Hoffman Books

Josephine Johnson captures the spirit of life of so many dirt-poor farmers of the economic depression of the 1930's. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of 1935 was published at the very depth of this sad time. I was transported by the magic of her writing to the point I found it difficult to put the book aside until I had read it all. I recommend this book as reading for all who want to feel the anguish of the people living and struggling in this difficult era. This is not a light-hearted tale but rather an all-too-real portrait of life at the edge of hope.

Josephine Johnson won the Pulitzer Prize for 'Now In November' in 1935 at the age of 24. This was her first novel. It is a shortish work, running all of 231 pages, but what fills these pages is astonishing. Powerful and wise, wrenchingly real, 'Now In November' immerses the reader into a world harsh and unforgiving during a time of trial and drought, rendered through a poetic prose that cuts to the quick.

The narrator is Marget, a quiet soul who sees all and feels deeply yet cannot utter what fills her mind and her heart ~ and therein lies her fatal flaw. Marget seeks solace in the woods and hills and the small beauties of nature, finding loveliness where she can even as the world around her agonises from lack of rain. Despite the drought, work on the farm is unrelenting, rounds of planting and milking and incessant hoping for rain ... and always, always running beneath this a continuous fear and worry to make the mortgage and meet the debts.

Adding to the worries of farm and weather is eldest daughter Kerrin, beautiful but dangerously insane. Her erratic behaviour hones a razor edge to all that the family endures. Everything comes to a head when a hired man arrives and falls in love with the youngest daughter, Merle. Merle is the most resilient of the three sisters ~ hearty, jolly, loud and opinioned, the antithesis of her sister Marget.

Kerrin immediately sets her twisted sights on Grant in a wildly unhinged manner which proves her complete undoing. Behind the scenes, scarcely noticed, Marget loves Grant with a hopeless, mute, soul-cracking love; she can only stand by helplessly as Grant suffers from his own unrequited love. Merle does not love Grant, she loves the land and her mother and her father and her sense of duty; there's no room in her heart for more. Marget has the room, she'd welcome Grant unreservedly, but dares not suggest her feelings to him as she understands she'd never fill Grant's emptiness ~ the void that only Merle would satisfy.

One night a fire starts on the farm, ravishing more than land and crops. The mother is mortally injured, and Kerrin finally succumbs to the dark demons in her mind. Grant, cast adrift amongst the wreckage, arrives to a final, permanent decision. After that nothing is the same.

Yet, the land remains, and the farm, and the debt. And Merle, to bear her burdens and work like a man. And Marget, who in the end loses the most but must endure, refusing to believe that this is the end. She says as much. 'And if this is the consolation of a heart in its necessity, or that easy faith born of despair, it does not matter, since it gives us courage somehow to face the mornings. Which is as much as the heart can ask at times.'

Almost breathtaking in its honesty, this is a truly remarkable novel written by a genuine talent.

Johnson attended Washington University from 1926 to 1931. In 1955, Washington University awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. She was actively interested in the problems of contemporary society and was a member of various organizations that deal with inequality and poverty, including the St. Louis Urban League, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the Cooperative Consumers of St. Louis.

Yet in a way, I don't think much more could have been said in Johnson's novel. The story of a period in the life of a family of farmers in the Depression era raises some interesting questions on life and the reasons for why things happen the way they do. Often lonely and sad in its tone, Johnson still tries to instill in her narrator a sense of not hope, but not despair either. It's an interesting work but not one of my favorites.

One of the great experiences of my life was reading this book for the first time. It breaks my heart that English teachers are wasting time on second tier works, or repeating the same novels each year for decades, when there is a work of exquisite literary beauty full of strange and ambivalent revelations languishing and underappreciated. Please, if you are an English teacher, read it and recognize its perfection. Three sisters... a dirt farm... the depression... language that shimmers before your eyes on every page. Introduce this American masterwork back into the high school literary canon!

Tough times down on the farm. It's a Depression year and farmers are just barely scraping by, but this year troubles are compounded by a relentless drought. The Haldmarne family, ruled by a hard, somewhat tyranical father, try to survive, and barely do.

Tragedy shows its face in the character of one of the three daughters, Kerrin, who is filled with anger and sets herself apart from her family; after a blowup with her father and the hired man Grant, she commits suicide. The mother dies in a fire. Another tragedy, quieter though just as painful, is revealed in the unrequited love the narrator Margret, another daughter, has for Grant, who goes away after Kerrin's death.

Johnson writes a chiseled prose that is unsentimental and direct, and it works well with her subject matter. "All I want is a chance to live without shoveling out everything I can earn," says Haldmarne at one point. It was the universal cry of the farmer during the Depression. Johnson's book depicts those times well.

