Blake Books

About: Biography of daughter of comedian Tony Hendra (whom I had never heard of)

Pros: Considering I had never heard of her before I read this book, it was pretty awesome. Good story, lots of bad family dynamics.

Cons: Stupid title, ugly cover

Grade: A-

What drew me to this book was that she had suffered from an eating disorder. I was very impressed with how she wrote about this subject. Obviously, the main focus of the book is what led her to that point, the emotional and sexual abuse of her father. I was pleased that she did not write about her disease in a self indulgent and glamourized manner, as much literature or films about eds seem to be. She did not provide endless prose about how small she was or how little she ate. She focused more on its effects on her, and of course what was contributing to it.

This story stays with you. It is haunting and tragic, but I am inspired by the strength and courage she has in not only writing the book, but n being able to break away from her father mentally and becoming her own person. The book is well-written, thoughtful and avoids being melodramatic or sappy. She is an actress, but I think she could have a great career as a writer, fiction or nonfiction.

Yes ,her father was certainly wrong. However he did have a drug + alcohol problem and did apologize. That isn't enough for Jessica, as she seems to want to blame him for every mistake she's made in her life. I found her very self-righteous and determined to get the last word.Her attempts for revenge just don't seem as noble as she would like.

After the publishing (and commercial success) of Tony Hendra's largely autobiographical work, Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul, his daughter is devastated by the impression he has given of releasing a tell-all confessional, expunging himself from the sins of indifference and often verbal cruelty he exhibited as a father (while occasionally relating the wisdom of his spiritual director). Jessica Hendra is profoundly wounded to find that her father has accepted all the praise for his work without acknowledging what she hopes is the thing he is most sorry for- his molestation of her when she was a child. This book tells the story of her father as she remembers him, which is a very different from they way he portrays himself in Father Joe, despite it's, "I've seen the worst in myself and now so have you" nature. While her abuse was the reason for publishing her book, it is also about the affect her childhood had on her throughout her life and the way her parents' (but especially her father's) sex, drugs, and satire lifestyle robbed her of her innocence and childhood in more ways than one.

Quote: "I knew since I was seven that you'd be mad if I told."

I read Father Joe (and felt eh about it), posted a review, and someone pointed me in the direction of this book, for which I am very grateful. In addition to providing the other side of the tale related in Father Joe, it was a difficult-to-read difficult-to-put-down work, in which the author not only confronts the family secret that, for the sake of harmony and self-preservation, she kept to herself for so long, but also the inevitable comments that she is choosing to come forward at this moment solely for revenge or money or whatever else because she waited until her father's book was published. Although I am not sure how well it would stand alone, since one who had not read Father Joe might not understand the depth of her reaction to the work, having read the first I could understand her need for a response.

I applaud Jessica Hendra for having the courage to write and publish this book. Too many people do not want to know the actual truth - that, yes, fathers molest their daughters. Jessica Hendra represents all of the molested daughters, and he represents every father that got away with it. Her book has given me the courage to not remain the invisible daughter. Thank you for your honesty.

I absolutely love memoirs, especially memoirs about music and rock bands, so I was thrilled when I discovered When I Grow Up: A Memoir by Juliana Hatfield.
Now, I have to own up and say that I had never heard of Hatfield and I am not a huge fan of alternative music - however, having said that, I must also admit that I adored this book.
I think this is a must-read for anybody who has dreams of becoming a big rock star. I have often wondered what happened to all of those rock stars of the 80's who seem to be everywhere while I was in my teens and then POOF! Suddenly just disappeared!
Well, in When I Grow Up, Hatfield pretty well explains it. Although she found some success in the 1990's - and may have become a household name for some, she never managed to make it quite to the pinnacle and was therefore, relegated to `being on the road' the hard way. What follows is an honest, down to earth memoir about her experiences as an alternative rock star - the ups and the (very) lows that she had to endure. None of it is particularly glamourous and I think I would have given up a long time ago - however, Hatfield is obviously devoted to her music - which is where her true dedication lies.
This book is informative, depressing, funny and everything in between. A great buy for anybody who dreams of being the next Mick Jagger

