Edward Books

Reading this book is like chatting with an old friend. First there's a discussion of perplexities that can confound our lives, then some talk about how these ideas apply to our lives right now, and finally time is spent creating and putting into practice strategies for solutions. That is what Ed Jacobson does in this book.

He takes a topic as mundane as refrigerator magnets and imbues it with great meaning. His chapter about savoring our lives and experiences will change how you experience the smell of Thanksgiving dinner in the oven. His comments on the gift of feedback will enhance your appreciation of feedback you may receive as well as your ability to give feedback that is meaningful and "appreciative".

In my counselor education classes as well as stress in education seminars I will use this book as a valuable reference/resource to reinforce lessons on attending skills, empathic listening, observings and meditation and minduflness.

To this point I have not been a fan of "positive thinking"; feeling that it is a complex concept that is often oversimplified--most of the problems of living do not easily lend themselves to a "if life gives you lemons make lemonade" solution. That being said, Ed Jacobson has studied positive psychology in depth, assimilated it in all its complexity and made it readily accessible to everyone who read this book.

I have read this book one chapter per day over the course of a month, and it has not only altered in apositive direction and lightened my perspective but also given me additional skills for dealing with the invevitable problems I may encounter.

If you are too busy or too stressed to read a book, go get this one! To make the world a better place, start with yourself - with living and working appreciatively - and you will see how the world changes. Ed Jacobson brings his considerable speaking skills into the pages of this book. His easy style is woven into each stand-alone chapter with simple, practical application ideas. Appreciative Moments is an important book for every human being on the planet. I plan to give as Christmas gifts to friends and family alike.

This little book is a very readable and practical application of "Appreciative Inquiry" (AI) to real life - at home, at work, in relationships, for yourself. I learned about the AI point of view in my work as in interviewer/writer/coach, and immediately incorporated its elegantly simple approach. Simply put: the WAY in which you phrase a question helps define the answer. The WAY in which you address a problem defines the path to solve it in the most constructive and positive way.

As I learned about AI, I learned what a big name Ed Jacobson is. What he has done in this book is to take everyday situations, and with humor and humility, demonstrate how a simple twist of point of view to the positive - and grateful - can make all the difference. The short chapters stand on their own, each addressing a common situation, followed by practical little pick-me-ups to apply immediately to change the course of your day.

Susan Turnbull, author of The Wealth of Your Life; A Step-by-Step Guide for Creating Your Ethical Will

"Why am I here today?" That's a quote from this book you need to have on your bedside table, in your briefcase, your car, your suitcase, anywhere you will be able to read it anytime you might need to be catapaulted into the precious positive parts of life. Written with humor, humaness and warmth, it will serve as your guide to traverse everyday stresses and unusual strains emerging from them not stressed out and discouraged but with positive feelings and productive outcomes. Try it - you will like it! Read it all in one sitting as an entree or,better yet, a chapter at a time as a treat.

I just finished this extraordinary new book and want to recommend it to anyone who wants practical, easy-to-follow, suggestions on how to get more out of life, appreciatively. This book is organized in short, self-contained chapters with wonderful "Practices" illustrating each concept. You will never answer a telephone again without putting a smile on your face. You will learn how to let your childhood and adult heroes guide you through difficult situations. Try it, it really works! Most importantly, you will learn to savor so many moments that would otherwise go unnoticed. If you try some of the book's practices - they're easy - you will find that you can actually learn to appreciate the most stressful situations, from the corporate meeting to Thanksgiving with the relatives.

Use this book as a guide to becoming a happier worker, a more appreciative partner, a better parent and friend. You will even learn to find more time for yourself - to appreciate yourself. Give yourself the gift of this book and start living your own "appreciative moments". I did!

Great book- lighthearted way for young people to think about what to do in a social situation. My kids would read it aloud in the carpool and never tired of it.

Have you always hated it when you did something and your relatives reprimanded you for it, even though you have no idea why, even when they say that it's bad manners? Well, now you will with this book! It's sort of a parody of those quizzes you find in those magazines like "Vogue" or "Seventeen" and those old, old etiquitte books. The right answers are obvious, but the wrong choices are ten times funnier! Edward Koren's pen-and-ink illustrations makes the book all the more funnier (or more disgusting--check out that kid who talked with his mouth full of corn), and Delia Ephron, who wrote an equally funny book about love, does magic to what could have been a really boring topic. By the looks of things today, nobody really pays attention to their manners anymore, do they? Do they?