I love the layout of this planner! I'm the type of person who can only handle one week at a time n this planner allows me to do that. Also the gotta do and should have done, etc. column on the left really helps me plan the long term events. Of course the humorous and surprisingly helpful suggestions on the left is a plus. I can't live without this planner!

Just to let you know, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this planner. There have been days when I've been pulling my hair out but when I consult my planner I see something in the margin that tickles my funny bone and I get a new perspective. A must-have if you tend to be a dollar short and a day late!

This is my third year to use this calendar. I always get a laugh when I pull it out at a meeting. I love the weekly list of things "I gotta do" and "things I should have done long ago". It's easy to see which unfinished tasks need to be bumped over to the following week. I also enjoy the weekly advice pages. There are some good tips, and always something to make me smile. This calendar is definitely for the person who doesn't take him or herself too seriously.

I purchased this product for 2 years running for my brother. This year my first Holiday purchase is for ME, and it's this planner. Love this thing: it's hilarious and packed with good advice for getting the job done after you've waited 'til the 11th hour. Better than other Procrastinator-focused planners because it's quite smart and reeeally funny. Thanks!

I bought the 2006 version and absolutely loved it -- the witty features for each day were great for amusing oneself if you had an extra minute or two. They also offered great advice for keeping organized. The format is also very good, giving you lots of space to write down appointments in addition to check-off columns to the side. So hence, when 2006 was over I hungered for a new edition. Upon receiving the 2007 year, I was seriously disappointed to see that there is zero new content, other than a slightly different cover. The format is also unchanged, which is good, but I didn't want the equivalent of a planner refill. If this is the first year you're getting this planner, by all means do so -- next year, I'm moving on.

My daughter would always give me a hard time about reading until we discovered Sharon G. Flake. Now she wants her whole collection and I will get if for her too, to encourage her excitement to read.

"The Skin I'm In" is fabulous, but I don't think this lives up to it at all. The first third of Bang! is an excellent evocation of a family and a neighborhood in decline.

After that, the book itself declines into unbelievable, author-directed silliness. Even if everything that happens to Mann after his father abandons him in the country is taken at face value, I find it impossible to believe that for a whole month no family member and no person in authority thought to look for the boy at the stable where he loved to go daily. A stable that became convienently empty just in time for him to move into it.

And to call the child Mann when the whole book is about rites of passage into manhood is just ludicrous. The final scenes of supposed redemption between Mann and his father are some of the most unintentionally hilarious scenes I have even read in fiction of any type.

The many messages of the novel are worthy, but the novel itself is quite flawed.

Terrence Clarke
"Bang"

Bang Review

The book "Bang" by Sharon G. Flake is an invigorating story to read. This book shows the struggles between man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. his environment. The main character in this book whose name is Mann shows the troubles that many African American males experience, such as a troublesome neighborhood, racism, and the hardships of being torn between being a boy and being forced to grow up.
The conflict of this book can be seen in many different ways. The book makes it out to be that Mann, the main character in this book's father drives him out in the woods and leaves him, forcing him to find his own way home. However I interpret it to be something much deeper, the actual conflict in this book is that an African - American adolescent is left alone to fend for himself in a white man's world.
This book has a lot of strong quotes. One of my favorite quotes from this book is on page 187, 5th paragraph, 1st sentence where Mann says "Boys aint men yet". This is one of my favorite quotes because it shows how Mann feels about the situation he is put in. which is his father forcing him to become a man when he hasn't finished living out his childhood. It is also one of my favorite quotes from this story because I can relate it to my life. Everyone is giving me big responsibilities like choosing my future when I am still a boy.
All in all this entire book is a exciting experience to read. It goes far into the horrors of the "ghetto" and how people from the "ghetto" look at the white man's influence not only the black neighborhoods but influence the whole nation. If you are looking for a good book with nonstop adventure while still having touching moment's that make u want to cry. Bang is the right choice for you.

Bang! Thirteen-year-old Mann can still hear the sound of the gun which killed his six-year-old brother two years ago. He and his parents still struggle with the death and with the breakdown of their family because of it. Because his brother was gunned down while playing on their front steps, Mann will only enter the house through the back door.