While reading Juliana Hatfield's memoir, the title, "When I Grow Up," caused my mind to queue the old Beach Boys song, "When I Grow Up to Be a Man." The title wasn't going to bring to mind any of the author's own songs because I didn't know any. It's a generational thing, I guess. By the early '90s when, as the back cover tells us, Hatfield had launched a successful solo career, popular music was no longer on my radar. I wasn't oblivious to the sounds of those whom the media deemed Generation X (or was it Generation Y?), but I no longer "followed" contemporary music. The only Hatfields I knew were the ones who feuded with the McCoys.

"I'm not a celebrity," Hatfield writes. "I only kind of sort of almost was, once." She is, however, a dedicated artist whose music was the source of her self-esteem. "It made me feel like I had value, like I mattered, like all the broken pieces of me fit together."

In this well-written memoir, Hatfield peels away the tinsel that makes the musician's life appear glamourous to the audience, and reveal the ups and downs she's experienced in her career. The monotony of touring, especially without the trappings that come with major success, is contrasted with the rewards of performing and sharing her heart and soul with an appreciative audience. She is awed that a fan travels all the way from the UK to attend two shows on the East Coast. Knowing that her music inspired such devotion, even as it failed to reach a mass audience, affirms her belief that her choice of career was "a calling. It was foreordained."

So now I know who Juliana Hatfield is: a gifted, dedicated artist and a thoughtful, down to earth woman whose memoir is bound to please her devoted fans. But if you're like me, and this book serves as your introduction to Hatfield, you may be pleased to make her acquaintance and also seek out her music. I know I will. If it's as good as her book, I may become a devoted fan.

Brian W. Fairbanks

This book centers on the complaints Juliana Hatfield has regarding a tour she completed about five years ago. She traveled across the country in a van which she often drove herself. Because she was not a superstar with megabucks, she had to endure things like unpleasant motel rooms and crummy/non-existent dressing rooms. Although she never had to play Phil's Pancakes and Beer in Ratholesville, some of the places don't appear to be much better.

There also are fleeting references to an unhappy childhood. One poignant recollection concerned a question she asked her father when she was ten. She was troubled by a bump on her skull that she feared might be a brain tumor. She asked her father if such a bump could be a tumor, and he, a radiologist, said "It might be." She said she worried about this for months until she realized that brain tumors do not manifest themselves in this way.

She recounts stories of weird, boorish fans. She complains about the dismal "riders" (free food and drinks) that some of the clubs provided for her band. There was tension involving her road manager and her "merch guy" who sold T-shirts and CDs at her shows. There are many stories that remind us how very heartless people can be. Basically, Hatfield projects herself as a sensitive person in a very insensitive world.

Hatfield made it clear that she often suffers from low self-esteem and has stretches of deep dark depression. She is unhappy with her voice, disappointed that she can't belt them out like Joan Jett and Chrissie Hynde.

Her voice (which she describes as "young sounding, chirpy") seems great to me on such songs as "This Lonely Love" and "Not Enough" from her 2008 album How to Walk Away. I hope that she is able to release her God's Foot album, which was nixed by Atlantic.

It seems to me that Hatfield has a lot of talent. Although this book suffers from too many variations on the same theme, there are powerfully written passages. I could see her writing, say, a novel.

She has several hits. She received a $400,000 advance from Atlantic Records in 1992 when it seemed likely she would reach the rock heights to which she aspired. But she never reached those heights; she was on a downward slide at the time of the tour featured in the book. That she had such great expectations that were not realized is the driving force behind the angst which is pervasive in this memoir.

Annoyingly, the book skips around from the aforementioned tour to the beginning of her career in the late eighties, to her gravy days in the early nineties, to the tour again, with occasional references to her childhood thrown in. Added to the mix are accounts of her career covering the period just before publication.

There's just too much detail. Hatfield references a journal. Clearly, she kept a detailed journal and was willing to share with readers several accounts of such trivia as exactly what she ordered for meals and exactly what she purchased at some store near a club where she would sing a little later. Her careful attention to food likely is a product of the anorexia that she suffered.