I am shocked that this favorite is out of print. I am a children's librarian and the book is a hilarious read-aloud. I used to have two copies at my previous job, but now am searching for two more at my new library. This is because one will surely be taken and not returned. The waiting list for this one is mighty long

The fact that this book is no longer in print is just ridiculous. I own this book, and my friend and I used to spend hours with D.I.H.T.S.H.?, gagging with laughter! He kept asking where I got it, but I had to say it was out of print. Everyone should read this book. It's too good to pass up!

This book is one of the funniest which I have ever read. If you have kids, get it for them-they will enjoy it immensely. One of mine lent it to one of their friends at school. She never gave it back! It is funny while incorporating good points about manners. It is a great read, and I strongly advise you to buy it.

An introduction to the philosophy and the practice of the Bach Flower Remedies. Dr. Edward Bach (a homeopathic physician) developed his own theory about the causes of disease.

It lists the appropriate remedy for each symptom.

Good as a starting point.

Have you ever noticed how your mood is instantly elevated when you inhale the scent of a rose deeply and with purpose. The world seems like a better place instantly. Rose oil has a frequency of around 320 MHz. Flowers are beautiful on their own and can lift your mood with their fragrance or with their petals blowing in the breeze in nature.

So, what other secrets do flowers conceal? Apparently, they can help us to change our emotional state. The scent of roses is said to dispel anger, or so I have read! In this book, flowers are celebrated as natural healers which can help us return to a healthful state.

Our emotions can at times manifest themselves as a health issue and greatly affect our bodies. Dr. Edward Bach (1897-1936) believed that physical illness was a manifestation of emotional imbalance. He believed we can heal and balance the body with nontoxic methods.

Some of the remedies include:

ASPEN - For fear or anxiety IMPATIENS - For impatience, irritability and nervousness. MUSTARD - Severe depression WILLOW - For neutralizing resentment and bitterness VERVIAN - For tension and hyperactivity or overachieving STAR OF BETHLEHEM - For mental shock

There are also remedies you can take for sensitivity, disappointment, muscular cramps, skin rashes, recurrent ailments, critical attitudes and bad dreams.

Look into other health remedies like Arnica for injuries, Pulsatilla for nasal problems, Cantharis for cystitis, Chamomile tea for a restful sleep and Gelsemium for flu symptoms. Look for a homeopathic brand called: Oscillococcinum for symptoms of the flu in the winter. The theory is that a infinitesimal amount of a plant substance can stimulate the body's healing defenses.

The closer you can match your symptom to the remedy, the more effective it will be for you. I suggest reading other homeopathy books along with this one. I also recommend "Reference Guide for Essential Oils by Connie and Alan Higley" from abundant-health4u.com as they have the best products I have found so far.

~The Rebecca Review

This book is a wonderful introduction to both the philosophy and the practice of the Bach Flower Remedies. It provides a lot of information without overwhelming the reader. The book is arranged in three sections. The first is Dr. Bach's essay entitled "Heal Thyself" which is about how each one of us has the power and is capable of healing ourself, the second section gives a short, useful description of each essence. The third section is a wonderful list of numerous emotional states and the appropriate essence to use for each one.

If you're at all interested in learning how to treat yourself using these remedies, this is the book for you. I've had this book for approximately 6 months and it is well worn already!

Dr. Edward Bach, a skilled homeopathic physician, developed his own theory about the cause of disease. Dr. Bach believed that physical diseases begin as an imbalance in the patient's emotional well-being. By attending to emotions and weeding out harmful emotions from the patient's psyche, a healing trend can be initiated that assists the patient in avoiding future physical diseases. Treating emotional states addresses diseases while they are still at the energy level. Dr. Bach believed that the flower essences could even be helpful once disease had progressed to a physical manifestation. The flower essences do not replace other treatments such as homeopathy, but they can assist other treatments by soothing the patient's mental condition and initiating preliminary steps towards healing the imbalance that led to the disease in the first place.

This book is filled with wonderful information that the beginner can use to learn to use the flower essences to heal themselves and others. It is the basic text and everyone who is interested in flower essences should have this text regardless of what other texts they own as well. Bach thoroughly explains his theory on the source of disease and then each flower essence is examined, one by one, showing the emotional profile of the patient who would most benefit from each remedy.

The system is very simple and can be learned easily by the layman but it is very effective -- only 38 remedies cover the entirety of negative human emotions! Dr. Bach insisted that the flower essences be kept simple because he believed that their simplicity was a key factor of their effectiveness. Treating one's self and others with flower essences is simple to learn but it is also an art that one will spend the rest of their lifetime developing and perfecting.

