George Books

As I began this volume, I prepared myself to be disappointed. The first section "Deep Below Our Violences" consists of poems that are well written with an interesting mix of topics and forms. However, they say little about the world and humanity that is not common poetic parlance. "Alexandrian Fragments" uses the burning of the library in Alexandria as its primary image; "Archaeology: A Subsequent Lecture" uses a dig; "Interval with Erato" a sensual/sexual encounter with the muse ...

The second section "The Recovered Midrashim of Rabbi Sab", in contrast, shows a very inventive poet writing distinctive, meaningful prose poems. "YHWH's Image" presents an image of Time which pauses, twitches its tail, opens it's eyes while God creates creates humanity in his own image, a precise image molded in clay on God's body. "The Turning of Lot's Wife" shows the wife as the compassionate one: "... she could not turn her back on even one doomed child of the city, but must turn her back instead upon the saved." "In the Well of Joseph's Brief Despair" presents the view of the world from the bottom of the well - and its continuing effect on Joseph after his life was spared.

The final section "Supplications" presents two strong themes - Hebrew vs. Greek thought patterns and the value of body. The topics supporting these themes include religious stylites (monks living on small, high platforms, the harrowing of hell, the death of the crucified man headed for paradise, Mary Magdalen ... in these poems the same formal strengths appear that appear in the first section. However, here Cairns more frequently has something uncommon to say.

Cairns' best work yet. Personal highlights from the collection: "Interval with Erato" "The Estuary" "Short Trip to the Edge." Sweet, special work.

Erotic, holy, erudite, and deeply moving! I love how Cairns engages both metaphysical mystery and sensual materiality in a single amazing moment, in a single turn of phrase--as in "Loves" when Magdalen observes "All loves are bodily, require that the lips part, and press their trace of secrecy upon the one beloved." I'd say the visionary has returned to American poetry.

I'm no convert, but I must say the charm and candor of these poems (not to mention the music and craft of the poems themselves) have me rethinking some of my knee-jerk dismissal of that old story. I'd heard he was a CHRISTIAN poet, but I didn't know he was also a POET. Amazing work.

Lets just say I never read books, in fact I hate reading. Even I read this book. I just couldn't put it down. The day I got it I read a couple of chapters but everynight i read a chapter before i went to bed. It was VERY helpful and helped make a major improvement our relationship. I strongly suggest that all couple read this book even the one's who aren't struggling. It is for sure a MUST READ BOOK!

Life changing..insightful..you wont find another book like this anywhere.

An easy to read book that was full of very insightful anfd practical ideas illustrated with specific examples

This book takes you systematically through the complex world of relationships. The book educates you about the hows and whys and then helps you to achieve change in how you related to others.

As an avid fan of "Remember Rain and Songs of Wonder for the Night Sea Journey," I was delighted to discover that a sequel has been created! Such a comforting and sensitive treatment of death and loss for children is rare. The Websters have done it again, this time using poetry to ease the transition into a new and at times frightening situation - but providing a way of viewing loss as not truly permanent. There is a connection or communion which continues to exist between those who have gone and those who remain. It doesn't have to mean the end of the relationship. There is a way in which our loved ones remain always with us.

The illustrations for this book are simply astounding. Click on the "search inside this book" feature to view the artwork...So creative and rich!

The authors, a mother-daughter team who jointly possess the talent to enthrall their readers with a marvellous story that is masterfully illustrated by the well-known George M. Ulrich, have succeeded once again in elevating the spirits of those who are searching for a temporary elixir in this increasingly complex world. (They have collaborated with Mr. Ulrich on other great books!) This is a story that should be read to children by their parents right before bedtime and even savored by adults who merely desire to retrace the time when they themselves were very young. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

In a time when the daily news is dominated by negativity and hostilities, this book gives my students and me hope and inspiration and reminds us that meaningful friendships will help us endure. The authors take me and my students to a place of calm and beauty and have encouraged my students' interests in each other's creative efforts. I have never seen such a thougthful and sensitive way of sharing with young ones how loss can be experienced in a way that transcends all hardship.Zen Shorts (Caldecott Honor Book)], [[ASIN:0805071954 The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: 20th Aniversary Edition], [[ASIN:1591470722 Gentle Willow: A Story for Children About Dying,The Gift of a Memory: A Keepsake to Commemorate the Loss of a Loved One],[[ASIN:0688115187 Badger's Parting Gifts.