She certainly is not afraid to admit a weakness. She seems to be extremely open and honest about her life. She offers much insight about songwriting and the tough business of making music.

Highly recommended for Juliana Hatfield fans and for anyone who is curious about the everyday life of a touring rock band on a limited budget. But the average Joe or Jolinda who is looking for a quick, fun read should keep looking.

This is a very entertaining and thoughtfully-written book about Juliana Hatfield as a work in progress. It is a book about someone caught in the middle: Someone who has made it big enough that everybody knows her name, but not Elton John, private-jet big. Someone who has enough neuroses to make finding love a challenge, but not enough to create drug-and alcohol-fueled self-destruction. It is apparently an honest book that is neither self-serving nor overly modest. It is a amusing and informative about Juliana, and about the world of alternative rock, with discourses on music in 5/4 time and the evils of Clear Channel. There is a bit of repetitiveness (yet another cramped dressing room and stale sandwiches in another backwater city?), but the book is fun to read, with just enough seriousness to make you think a little. (I took it on vacation with me and it was a perfect read.) It will be even more fun to listen to her music now, and to see what the next chapter of Juliana Hatfield's career brings.

I've long been a fan of Juliana Hatfield and was pleased to discover this book. Hatfield discusses her life and her music by providing a narrative of a recent tour interspersed with older memories of first forming a band, her childhood, particular important moments in her life, etc. This method works well and lends structure to the work. The book feels more like a conversation than a narrative; Hatfield manages to bridge the gap between writer and reader seamlessly (much like in her music, which also invites emotional identification). Unfortunately this also tends to make any criticism of the work appear to be a criticism of the writer, as the book is so personal; and while I feel this book will be of high interest to Hatfield's fans, I'm not sure anyone not familiar with her would find much of deep interest here. Her very candor is a pleasant surprise, given how private and shy she herself admits to being; but there are pieces of the narrative that feel similar in spots, as if you'd already heard this part of the story. I'd certainly recommend this to any of Juliana's fans, and I found it very interesting; but again, those not familiar with the artist or her work may not get as much out of it.

This debut novel is so incredibly lyrical and poetic that I keep going back to it and just opening it up at a random page and reading a passage here and there. It's so evocative of Charlotte Bronte that I'm sure the author must have been influenced heavily by her, which would make sense anyway because Blake has a degree in Victorian literature. Indeed I believe her intent is to reinvent the classic Victorian novel in the tradition of Bronte or Radcliffe, and she really does an admirable job.

This story is set in 19th century America, on the wind-swept coast of Maine, as 17-year old Maisie Thomas and her parents return to Grange House for their usual summer holiday. Although Maisie has been coming with her parents to Grange House every year all of her life, this is the year that the secrets of Grange House and of her own family begin to emerge, and Maisie makes some truly earth-shaking discoveries about herself and her family. On top of all that she must struggle mightily with her own conflicting desires as she approaches womanhood and tries to find a balance between the intellectual stimulation and experiences she craves and the conventions of the times in which she lives.

The summer starts off inauspiciously when a pair of runaway lovers are found drowned in the sea nearby, one of them a serving girl from Grange House, and Maisie is drawn into the veiled, convoluted ramblings of Nell Grange, the woman to whose family the house once belonged and who still resides in the upper rooms of the house, roaming above the guests' heads like a restless shadow. A lone, sad grave in the woods hints at a history still untold, and Maisie soon learns that, willing or not, she will be the one to tell it.

Don't let the young age of the protagonist put you off. This is not a young adult novel, although it would be perfectly appropriate for teens (in fact, if teens want to get a taste of what true, talented writing is (I won't revisit my unkind thoughts on certain people in the YA market calling themselves `writers' *cough cough*), I highly recommend it. At any rate, it is definitely a mainstream adult novel and I would compare it most closely to a modernized Jane Eyre in style and feel. Blake certainly has the gothic Victorian atmosphere nailed, complete with fog, rambling old houses, secrets and muttering old ladies in attics, but without the more overwrought, eye-rolling dramatics. Maisie is a protagonist any woman can be proud of, too - and that's saying something coming from me, because I generally dislike more female protagonists than I like!

