it is her father's wish. The first man she comes across is Lord Weyland who, unfortunately, is not on her list. (Literally, Catherine constantly consults something she refers to as "The List") After all, Lord Weyland is a mere baron... AND he is rich. For her own reasons, Catherine would prefer to marry a poor English gentleman.

Unfortunately, she finds herself attracted to Lord Weyland, who seems agreeable in every way. And the bookish Weyland is also intrigued by the headstrong American... even though he has no desire to marry. As Catherine sorts through her many suitors, Lord Weyland offers his advice. It takes awhile for them to realize that her best match doesn't necessarily meet all of her criteria.

The first chapter of the novel is witty and promising... but some parts did fall somewhat flat. The book had an interesting premise, and it WAS good. But not great. Sometimes, Catherine was plucky and humorous. Other times, she seemed rash and self-centered. I liked Lord Weyland, but his behavior toward the novel's left me somewhat disappointed. But there were also things to admire about the novel. Catherine's plump cousin, Becky, was a refreshing character--I would have liked to see more of her (I felt like she was slighted). Also, there are a couple of interesting surprises.

Ultimately, I'll be looking forward to seeing more of Laurie Bishop. She definitely has potential.

The team of Datlow & Windling have put in their 4th collection of adult retellings of classic fairy tales, and this is the best yet. Strong, haunting tales that are truly not the Disney fluff we grew up on are what this collection is made of. Stories are drawn from many different cultures, not just the familiar Brothers' Grimm type; they also end up in many times/places, not just the dragons and castles type. The entire series is well worth your time.

This is the first book that I have read in the series. Outstanding collection of short stories! These stories bring to light different aspects of the fairy tales we all grew up with. I highly recommend it.

Black Swan, White Raven is an excellent anthology of new fairy tales based on the traditional stories. In this series, all the stories are dark, based on the fact that fairy tales were originally written/told for adults, and their relegation to the the nursery occurred with the Victorian era. Particularly strong and memorable stories are the Rapunzel one by Anne Bishop, the Snow White one by Pat Murphy, and the Tin Soldier one by Nancy Kress.

Why is this fairy tale anthology out of print? It's got a great collection of stories! I liked practically everything that was in here. SNOW WHITE, BLOOD RED may have been the first volume in editors Datlow and Windling's series of such books, but this fourth one is hands-down more gripping... the stories are better written, in my opinion.

Among my favorite selections from this volume are:
SNOW IN DIRT by Michael Blumlein
SPARKS by Gregory Frost
THE REVEREND's WIFE by Midori Snyder
THE TRUE STORY by Pat Murphy, and
GODMOTHER DEATH by Jane Yolen

I hope BLACK SWAN, WHITE RAVEN is published once more so I can grab my own copy. I have the first three anthologies and haven't read number 2 and number 3 yet, but that was only because I had to finish this one in time to return it to the library. Thank goodness they have it!

If you like this series, then I definitely recommend getting your hands on this one.

This effort of Miss Wentworth's was quite a good one. I enjoyed it as much or more than any of her other works. We have a case of amnesia, (which I must admit is believably done), and not one, but two wicked witches that we can take turns hating. Throw in a little financial skulduggery, and two young lovers that certainly deserve their happiness and you have a commendable cozy Miss Silver mystery.

William Smith suffers from amnesia and also from often being pushed into the path of oncoming cars - ideas for plots frequently exploited in films and crime novels of this book's vintage, 1950. Who is doing the pushing, a man or a woman? Who is William Smith who has lost his memory?

Knitting together more coincidences than there are stitches on Miss Silver's knitting needles, Patricia Wentworth ravels out solutions to these mysteries in one of her most appealing crime novels. Miss Silver conducts investigations, coughing politely, always preferring "do not" to "don't" and advising and cautioning here and there. Dispensing coffee and cakes by the fire she explains all at the end.

Diana Bishop's warm, mellow reading of this novel was released in audio book form during 2006.

Tight plot, good character development. This is one of Wentworth's best. One of the particular charms of the Miss Silver mysteries is the insight on post war London. This book tells a good story while reflecting an interest look on a different era. The mystery is obvious but the story is well told and has very interesting characters. Wentworth vividly describes people in a few words. Highly recommend.

William Smith has lost his memory, but he's quite sure that William Smith is not his real name, little does he know that he needs to regain his memory back as soon as possible or immediate danger will arise. With the help of Miss Silver, William sets out to find out who he is and why he's been having near-fatal accidents repeatedly.

Great characters and story.