Remember Beauty and Songs For a Blue Time is a gentle, picturebook poem offering a comforting allegory for being separated from loved ones by great distance or death. Strikingly illustrated in an unforgettable, solid-color style, Remember Beauty and Songs For a Blue Time recounts the fast bond between the lupine Great Lone Wolf and a tiny kitten called Buddha Baby. The two steadfast friends would always sing together; but then the time came when Great Lone Wolf had to leave Buddha Baby on a faraway journey. "And the Great Lone Wolf / Sings a song of wonder / That shines like / A giant red harvest moon / Rising in the East / Through the tree tops / Along the banks of the river // remember our love / travels a great distance / than the whole wide universe // plant the love / within yourself / and you will see // at night you will still behold / the star-scattered sky / and that sky will carry / my love to you." Also highly recommended is the previous picturebook of Great Lone Wolf and Buddha Baby, "Remember Rain and Songs of Wonder for the Night Sea Journey."

What a treasure trove: a comprehensive and compulsively readable overview of exactly what went on in the Caffe Cino. It stands apart for its ingenious structure: first a series of personal histories from writers, actors, directors, and others who were there, illustrated with rare and wonderful documentary photographs; and following, a wide-ranging anthology of plays that premiered at the Cino, many previously unavailable. From the postage-stamp stage to the twinkling Christmas lights on the walls, the hissing of Joe's espresso machine - even the Cino's hand-drawn menu is in this book! It's a brilliant portrait of the birthplace of modern American drama.

The book richly presents a time of great experimentation in theater. I
was not part of that scene and came later to an appreciation of its
innovation and contribution. It is a great service for those in theater now,
and readers of the book, to see the Caffe Cino through what has been brought
together from primary sources including photos and texts from its plays.
A time to remember but, with the book, a time to re-present and applaud,
as on a current stage.

This book was an exciting find for me. I was already a fan of many of the playwrights anthologized here, Sam Shepard, Lanford Wilson, Robert Patrick, and I had even known of their early work from other small downtown NY theaters . But I had never heard of the Caffe Cino--perhaps the first theater to be called an off-off Broadway theater--where many of these playwrights first got their start.

RETURN TO THE CAFFE CINO gives a fresh, exciting portrait of the non-commercial NY theater scene in the 1960's. The scene is painted here by a score of short essays by the artists that were a part of the creative fission that flared so brightly there and that still influences so much of today's theater. The eyewitness stories are usually hysterically funny, filled with that sense of freedom that ignited a movement that continues today in small independent theaters. And the editors of the anthology have filled the pages with vintage pictures, including one of a fifteen-year-old Bernadette Peters getting her start at the Caffe Cino!

The plays anthologized here include a shockingly wide range of genres, from commercial to experimental, from musicals to verse plays. I was excited to discover an early play by the writer of DREAMGIRLS, Tom Eyen, and also an play I'd never read of Lansford Wilson's, SEX IS BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE. There are screaminly funny and original voices in these plays, as in Robert Patrick's HAUNTED HOSTS; and some playwrights that I'd never heard of...for instance, Jeff Weiss, who wrote a staggeringly accomplished experimental play called A FUNNY WALK HOME, that in itself is worth the price of this marvelous book.

There are times in the theater when as Joe Cino announced: 'Ladies and Gentlemen, it's Magic Time!'