Wonderful basic Bach Flower Remedies book. It also contains Dr. Bach's 'Heal Thyself', an amazing writing on illness, its character, origin, & healing. It gives a spiritual basis for illness, a much needed perspective in our modern world of medical materialism.

This book, as it was written, is a masterpiece of natural history. It is a contribution to humanistic biology that has style and description that is uncrippled by the invidious academic flatulence of the professional "scientist". It makes no pretensions. It was written by a man fascinated by the tidal seashore and the animals found therein. Read it and read it well.
Then read "Beyond the Outer Shores" by Eric Enno Tamm an unconventional biography of Ricketts that does full justice to the man and the myths.
Having gone through these impressive volumes I hope you will join me in despising Stanford University Press for what they did to Ricketts before his death and for allowing David Phillips to desecrate his memory in Edition Five.

This is probably THE serious book to have if one is going to immerse oneself in the California intertidal. Originally produced by Ed Ricketts (of Steinbeck/Cannery Row/Log From The Sea Of Cortez fame) the book has been upgraded, revised, re-edited by a plethora of "co-authors" since Ricketts' untimely death. It still retains much of Ricketts' then-revolutionary Habitat focus, which will either work for you (it does for me) or annoy the hard-core systematists out there. This ISN'T a light book to lug into the field or a light book to read -if you are just day-tripping The UC Press has a number of smaller & more accessibly illustrated field guides that I would reccomend, But if you are seriously into mmarine Bio and have some time on your hands along the California Coastline, you owe it to yourself to get this book. Even here on the Coast of Maine and twenty years removed from the West I still fid myself referring to it...

This is a timeless classic, very readable as the author puts you in a place (rocky intertidal or a mudflat) and then describes the animals you will see. It is written with a wise eye and wry humor. The long lived sea anemone in Scotland that was done in after 80 some years by the "ineptitude of (we suspect) a botanist".
It is more specific to central California, but still useful in Southern Calif and the northern coast as well.

This is an amazing book. It was a landmark in its time, and is still useful today.

I can't believe that someone else has not reviewed this excellent guide to the intertidal biota of the Pacific Coast. This book has set the standard for reference guides to marine life along the Pacific Coast, as well as other locations. It is much more than a field guide -- though it also serves that role. This book describes the intertidal zonation patterns of the Pacific Coast as well as the ecology and aspects of the natural history of the organisms that live there. The book contains good taxonomic references as well. This is the book that many of the country's marine scientists cut their professional teeth on. If you are interested in marine biology, the diversity of life, or the ecology of nearshore habitats, this book is definitely for you. The main strength of the book is the logical organization by type of habitat and vertical elevation on the intertidal zone. The main challenge of a book like this is to remain up to date, which the publisher has managed by producing revised editions on regular basis. This book is a must for any field or arm chair marine naturalist!

Mike Echols does an outstanding job of chronicling the history of abuse "Brother" Tony, an evangelical itinerant preacher, inflicts upon the children of families who came to look up to him and trust him with their sons. Brother Tony is clearly a psychopathic predator who took advantage of hundreds and hundreds of boys during his roving ministry. Echols well illustrates that pederasty has not just been a problem in the Catholic Clery but in the fabric of many who betrayed the sacredness of the trust that was bestowed upon them in a number of arenas. While Brother Tony eventually gets jailed, it's fairly clear that it's far too little, too late. Brother Tony will be back in action within the next few years and parents need to look out for their kids.

Brother Tony's Boys illustrates again the importance of parents talking forthrightly to their children about potential predators who might be as close as relatives or as trusted as men of God. A sad story which chronicles a tremendous betrayal and the damage that these young people will need to come to grips with as their lives progress. An excellent edition to books dealing with similar issues in differing settings: "Scouts Honor" chronicling the sad story of abuse in the boy scouts, Jason Berry's outstanding book on Catholic Clergy, "Lead Us Not Into Temptation" Parents might read these along with some of the books on averting and treating some of these issues, i.e., author Mic Hunter is among the treatment pioneers in this field and his books are available on Amazon.com. A frightening subject -- yet not one to simply be ignored. Parents and educators need to be proactive about these kinds of predators! Highly Recommended! Daniel J. Maloney

I am a survivor of Tony Leyva's crimes and was not mentioned in the book. My experience with him was in the early 70's. I have first hand knowledge of how he operated and can truly say Mr. Echols' report on Leyva is completely thorough and accurate. Relatively few people will work to expose this type of behavior. Echols is to be congratulated. A must-read for parents.

