Burroughs Books

This was the most beautifully written and photgraphed decorating book I have seen. I own dozens of such books, and I seldom read all of the text, but I read this one from cover to cover. It made me want to lounge in the gardens and explore the house. I highly recommend this book for lovers of home decorating and gardening books. It is exquisitely warm and funny!

MARTHA'S VINEYARD: HOUSES AND GARDENS ALLOWS THE READER TO EFFORTLESSLY VIEW A MOST UNIQUE ISLAND. THE WELL THOUGHT OUT TEXT COMPLIMENTS AND HELPS ONE ENJOY EVEN MORE THE BEAUTY OF MARTHA'S VINEYARD. LISL DENNIS'S PHPOTOGRAPHS CIRCUMNAVIGATE THE ISLAND IN PICTORIAL SPLENDOR. THE AUTHORS OF THIS WORK SHOULD BE COMMENDED FOR THEIR ABILITY TO CAPTURE THE BEAUTY AND ESSENCE OF A VERY SPECIAL PLACE CALLED MARTHA'S VINEYARD.

Minidoka? What kind of a word is that, you say? Then you stop and think, "Oh, Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and John Carter. It's a made up word!" WRONG. Minidoka is a small town (or was, I don't know if it is still there) in Idaho where Mr. Burroughs worked in one of his many failed careers as a gold miner (1901 to 1904) with his brother at the Yale Dredging Company. It didn't pan out, pardon the pun, and the world is much more richer for the failed attempt.

Burroughs has never been accused of being a literary genius, although his stories have reached every corner of the world, his books are published in over sixty different languages (not counting dialects), his tales have been the basis for dozens of films, TV series, animations and comics. What Mr. Burroughs was gifted with was the art of storytelling and that trait has made him a legend.

Mindoka, 937th Earl of One Mile Series M is a story that sprung from that ability. No one knows for certain when this wonderful tale was created, perhaps it was one of the series of bedtime stories Burroughs told his children each night. All of them created on the spot as he paced the hall of their small home and spoke in a loud voice so that all in the house could hear. What ever occurred, Burroughs liked this particular story so much that he committed it to paper. Of a sorts, at least. He used the backs of old letterheads from the mining company, photo bills from Pocatello and letterheads of the American Genealogical Society to compose this story. None of the hand written manuscript is dated, nor was it discovered until 1955, five years after his death, in his personal belongings. The paper the story was written on gives proof that this is Burroughs first ever written work, never before seen by another beside himself until after he had died and never published until today. This makes that story almost a century old!

The tale is very strange, not at all like his works that were published in his lifetime. This is a children's story, it is written with the intention of being read aloud to children and has all the classic elements of fairy tales. Horrible monsters, magic spells, beautiful damsels to rescue and battles to be fought, all of these are in there along with a never before seen look at the man's sense of humor.

The story itself is quite captivating, even if it is a bit difficult to read for an adult. I dare say that I will be hard pressed to pronounce some of the words that Burroughs has created for this story, but many of the characters and creatures are quite endearing. I really liked the hoobody and hookidooki. The hoobody reminded me of one of the mythical creatures of my people, the Apache, (perhaps that's where he got the idea) and the hookidooki was just plain fun to read about even if it was a villain.

The setting for the story is Idaho of a million or more years in the past, but with European type kingdoms all based as the origin of Irish names. Very interesting concept and for the life of me I can't determine why he took that tact in the story. But it matters not, as the tale is fantastic.

Many aspects of his published works can be seen in this story. The way his heroes act and react is based on this tale. Many animals and places for completely unrelated stories are mentioned here as something else. It is almost as if he created an entire universe from the seeds that he planted for himself in this story to his children.

There is something else that is very special about this book. The cover art is a painting by J. Allen St. John that has never been published before. Who is St. John, you ask? This is the man that made every single cover painting for Burroughs books starting in 1915 with The Son of Tarzan and ending in 1942 with The Tiger Girl (I have copies of all of these). The painting was made over 50 years ago when an art director told St. John that it was impossible for an artist to do an illustration using all known mediums that were known at the time. St. John went to his loft and created a drawing he titled Minidoka by those exact means just to prove the man wrong. This cover is the first printing of that painting.