Sometimes it happens in one night when everything just comes together to create something that never existed before. At the Caffe Cino it didn't happen every night, it happened over years. It happened on a little eight foot by eight foot stage that was illegal to have in a restaurant. It happened when a group of young people began to explore what could be done with theater. For ten years it was 'Magic Time.' To get on stage in New York is all but impossible. To get on stage at the Caffe Cino you needed a play and actors. No script approval, no auditions, no fees. Build your own set, wear your own clothes, pass the hat at the end.

This book is a tribute to the place and the times. The authors managed to track down a surprising number of the playwrights, performers and associated people to talk about their times there. And they've included 22 plays that were first presented there. Sometimes that was the only presentation, sometimes the play and the actors went on to bigger (not better) things.

It's a marvelous book.

This two-piano version has been corrected and updated to reflect the original Gershwin "chamber" version, which is now commonly available for full orchestra. If you are listening to recordings, it is the version used by James Levine in his recording with the Chicago Symphony, as opposed to the old classic Bernstein/NY Phil. A great buy for the price, very accurate and easy to read, with a helpful analysis of the work at the beginning.

This is a great edition of this great piece of music. It one of the only full and true editions for the piano. It's a challenge that's for sure. But I'm very happy about my purchase.

Overall excellent. Deviates in some areas from traditional orchestral renditions -- leaves out a few minor portions and adds in others. Some sections very difficult (e.g. apparently carry-overs from 4-hand/2 piano version). But a great work nonetheless.

Simply said, I am using this as the feature of my senior piano performace recital at my college. This brilliant work is something to behold in its concerto form, something to enjoy it its orchestral form, and something that every one should study in its piano solo form.

Gershwin himself wrote this arrangement, so it can be safe to assume that everything in this piece is exactly how Gerswhin wanted it. I would imagine he would best realize what he original thought to be the important parts...

Ryan

I gave this to my granson who is 10 years old and he loves this book.

This is a well written, interesting novel revolving around Gaarder's most intriguing narrator. I enjoyed the vignettes throughout the book as well as the link to the greater story, but I felt as if I was watching a train wreck toward the end. I wonder why such an intelligent narrator was unable to deduce the obvious, which was, really, my only frustration with this novel. I did appreciate the novel's ancient Greek tragic turn, as Gaarder's other novels deal with saddness and loss as well, but not as darkly as this one. I truly felt angst as a reader, and thus, even if I didn't LIKE the outcome, I could certainly appreciate it in the contex of the story.

The Ringmaster's Daughter is told from the perspective of a young boy, Petter. Petter's overactive imagination is amazing, but sometimes gets him in trouble too. Petter is able to weave these fantastic stories, that are beautiful and sad. But he's a little crazy, too. He sees a little man that's not really there. This little man is always bossing him around. Petter can't distinguish between dreams and memories.

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. I thought it was really unique that we got to read the stories that Petter came up with. Sometimes Petter tells stories in a way that reveals something about him or something important that he can't say flat out. Every story that Petter tells is amazing and tragic and ends with a twist, kinda like this book. Gaarder uses his "story within a story" method yet again and it works.

This is by far the best book I've read in a long time.

This is my favorite book by Jostein Gaarder. I think what has made it a better story than others lies in its intensity: love, pain, treason, mystery are interwoven very tightly. Gaarder has succeeded in creating a very intellectual, yet eccentric narrator with depth. Among other things, the book discusses the core of creativity and the role of the creator. Frankly, I do not know what to make of the ending. Much like Gaarder's other works, the book is laden with beautiful moments and ingenious ideas.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends A RIVER AWAY as a lusty series of vignettes, with some luscious romance, & a passel of Revolutionary War stories from 1773 through 1807.

Telling the stories around the artifacts Marilyn Dungan unearthed, she breathes life back into a thrilling, frontier era. I do hope she acquires an audiobook version of A RIVER AWAY, because it will translate to the spoken word excellently.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends A RIVER AWAY as a lusty series of vignettes, with some luscious romance, & a passel of Revolutionary War stories from 1773 through 1807.