I read this book as a recommendation for parents to be aware of pediophiles and how to spot them. Having children, I was compelled to know how to protect them. Here is a story I will never forget - part of that is indespensible. Worse, I cry for the countless victims of sexual abuse. When you see ( very thoroughly ) in this detailed account, just how far reaching the devistation is, you can only pray for such victims and strive to protect the ones you love and educate every one else!

I couldn't put it down, as the story grew more horrifyingly unbelievable, I kept thinking it couldn't get worse, but it did - for everyone involved.

In the end, I had to search the internet to see where Tony Leyva was today -- and found that he'd died in prison in 2003. I couldn't help but wonder if his victims rejoiced at the news? Yet a man's fate was hopelessly and finally sealed with the more infinite punishment I am sure awaits him.

As for author Mike Echols, that internet search was even more disturbing. He, too, died in 2003. But I won't tell you how, or where, or other circumstances. You can look that up for yourself after you finish the book. See for yourself what his searching, his quest for justice finally led him to.

You'll realize that you can't go anywhere near any and all things pornographic without being affected by it.

The subject of Mike Echols' book, Pentecostal evangelist Brother Tony Leyva, is to get out of prison this fall unless the U.S. Parole Commission decides to keep him in prison to serve his full prison term (he has now served 10 years out of the 20 years to which he was sentenced).

Mike Echols is trying to get people to write letters to stop Tony Leyva's parole.

Good book I guess but you can not truelly investigate Namblaa until you have made a list of alll government members all the way up to the whitehouse who are actual members of nambla until you expose them you will never be able to truelly battle Nambla

This sleeper of a novel is a major contibution to modern Catholic fiction in English. The author, having already made his reputation in other literary endeavors, was able to enter the fictional marketplace and surmount barriers, presenting a book both authentically Catholic in outlook and fully realistic. Unfortunately such realms rarely if ever meet.

There is really no "plot"; the book is a character study, and a rich and sometimes searing one. Galsworthy rises from indifferent youth to a commanding church figure, grandly human and with certain well-defined but understandable flaws. Some recent church history is telescoped in the background -- Vatican 2, a "Slavic pope" ala John Paul 2, the growth of the church in turbulent modern Africa. The ending is not really satisfactory but there was probably no way to end it: the Catholic viewpoint to some degree differs from conventional tragedy and is always, as Dante titled his massive work, a "Commedia."

Persons not able to appreciate the baroque may not enjoy the book. The story line twists and turns through souls, not events. Souls are magnificent if ultimately mysterious creations, so those insights delivered by the writer seem to appear out of nowhere as the Cardinal encounters and bounces off of other characters. Then as time moves on you are back in murkiness until the next meaningful encounter. As in life, not all things are resolved. But throughout, the prose is flawless, beautiful, perfectly pitched. I have recommended this book to friends both believing and unbelieving, and all have reported finding it rewarding as a reading experience.

My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed this superbly-written tale of one man's journey of faith. Sheehan's insights into the worldy and other-wordly dimensions of the Church are outstanding. So beautifully written, you won't want to put it down.

The previous review already says it all. Ditto, Ditto, Ditto! But let me add, if you like this book, be sure to read "Innocent Darkness" by the same author, not a sequel but a companion to "Cardinal Galsworthy" in that it focuses on one of the characters from this novel. Buy 'em, read 'em, love 'em!

In creating Augustine Cardinal Galsworthy, Edward R.F. Sheehan has made a rare contribution to the growing universe of novels imagining the next conclave, that rare gathering of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to elect a pope. "Cardinal Galsworthy" is panoramic in scope, rich and faithful in historical detail, at times beautifully written and has as its protagonist an uncommon character who is not a mere stick figure for some real-life character the author hopes will be elected to the Petrine throne. This is not yet another "Martini-for-pope" novel. It is not a philippic against the Roman Church and its current pope. It is something entirely different.

The eponymous Augustine Galsworthy is born an Englishman, but has a pronounced affinity for things French. His father, William, is an English Baronet -- a baronet being a hereditary knight, who ranks above all non-hereditary Knights of the Realm, except those illustrious but few Knight Companions of the Order of the Garter. We know this because Galsworthy, in his towering vanity and love for the theatre of life, cares very dearly about this and painstakingly explains all the minute but significant hereditaments of his English recusant family and of Roman Church through whose ranks he rises.

Sir William has one great ambition for his son - that someday he may add a "red hat" the family tree. But Augustine Galsworthy is not the poised child of the almost-aristocratic that one might expect. He trips, he falls, he runs into walls - and, worse yet, he stutters. So, Augustine spends most of his childhood and adolescence in a Benedictine monastery in France. There, a young monk befriends young Augustine and introduces him to the treasury of the Roman Church. One of his formative influences is, appropriately enough, the great French Romantic Chateaubriand and his "The Genius of Christianity."