The book is a mere 63 pages long with about 15 of those pages being lavishly drawn full page illustrations. Each page also has drawings around the edges that have to do with what the story is talking about at the time.

The book is published by Dark Horse Comics and is available now at all book stores. You will more than likely have to special order it, because it is a limited edition print. The price is ... well worth it. I can hardly wait until it is mass produced so that I can get a reading copy to give my children when they are old enough. Get one of these first prints while they are still out there. You will never regret it.

Minidoka? What kind of a word is that, you say? Then you stop and think, "Oh, Edgar Rice Burroughs, creator of Tarzan and John Carter. It's a made up word!" WRONG. Minidoka is a small town (or was, I don't know if it is still there) in Idaho where Mr. Burroughs worked in one of his many failed careers as a gold miner (1901 to 1904) with his brother at the Yale Dredging Company. It didn't pan out, pardon the pun, and the world is much more richer for the failed attempt.

Burroughs has never been accused of being a literary genius, although his stories have reached every corner of the world, his books are published in over sixty different languages (not counting dialects), his tales have been the basis for dozens of films, TV series, animations and comics. What Mr. Burroughs was gifted with was the art of storytelling and that trait has made him a legend.

Mindoka, 937th Earl of One Mile Series M is a story that sprung from that ability. No one knows for certain when this wonderful tale was created, perhaps it was one of the series of bedtime stories Burroughs told his children each night. All of them created on the spot as he paced the hall of their small home and spoke in a loud voice so that all in the house could hear. What ever occurred, Burroughs liked this particular story so much that he committed it to paper. Of a sorts, at least. He used the backs of old letterheads from the mining company, photo bills from Pocatello and letterheads of the American Genealogical Society to compose this story. None of the hand written manuscript is dated, nor was it discovered until 1955, five years after his death, in his personal belongings. The paper the story was written on gives proof that this is Burroughs first ever written work, never before seen by another beside himself until after he had died and never published until today. This makes that story almost a century old!

The tale is very strange, not at all like his works that were published in his lifetime. This is a children's story, it is written with the intention of being read aloud to children and has all the classic elements of fairy tales. Horrible monsters, magic spells, beautiful damsels to rescue and battles to be fought, all of these are in there along with a never before seen look at the man's sense of humor.

The story itself is quite captivating, even if it is a bit difficult to read for an adult. I dare say that I will be hard pressed to pronounce some of the words that Burroughs has created for this story, but many of the characters and creatures are quite endearing. I really liked the hoobody and hookidooki. The hoobody reminded me of one of the mythical creatures of my people, the Apache, (perhaps that's where he got the idea) and the hookidooki was just plain fun to read about even if it was a villain.

The setting for the story is Idaho of a million or more years in the past, but with European type kingdoms all based as the origin of Irish names. Very interesting concept and for the life of me I can't determine why he took that tact in the story. But it matters not, as the tale is fantastic.

Many aspects of his published works can be seen in this story. The way his heroes act and react is based on this tale. Many animals and places for completely unrelated stories are mentioned here as something else. It is almost as if he created an entire universe from the seeds that he planted for himself in this story to his children.

There is something else that is very special about this book. The cover art is a painting by J. Allen St. John that has never been published before. Who is St. John, you ask? This is the man that made every single cover painting for Burroughs books starting in 1915 with The Son of Tarzan and ending in 1942 with The Tiger Girl (I have copies of all of these). The painting was made over 50 years ago when an art director told St. John that it was impossible for an artist to do an illustration using all known mediums that were known at the time. St. John went to his loft and created a drawing he titled Minidoka by those exact means just to prove the man wrong. This cover is the first printing of that painting.

The book is a mere 63 pages long with about 15 of those pages being lavishly drawn full page illustrations. Each page also has drawings around the edges that have to do with what the story is talking about at the time.

Edgar Rice Burroughs was a literary genius. I read this book as a kid and tracked it down so I could read it again. Once you slip into this world you'll absolutely love it.

After reading five ERB books prior to this one, I was starting to think I might be a little burnt out on him for a while, but this book pulled me in with hardly a hesitation. The story is standard Burroughs, sticking pretty well to his formula - man falls in love with girl, rescues girl, loses girl, rescues girl, loses girl, ..., man and girl live happily ever after.