The sheer beauty of the language is more than worth the read, as well. It was like reading poetry in long form, or listening to a perfect melody. Blake spins out the story slowly, almost tortuously, and I was on tenterhooks until the very last page. Ask my husband! For the last 10 pages I literally had to get up and walk around the house, reading as I walked, because I was just so tensed up and tormented about how it was going to end! I'm such a sucker, but that only speaks to the talent of this new voice in fiction. I'm all over this Sarah Blake now and will be watching closely for her follow-up.

I cannot recommend GRANGE HOUSE enough! What a wonderful story, so well written. I savored every paragraph, and as someone else mentioned, I enjoyed reading it slowly, because of the style in which it was written. The most well written book I've read in ages, despite the fact that I almost put it away after the first 5 pages because it didn't grab me immediately. I'm so glad I stuck with it for one more page! So rewarding an experience would have been missed, indeed. This book is not a love story, not a ghost story, and certainly not your typical fare. It is many things; it is a story of growing up, of fear, of decisions, of loss, of joy, and discovery. I hope you enjoy it was much as I did.

I could not wait to pick up this book, a story of love and ghosts. Grange House sat forever on my shelf until the right moment... Wow. Not sure why I waited so long. My expectations were high. I was mildly disappointed.

Grange House was a little slow to get into. The beginning seemed to drag, in both content and writing. I will admit that I am not a huge fan of victorian writing; Grange House was written in the victorian writing style.

The parts of the book that I absolutely loved was the relationship between Maisie and Ms. Nell Grange. The setting, along the coast of Maine, was breath-taking in description. If you have ever been to the coast of ME, you too, will love this book for that alone. The mystery and ghost stories of visions is also enough to hold the interest. The story line picked up about 1/4 of the way into the reading, and it was enough to keep me wanting to find out what was on the next page, yet, still once completed I was not left with a feeling of "wanting to tell someone about this book". So...
I'd say 3.5 out of 5

This book has so many great plots and surprises! There wasn't a day that went by without me addicted to this book. It's about a girl named Maisie who every year travels to Grange House. She loves it there. This year is very different than any other. Maisie finds herself falling in love with two handsome young men. She discovers that the owner, Ms. Nell, is very ill. Ms. Nell is suddenly very interested into conversing with Maisie and sharing her secrets with her. Suddenly, a mystery comes into plot through Ms. Nell's diary and ghostly happenings at Grange House. Many people die and Maisie soon finds out that she's not who she thinks she is. I loved this book. It had everything, romance, adventure, horror, and a little history, though I don't know how true it is. I found this book looking for historical fiction, I got a little of that but so much more. I would definitely reccomend this book. Let me warn you though it has high vocabulary, and some mature subject matter. Yet, I still loved it greatly.

I picked up this novel to read during October, feeling in the mood for a little ghost tale. I didn't expect the fun bit of romance, the touching family story line, and good plot developement.

While I was hoping for a good ghost story, this isn't exactly that. It has 'ghosts' and other strange things which Maisie is 'gifted' enough to see, but it is not exactly scary. If you know this going in to it, you will make a better choice. Like I said earlier, it is touched with romance, eerie plot routes, sad deaths, and family issues as well, so it is much more then a simple 'spooky novel'.

Sarah Blake studied victorian literature, and to me this is the strong point of the book. Her writing is true to a style long forgotten, and she does it well. She takes you to the grange house, to the graveyard and hillsides, and weaves her story in a beautiful way. If you enjoy classic books this one is a modern version that will not let you down. If you like those coming of age tales where a young woman looks for love but really finds herself, with a twist of a haunting tale, this will be a great journey for you.

We loved this book. My seven year thought it was super. What's not to like? An enourmous crocodile who wants to eat a juicy little child and is then thwarted by the other animals in the jungle.

It was hilarious the tricks the crocodile tried to get a child to eat and my son and I laughed when, time and again, he failed.