Galsworthy begins his preternaturally successful ecclesiastical career in spiritual and moral turmoil. Does he truly believe in God? Does he want to be a priest? Can be resist the temptations that easily beset him? His struggles are set against a rich backdrop of history. We move from the end of the reign of the "Stern Pope" through the reigns of the "Sunny Pope" and the "Sad Pope," with their struggles with the Second Vatican Council, and, finally, through the reign of the "Slav Pope." The author steadfastly refuses to call these men by their real-life names, admirably reluctant to impute, even in a work of fiction, words to men who did not utter them. Still, he never strays from their personalities. (There is no "September Pope.")

Galsworthy is the close collaborator of the Sunny Pope, who raises him to archbishop at age thirty-four, thereby gratifying the protagonist's vanity. Galsworthy is an early supporter of the Sunny Pope's call of the Second Vatican Council and encourages the pope to cut through curial resistance to it. But his enthusiasm for the Council ebbs as he sees its aptitude to truncate church doctrine and scrap its liturgical traditions. Before he dies, the Sunny Pope expresses his outrage that Galsworthy turned against the Council and accuses him of vanity. Who is more vain, Galsworthy wonders: me or the Sunny Pope who desperately needs the love of the whole world?

The Sad Pope is determined to implement the directives of the Council and fulfill the legacy of the Sunny Pope. Love will conquer all, he assures Galsworthy. But Galsworthy has traveled the world, from the Middle East and Africa to the troubled Church provinces of the Netherlands. He knows better. Civil strife, guerilla warfare and the destructive impulse are not so easily regulated. The Sad Pope dies convinced that he was a failure and desperate that what he has down has helped undermine the Roman Church.

In the Slav Pope, Galsworthy is in orthodox harmony. But Galsworthy's lust gets the better of him as he chases after a woman several decades younger than him. The dénouement of his struggles with the flesh comes in a dramatic scene in New York's St. Patrick's cathedral, when homosexual activists burst in and seize the Eucharist.

This is but one of many real-life events in this novel. The author shows us the collapse of the ancien regime in Egypt, civil war in Africa and Central America, the collapse of the Roman Church in the Netherlands, the removal of the Jesuit father-general and conflicts with Marxist prelates in Nicaragua. We can also see in the author's characters the shadows of real-life characters: Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani (in the person of "Cardinal Baluardo"), Pericle Cardinal Felici ("Monsignor Samosata") and Giovanni Cardinal Benelli ("Monsignor Gianni"). The rich historical texture of this novel is unmatched in this sub-genre.

The modern reader will probably take offense at Galsworthy and the tone of this novel. Galsworthy believes in the mystery, the poetry, and the theatre and drama of the Roman Church. His is not a low-church, a congregationalist-type church that exalts a transitory sense of social justice for the real salvific work of a church. For Galsworthy, the drama of the old Latin Mass subtly admits the faithful into communion with God and awes the squalid unbelieving into silence. For Galsworthy, the traditions, doctrine and discipline of the Roman Church are the work of twenty centuries and countless martyrs, evolving slowly under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and not something to be blithely discarded in a pell-mell attempt at relevance. This will not be a popular view today. It will even be alien. Perhaps the modern reader will be partially satisfied by Augustine Cardinal Galsworthy's penultimate act of sacrifice, made in that conclave called to elect a successor to our Slav pope.

I could not put this book down. Cardinal Galsworthy is a complex, sinful (as we all are) yet pious and faithful Catholic. This is a character you will never forget.

This volume assuredly would be a welcome addition to the libary of anyone who loves Charles Dickens and/or the history of film. The style of writing is quite engaging, yet it does not descend into sentimentality or nostalgia.

The opening chapters, which provide a relatively brief yet surprisingly insightful treatment of Dickens' Christmas writings and social conscience, are a concise picture of the setting in which Dickens brought his classic to life. For those unfamiliar with the period, I would find this to be an essential background, lest A Christmas Carol be reduced to a fairy tale, as it is in certain film treatments. Those who are acquainted with these matters undoubtedly would find the quotations from Dickens' more obscure Christmas writings, and references to such other Christmas scenes as those in The Pickwick Papers, to form a comprehensive image of the combination of commentary and imagination in these works, and underlying themes which influenced a Christmas Carol itself.