ERB's heroes are seldom less than perfect and when they are (as in this book) they usually rise above it through the love of a good woman, this story remains true to that form. It looks to have been serialized, as many of his stories were, with many a shift of location. The reader is taken from Chicago to Hawaii to a Pacific Island to New York to Mexico with the all of the accompanying naivete of the times. Whether he is battling pirates, head hunting samurai, evil hoboes, Mexican bandits or his own personal demons you can't help but enjoy the raw power of the main character.

For all of it's simple story and predictable events, this remains a fun book to read, excellent for pre and early teens and those of us that just want a little old fashioned escapism.

For further adventures of Bridge see the Oakdale Affair. P-)

If you collect the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, you absolutely need a copy of this book. Everyday on eBay and Yahoo, "experts" are auctioning ERB novels as "1st editions" when they don't have a clue as to what they are talking about. This guide is your insurance policy against those amateurs. This guide is an absolute necessary when you are compiling your collection. It is well-researched, comprehensive, and easy to use. Plus, it is full of great artwork from various editions of the ERB novels and pulp magazines. James Bergen, You've done a magnificent job. I salute you.

This is the most comprehensive pricing guide there is for Burrough's works. Until a new one is written, it is THE book to have!!

I absolutely love the John Carter/Mars books from ERB. I discovered them as a boy, and eventually read the entire series. "A Princess of Mars" is the first, and one of the best of the series("Chessmen of Mars" is a little better, I think).

The only thing I don't understand is why anyone would pay twelve bucks for a non-illustrated, non-prestige paperback of a work that is in the public domain. This book is available for free download at the Project Gutenberg website, including the original illustrations. I wonder if this publisher didn't acquire the text there...

"I have never told this story nor shall mortal man see this manuscript until I have passed over for eternity. I know that the average human mind will not believe what it can not grasp......"

Written in 1912 this book is well written for its time. Captain Carter is telling the story form memory as an old man of his adventures here on earth and on the planet of Barsoom (Mars). There are encounters with many strain creatures, situations, and yes even a "Princess of Mars." The forward to the book alone will capture your imagination.

Margarets' writings are truly a gift from God!!!
"Reflections of a Queen" demonstrates there is healing for the 'Soul' one encouraging word at time...

Be blessed my sister and I encourage you to continue to allow God's words of healing to flow through you...

Shelia Haywood

Margaret, is an awesome writter. She speaks to your heart and soul. Very uplifting and powerful. Looking forward to future writings by this great author. A definet gift for any woman at any stage of her life. I hope to get my book autographed one day.

Burroughs's book is a wonderful tale of exploration into the dense, winding, wonderful Waccamaw River in SC, and into the mostly forgotten past of his native Horry County. His marvelous sense of detail, poetic sensibility, and grand sympathies with all things natural and human make this a memoroble book indeed. I know Prof. Burroughs might hoot at the comparison, but I enjoyed this book as much as anything I've read in Thoreau.

A human life, I think, should be well rooted in some spot of native land, where it may get the love of tender kinship for the face of the earth, for the labors men go forth to, for the sounds and accents that haunt it, for whatever will give that early home a familiar, unmistakable difference amidst the future widening of knowledge: a spot where the definiteness of early memories may be inwrought with affection, and kindly acquaintance with all neighbors, even to dogs and donkeys, may spread not by sentimental effort and reflection, but as a sweet habit of the blood. -George Eliot (Daniel Deronda)

This sentiment and the chance discovery of Nathaniel Holmes Bishop's The Voyage of the Paper Canoe (1878), detailing a canoe trip down the East Coast which included a side trip on the Waccamaw River, were the twin impulses that lead Burroughs to return to his native Horry County, SC and make his own trip down the Waccamaw. Burroughs, a professor at Bowdoin, published a terrific collection of essays Billy Watson's Croker Sack in 1991 (it even made Mr. Doggett's Suggested Summer Reading List for Students) and this book is every bit as good.