Like many aviation enthusiasts I have read sooo many books about the F-4 Phantom over the years that I suffer from Phantom fatigue. Its a great plane but I have just read so much about it. So at first I was reluctant to buy another Phantom book, but of course I did. The book is interesting no only because it covers the Phantom, but the Phantom in the context of the political situation at the time. Iraq made the huge mistake of invading Iran in 1980 in Iran's post revolutionary period. It was up to the U.S. trained Iranian pilots to try to turn the tide with their Phantoms (and some Tomcats, covered in the book). Iran had to deal with an arms embargo so they had to do their best to keep what Phantoms they had flying. And eventhough a political history was not my reason for buying the book, the author does describe the bizarre situation of the U.S. government secretly sending arms (Phantom spare parts, J79 engines) to Iran while denying do this (hello Iran/Contra Affair), while at the same time providing Iraq with military intelligence. In the midst of this mess the dedicated Iranian Phantom pilots had to go up against Iraqi Mirages and Migs. The book desribes the tactics the Iranian air force used and what the goals were in terms of targeting Iraqi A.F. bases and oil installations. As always with Osprey, lots of good photos of Phantoms most of which I have never seen before BECAUSE of the unique context of this book - Iranian Phantoms. If your looking for an interesting read that addresses air force strategy (Iranian and Iraqi) and world politics while seated in the front seat of an Iranian Phantom then I would recommend this book.

This book is extremely useful for anyone who wants to shape a picture of the Iranian military capabilities, since the status of a nation's air force is the mirror of its overall military efficiency. The crews of the iranian Phantoms were trained by the Americans during the Shah period and fought extremely well against Iraq despite many disadvantages that were caused by the turmoil in the country due to the Revolution of 1979. The weak point of the book is that most of the first hand accounts come from the same source, namely a flier called "Daryush Z", albeit they cover many personalities and legends of all the Phantom squadrons. The Iranians were very imaginative and capable in planning their air strikes, making the best use of terrain masking and routes, surprising the Iraqis and causing heavy casualties to their war machine. It is a mystery whether the IRIAF retains these skills today, when it faces the most challenging prospect of US or Israeli strikes to its homeland.

A great reading. You'll learn tactical issues faced by Iranian pilots whose U.S. training had a huge effect on the air war. The advantages that Iran initially had in the air and eventually lost to Iraq over the years as the war dragged on and the rest of the world opened up to Saddam Hussein. Lots of pictures to supplement the pilot's stories and accounts. Nicely done.

Don't let the Osprey format deceive you: this short volume fits the 96 pages allotted each installment in the series, but it's absolutely jammed with an exceptional amount and variety of information. Many of us thought that the full story of the Phantom could never be told because the Middle East users were so secretive. But the fact that the authors have developed so many contacts inside Iran is a source of wonder in itself. While Jim Laurier's aircraft profiles are uniformly excellent, modelers will lament the Iranians' absence of unit markings. The main criticism is lack of a theater map, as the geography is never explained. But whether you're a Phantom Pflyer or Phanom Pfan, you'll devour this book.

Augustine's Confessions is one of the greatest books ever, but this is a terrible translation. There are far better versions out there you can find at the same price, or even lower.

Reading Confessions by St. Augustine was a richly rewarding experience. The man examined his conscience, soul and thinking processes with as complete honesty as I have ever encountered in my lifetime. Some of the questions he posed and answered have never entered my mind; other areas he examined and anlyzed were areas of concern to me. In my areas of questioning, St. Augustine provided guidance/direction and most times answers that satisfied my quest for "understanding". Altogether "Confessions" is a book that I shall read (at leisure) many more times.

Rose Miller
Jackson, MI

Great book! Very easy reading, it teaches:
1. That Manicheans are still around today, though they go by different names.
..... a. Environmentalist (pg 50), and
......b. Good and bad forces - Star Wars movies.
2. How a Godly Mother (Monica) acts and is remembered by her son.
3. etc.

Yours in Christ,

Alex

Augustine's 'Confessions' is among the most important books ever written. One of the first autobiographical works in the modern sense, it also represents the first time a psychological and theological enterprise were combined. It also helps to bridge the gap between the Classical world and the Medieval world, exhibiting strong elements identifying with each of those major historical periods.

Most undergraduates in the liberal arts encounter the book at some point; all seminarians do (or should!). Many adults find (or rediscover) the book later, after school. For many in these categories, there are concepts, narrative strands and historical data new and unusual for them. However, Augustine's 'Confessions' is still generally more accessible in many ways that truly classical pieces; it has interior description as well as external reporting that we are familiar with in modern writing.

The 'Confessions' shows Augustine's personality well - he was a passionate person, but his focus wavered for much of his life until finally settling upon Christianity and the Neoplatonic synthesis with this faith. Even while remaining a passionate Christian and rejecting the sort of dualism present in the Manichee teachings, he varied between various positions within these systems. Augustine's varied thought reaches through many denominational and scholarly paradigms.

