Henry Books

What amazes me most is that this book is probably not even known about in most modern educational circles, yet it should be required reading in every 101 history class in academia. In fact everything Chistopher Dawson writes should be on that list. This book is brilliant on so many levels I couldn't address them all in this space. Christopher himself was one of those extreamly rare individuals who had the ability to truely see the 'forest through the trees' and even better he could write about it for the rest of us to understand. Its one thing to know about a giantic and complex topic and a whole different thing to be able to put it into understandable sentences. The amount of books he read, understood and then tied the thoughts together is itself a staggering feat. The bibliography iteslf list the 100's and 100's of books that when into forming Dawson's mind and then the concepts in this book. As Tiger is to golf Dawson is to history, particularly western cultural history. The other reviewers have done a good job of telling you what the contents of this book are about so read them to get the idea, I second all their thoughts and reviews. What I can add for you is about the author himself. He is from England and grew up in a wealthly and privilaged family of book worms. It is important to understand that he came from wealth for one reason only. He didn't have to waste time like the rest of us toiling away to make ends meet. He understood this yet didn't live the life of a rich playboy. He felt an obligation to his fellow man and dedicated his free time to learning history and then teaching it to the rest of us. He read an wrote for 5 to 10 hours each day. Married young and never divored. His uncle gave him a library full of books where he spent most of his time growing up. He went to all the finest schools and was a professor at Harvard later in his life. All I can say is that this book is well worth the effort of working your way though it. It will give you a deep down spiritual-like experience to know so much more about your roots and where you came from. Enjoy!

A rare book. It is profound, prophetic, insightful, level-headed. Christopher Dawson is one of the few authors whose books are still mandatory reading in university history circles because of the vastness of his knowldege exhibited in his books. Few writers have the ability to say as much so succinctly: reading one chapter gives you almost as much as a book on the same topic written by someone else.

We need to remember that if the West saw far, it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants. The giants of our past who, step by step, brought disparate tribes, from many races, speaking many languages and coming from different parts of the world, into one cohesive whole known as Europe. We had better find out how our ancestors did it, before we lose it all.

Catholic University Press of America is coming out with the Works of Christopher Dawson. To my mind, this is one of the most important publishing events in recent memory. In addition, these works are reset and contain solid introductions by experts in the field. This is third in the series (following Progress and Religion; and Medieval Essays).

The Making of Europe: An Introduction to the History of European Unity is an important book, which came out in 1932. Dawson highlights the central factors and contributions in the formation of European unity - the Roman Empire, Classical Culture, Christianity, the Barbarians, the Byzantines and Islam. Although Dawson was a Catholic, the book is balanced and can be enjoyed by just about anyone. I liked in particular the fair overview of Islam. It's fashionable to say that history books of the past ignored the contributions of other culture and only contemporary (and leftist) historians rescued us from the evils of "eurocentrism" and "ethnocentrism." This is silly, as anyone who has read history books from the past knows. (In addition, take for example the success of books in the nineteenth century such as Salambo by Flaubert, or the exaggerated claims of Masons of the contributions of Egyptians, which rival the "Black Athena" crowd).

In particular, I enjoyed Alexander Murray's introductory essay, which updates some of Dawson's arguments in light of current scholarship and also places this work within his oeuvre.

This concise little work attempts to cover the rise of nations from the crumbling Roman and Byzantine empires and the progress of Christianity all in less than 250 pages. Amazingly, the feat is accomplished with entertaining text. There is one shortfall in that there are no maps but the political characters and the events that brought about the European nations are given life. Very well done and a wonderful overview in its brevity and clarrity without paying the expense of literary color.

This book has to be the best survey of the beginnings of European, i.e. Western, civilization in the English language.

It reveals that European culture has its origins in the confluence of four vital elements: (1) the Roman Empire; (2) the classical, or Hellenistic, tradition; (3) Christianity (more specifically, the Catholic Church); (4) and the barbarians who infiltrated the collapsing Western Roman Empire. Each is treated in detail, and the combination of Dawson's encyclopedic knowledge and eloquent diction has the singular merit of making a vast and complex subject accessible and appealing to the educated reader.

To me what makes this book so special is the author's unique capacity to project the reader into the period under discussion without filtering it through the distorted lens of modern mores and attitudes that seem typically to color texts dealing with medieval history. He seems to have an intuitive understanding of what was important to the people of the period, and conveys this to the reader while at the same time he refrains from disparaging the so-called "dark ages" with remarks that emphasize its "primitiveness" by constantly comparing it to contemporary culture. (Aside from technological superiority, I see little basis for superciliousness on our part) Such parochialism of viewpoint is entirely absent from The Making of Europe, and for this, and other compelling reasons, I am sure that the interested and discriminating reader will find that it is, indeed, indispensible.