Dahl's "The Enormous Crocdile" is a favourite of our 3.5 and 6.5 year olds, but it is the whimsical dead-on illustrations of Quentin Blake that make this edition outstanding.

The story follows the course of an enormous crocodile who wants to eat a little child for lunch, and leaves his muddy river to do so. On his way he encounters a hippopotamus, a monkey, a bird of paradise, and finally an elephant who all are horrified by his "plans and clever tricks" that he has in mind to eat up several juicy children.

The crocodile makes his way to a town, and deploys his methods, some of which are indeed clever. It is here where Quentin Blake's strengths come in, as the disguises are both simultaneously all-crocodile, and all disguise: only an outstanding artist like Blake could have pulled it off. My children squealed with delight.

Of course, Dahl's sense of humour is of times a bit dark, but make no mistake, the crocodile gets his just deserts even though there are thrills a-plenty on the way.

Delightful, but probably best saved until a child is over three years old and recognizes the fun and whimsy implied in the enormous crocodile's horrid mission.

The Enormous Crocodile is a delicious tale! My four-year-old son really loves this book. He sits very still while we read this book which if a feat for most kids his age. It is very hard finding books to capture the imagination of a gifted little boy but this one does it perfectly! I highly recommend it and "The Magic Finger", also by Dahl.

We all know Dahl has a bit of a mean streak, and his humor is sometimes pointed even if children don't always get it. But this illustrated edition modulates those Dahl tendencies with delightfully comic illustrations, which go a long way to putting in context Dahl's dialogue and subject matter. My eight-old and I read this over a few days, and we both enjoyed every minute.

I love Roald Dahl so I was very pleased to find this book. I read it to my seven-year-old since it is a picture book. He didn't love it and neither did I. It just seemed a little, I don't know, mean or cruel. And I do get Roald Dahl, really I do. I just didn't like this one so much. I think the Minpins is a much better choice for a grade-school aged child picture book from Dahl.

Bold, highly entertaining and thought-provoking. This book will change the way you think about heart disease forever. This description is on the front of the book and is absolutely spot-on. And it has probably saved lives.

For example, after taking statins for several years, my mother-in-law suddenly became very forgetful - repeating the same question four times in less than 15 minutes, forgetting that she had gone shopping or to the doctor that morning, etc. It was quite frightening for all of us.

The battle to persuade my parents-in-law that she needed to stop taking the statins went on for months until, with the help of this book and "Lipitor: Thief of Memory" by Duane Graveline, they agreed that she should stop - just for a few days, mind you - this so-called "medication" (it's clearly just a poison by another name). Within 10 days of coming off simvastatin (aka Zocor), she was noticeably better, but we're still not sure she will recover completely.

I believe these two books helped to save her life - and certainly the quality of her life.

Another author jumping on the cholesterol band wagon. You know things are getting a bit much when you have two books with the same name.

Yes hardly eating any fat is bad for you. Yes lets write a book about it and earn a few bob. Yes lets include a rendition of terrible humour.

Aaaargh !! Please stop or do some peer reviewed research rather than preaching "pub chat" to the masses


Is it me or does every alternative half baked book on health receive rave reviews ? Is it all a corporation conspiracy

As an internist/epidemiologist I was thrilled by this well written book (as good as Gary Taube's, and much more fun to read). I hope to be around when the pillars collapse around the fifty year old specious theory of cholesterol's role in CVD.However,like the erroneous theories of gastric ulcer causation, Big Pharma and the medical establishment are unlikely to give up on this money-making enterprise soon. The theory is now orthodoxy, and like any threat to a religion, people like Kendrick will be considered heretics for years to come. Think of Helicobacter pylori.

Dr. Kendrick, with razor sharp British wit, provides an understandable, but fact and research supported explanation of the truly unforgivable self-interested leadership provided by our National health organizations, and the Pharmaceutical industry, as they promote a profit driven statin drug scam on our world populations. It becomes clear how our willingness to take the word of doctors as fact and in our best interest, does not serve us well.