Whether he's detailing the history of the county, the river and his own family or relating his encounters with the river's unique residents or describing the wildlife he encounters, Burroughs has a sharp eye, a sympathetic ear and a silver tongue. Here is his description of one bird he meets:

Yesterday a red-shouldered hawk had called the day to order, and got its business underway. Today it was a pileated woodpecker: a staccato drum-burst against a hollow tree, then the bird itself. It flew across in front of me, with its peculiar alternation of flap, swoop, and collapse, and its last swoop fetched it up against the trunk of a cypress. It clung there a moment, cocked and primed, a perfectly congruous mixture of Woody Woodpecker, frock-coated nineteenth-century deacon and pterodactyl. Then it gave the tree an abrupt, jackhammer strafing, rolled out its lordly call, and swooped away, leaving the day to its own devices.

If you've ever seen one, you know that a pileated woodpecker has never been described better and if you haven't you must almost feel that now you have.

This is a wonderful bucolic look at the history and nature of the Waccamaw, which will leave you wishing that you too had such a place coursing through your blood.

GRADE: A

Of the many books available on this modern era Indian saint, this one is the cream on top. It contains many of the essential selections from the overly repetitive "Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna". There are many "illuminations" or explanatory notes throughout, making it the perfect introduction to this great spiritual Master's life and teachings. More than a century after his death, Ramakrishna's influence continues to grow as a valuable bridge between eastern and western spirituality and philosophy. The Vedanta Society is flourishing in America and around the world still disseminating these great spiritual teachings of Ramakrishna: That we are ultimately all one, that we are one with God, and that God can be known by our own direct experience. This book will endure as a great spiritual classic and will be treasured by the reader interested in Eastern Wisdom or anyone simply interested in experiencing ultimate Truth for oneself.

In my experience Kendra Crossen Burroughs is one of the best editors in the field of Eastern spiritual literature and texts. As well as working freelance, she has been a long term editor on the staff of Shambhala Publications, and I was happy to have her involved in a book that I had published by Shambhala, although not a book in Eastern thought.

Following her publication of the Skylight Paths edition of the Bhagavad Gita, I was most eager to read her next work, which is the one reviewed here.

Besides Burroughs'own brilliant annotations, Skylight has done an innovative and equally brilliant job of format, where the annotations are on one page, and the reference text on the facing page, so that the reader has the annotations right at hand, and does not have to thumb through to the back of the book or chapter to look them up. The only problem that I encountered with this was my own idiosyncratic one of whether to read the text page through and then turn to the annotations alongside it, or read each annotation as it is referred to in the text. I never completely settled this for myself. Other readers may want to read the annotation page first, and then read the facing page of the text on Ramakrishna next.

Sri Ramakrishna was the Indian spiritual master (1836-1886) whom many take to be a Sadguru, a perfect Master, or completely enlightened human being. He was the teacher and inspirer of Swami Vivekananda who, after Ramakrishna's death, came to the U.S. and caused a great stir at the famous Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893. _The Gospel of Shri Ramakrishna_ was the on the scene recorded notes and observations of another disciple of the master, referred to simply as "M," or Mahendranath Gupta. Although not well know at all, this original text is, as Burroughs correctly notes, one of the spiritual classics of the twentieth century (it was first published in English in 1942). In an age of extreme skepticism and rampant materialism, both philosophical and cultural, to have a book like this, which is a modern record of spiritual enlightenment, is of inestimable value.

As Burroughs' annotations and explanations note, at the beginning of Ramakrishna's visions and experiences, there was the opinion that he may have been just a madman. Several scholars and experts were brought in to examine and evaluate him, and they pronounced him to be genuine. One of them said, as Burroughs quotes, "I am fully convinced that you are that Mine of spiritual power, only a small fraction of which descends on earth, from time to time, in the form of an incarnation. ... I feel it in my heart and have the Scriptures on my side. I am ready to prove it to any one who challenges me." Burroughs continues, "Ramakrishna greeted the pronouncement with childlike indifference, saying, 'Well, I am glad to learn that after all it is not a disease.'"