One would not think that a book on Marilyn Monroe by Gloria Steinem could be any good. However, this book is that and more. A picture book published in 1986, with photogrphS by George Baris, both the text and the pictures are quite good. That is a rare combination. The pictures were taken in summer, 1962 by George Barris and continue all through the book. These pictures were never shown in close to their entirety before, so that was the main reason for the existence of this book. The photographs, especially the beach ones, are some of the best ever taken of Marilyn, looking relaxed and very girlish in the last summer of her life. She does not look like she had any problems at all, much less the ones she had. The photographs did need a showcase, and this book is a more than adequate one.

The text is surpisingly good for something that was written expressly for a photo book. Usually, in those cases, the text is neither good nore relevant. Mariyln Monroe and Gloria Steinem are an unlikely combination, but that does not mean that it diod not work. It did-fabulously. Gloria Steinem does a insightful job oif writing about Marilyn's life, and who she was. Gloria Steinem, although the queen of feminists, is not overbearing here. Marilyn Monroe was no feminist, but Gloria Steinem recognizes that, and interprets Marilyn Monroe from a feminist viewpoint without going overboard. She could so easily have overdone things as Mailer did in his book. This is Marilyn in a different light, but one that suits her. The comments are enjoyable to someone who is not remotely intetested in anything feminist. This is a good book, not just a curiosity that raises eyebrows.

i loved this book "marilyn " because of the most beautiful pictures of marilyn, these pictures were the last pictures ever taken of marilyn and they show the real true beautiful person and that is norma jeane and the glamor beautiful star marilyn monroe. these pictures show two people one the shy , beautiful, loveable, true, norma jeane and the funny , glamor, beautiful, free, loving marilyn monroe, but it really shows the true norma jeane in these pictures. this book is for the marilyn fans like me, but i am more than a fan of marilyn's , marilyn is my idol my icon and she is real . i reccomened this book to whoever loves marilyn. this is a collectible. what i did not like about this book is the author gloria she says marilyn had killed herself, which i DO NOT BELIEVE , which i beleive is not true, but i ignored that , but the pictures are amazing.

This is a beautiful photo expose' of Marilyn just six short weeks of her tragic and untimely death. As the first reader/reviewer has stated, this book was written with references to the stars' sexual abuse and family history, which lead to her emotional problems dating from adolescence. Gloria Steinem wrote this work without any 'bias' to this movie legend. I found her writing to be sensitive and understanding throughout. George Barris' photographs are as beautiful and will forever be timeless images of this very remarkable screen star of the 20th century throughout the next millenium. This book should be considered a "must have" for the Monroe fan and collector.

Having recently read the axe-grinding Marilyn Monroe "biography" by Ted Jordan, finding this gem by Gloria Steinem (with beautiful photograhps by George Barris) was such a relief. Whether kind or unkind, most Marilyn biographers are men; it makes sense that a woman (and a feminist) would have a much different understanding of her. Steinem pays much attention to the remaining Norma Jeane personality in the grown Marilyn, a little girl who was abandoned, abused, shuffled between the orphanage and foster homes, and married off at 16. This, Steinem writes, explains much of Marilyn's troublesome behavior: she still had the insecurities of Norma Jeane, but tried to get the love she needed by being the sex symbol Marilyn.

This larger sized paperback is split into chapters, for example: "Norma Jeane," about her childhood and background, and "Work and Money, Sex and Politics" about Marilyn's battles with the Studio, her marriages, and her affairs with powerful men. Each chapter is a complete essay unto itself. And the accompanying photographs, most taken by George Barris the month before her death, show a natural, cavorting, and thoughtful Marilyn at 36 years old.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone curious about the REAL Marilyn Monroe. In truth, she had many realities, but I think that Gloria Steinem captures the most important one.

Gloria Steinem explores Marilyn's life through an empathic and feminist perspective in one of my favorite Monroe biographies. Ms. Steinem respectfully addresses the Marilyn's life within the context of her era and retrospectively. She also addresses the impact of Marilyn's childhood sexual abuse and family history on her functioning. Marilyn would likely be proud of this intelligent, compassionate, historical and cultural treatment. I place this book in league with biographies by Carl Rollyson, Graham McCann and Fred Lawrence Guiles. Of course, the timeless photographic images by George Barris accompanying the brilliant text are refreshing, delightful and touching. Steinem truly strives to understand Marilyn, celebrate her strengths and re-evaluate her for our times. Marilyn seems "to speak" through Steinem's insights and in Barris' photographs.

This is such a great song to sing and the book is a fun accompaniment, as well as the CD.
These types of books are great to bring in the car for some family fun time!