The treatment of film adaptations, including the earliest silents, is extremely well researched and comprehensive. Even the biggest fan of "Scrooge pictures" would find some in this collection which were unknown. The classic films (for example, Alastair Sims' version) are analysed with an insightfulness that would increase anyone's understanding and enjoyment of their content.

As a Dickens lover, and also as one who is a "Christmas nut" (for whom the insights in this volume were a welcome and lovely nutcracker), I would highly recommend this book on all counts.

Dickens dose a great job introducing this book. He has very high vocabulary and his words are sometimes very confusing. However, that should not cloud over the book because it is a great read. In my opinion it is a must read. I think if any Christmas hater reads this book they will love it. It certainly was interesting.

Fred Guida has presented an incredibly well researched and beautifully written book that blends the literary history of this story along with the history of its various screen presentations. Thank you for this unique presentation.

I've been a fan of the 1953 version of a the Carol for as long as I remember. It was family tradition every Christmas eve to watch it. I've looked at as many possible versions and have yet to find it's match. This book is an amazing resource of all the various interpretations of the Dicken's classic has gone through from early lantern projected pictures, through the silent era, talking films, television, and animated specials. The early version were fascinating and I found it a special bonus that the author made note of various television shows which featured a special Christmas episode inspired by A Christmas Carol. Who could ever forget the "Six Million Dollar Man" Christmas special using the ideas from the novel. This brought back a lot of great television special memories. I was even able to track down two hard to find T.V. animated specials shown in the early 1970's but not seen since. (I found them on Amazon). All in all a great read, especially for fans. I did not agree with all of the criticisms, and the text is a rather dry read, maybe a little too academic. But still great stuff!!

Everyone has a favorite film or television version of Dickens beloved "A Christmas Carol." But few of us have any idea how very many adaptations there have been. Mr. Guida's wonderful book examines first the written "Carol," then goes on to detail some of the hundreds of adaptations and variations, from the early stage versions and magic lantern slides to modern made-for-television Carols. Mr. Guida discusses the major Carols with wit and humor as well as rare discernment: his love for his subject is evident. Minor Carols and variations are also covered, albeit more briefly. If you cannot find your favorite version in the text, you are sure to find it in the superb and very thorough filmography. The filmography is worth browsing in and of itself; did you know that there have been Western, country-western, rock-and-roll, and even science-fiction variations on "A Christmas Carol"? Or that actors as disparate as Cicely Tyson, Basil Rathbone, and Mr. Magoo have played Scrooge? If you love "A Christmas Carol" or simply dote on film trivia, I promise you will enjoy this book.

"Edwards' and Stephen's COMING CLEAN is an unflinching exploration of every dimension of human sexuality: the good, the slimy, and the grotesque. It is a bawdy, brilliant, wild ride of a book, by turns hilarious, poignant, and scatological. The book's importance lies in its unraveling of cultural attitudes about sex and sexuality. I recommend it to any adult, especially anyone who has puzzled at our culture's awkward and inconsistent maneuverings around all things sexual." Beth Gylys, Ph.D., Author of Bodies That Hum

This is an amazing, wild ride of a book. There is nothing else like it. The authors call it a 'rant', which is as good a description as any, I guess. It is funny, insightful. Very literate, tongue-in-cheek, but at the same time perfectly serious. That's what I found so amazing, the combination of humor and seriousness. Perhaps this is subject matter that can only be handled seriously by doing it with humor. And it is funny.But it's refreshing too. I've read a lot of self-help books, and sex books and none of them had the sheer nerve of this one. It's rare to read something both genuinely original and entertaining at the same time. I am still reeling.

I started reading your book. I like what I've read so far but there are still too many big words in it. Here's what I mean. "Then the man put his penis into the young woman's bottom to disentagrinize the moment into one, long dirty filamigtorism. As the man orgasms the woman screams "Oh, oh estigalitistic demophore!".

Were just plain, simple working forks. On the next book, please try and give us mouth-breathers a break and use words we can understand. Nothing breaks the flow of a paragraph than having to stop at every third word and go running for the dictionary.

I read this titillating tome cover to cover on the way home, laughing and being illuminated. I love it. I've already loaned it to my kid. I can't tell you how much I laughed. It was so good to find two people with a sense of humor and smarts and no-holds-barred courage. The honesty, coupled with the humor, sets a challenging example, I think, to any writer who reads it. Loved the raving about Viagra. Loved the actual conversations reproduced -- or produced. Loved the jealousy stuff, the women conspiring together against the guy stuff, the faked orgasm stuff -- if I keep going I'll end up citing every chapter and verse. I'm going to be recommending it far and wide.