Believing he is too soft for a young black boy on the brink of manhood, Mann's father decides to toughen him up so he will not be a victim of the streets. Using an ancient African ritual, he abandons Mann and his best friend Kee-Lee at a campsite miles away from home, with only a cell phone and a gun. He hopes that the struggle to get home will make men of them. But his methods are different from the African custom. In Africa boys are guided into manhood, not thrown into the streets. What results are tragic occurrences and senseless violence, which ends another life. Suddenly Mann is alone and spiraling into an almost surreal existence. As he struggles to grasp control of his life, his life preserver is his gift to draw; it is his only link to sanity. Mann becomes bitter about his life and he abandons his family; he no longer needs them.

BANG! Is a meaningful story, which is filled with disturbing circumstances. Flake delivers this raw tale with the sad, yet vivid, attitude of teenagers in urban cities. At times the story was somewhat muddled and some events were a little hard to digest, but an encouraging aspect is the relationship between Mann and his father after the tragic occurrences. His father finally accepts his own misguided judgment, and fights to recapture his son. This time he wants to be a real father. BANG is Flake's fifth book and this portrayal of inner-city life is quite sobering.

Reviewed by aNN
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I read a book by Donald Goines about a raped woman and the whole time I was reading it, I was thinking "Why in the world would someone write a book like this?" As much as I love all of Flake's other books, that's the exact same thing I was thinking about this book. The book started off very interesting about how one brother deals with another brother's death, and it reminded me of a cousin which gave me good and bad memories. But then the book launched off into this twisted relationship between the living brother and his father. This book deeply disturbed me during the camping "results" and after that it just became so off-the-wall. I started questioning my donations to homeless people and who really needs it. I can't say the book was bad...it just wasn't for me...and definitely an extreme difference from the other books that I've read by Flake.

a level headed lawyer and his boyhood blood brothers go grouse hunting with a fundamentalist landowner who winds up shot dead. Pacing is deliberate, tone is southern colloquial. rich in setting and atmosphere.

"Blood and Guile" is a rather leisurely read; if you're expecting lots of action and thrills, you don't get them. However, Hoffman has a strong command of his environment, and even though there are many flaws in this why did they do it?, it's still worth reading.

Four men go off hunting, and right away we find out that one of them has been killed in an unfortunate "accident." Hoffman is to be commended for not making the West Virginia law enforcement the typical hillbilly buffoons. Bruce Sawyers is a modern, healthy, young efficient sheriff whose investigation leads to the possibility that the accident was indeed a murder.

Although Walter is certainly not the most stalwart of heroes, his emergence at the end makes up somewhat for this lack of bravado. Along the way, we meet some interesting characters including Phyllis Duke, a woman with a very strange history; Drake Wingo, the he-man hunter who has found his newfound "fame" pivotal in his decision making; Cliff Dickinson, a rather foppish artiste type who is the supposed murderer; and Boomer, a clerk at the Grizzly store whose brevity does not diminish his interest. Unfortunately, the main female focus is Josey, and she comes across as being rather selfish and uninteresting. The inclusion of the Prince from Arabia story only serves to slow down the otherwise engrossing story.
There aren't many surprises; you can pretty much figure out what is going on, but it doesn't dilute the quiet impact of this story. Drake's exposition while hunting in the last section is a hauntingly realistic expose on how we refuse to face the truth.
RECOMMENDED.

After Tidewater Blood, the first of William Hoffman's novels I read, I was primed to enjoy this new one. Sadly, Blood And Guile suffers from a too-languid pace that detracts from the plot line. The primary character, Walter Frampton, who stood as a fine piece of believable characterization in the previous book, comes across here as ineffectual, even dull in a doomed-romantic fashion. It's a pity, because this tale of a supposed hunting accident has possibilities that are never fully realized-all as a result of Frampton's failure to step off the pages as he did so compellingly in Tidewater Blood. Certainly, Blood And Guile is worth reading, but it's just not on the same level as the preceding book.

Four men spend a weekend together, hunting in the West Virginia mountains. Three of the men are life-long buddies, one is an acquaintance - an outsider. A shooting accident while out hunting sees the outsider shot dead. The local sheriff is not inclined to believe that the shooting was an accident because the facts don't match the story. The story is told from the perspective of one of the three friends, Walter Frampton. He is a lawyer and is drawn into it both on a professional and personal level. He begins to realise that he didn't know his friends as well as he thought.

Once the excitement of the hunting accident passes, we seem to meander from scene to scene without achieving much. There is a side-story which doesn't have any bearing on the matter at hand and, ultimately does not resolve itself. Plotting for his next novel, perhaps? While interesting it loses momentum midway through, consequently my interest began to wane, I'm glad I borrowed this from the library, rather than bought it.