This is such a great book. I've used it with many many preschoolers and children, and the remark I always get is "again, again"...

I bought this book for my nephew and the entire family has enjoyed his singing the pages, he had it memorized in no time and he is only 2 years old!!! I would recommend this book to anyone with young children, not just for their enjoyment but for the entire family.

The younger loves the beautiful pictures and singing along. The older loves looking for all the little details in the pictures. They both love substituting the names of the characters for their own friends' names! Both learned their colors through this book without realizing what they were actually doing. This is one book I don't mind reading over and over.

I remember reading this book back in kindergarten and the first grade. It was the first book I ever learned to read. I loved this book so much that I read it until I had it memorized. It's too bad the original cover is not printed in this edition. I'm going to pass this one down to my cousin, Adam, whose only 4. Hopefully, we can continue the tradition so this will be his first book he ever learns to read.

I have purchased this book and the others in the series because of the timeless teaching tool that it is. I wish schools would go back to this book. I myself learned from these books because I was in a private school and I remembered this fact in the attempts to find a good teaching tool for my own son.

The next best thing is Abeka books if you can get your hands on them. My grandmother taught 3 year olds for years and she would start children every year with the tools in this book. I am so glad I found them in stock at Amazon. Every parent should buy them for their children. There is no better textbook available and the method is tried and true.

Last fall, we borrowed the Hooked on Phonics from a neighbor, and saw limited results with my 5 yr old son. BUT, I thought, some progress is better than none, so I begged my mother to buy Hooked on Phonics for Christmas. She didn't. I thought she was just being cheap by giving him a McGuffey Primer, but I have seen my son FLY through the lessons. He is reading with comprehension and retaining the words better than I ever could have imagined. Hooked on Phonics was just too colorful, included too much media (little books, big books, stickers, CDRoms, videotapes, etc.) and was, I don't know, just so HECTIC feeling. With these readers, we sit together on the couch, my son is able to go at his own pace, and have a real sense of accomplishment in just a 5-10 minute lesson. And he has an interest in reading *outside* of the lessons, also, which he didn't have before. I ENCOURAGE YOU to purchase this reader, as well as the entire set, since when you have one, you'll want them all.

BTW- *My son* asked Grandma for the next McGuffey reader for his birthday. Pretty cool, huh?

I bought this book for my 6 year old who is having some trouble learning to read. I love the book for its simplicity. The first couple of pages show the alphabet letters with the uppercase letters on one page and the lowercase letters on the other. My son has really enjoyed using those two pages to learn letter recognition. Then come the reading pages, and each page gets progressively more difficult as you go along. The black and white illustrations are simple and enjoyable but not distracting. Each page has a short lesson with letters and short words shown at the top of the page and sentences using the letters and words down below. My son has enjoyed trying to find the letters/short words from above in the sentences below. The earlier lessons use simple words such as cat and rat, but the lessons do get more complex as you continue along. I have enjoyed teaching my son some new vocabulary words with this book also as some of the older words are used such as lad instead of boy and nag instead of horse. The book is small and easy for a child to hold. This book is well worth the small investment, and I look forward to moving on to the other McGuffy's Readers as my son progresses.

Originally Attracted to the McGuffey readers for the novelty of it, I bought the Primer shortly after my first child was born. I read it myself, thought the pedagogy sound--particularly the writers' decision to avoid allowing children to use pictures to "guess" the words--and I came to appreciate the simplicity and clarity of the short lessons. While I use many other beginning reader books to help teach my five-year-old daughter to read, we have been working through the McGuffey Primer and loving it, primarily because the lessons are short enough to keep my daughter's attention and to allow her to feel at the end of each lesson that she has accomplished something.

I particularly appreciate the "Reviews" that come after each set of four or five lessons. No pictures means that the child must entirely depend on her/his memory of the words from previous lessons and on phonetics in order to make her/his way through the review.

One slight drawback would be that for some of the lessons, the story line is not clear enough to catch the child's attention. On some occassions, my daughter reads all the words, but she fails to comprehend the lesson's meaning. This is rare, but more modern readers do a better job of making their stories engaging enough that the child forgets how "hard" it is to read, and instead races through the book to find out what happens.

Nonetheless, I think that parents who are serious about teaching their children to read and who understand the value of supplementing their child's school curriculum, will appreciate the Primer and subsequent titles in the McGuffey series. At the same time, they will expose themselves and their children to a bit of Americana!

My father started me out on these books at the age of 4 years old. I managed to be one of the top students all throughout elementary and junior high...(I rebelled a bit in high school) Either way I was always 2-3 years ahead in my reading and writing abilities. I highly suggest these books to ANY parent who wishes to enrich the education of their children.