Telling the stories around the artifacts Marilyn Dungan unearthed, she breathes life back into a thrilling, frontier era. I do hope she acquires an audiobook version of A RIVER AWAY, because it will translate to the spoken word excellently.

Dungan's concise and descriptive language breathes life into her main character, Valentine Dalton. I keenly felt his love and passionate dedication toward his country, his wife, Hannah, and their children. Although this novel is considered a work of fiction, the author's portrayal of this man and his life made me feel that I was given a "true and accurate" glimpse into the heart and soul of this historical soldier and hero. It also shows the research that the author must have done to so clearly illustrate the period of time in which this story took place. I have enjoyed reading all of Marilyn Dungan's novels (The Laney McVey Series) and this book has piqued my interest so much that I would love to ask Ms. Dungan if she is going to make this into an historical fiction series. I sure hope so and I can't wait for her next publication!

I really enjoyed A River Away and read it in less than a day. I was really intrigued by author Marilyn Dungan's writing ability. I would recommend the book to readers that enjoy American history and adventure laced with a tender love story.

I seeked this book out for my mother (class of 78) and i found myself amazed at all the coverage the book had about her century. Each chapter was writen about each year and within those chapters you were filled with pictures quotes (from the people who lived the time) as well a time line (breaking down each current event within that year)!! It was so great i was caught on the train reading it and i was stopped by people who were breath taken from the pictures.

Its funny how the wheels where turned. I not only gave the book to my mother but i bought one for myself. At the moment i am still on the quest for searching more books like this, but ofcourse this time in my decade (90's)

Rolling Stone the Seventies by Kahn et al. admirably distills the current and past thoughts of many of the influential 70s writers, and a range of participants from politicians to musicians. It is too bad there is no accompanying CD or CD-ROM to go along with the book.

The collection -- mostly essays and pictures, places the 70s in a nicely printed coffee table book. Marginal notes including timeline reference the dramatic movement through the decade. As a reference or a momentary revival of the period, the book provides content and layout that no other book contains.

The wild, disillusioning, violent, and tragic face of the 1970's is covered in seventy (how apropos!) essays ranging from writers, entertainers, journalists, people connected with the entertainment industry, and more. Together, they bring about an exhaustively covered retrospective composite of that decade.

Self-expression and the alarming gung-hoism of the US is recounted by Chrissie Hynde, who was a freshman at Kent State on that fateful day in 1970. To her, it was "inexperienced people put in chrage of events they didn't know how to handle," but she lists Sinead O'Connor being booed by Dylan fans for her political slap at the pope on TV, realizing how self-expression has become suppressed in the name of patriotism.

The redemption of the South is told in essays about the resurgence of Southern rock, e.g. the Allman Brothers, and Jimmy Carter's winning the Oval Office. His advisor Hamilton Jordan defends Carter by his tackling tough issues Nixon or Ford refused to touch, such as the Panama Canal treaty, SALT, and the Middle East peace process, but was sunk by bad luck (the price of oil, the shah's ouster).

Nothing new is revealed in Dan Rather's essay on Watergate. Yes, that scandal fostered a deep cynicism and skepticism in journalism and among the people in politics. It was the American people who decided Nixon's fate, but the legacy of that is what do people do when confronted with similar guilt from a politician or celebrity? Do they want objective truth, or do they want something splashed out sensationalistically, with a "gate" suffix attached?

The music acts/artists covered here are David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, The Who, The Eagles, and Fleetwood Mac. The portion covering the Eagles is an interview with Don Henley and Glenn Frey, and something Henley said struck me as embodying what the 70's was. Henley lists the 70's as an attitude of disillusionment that the love-one-another ideal of the 60's didn't pan out and how a self-centered, self-concerned, materialistic mindset arose from the late 70's. Still, Glenn Frey does argue that the 70's gave some great names in music.