Kendrick, using the gentleness of wit, delivers a healthy dose of reality on the fallibility of doctors. Hey, they are human! They are busy and fall victim of taking the word of other "experts" that they should be able to count on. It is apparent that those sources are influenced by forces not acting in our best interest!! Naively, they probably do think there is little harm in statins. Hey, remember Thalidomide?

You owe it to yourself to get the facts before exposing yourself to expensive, and, tragically, very unnecessary and potentially very very harmful medication sold to fix a "cholesterol problem" that in no way is the problem, based on the most elementary scientific method and unbiased interpretation of their own research results.

Dr. Kendrick has done us all a huge favor taking the risk, and putting in the effort to expose this fraud. This sham is on a scale that could truly land corporations in huge lawsuits, as with tobacco. But, as you will see, they are most cleaver and innocent in their methods......

Best of all, you will sleep better getting some real answers to this baffling barrage of media and MD rhetoric. Like, "what is cholesterol anyway?"

So it turns out that Big pharma, and your doctor are conspiring to worsen your health so that they can make money.

Can I ask How???

If big pharma is fabricating research about cholesterol to convince doctors to prescribe statins to improve your health...how are they in conspiracy??

Do you really think that all the drugs are bad and you are better off with natural remedies...then let me ask you this ....do you think if any of these natural remedies was as wonderful as it is claimed to be, do you really think that a drug company would not snatch it and sell it to you as a pharma grade expensive product and make a fortune out of it.

Let me enlighten you:

if you read the book for entertainment ..I can see that

but if you read it for info and even worse if you believed it...then you are saying that all these legitimate people and organization such as the American heart association, American college of physicians are conspiring against you....as you would have concluded here from reading this book by somebody who claims he knows (why would you believe that he is trying to help you)

It is hard to come up with great medical discoveries but it is very easy to fabricate some cure it all sell on the internet miracle cure and get rich doing it

So who do you really think is after your money????conspiring against you????

Even though Mick Jagger is on the cover of my copy, Mick barely appears. This is really the story of Tony hanging and taking drugs with Keith Richards. There are some fun stories up front, including little anecdotes about Lennon/McCartney, and Marianne Faithfull. Then it gets sad and boring. (Like many addicts, their days are spent basically figuring out how to score another bag, with little real texture or variety to their experiences.) Then it gets more sad. The picture of Keith and Anita painted is of a typical couple of junkies; in fact, they may be a little meaner than some junkies. So in that sense it's not simply disillusioning to read, but rather painfully so. But it's an interesting, sobering book.

Being a Stones fan from way back I read this book when it first came out. I'll only say this. Some or all of this book may be embellished or downright false, but it is a great read and if it isn't mostly true, I'd be a bit disappointed! Loved it!

I used to own the out-of-print paperback edition of this book. I foolishly gave it away.

Sanchez begins with his life as a young, aspiring underworld figure, emulating an older, already established relative. He worked in a casino, and also began to take up photography. (Sanchez writes that he photographed the first Moody Blues album cover.) An acquaintance, London art dealer Robert Fraser, was deeply in debt to another casino run by an underworld boss, and dramatically confided his problem to Sanchez. Sanchez nervily approached the creditor casino boss, to keep Fraser out of harm's way. Then--aware that the competing casino where he worked subtly rigged gaming against its own customers--Sanchez arranged for Fraser to win the money needed to pay off the debt. Fraser was grateful and so introduced "Spanish Tony" to his new, up-and-coming, hip young friends, the Rolling Stones.

Spanish Tony's common bond with Jones and Richards was his access to, and penchant for, hard drugs and he became a heroin addict.

This book mostly concentrates on Sanchez' close access to Jagger, Richards, and Jones, as well as Stones' exes Anita Pallenberg, Marianne Faithfull, and Bianca, between the years 1966-73, which was the peak of the Stones' artistic success. Watts, Wyman, and Mick Taylor are hardly discussed, and they get just a few pages of text.