When I was in the fourth grade back in the 1950's I picked up, for 25 cents, a copy of "The Melendy Family", donated by an eighth-grader who evidently felt she had "outgrown" it. I wonder, does one ever outgrow this book? Almost 50 years later I still have it, read to shreds, patched and repatched with scotch tape, a book to be treasured forever and never thrown away. Elizabeth Enright told the story of a family of four children with such freshness and originality that she still received letters years afterwards from young readers wondering if the Melendys were "real". Enright set her story during the second World War and the three books comprising this volume span a time period of less than two years, from early 1942 to late 1943; but they are chock full of enough fun and adventure to satisfy any youngster -- or oldster -- fortunate enough to get hold of it. Holt publishers should do the world a favor and reprint this book as soon as possible. It's a gem for every child and every generation. I still marvel at the priceless find I picked up off a bookshelf at random 50 years ago for only 25 cents. It's paid me back a zillion-fold ever since.

I did not have the good fortune of reading about the Melendy's as a child. I discovered this book at the ripe old age of 39! I was in our local library just before a car trip, looking for books on CD to keep my children occupied while in the car. I chose "The Saturdays" because of the cover art on the front of the CD box and the cute description on the back. We didn't listen to that CD until the trip home. My children were silent (yes, silent) for over 4 hours. They were so very involved in the story. When it was over, they talked about aspects of the story they most enjoyed. It was a homeschool mom's dream. (my kids are 11, 8 and 8). When we got home and things were once again settled, I ordered the books that were available from Amazon, but I couldn't get "The Melendy Family". So, I got it from the library. I read it over the next two days. I'm struck by such unspoiled innocence. My Melendy books should arrive today and I will start reading the stories to my kids. After being an avid reader for, well, about 30 years, I am just now discovering that some of the best, most poignant fiction is written for children.

I read this book over and over as a young girl. My public library had the book in a Hardcover Complilation of the Three Stories in Sucession. I must have read it every summer, losing myself in the adventures with the children in this family. I have been looking for this book for my own daughter to read and have been unsucessful in finding it in any local library. I am truely looking forward to getting a copy of it for her to read. A must Read if your child is an avid reader!

A truly timeless work. Elizabeth Enright captured the essence of childhood in the war years of 1940. But the characters and the well defined relationships between them are truly timeless.I first met the Melendy children when i was in the fourth grade, I found the compilation of the first three books in the West End School library, In San Rafael Calif. This was in 1958 or so, and i still have that copy of the Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston edition.Starting with "The Saturdays" Madam Enright takes right into the thoughts and emotions of a magic time, and the Melendy childrens creation of the " Independent Saturday afternoon adventure Club". What has always amazed me is how real they Melendy children and their family become to the reader. The illustrations in this edition are done by the author herself,And each of the Melendy children has an adventure that is custom made for the individual child. its wonderful!
( Elizabeth Enright was an accomplished artist and related to Frank Lloyd Wright)
It doesnt take long for the reader to loose ones self in the Melendy childrens world. "The four story Mistake" introduces us to the Melendys quirky country home, and all the adventures we wish we had experienced in our lives. One chapter is devoted to the youngest Melendy's fascination with Lepidoptera, and his private world that includes an encounter with the rare and beautiful Luna Moth.Something that rang true for me, and my love of the Insect world at that age! In "Then there were Five" the Melendy children find a new brother, and have many other adventures. I recently re read my copy,and I found that at age 51yrs I still love this book, and wish for a happy childhood like the Melendy children experienced! Do yourself a favor, buy this book and keep it for the children in your family, of all ages!

Terry Kelly
Santa Rosa , Ca

When I was in my twenties, I found this book in my local library when I was studying to become a children's fiction writer. To date, I have never found another book of such absolute fresh, non-candied innocence. I have used the Melendy Family over and over as a sort of therapy for the more stressed and worldly times in my life, where I can be an observer into the lives of these four (later five) different children during the 1940's, where they embark on all sorts of different adventures. Elizabeth Enright was the perfect spyglass into the hearts and minds of children. When I read her books, it brings back my memories of how it actually felt to have all the wonder and giddiness and mischeviousness of being a child. And the rest of the world disappears for a while. I urge anyone who has lost sight of how it felt to be a child to read this book series.

I found this book to be well written and interesting. The author obviously is a good writer with lots of experience. His writing style is refreshing, and easily read and understood. I did not learn much about the main characters, Grant and Forrest that I did not already know therefore this book might be more useful for the novice student of the civil war than to the hard core enthusiast who has read extensively on the subject. I would buy Jack Hurt's other book on N. B. Forrest to read just because this one was so well written.

Great book..... a little more of a military analysis than I was ready for....but still a great read. Good insight into Grant, Foote, Forrest and the other players in the Western theatre........