Fleetwood Mac carved their name into rock legend status with Rumours, and the essay on them is written by Mick Fleetwood's ex-wife Jenny Boyd, who writes about the breakups and affairs that were going on during the making of the album and how they affected her personally.

The essay that really drew me was Mikal Gilmore on his reaction to his brother Gary Gilmore, who became the first men executed after the Supreme Court made capital punishment constitutional after years of review, and the ethics of life and death in the Karen Ann Quinlan case. And disabled veteran Ron Kovic's quote on Vietnam rings true today: "a war ain't over until you don't have to live with it anymore."

Film critic Peter Travers says he hates what Star Wars led to: the spate of sequelitis, cross-merchandise marketing, and soulless sci-fi movies like Starship Troopers. SW also rode the crest during a brief time (1976-1978) when it looked like things would be better, as Don Henley also thought. But it was also an escapist thriller, something needed after Vietnam and Watergate, something simpler, exciting, and yet innovative.

There's also a chronological timeline by day listed in the margins, listing events as groundbreaking as Nixon's resignation to what song and album were at the top of the Billboard charts and what were the year's biggest movies, albums, and books. Mostly a pop culture stance on the Me Decade, but with asides to issues still relevant today.

I'd had about as much ironic 70's redux as I could take; maybe that's why this book was such a pleasure to read. That and the fact that it exceeded all expectations that the Rolling Stone imprimatur conferred. This is a collection of essays by people who were there and have something to say about what they saw. The perspective is intimate but the observations-- especially if you were a teenager then as I was-- are universal. Patty Hearst, Ali, Nam, Zep, Nixon, Evel Knievel, disco, Dr. J., it all came jumping off the page. Many of the decade's Who's Who-- Dan Rather, Chrissie Hynde (present at Kent State!), John Milius, Hamilton Jordan, Joan Baez-- are not just subjects; they're essayists! Oh and by the way, the photos alone are worth the price of the entire book.

As informative as anything I read as an Ivy League history major and as good company as my high school party pals. If you lived it or if you want to find out how we got where we are then you must read this book.

The book came recommended to me by a friend who chanced upon it recently. Though it's a bit short and the text studders in a few minor spots, the rules are well thought out. The biggest surprise is that a guy wrote this book. It's a great book to take to the beach and all daters should read it. Good Job.

I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's witty, insightful and will improve your perspective. You will better understand how we operate when dating and the game it truly is. Five stars!

When is the author coming out with his next book?

I bought this book thinking it would help me find that perfect guy but I was surprised to find it more helpful as guide to keeping the person person once i find him as well. Not long after I ordered this book, I met someone and was having some pretty bizarre feelings for t he first time. I knew this guy was special and I didn't want to blow it. My copy of this book arrived in time. I almost didn't bother reading it because I didn't want to look for another guy. But this book told me alot about how to keep him. The author really makes this an easy read and his rules are now my rules. i even sent him a letter through his publisher and he responded via email!
It's a quick read and a paperback and is pretty informative. Second edition?

Even if you're not looking for "Mr./Mrs. Right" or are even in a relationship, this book is a great read because you can connect with Mr. Plamantouras's examples and laugh while doing it. You can think of a friend who has been in that exact situation, and how something you have noticed in relationships became a "rule" in this book. "The Rules and Conditions of Dating" is very funny and short enough that it won't take you a week to read. I recommend this book highly to everyone and hope that you'll pass this recommendation on to others. I look forward to reading all of George Plamatouras's next books; even if they're not all about dating, I'm sure they'll be excellent, he is an excellent author.

I just want to add to the other reviewr's here and they all have excellent reviews. I have read about all of the decent books on this subject and I believe Roger Darling's book here hit's the nail on the head. This work is clearly the very best on this subject. You can read all the works on Custer but in the end this is the very best.