Sanchez acknowledges the shallowness of his friendship with and access to the Stones as being based on his connections and ability to discreetly obtain large quantities of drugs in England and the south of France. He was Keith Richards' (who spent the most on drugs) liaison to the underworld. Sanchez severed his relationship with the Stones and went into rehab. There can be no question of Sanchez' close relationship with three of the Stones, from the unique candid photos he publishes here.

Anyone who wasn't present for the events which shaped the book can't know for sure, but to a fan of insider celebrity bios, this book is presented with sufficient insight and clarity to convince that it is principally a true story.

This book was first issued in 1979.

It was a very interesting book as it included Brian Jones. As Brian was the founder of the band, it is refreshing to read about him.

It includes Mick Taylor. Very talented but not as captivating or as gifted as Brian Jones.

IF YOU LIKE EXCITEMENT- SEX- DRUGS-INTRIGUE AND OH YEAH- ROCK AND ROLL- THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU. I DONT KNOW HOW TRUE IT IS BUT IT SURE IS WILD!!!!

I'd had the impression that I would learn some techniques on creating my own stuff: business cards, websites, t-shirts, stationary, etc. They touch on all these subjects, and more, in the book. But I was disappointed that it is really more just a collection of ideas and work that MFA and graphic arts students have created, with very little technical detail of how to create designs for yourself. I was looking for a how-to, not a see-what-we've-done.

Pretentious art student tripe, mostly. I discovered that I can wrap gifts with newspaper! I can use a graph paper notebook for a scrapbook! I was looking for examples of cutting-edge design, and a methodology to implement it. What I got was the product of the tragically hip after too many lattes.

I saw this book years ago and thought I'd like to own it. Now that I do I really am underwhelmed.

This is basically like all those magazines - Sunset, Martha Stewart Living, etc. etc, - wherein you buy it with the hopes of being inspired to create, update, remake, etc. and you ACTUALLY NEVER WILL, except in book form!

I love reading the book - it's cute, kitschy and definitely entertaining, but really, who can create these crazy wall decorations and/or press kits and have them turn out flawless!?!??

I know a little about Lupton's career -- teaching, writing, and curating shows. She seems very intelligent, but I don't understand who this book is really for. Beginning or advanced people? Crafters or designers? Some of the ideas in this book (wrapping paper) are so obvious that I think anyone with an ounce of creativity has already figured them out. Some things (commercial embroidery) seem very advanced and specialized, and not useful to most people. The layout of the book is nice, but the content is very inconsistent. Was this really a student project, as someone mentioned? If so, I think Lupton should have made more of an effort to make sure that everything came together and made for a coherent whole. I think there are better DIY books out there.

I bought this book just a 2 months ago, and now I'm developing professional flash aplications. This book does cover EVERYTHING there is to know about flash, in a method that even people with little or no background in flash can read and understand. The book gave me a solid understanding of the main concepts of Flash 5, and started me on my way in learning Action Scripting. I would highly recomend this book to anyone seeking to learn Flash 5, the easy way!

Despite the author's impressive credentials, I found this book to be poorly written. Despite the incessant mention of careful planning when using Flash, the author didn't seem to plan well herself. The chapters often tend to veer off topic, and the explanations are excessively wordy and often ambiguous or unclear. The useful content of this book could be easily condensed into one about 1/4 the size. There are also numerous mistakes throughout the book. While this is not uncommon in technical books these days, one would think that somebody would sit down and actually read the book before it is published. The code examples, which must be downloaded from the publisher's web site, often don't match up with the text. This as well as the errors and typos can make it very confusing to somebody actually trying to learn something. In addition, despite the glossy, colorful cover, this is a one-color book. Several times, there are references to color in the figures as if the book was originally intended to be printed with color examples. If you want a wordy, haphazard guide to Flash with poor direction and basic content get this book. If you're starting from scratch and want to learn how to do everything with Flash, look elsewhere.

May be the worst book on Flash I've ever picked up. After reading this you could hardly expect to do anything with Flash but the basics rather than "everything" the text's title implies. A poor primer which can be quickly outgrown and never used again. Please note I was required to give it one star.