Throughout the text, Ramakrishna says that spiritual aspirants and seekers have to be wary of "women and gold." This looks both sexist and rigid. Burroughs' annotation illuminates the significant and real meaning, which is neither. The English "women and gold" is actually a translation of Ramakrishna's Bengali expression, "kamini-kanchan." Kamini implies a seductress, which does not in general mean women. When Ramakrishna addressed his female devotees, of which there were many, he used the phrase, "man and gold." Kamini-kanchan was his shorthand way of referring to the entire conventional world, and its misguiding allurements. As Burroughs explains, "he actually revered women as sacred representatives of the Goddess and taught that a man should treat every woman with the same reverence with which Hindus traditionally regard their own mothers."

Another of my favorite annotations, which, besides the clarification of meaning, demonstrates the subtle light touch with which Burroughs approaches her annotative work, is the following. In the text, Ramakrishna refers to devotees meditating on "the lotus feet of God," a classic Indian expression. Burroughs explains, "The lotus symbolizes purity and detachment, for the plant has its roots in the mud, while its floating blossoms and leaves remain untouched by water or earth." Then she goes on to say, "Modern science confirms the purity of the lotus leaf, which has a 'self-cleaning' microstructure observed in the 1970s by Botanist Wilhelm Barthlott at the University of Bonn."

Other annotations are not about specifically spiritual terms, but rather explain mundane cultural references or objects, without which we might not clearly understand what Ramakrishna is saying. So, he gives this image, "One can see God only if He turns His light toward His own face. The police sergeant goes his rounds in the dark of night with a lantern in his hand. No one sees his face, but with the help of that light the sergeant sees everybody's face, and others, too, can see one another. If you want to see the sergeant, however, you must pray to him: Sir, please turn the light on your own face. Let me see you." Burroughs provides this annotation for the word "lantern" in Ramakrishna's metaphor: "This type of lantern had dark glass on three sides." Ah, now I see. Thank you Kendra for shedding light on the light.

One of the most important meanings conveyed to me in the text, along with the annotations, relates to a problem that has occupied me of how the "infinite within" can be reached and attained despite the fact that the individual consciousness is so finite. Ramakrishna gives several helpful images. In one of them a person goes to the Ganges river and touches its water. Ramakrishna: "He will then say, 'Yes, I have seen and touched the Ganges. To say this it is not necessary for him to touch the whole length of the river from Hardwar to Gangasagar (laughter)." So, by touching just a drop of the water of infinity, one has it all. I also like M's touch of noting the laughter, which calls our attention to the humor implied in Ramakrishna's explanation, which we might not readily appreciate in the bare translation of his words.

This is an immensely valuable book for the spiritual seeker, of whatever path or persuasion. It brings to the English speaking reader unparalleled access to one of the great living spiritual resources of modern times, and opens up for us the rest of the literature available on this human wonder.

Not only will you pass page after page with ease, but you will learn a great many things!! Burroughs will become a close friend and teacher (of language, ecology, nature, people, and life in general) of the highest order. His work is phenomenal! I cant recommend it highly enough!!

Read everything you can from him, it should definitely be required! Also give it to your children. The preface of this book is by a teacher in Chicago that tells of the remarkable learning and enthusiasm she found in her pupils, upon reading Burroughs. I can't help but feel the same enthusiasm!!

Do enjoy!

Charlotte Walker, a professor of English at the State University of New York at Oneonta, has assembled the first anthology of critical essays on the naturalist, literary critic, poet, and philosopher John Burroughs (1837-1921). This is an extraordinary collection. Walker includes a wide array of voices, many of them (including my own) from outside academia. All have important things to say about Burroughs, who once towered above the American literary landscape but whose reputation has been eroded by time. A renewal of interest in the work of the Catskill-born Burroughs is underway, and this book is both a product of that movement and a light to lead the way. As the author of a concise biography and appreciation of John Burroughs ("The World of John Burroughs," published by Sierra Club Books), I congratulate Walker on a job brilliantly done.

The title of my review says it all--this is an essential collection for anyone serious about sound art/theory/poetry or avant-garde music. The CD is a very nice bonus, full of unbelievable rarities as well.

By focusing on "earplay" in texts by James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and other modern writers, this collection's twelve essays investigates the relationship between acoustical technologies and 20th-century experimental poetics. The accompanying CD offers soundtracks of early radio sounds, poetry readings, Dada cabaret performances, jazzoetry, audio-poems and contemporary Caribbean DJ dub poetry.