"Edwards' and Stephen's COMING CLEAN is an unflinching exploration of every dimension of human sexuality: the good, the slimy, and the grotesque. It is a bawdy, brilliant, wild ride of a book, by turns hilarious, poignant, and scatological. The book's importance lies in its unraveling of cultural attitudes about sex and sexuality. I recommend it to any adult, especially anyone who has puzzled at our culture's awkward and inconsistent maneuverings around all things sexual." Beth Gylys, Ph.D., Author of Bodies That Hum

I nearly did not buy this book after being offput by its ridiculous, cheap-looking cover. I'm glad that my curiousity abut this piece of history won out. Purdy's novel is engrossing from the first page. Even readers familiar with the tale of Edward II and Piers Gaveston will find this book to be compelling. A satisfying, thought-provoting look at one of history's lesser known figures and love story.

When I first picked up this book, the cover took me aback a little because it is not a typical book cover. However, from the very first page, I was hooked. This is one of the best books I have ever read, bar none. Why? Simply because the prose is rich and bountiful and the story is fascinating. The characters are so compelling, I was hard pressed to put the book down.

Recently, I interviewed the author and asked her about the cover. She told me that getting suitable cover art for this book was extremely difficult.

The publisher wanted to put a church or a castle, which had already been used on another author's book, so Ms Purdy was forced to provide something herself which caused a three month publication delay while she tried to find an artist or art student to design a cover.

Brandy confessed that she is not entirely happy with the present cover, but prefers not to comment on it publicly. And I urge you to look beyond in order to discover the true treasure buried within.

The Confession of Piers Gaveston is the tale of a true person who died in the early 14th century. He was a very close companion to King Edward II. So close, in fact, rumors still abound that they were actual lovers. Piers Gaveston literally rises from the ashes into the highest realm of the English empire because his good looks, arrogance, flamboyant personality, and outrageous behavior attract the interest of the King. Subsequently, he is showered with gifts which include land grants, titles, and jewels. All this attention increases the ire of other nobles towards Gaveston resulting in years of disrespect, hatred, and painful accusations of Gaveston.

The novel is written in the format of a journal. It begins in Gaveston's childhood with an impassioned retelling of the burning of his mother who was convicted as a witch. As a young child, alone, he must resort to prostitution to earn his way. But Piers is craft and he is a survivor. He gains acclaim as a soldier fighting in King Edward I's army. Because of his reputation as a tough, successful soldier, he is assigned to become a companion to the lazy and weak Prince Edward as companion. A strong bond is formed, one that soon leads into Prince Edward seducing Piers. For Edward, the attraction is much more - Piers becomes his obsession, an ill-fated burden for Gaveston to carry.

From the very first sentence, Purdy managed to make me sit up and take a close look at the words on each page. Her prose is one of the most brilliant I have come across. Every scene, every word engaged me. The first person narration of Piers Gaveston was not only powerful, it evoked strong emotions throughout. Her "tell it like it is" style of writing brings the reader deep into the main character's frame of mind, portraying him as both loveable and abhorrent. The scenes of homosexuality are written vividly but tastefully in an openly honest manner.

Brandy Purdy is an up and coming author one must watch carefully in the future for I have no doubt she will become a favorite for many readers of historical fiction.

Brandy Purdy's first novel is a doozie! For those many fans of historical fiction who would love to read a more personal account of King Edward II's affair with Piers Gaveston, this may be the book you have been wanting to read. Told from the standpoint of a fictional diary kept by the scandalous Gaveston, Ms. Purdy's tale of an intimate, illicit, illegal love affair between a king and his best friend smoothly unfolds the wrinkled pages of history. Brandy uses just enough dialect from the 1300's to make the story realistic, but her deft use of the language never slows the plot. Gaveston tells his personal story with compassion, leaving the interpretation of the overall scandal to the reader. Other books, such as Susan Higginbotham's The Traitor's Wife, tell the same story through the eyes of other characters involved, but this one comes directly from the gay paramour's mouth.

The cover, although indicative of the book's substance, does not impress me with its rather cartoonish, painted characters, but the overall cover design is professional in its appearance. There are a few too many errors of punctuation for my taste, too, but not enough to mar my enjoyment of the novel. Brandy Purdy should be proud of her first book. She has presented a fresh look at an old story with competence and professionalism of a high order, particularly for a new, unknown author.

Piers Gaveston was a soldier, a champion jouster, and a witty conversationalist. According to his own fictional account in this novel by Brandy Purdy, he was also a pagan and a male prostitute who viewed his long-standing affair with King Edward II as merely another means to make a living.