When I bought this book, I was a complete beginner. The price, probably more than anything was a big contributing factor, being one of the cheaper books on Flash. I bought it at the same time as the Flash Bible and a Flash cartooning book. This one barely was read. The reason being, it's not a reference book and doesn't help you more than the standard help files included with Flash itself. Your money is better spent elsewhere. Do the tutorials that come with Flash and put your money towards another book to help you learn the program.

Went I boutgh this book I thought that it could be very interesting, but it wasn't like that, went I started to read it I realize that this book is really bore because it has too much letters and I think that it could be very interesting and easy tolearn is this book has more graphics and pictures or Illustration....... That's why I think that this book could bevery bore..... Sorry about my english....

Tremendous book . I had Read It Several Years ago , When i was in the Uk, saw it on Amazon , and read it again .
Martin Mc Gartland is a tribute to the Irish People .
A young man who became an agent for the special branch, knowing that if he was found out by the IRA it would mean Torture , then certain Death.....
He was known as 'agent Carol' and gave vital information which saved many lives both protestant and catholic.
His title of the book "Fifty Dead Men Walking" is an understatement , i truly believe he saved alot more than fifty.
It is an essential read, and also to read his second book "dead Man Running" Thankyou Martin , for all you have sacrificed.....

The moment I started to read this book I couldn't put it down. I read it in a day and even now months later I remember it like I read it yesterday. The images Martin McGarland created will stay with me for a very long time. This book is not only an education into the troubles in Ireland it is also a testament to the strength and courage of an amazing man. I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone.

I liked this one! It shows how McGartland, an intelligent soul, was plucked from his lifestyle by British Intelligence to became "Agent Carol", the government's best informant in Ulster for decades.

Was it worth it Martin? Hero is no word for a hood turned tout.

Recommended reading would be a book called "Ten men Dead" about real men and real heroes who suffered at the hands of Thatchers Government and the RUC, a far more truthful account of the troubles.

The moment I started to read this book I couldn't put it down. I read it in a day and even now months later I remember it like I read it yesterday. The images Martin McGarland created will stay with me for a very long time. This book is not only an education into the troubles in Ireland it is also a testament to the strength and courage of an amazing man. I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone.

This rings true of what I know of Episcopal clergy and of the diocese in which Lily Connor works. It follows those circumstantially simple lines in its detail, and I found it a good read.

I read this book for my book club as part of a series of three mysteries featuring Episcopal women priests. This was by far the weakest of the three books.

I found most of the characters to be one-dimensional. Their motivation was often confusing or contrived. There were far too many plot threads -- poorly organized -- and not a lot of suspense.

As an Episcopalian living in Boston, I found the controversy over the theological issues raised not very credible considering that the book was set in Boston and Cambridge, a notoriously liberal area. In recent years, the Episcopal church has been in the vanguard in its acceptance of homosexuality and the ordination of women, most especially in New England. If this novel had been about the Catholic church or a fundamentalist Evangelical church in the South, the issues raised would have been more believable.

If you want to read a mystery featuring an Episcopal woman priest I'd recommend Phil Rickman's "Midwinter of the Spirit".

I picked up this novel after i read "Earth has no Sorrow" the 2nd in a series, The Tentmaker does a fine job of introducing the basic character's in Lily's life with a bit of background on her and how she became a priest in Boston.
The plot is not as strong as the next two novels, which I enjoyed very much.
The novel is full of human foibles and very real emotions regarding people struggling with religious issues. These books do not bog the reader down with theological issues, but uses them deftly in the course of the novel. Good points for the situations.
I think Ms. Blake has made a fine beginning.

This is a perfect book for those of you who think Priests and "churched" persons are superhuman! Blake not only presents a well-developed mystery with a surprising ending she also manages to shatter the image of the stereotypical rector with her character "tentmaker" Lily Connor! Pick up this book you won't be sorry!

From the standpoint of an "insider," this was a fine book. I have known many "tentmaker" priests and deacons and have been an Episcopalian for 30 years. The mystery is exciting, but equally as good is the internal politics of the parish and diocese, and the wrestlings with faith of all the characters.