MEN OF FIRE: GRANT, FORREST, AND THE CAMPAIGN THAT DECIDED THE CIVIL WAR details the two-week campaign Grant led against four flawed Confederate generals, documenting how this battle changed the course of the Civil War and the career of two major military leaders. From defensive mindsets and strategies to moment-by-moment encounters, MEN OF FIRE is a top pick for any military collection, especially those strong in Civil War history and biography.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I want to like this book much more than I do! Jack Hurst is an excellent writer. The portraits of the participants are skillful and incisive. The descriptions of battles capture the ebb and flow of the action and the reader is able to follow with few problems. He presents a number of ideas that are very interesting, logical and thought provoking. All of this makes for an enjoyable informative read covering the Civil War in the West from Belmont to the fall of Nashville. In addition, most of his views on the major players are the same as mine, allowing me to applaud as he skillfully skewers Halleck and Buell.

Why isn't this a five-star book review and why can't I be more complementary? I feel this book has a number of problems, none of which invalidate it but taken together diminish the value.

The idea of putting Grant and Forrest together in 1862 makes little sense. Forrest, in 1862, is not that important a person to link with Grant. Yes, they are both determined and both fighter but that does not qualify them for equal billing. The book seems to agree being almost all Grant with a few Forrest chapters. Only about two of the Forrest chapters are required for the story, I felt the rest were more marketing than history.

The idea of a desperate Grant, who may or may not be fighting demon rum, is the story line. Hurst has bought into the Longacre idea that Grant was fighting a serious drinking problem, in spite of the fact that history cannot fully support this idea. The author adds desperation, making Grant's actions as much fear of going back to being a clerk as a drive to win the war.

Maps are another problem. Most of them are two-page maps with the page split in the action being illustrated. No map has contour lines a major consideration at a number of points. The maps are not badly placed but the page split and selection is not helpful either.

I found footnotes to be a major problem. The author uses direct quotes without a footnote to support it. In once case, I think the quote was made in 1863 at Vicksburg not at the time implied. Additionally, one footnote may be for a paragraph that needs multiple footnotes. A couple of his better ideas are not footnoted at all.

Contradictions; the author reverses himself at least once on a major point. This was one of the ideas he presented, w/o footnotes, about 150 pages later, he states the opposite position.

Halleck was not the most honest of men. The author clearly dislikes him and goes out of his way to point out his failings. During this time, Halleck was trying to remove Grant while saying that he was protecting him. This is well documented but some of the book's statements need footnotes and better documentation. I have the same complaint for statements made about Buell.

I did not find any major errors in the book. I do feel that the author's emphasis some items is questionable and needs better documentation. Overall, this is a very readable history of the War in the West from Belmont to the fall of Nashville. I rate this 3 ½ stars that round up to four stars.

"Men of Fire" was everything that it was obviously supposed to be : a detailed account of the actions of two great leaders of the Civil War , one for the North & one for the South , during their first major Battle ,early in the Civil War and each being "basically untried & unknown" ! Of course I'm talking about the two principles of the book , U. S. Grant and Nathan Bedford Forrest !

This book accomplishes this main task , very , very well ! It gives "background material" on both great men , that I had never read before ! It really brought these two "legends & heros" into very clear view ! It shows , in this very early battle , thier motivations , their courage , their basic tactics , their vision , their learership , their greatness , their energy , their strengths , their disgusts with the folly & fools around them !

What it did in addition , that I thought most outstanding , was the clear way that it showed the "disorganization , the in-fighting , the jelousey , the politics , the poor planning , the lack of vision" of both sides in this vast conflict , shown so clearly , esp. at the very top of the leadership ladders !

Because of this clear evidence of the "truly medocore and untalented and stupid" majority of politically modivated leaders on both sides and especially at this very significant , early battle ; U.S. Grant and Nathan Bedford Forrest emerge as giants ,as noble warriors ,as dedicated leaders ,who are focused on only one thing : Victory for their cause ! They know what is at stake for their sides and they go at the truly terrible endeavor of a war ,that has been committed to take place , with one unyielding purpose : To achieve absolute victory , at all costs !

This was a great book , about two great men , deeply involved in a most horrible conflict !

Anna is the perfect teacher. Her simple wisdom will touch you.
I read this book 15 years ago and it changed me. Let Anna teach you.

This is one of the best books I have read!
Anna is true to herself and knows God in a very special way. Her friendship with Fynn is incouraging.
I love the way she looks at the (christian)worlds little boxes they put God and people in...
Big thums up for Anna!