Paul Posey
Grovetown, GA

Darling has obviously done extensive research and throws new light on the attempt to make Custer the sole scapegoat for the disaster that befell the Seventh Cavalry at the Little Big Horn. As one who has extensively read in Custeriana, I share Darling's views for the most part. I am not sure what Gen. Terry meant when he referred to a Sad and Terrible Blunder, but I think the blunder applies end to end, starting in Washington D.C. and carrying down to Custer and his subordinates. There has been extensive discussion for years of whether or not Custer disobeyed the surviving order that Terry provided to him. Assuming he did, and I don't think so based on my own military experience (e.g. I'd have felt comfortable with a set of discretionary orders like those in marching to Washington D.C.) one wonders what would have happened to Terry if Custer had literally followed those orders as Terry later implied he should have. Perhaps we need a book called CUSTER BLINDLY OBEYS, TERRY DIES. READ THE BOOK AND SEE WHAT I MEAN.

A true revelation on what General Terry actually planned in his two point attack of pinching the "hostiles" between two columns and how the plan was poorly executed. The book provides an excellent overview of the campiagn along with Custer's trials and tribulations. But more importantly the roles of Gibbon and the Terry are discussed in detail. From Gibbon's failure to report the location of large villages that could have saved weeks of useless campaigning/scouting for the hostiles for Terry to Terry's incompetent ability to direct the blocking Montana column into position. This book provides a totally new perspective on the LBH battle. It also reveals the failure of Terry from the drawing of his plan to his hands on field decisions. Routes taken by Terry are covered in detail with excepts from diaries, areial photography and wonderful terrain maps. Darling presents well that Terry carefully planted total blame on Custer through indirect statements that leads one to believe that Custer failed entirely and "paid the price". Terry never mentions how he took a long detour through rough country without obtaining information from his true scouts, his engineering officer who knew the land or the crow scouts that lived there. How he marched only four miles in one day, lead the column to a dead end, and lost his gatling guns in a night march. However, he states in his report that Custer turned down gattling guns as if Custer could expect them to keep up with them while they failed to keep up with Terry's infantry. Some of Darlings critque on Custer's decision making from the divide to the LBH could be challenged but they make the book more interesting. Whatever mistakes Custer made, he received his punishment not just from his own but from many others starting with the command. It appears the campaign for Terry was not just a battle against the Indians but one of a war hero's battle with character.

In researching the history and decisions leading to, and culminating in, what is now known as the Battle of the Little Big Horn, I came across Roger Darling's work and became so engaged in it I find myself referencing his basic premise in discussions with other like-minded Little Big Horn "investigators". Darling allows the reader to understand each act in this tragedy from a literal, gramatical and historical perspective. While acknowledging what "experts" say TODAY about the events leading to the battle, Darling takes a fresh approach. "Where was Custer when he made decisions, what, precisely, did he base those decisions on and about what and to whom did he transmit those decisions"? This is no 'Monday morning quarterbacking' from an historical perspective; no 20/20 hindsight vision. Darling emphasizes that neither Washington, General Terry, Colonel Gibbon, nor Custer, himself, had the vaguest notion of understanding Indian warfare and allowed their bigotry to hinder any understanding. Darling reveals the Sioux Campaign of 1876 for what is was, a blundering about on the Plains by ill-equipped, ill-trained and ill-informed offiers and men of the US Army - pitted against what every soldier already knew of the Sioux and Northern Cheyenne; the finest force of fighting cavalry in the world. Did Terry and Custer have a clue about the hostiles' location? Was Washington aware the estimates of Indian strength were erroneous by 300%? And was Marcus Reno the most surprised man on earth when he discovered that the small band of Indians he pursued at Custer's orders led him directly against the largest concentration of Indians ever seen on the North American continent? Historical hindsight allows Terry, Custer, et.al. reasonable intelligence about the force they sought to corral and bring to battle. Roger Darling's well researched and in-depth writing reveals a series of blunders beginning in Washington in the Fall of 1875 and culminating in disaster on a Montana hillside on June 25, 1876. Get the book, devour it, think on it. Not only is it great historical reading, it finally makes sense of what happened and why.