The Confession of Piers Gaveston is a skillfully written debut novel which reveals some very ugly aspects of the British monarchy in the fourteenth century. I am not speaking of King Edward's gay love affair with the narrator, Piers Gaveston, but of Edward's obsessive and histrionic personality. He was certainly not the first or the last ruler to allow his lusts to cloud his judgment, but he may have been one of the most disinterested and incompetent kings in England's history. Some of the scenes in the novel seem almost unbelievably melodramatic - such as Edward abandoning his bride on their wedding day for his male lover's company and actually giving him the jewelry that had been a wedding gift from the queen's father - but these are all documented historical events! Brandy Purdy's depiction of them is insightful and accurate, outrageous though it may seem that a king would behave that way.

Piers Gaveston makes a lively and personable narrator for this tale, and Purdy has given him a lyrical, compelling, and sometimes playful voice. She has created in Piers a believable man of many talents who nonetheless is only credited with one - his ability to seduce almost anyone with his good looks and wit. During the novel, Piers bitterly reflects on how his prowess on the battlefield and intelligence in statecraft go unappreciated by his detractors and his friends alike, as he is considered merely a pretty bauble to be used to sate the king's lust. Meanwhile, the man on the throne of England clearly is incapable of the job he has inherited. As Piers so aptly puts it: "Edward is the King of England and if he cannot find one misplaced shoe which he knows is somewhere in a single locked room then no wonder his subjects have no confidence in him!"

It is inevitable that this book will be compared to Susan Higginbotham's novel, The Traitor's Wife, which also depicts Edward's reign. Brandy Purdy's novel focuses on a narrower time period, includes a smaller cast, but still provides a chilling glimpse of the events which follow Piers Gaveston's death. All in all, I wish I had read The Confessions of Piers Gaveston before the other one, because I felt this novel clearly introduces and characterizes the King's three most serious adversaries: Pembroke, Lancaster, and Warwick, whom I confused in the other, longer novel. However, both books are very worth reading and highly enjoyable for anyone interested in this dark era of England's history and a king who makes King Henry VIII seem temperate and reasonable by comparison!

The Confession of Piers Gaveston is one of those novels that stands out from the commonplace of historical novels that do little more than dramatize historical people and events. This book is as faithful as needs be to the events of Edward II's reign as far as we know them, but in this case that is an added value, not what is wonderful about it. This novel stands outside history to present a complex and insightful look into the mind of a perceptive, intelligent, and much misunderstood man and a much misunderstood love affair. It is a book about how a person can strive for and long for real love and acceptance while doing everything he can to make that impossible.

Don't let the rather unfortunate cover image fool you. This is a serious though highly entertaining novel that confronts the desperate realities in Gaveston's life and depicts Edward as a childish, possessive, and even threatening monarch, his single-minded passion leading both men to their destruction.

This novel is a supreme example of the importance of the Indie publishing movement, demonstrating that the "old war horse" publishers and their pure profit motive deprives readers of high-quality novels that marketing divisions predict will not sell in the gazillions. Thanks to Indie publishing, books like The Confession of Piers Gaveston see the light of day. Purdy's sophistication and sensitivity, along with her frankness, make this novel a must read not only for people who are gay or lesbian but also the rest of us who thirst for insight and understanding into the universals of love and desire.

Great book. Easy read. Ideal or high schooler reader, seems to be written more for that audience. Nonetheless, and excellant story of bravery and heroism, I'd recommend everyone to read this.

I loved this book. Part of the reason i did was because Stanley Edwards Jr. actually came into our 8th grade class to talk to us. He was the father of our World History teacher. His story on paper is great but hearing him in person was even more amazing. The book i dont think says this, but he died last year right before or right after the book was finished. At least his story will live on.

From an entertainment-value prospective, this book is about as good as it gets. Edwards' story is so gripping, so exciting, I was hooked immediately and was sorry when I came to the end. Phend organizes Edwards' story into a readable, novel-like book while seeming to preserve much of the language he used describing it to her. Meanwhile, I also managed to learn a few things about the war, D-Day, and the plight of Americans in occupied France.

This book tells a great story of "how it really was" for a young pilot shot down on D-Day. You get an intimate sense of the adventure, exhilaration, and teror that accompanied WWII soldiers every step of the way. The story of Stan Edward's repeated captures and excapes from Germans as he tries to get to the American lines is both exciting and realistic. This is a great read for all ages!

This book is very well written and easy to read! It brings perspective to those of us who have never been to war, and who have certainly not been a POW. A great story about survival. Julie Phend did a wonderful job capturing the mood and details of Stanley's experiences.