Anna, at age four leaves a home of abuse and adopts Fynn's family. Her love of God, numbers, language, people, and nature are nurtured by Fynn's interest in science. Fynn takes the reader on a ride of laughs and tears, amazement, and discovery that illuminates the wonder of this child who matter-of-factly knows "Mr.God" and feels it is her business to discover all the beauty He has put around her, and to love it, "with all of me!" A must-read for anyone who wants to feel the exuberance of childhood and see the possibilities of the human soul.

First and foremost, I am an atheist. To my absolute core.

I was given my copy of this book when I was 17 (I'm 31 at the time of this writing). I have given away countless copies and I buy it whenever I find it, just to share it with another person.

I knew Anna dies. It said so in the beginning. But when she died, the means, the way, the reality of it was too much for me. I vaguely recall screaming "Noooo!" and hurling the book across the room. It was days before I picked it up and finished the last few pages.

I felt like I'd lost Anna.

But I didn't because she stayed with me. Or rather, her wonderment, her curiosity, her fearlessness.

To me this was not a particularly religious story. Odd thing to say. I take this book to mean that you should explore, and question, the world around you. Do not accept the answers you are given. Name things for yourself. Anna chose Mister God. I choose Nature. You choose what best suits you.

This fascinating true story of a young life with deep insights to share about existence kept my attention endlessly. Anna's perspective had no walls of limitation. To me, Anna has become a definition of hope and encouragement through love and curiosity aimed at people and relating to those people. This book can easily restore your beliefs in the dreams you once gave up. I also suggest reading the sequel ANNA, MISTER GOD, and the BLACK KNIGHT from Harper Collins Publishers. Thank you Mr. Fynn for sharing and extending the love and wonderful personality of Anna.

I love to read Moon Plane aloud to my children. Not only is the story enchanting, but the prose is poetic and adds to it's dreamy nature. Some children's bedtime stories are cute. This one taps into those magic years of childhood. Enjoy it.

This is the most wonderful children's book I've seen since E. Palmer Brown's Cheerful. My 9-month-old son literally crawls over the side of the glider and reaches for this book every night before going to bed and just beams at the pictures (and the font!). Now that he's crawling, he will often crawl over to his bookshelf and go directly for this book over others. It's amazing! Hurray for Peter McCarty!

Who wouldn't like to fly? The little boy in the story does, and our grandson would like to fly too. In a plane. Over cars. To the moon. And then back to mom and his plane-covered comforter for a traveler's peaceful sleep. And, of course, that old moon is winking in the window.

I was first introduced to Peter McCarty's work with Little Bunny on the Move. I enjoyed the art in that book immensely, and the art in Moon Plane is of similar style and equal quality. In addition, I believe the text in this book is better. This is a superb young children's book.

This book has some beautiful illustrations, and the simple story is very sweet. I read it to my 2.5-yr-old, and I was amazed at the way it hit home with him. He was not previously interested in either planes or moons, but he breathed the story in like air. It was the first time I saw him identify himself with a tale. "This is Liam," he would say, pointing to the boy on each page. I believe some part of him was truly convinced that he had flown a plane to the moon each night. His pajamas suddenly became his space suit. He loved the idea of "running back to Momo" and getting tucked into bed. "What is outside the window?" we ask him on the last page. "Did you fly a plane to the moon? And did you jump so high that you were flying like the plane?" "Yes!" he says, with delighted conviction. We just read the library book, but I am about to order a copy of our own for my second son's birthday, hoping that his first "flight" will be as magical as his older brother's was.

Even though this book was written in 1969, the practical ideas and observations it offers are just as valid today as they were then. If you were marooned on a desert island and you had only one book to read, this would be the one I would pick. I enjoy reading this book and I highly recommend it.

Read this book before you make your PowerPoint presentation and you will not regret it. The irony is that PowerPoint hadn't been invented yet when this book was written.

"Moving Mountains" is about the real world of making presentations in business and academia. The author really knows what he is talking about. His insights into the psychology of presenters and audiences go way beyond the superficialities of many of these books, written by consultants who never really had to keep alive a crucial project. One of the best features is that Boettinger wrote before anyone was using personal computers with PowerPoint, so he concentrates on the real and permanent issues of presentations, not the unimportant features of a specific tool, and it's easy to use his insights with modern technology. It is worth buying this book even at the high prices charged in the used market, and it should be a prime candidate for a reprint edition.

This is a must-read book if you ever plan to make a presentation, even if it's just a presentation to yourself as it will help you clarify your thinking. The book is nearly 40 years old now, but don't be fooled. The language is a tiny bit archaic, but the ideas and suggestions are golden and timeless. It contains ideas for presentation of ideas, organization of projects and critical thinking. The last chapter on generating ideas alone is worth the price of admission.