The 'Confessions' are divided into thirteen chapters, termed 'Books' - the first ten of the books are autobiographical, with Augustine describing both events in his life as well as his philosophical and religious wanderings during the course of his life. The text is somewhat difficult to take at times, as this is writing with a purpose, as indeed most autobiographies are. The purpose here at times seems to be to paint Augustine in the worst possible light (the worse his condition, the better his conversion/salvation ends up being); at other times, one gets a sense (as one might get when reading the Pauline epistles) that there is some significant degree of ego at work here (Paul boasts of being among the better students, and so does Augustine, etc.).

Augustine also uses his Confessions as a tract against the Manichean system - once a faithful adherent, Augustine later rejects the Manichean beliefs as heretical; however, one cannot get past the idea that Augustine retained certain of their intellectual aspects in his own constructions even while denouncing them in his official life story.

The whole of the conversion turns on two primary books - Book Seven, his conversion to the Neoplatonic view of the world, including the metaphysics and the ethics that come along with this system; and Book 8, which describes his conversion to Christianity proper. This is where perhaps the most famous directive, 'Tolle! Lege!' ('Take and read!') comes from - Augustine heard a voice, and he picked up the nearest book, which happened to be a portion of the Pauline epistles, arguing against the undisciplined lifestyle Augustine lived. Scholars continue to debate whether Augustine's conversion to Christianity was more profound or more important than his conversion to Neoplatonism; in any event, Christianity interpreted through a Platonic framework became the norm for centuries, and remains a strong current within the Christian world view; Protestant reformers as they went back to the 'original bible' in distinction from the Catholic interpretations of the day also went back to the 'original Augustine' for much of their theology.

The final three books are Augustine's dealing with the creation of the world via narrative stories in Genesis 1 exegetically and hermeneutically. This is very different from what is done in modern biblical scholarship, but is significant in many respects, not the least of which as it gives a model of the way Augustine dealt with biblical texts; given Augustine's towering presence over the development of Western Christianity in both Catholic and Protestant strands, understanding his methods and interpretative framework can lead to significant insights into the ideas of medieval and later church figures.

Theroux's Consul's File is perhaps the most evocative book about what its really like to be in the foreign service. The episodic nature of the story matches the life and work, even at larger posts. The sequel "London Embassy", does not work quite as well, but is still worthwhile.

This is actually a series of short stories, all told from the point of view of a consul in a medium-sized city, in 1970s Malaysia. The stories are witty and imaginative. I read the book whilst travelling through Malaysia, anyone who has spend time in the tropics can relate to these enjoyable tales.

In this 1978 compilation, Paul Theroux offers twenty stand-alone (and originally serialized) chapters told through the eyes of a young American consul posted to a small Malaysian town in the 1970s. The stories are chronological picking up when the narrator arrives in country and ending with a letter he writes as he departs. The expatriate society, with its clubby Brits, drunken eccentrics, casual racism, missionaries, and scoffing credulity of local beliefs will be recognizable to readers of Graham Greene, John LeCarre, and Joseph Conrad, but Theroux's descriptions are typically evocative: characters draw themselves (among the most memorable are the chameleon novelist in "The Coconut Gatherer", the Japanese tennis player in "The Tennis Court, and the medicine man in "The Tiger's Suit"). The tropical air provides a uniform backdrop of heat, jungle smells, and exotic strangenes. The narrator neither condescends to the locals nor judges the expatriates, he merely observes in a dry prose that can sometimes be the most powerful criticism of all. Finally, in the last chapter's private letter (perhaps the book's strongest pages) he comments at length on Squibb, the club bore, "He had failed at being a person, so he tried to succeed at being a character". Squibb is not alone.

Theroux, perhaps best known for "The Mosquito Coast" and a host of wonderful travel journals, displays in these early stories a sincere voice, non-judgmental and full of wonder at seeing the new and exotic. "The Consul's File" is short and insightful. Worthwhile.

Paul Theroux, The Consul's File (Ballantine, 1978)

I know of Theroux through his wonderfully minimal little horror tale The Black House; seems most people know him for travel writing. This is something of which I was previously unaware, but I became well acquinted with it while reading this book, a loose collection of stories about the life of an American consul sent to Ayer Hitam (in Malaysia) to close down the consulate there. (As a side note, Ayer Hitam is now a forest preserve maintained by the University Putra Malaysia, and dropping by UPM's website to take the photo tour lends a whole other perspective into reading this book.)

Theroux's hapless protagonist spends his time cataloguing the odd folks to be found in and passing through Ayer Hitam, and Theroux's strength lies mostly in characterization. The population of Ayer Hitam (equal parts indigenous, Tamil, and Chinese, with a smattering of British expatriates) is the stories' real focus, and a number of them come to life in the stories dedicated to them. Not terribly much actually goes on there, but these aren't plot-driven stories anyway.