I've read books on public speaking and making presentations for 40 years. I've been a priest, trainer, speech coach for Microsoft, speech writer for a Supreme Court Chief Justice in Washington State, and coach of people who appear on television. Moving Mountains is so insightful that I have passed on Boettinger's ideas for the past 20 some years. No one source has more insights into human nature, graphics, and persuasion and is written in lush, practical language. Simply the best book I have ever read. Period.

Seek this book. I've read books on presentations for 40 years and teach public speaking across America. This is the most insightful book, in fact the very best book I've ever read, period. The psychological savvy into groups, the chapter on graphics and visuals, the hundreds of little tips and techniques is unmatched. His emphasis on meeting the audience's needs is brilliant. I've been using Boettinger's ideas for more than 20 years they've helped me earn more than a million dollars and still no author has matched his fluent style, novel-like descriptions, and breath of knowledge. Search and purchase.

Ms. Miller's childhood was extremely hard. Her father was a self-centered and self-centered junkie. He didn't even see his family as real people who had their own thoughts and feelings. Her mother tried the best she could to do the right thing. But it was wrong to keep the family together. She need to leave him when the opportunnities arose but she chose to stay with her husband so she would be a 'good' wife and mother. She was paralyzed with indecision. It was important to her to be seen as 'good'. Maybe in the 1950's it was unthinkable to leave your husband or give up your kids to give them a better life. The worst part for Ms. Miller was the daily beatings that she suffered from her brother. How can you survive that unscathed? Ms. Miller wrote this without self-pity. Yet you can hear the emotions that she felt clearly in her beautiful prose. She doesn't talk much about her adult life beyond how she dealt with her panic attacks as an adult. I highly recommend this book to people who suffered during childhood to see that you can overcome it at least to some degree. Also for people who love someone who had a bad childhood to understand them better. Everyone should have a safe environment. Not only had Ms. Miller survived her childhood she has accomplished much in her life. An amazing feat!

In telling her riveting story, Miller invents a new, jazz-like, rhythm and sentence--riffing far away from the moment into its meaning, and then careening back. Her clear eye and psychological precision are breathtaking. I couldn't put it down--nor could the several people I've given this to!

When I read that author Susan J. Miller was devastated to learn her father had been a heroin addict, I thought this a slender premise on which to build a memoir. After all, haven't we heard just about everything about abusive parents, addiction, and that word that no longer means anything, "co-dependency?"

Instead, I found a "must read" and life-changing book. Ms. Miller writes in a straightforward prose without pretention, refreshing after the overly self-conscious styles that too often find their way into novels or memoirs. She leads the reader through the "unpeeling of the onion," as it's called in recovery circles, where layer after layer of the past are pulled off, only to reveal another.

Skillfully, Ms. Miller lets the reader participate in this process as the horrors progress. She is never self-pitying. One senses that her recovery will continue for the rest of her life, and she offers a snapshot of half of that life, the rest, one hopes, to be lived in a grander richer way. For example, she seems unaware that although her father stopped using heroin when she was thirteen, he continued to use addictive drugs up until his death (the morphine to quell the pain of dying not included.) She also seems unaware that all addicts are completely self-involved, her father no different, thus rendering more sad her longing at his deathbed for a little more than "no lo contendere." Addicts tend to see and treat the world as an extension of themselves, and to treat their children as if the child is the parent and must care for the addicted adult. As one addict told me, "Heroin is my mother, my father, my child, my God." The addict never really change. It is refreshing to hear Ms. Miller's honesty that she does not regret her father's death. By the time one has been ripped into shreds by an addict parent, death is a relief.

Ms. Miller spares herself no step in mourning. She gazes steadfastly at the ruins and horror of her childhood, and she heals. Subtle as this memoir is, I would rather recommend this book to adult children of addicts than chirpy and cliche-filled self-help guidebooks (although they too have their place.) In Miller's memoir, I finally understood the effect of addiction on children.

While the plethora of recent books penned by victims may have inured some to the stories of pain that human beings inflict upon one another, few will be unmoved by Susan Miller's trenchant family memoir Never Let Me Down. Her story causes one to ponder again accidents of birth and marvel at the remarkable resiliency within us.

Relating the secrets in her life very much as she must have unearthed them, the author cuts back and forth between childhood experiences and the agonizingly earned knowledge of adulthood - the awareness that her father was a 15-year heroin addict unable to love, and her mother, a withdrawn woman, was afraid to see the rage-driven brutality of her older brother, Aaron.

Raised in an ever changing yet congruent series of oppressive New York City apartments during the 1950's, the youngest child of a window dresser whose friends were Birdland musicians - Charlie Parker, Stan Getz, Al Cohn and George Handy, all junkies, Ms. Miller suspected nothing. She writes, "It wasn't until I was twenty-one, a college senior, that my father told me he had been a heroin addict, casually slipping that information into some otherwise unremarkable conversation." And then she knew that his addiction explained their acrid family relationships, their penuriousness, and their many moves.

That knowledge, she remembers, "...not only brought uncertainty to every memory but was also the key to my past." Thus, with the aid of therapy, she begins to explore the murky labyrinth of her youth, reliving the gradual escalation of her brother's persecution from pokes to arm-twisting torture to throttling to sexual abuse. As an adult she tries to convince Aaron to see a therapist, insisting that he can find help but he refuses. "That was how it was," she writes, "He couldn't imagine himself as anything but lost, and I always saw myself as on the way to being found." That may have been her life raft.

Nonetheless, for Ms. Miller "being found" was an arduous journey. She learned that dysfunction in her family had spanned three generations. Her father's mother, Esther, hated men. This grandmother so detested her own son that she never displayed a photo of him in her home, she ignored him in her will, saying he was no good, yet lavished affection on Sarah, his sister. Sarah learned her lesson well, boasting that she could get her husband to do what she wanted by refusing to sleep with him. Ms. Miller recalls, "Her husband, the manager of an A&P, could not afford the fancy dresses and shoes that were stuffed into my aunt's closet, but each visit, newly acquired items were brought out for display. You could have such treasures, too, Sarah advised my mother, if you just played your cards right."

A victim, too, Ms. Miller's father lay on his death bed and admitted that he did not know how to love. To a degree, that may have explained his treatment of her but there was more pain to come: when a social worker asked him what he would miss most when he died. His reply was, "...yeah, sure, I'll miss my wife and kids, but what I'll miss most is the music. The music is the only thing that's never let me down." A callous blow to Ms. Miller, an even crueler barb for his wife who had stood by him.

Eventually, there is the recognition that father and daughter are bound together by shared pasts, histories that neither has wished to acknowledge. Perhaps that explains but does it excuse?

Today Ms. Miller is married and the mother of two children. She takes medication to assuage her panic attacks, and lives in a house, a real house, an old wooden one "with white curtains blowing at the windows." There is a garden, enough money, and she cooks dinner every night. She has survived.

Never Let Me Down is a complex intimate memoir. It is a sad yet triumphant story. Even sadder and more triumphant because it is true.

So engorged has the memoir field become with gothic tales of apparently normal families that it¹s tempting to read Miller¹s book and think: Not another description of growing up with a father who is a monster of self-absorption, a mother who is lost, uncertain, uninvolved, an older brother who beats his sister and forces her to have incestuous sex. What saved Miller was her determination to tunnel her way to the roots and depths, to find what made her family ³four people so unhappy, so angry, so unable to help one another, to make anything work out, as if we all had been hit in the head, walking around stupid and enraged.² What saves the book and lifts it well above the psychobabble it readily could have become is the level of Miller¹s analysis and intuition, the remarkable quality of her insight -- the kinds of observations that make you gasp like reading good poetry does.She starts by putting the central piece of the puzzle in place. Her father, a jazz fan and friend of some of the outstanding musicians on the New York scene in the Œ40s and Œ50s, casually told her when she was a senior at Bennington that he had been a heroin addict for 15 years, starting when her mother was pregnant with her older brother Aaron. The way he drops his admission into conversation says as much about him as does the fact of his addiction, a habit which left Miller¹s mother immobilized with fear and caused the family to move from one depressing apartment and frightening marginal neighborhood to another in Manhattan and in New Jersey. More to the point, the instability made young Susan the only parent in the family. ³My two jobs, being hit by my brother, and listening to my mother...required skill.²Miller goes back and forth in time, telling her story in vignettes. She avoids martyring herself and demonizing her family. This is how it was, she writes, in a detached but vivid manner. Rational by day she grew up flooded with survival instinct that left her sleepless at night. What if there¹s a fire? A prowler? Lying in bed, she thinks she¹ll never have a child, that it¹s irresponsible to make another person go through childhood.Once she learned that her father had been a heroin addict when she was growing up ³The parts of the story were all around me, words flung on the floor, the gibberish I had been talking, but the difference was that now I might be able--I had to be able-- to pick up the words and put them together with other words, memories, feelings, and they might, they had to, make sentences, make a history, make sense.² She thinks about the Yeats line, ³In dreams begin responsibilities.² She thinks back, to the ponderous prewar apartment they lived in from the time she was five until she was nine, a place she knew was evil. She thinks ahead, to how she has to confront her father, tell him he is making impossible demands on her, drawing all the air out of the room, out of her life.Not for Miller the easy consolation of fiction and film. No single insight, no feel-good scene brings closure. But she comes to terms with what is endurable, draws the line at what is not. She rebuilds herself word by word and act by act in a description all the more inspirational for being real.