Good stuff if you like character portraits, but if you're looking for more of a plot, other Theroux works might be a better jumping-off point. ***

Over the course of his career, Michael Bishop has turned out a series of solid, memorable novels, one after another, many among the very best works sf has to offer. Though always amusing and stylish, Bishop's novels, perhaps as a result of their bittersweet story lines and dependence on strong character development, have failed to catch on with a larger audience.

Count Geiger's Blues offers, at first glance, anything but what we've become accustomed to in Bishop's work, tackling, of all things, the world of superhero comic books. Count Geiger's Blues, however, bears closer resemblance to Alan Moore and Dave Gribbons' innovative Watchmen series than to superman.

In the end, this spoof and loving embrace of the superhero genre proves too well written, too intellectual, and too sensitive to its characters to grant Bishop the audience that has eluded him for so long.

This one jumped off the shelf and into my hands. I'm a Bishop fan from years back--having read and loved books like Ancient of Days, No Enemy But Time, The Secret Ascension (aka Philip K. Dick is Dead, Alas), and Unicorn Mountain--and I hadn't even known that he had a new book coming out.

Not only that, but a book that really piqued my interest. Bishop's doing his own version of Watchmen here--what if a "superhero" really existed in our world. But the operative word on the title page is that this is a comedy. For all his realism, Bishop is actually writing in the tradition of James Branch Cabell and Thorne Smith, warping our reality to actually satirize it.

It has confirmed my expectations. Xavier Thaxton is the Fine Arts editor at the local newspaper--a man who hates popular culture. But slowly he finds that popular culture is what he needs, and what he is becoming. The conclusion is a statement about "art," that most nebulous of terms.

Bishop takes a cast of highly improbably characters who are suspiciously like people you know and tells a wonderfully entertaining and human story about the nature of heroism and duty. Along the way he skewers art, art critics, comic books, journalism, rock/alternative music, teenage angst, and almost anything else that wanders by. It's damned hard to write a satire without turning the characters into caricatures, but Bishop keeps all his people three-dimensional and (mostly) likeable even at their worst. I'm most impressed with what Bishop does with Geiger himself. Geiger starts as a character rich in artistic depth but one- dimensional as a person. He ends up as a one-dimensional comic book character who's much deeper as a person. An impressive inversion, and an impressive work to pull off.

As an author, Michael Bishop is hard to classify. His novels manage to attain that nebulous position between SF and fantasy, maintaining enough realism for the reader to truly believe that his novels could happen in the "real world". Most of the time his novels function on more than one level, telling both the story and conveying another layer of meaning above that . . . "Brittle Innings" was both a poignant look back at the golden days of baseball and a comment on what truly makes a monster. In this book, things are a little farther out, but not by much. In a fictional town, Xavier Thaxton writes for the Fine Arts section of the local newspaper. His disdain for popular culture is unmatched and he takes every opportunity he can to slam "low" art and elevate the fine arts, opera and classical music and nice paintings and what not. Then one day a bunch of things happen to him at once. His nephew, a "retro-punk" whose hatred for fine art equals his uncle's dislike of pop culture, comes to live with him . . . and Xavier takes a dip in water tainted by radioactivity and finds that he can no longer stand the presence of fine art without being exposed to an equal amount of pop culture. Eventually he finds that events are steering him to become that perfect embodiment of pop culture . . . the superhero. Bishop wonderfully deconstructs the superhero concept, from his weird origin (with a perfectly realistic eventual outcome) to taking the idea of "doing good" to absurd extremes, as Xavier tries to get bars to show seminars on how to respect women, and in fact there's very little superheroesque action involved in the story itself so those purely interested in strangely dressed people beating each other up should go to their local store and find an Image comic (or watch wrestling, I guess). Those wanted dense, rapid storytelling should look elsewhere too, or at least discover new reserves of patience . . . in comics there's a term called "decompressed storytelling" and that certainly applies here, Bishop takes his sweet time developing all of this and the concept of Xavier as superhero doesn't even appear until the book is half over. This isn't a bad thing but there are points where you're wondering where this is all going. The general tone of the book is satire and lightheartedness, definitely not in the "grim and gritty" Dark Knight Returns/Watchmen style of comics, although Bishop knows how to contrast utterly real moments (like the fate of everyone else who gets exposed to the radiation) and he manages to ground the book in a tangible sense of reality and not make it seem like some weird cartoon. Not all the characters really come across as three-dimensional, Xavier is really the only person to truly feel real, his girlfriend Bari is fun but never really comes alive and while his nephew "the Mick" has his moments, his annoying line of supercool hipper-than-thou speak reminds me of old Justice League comics with Snapper Carr. Which is probably the point. But Bishop manages to make this all somehow effortlessly entertaining, and you need to know nothing about superheroes to enjoy the book, just an appreciation that the line between "high art" and pop culture isn't as well defined as you might think. And if the ending doesn't tear your heart out then you might as well be dead. A book that will surprise you with its depth and well worth searching out.