Narrator Walter "Raff" Frampton, a small-town Virginia lawyer, sets the tone in this fine Southern novel of buddies, secrets and death. Walter, a non hunter, is on a grouse hunt in the West Virginia mountains with two of his childhood buddies and a fourth man, the owner of the land - who ends up dead. Walter sees nothing to doubt in his friend Cliff's version of the accidental shooting but the country sheriff raises questions that culminate in Cliff's arrest.

A mild, correct man with social hankerings and a lonely but comfortable routine, Walter begins probing when his legal maneuvers fail. The real hunter of the group, Drake, brushes off his questions and Walter is wounded to discover Cliff confides more confidently in Drake than his lawyer.

The town's lofty pretensions and grubby secrets unfold as Walter doggedly pursues his case. A man who has invested his high opinion unwisely, reserving a low opinion for himself, Walter finds unsuspected reserves of quiet determination. Atmospheric, written with perfect pitch, Hoffman's ("Tidewater Blood") novel successfully combines literary themes with suspenseful pacing.

I've only read _Caliban's Hour_ by Tad Williams but I liked that much better than this book. I've also read some shorter works by Hoffman which I've had mixed feeling on. This seemed more like a long, short story. It did seem rushed because there was a lot in the story. A main setting of some men having dinner and then one of them telling a story and then the characters in that story telling many stories.

As confusing as that sounds it wasn't a confusing read. I like the arabian setting and it was funny at times but nothing really impressed me about it, except for one of the stories told within the main story.

I think it would be more impressive for someone just getting into fantasy as opposed to a veteran. Though as the last reviewer mentioned it may not correctly represent Williams' 'normal' style of writing.

A "Arabian Nights"-era group who are taking gifts from their Caliph to a "Cauccasian" prince, are hunted by a "Vampyr". In order to survive, they accept his wager to tell a tale that is more sad than his.
* POSITIVE ELEMENTS: Self-sacrifice plays a large role in the book. When one of the men is seriously wounded in a fall, the others will not leave him, though it will slow their flight from the monster. At the end of the story, though the monster is getting ready to kill him, one of the protagonists cries for the beast's neverending lonliness.
* SPIRITUAL CONTENT: The majority of the characters are Muslim and constantly offer praise to Allah. Two of the characters claim to be Christian, but flee their faith because the Church won't allow them to marry. They are relatives. The main character speaks of Muslims preaching in front of Christian churches and converting many of them to the "true faith." This is somewhat disconcerting from a Christian perspective, as this book is obviously written on a grade school level and may affect young minds.
* SEXUAL CONTENT: .The book doesn't have any sexual content, per say, though the main character refers to the act by a crude term. Another character, while telling a story, mentions that he, as a young man, was following a girl who had promised sexual activity before disaster strikes. Two relatives marry, leaving their homeland and, presumably, their Christian faith to do so. One of the illustrations shows an Arabian woman in revealing attire.
* VIOLENT CONTENT: People are killed in a number of ways. One man is bludgeoned in the head, another's throat ripped out. Blood is shown to be virtually non-existent on corpses, as the creature that is stalking them feeds on it.
* CRUDE OR PROFANE LANGUAGE: One word. One man uses the phrase, "Am I a Christian or a Jew?" as a swear phrase.
* DRUG AND ALCOHOL CONTENT: The story is being told at a celebration where many of the characters are drunk from too much wine. At one point, a servant drops (and destroys) a barrel of wine.
* OTHER NEGATIVE ELEMENTS: The book leaves one loose end. The main character mentions, in a story that he tells, that he regrets never having seen what was in a package that he delivered to a wealthy woman in his youth. We never find out what this item is. Also, the resolution seems a bit forced. The villain's story is predictable, at best.
Another thing to take into consideration is that this book deals with rather mature subject matter, considering its reading level. I'd say that a sixth grader would be able to read it with full comprehension. The violence and religious viewpoint should be enough to give Christian parents pause.
* CONCLUSION: For an adult, a decent, somewhat unfulfilling read. Not for the kids, though.

A very interesting book. A group of travellers is ambushed by bandits. Then, their companions are slowly killed off by this mysterious "vampyr", which drains them of blood. Then, it challenges them. Whoever tells the saddest story lives, but in the end, it wins. When the boy is chosen, his pity and sorrow about it's plight somehow angers it(why it let's them go is beyond me.) and it lets them go, it's too short though, and the stories, except for the Vampyr's are not very sad at all, but otherwise, a good book. Good reading for all ages.

Hi all,

I'm an absolutely _huge_ fan of Tad Williams. I've read everything out there from Talechaser's Song to Mountain of Black Glass (and read MST three times). I've read both of his shorter works: Child of an Ancient City and Caliban's Hour. In reading Child, I found the prose weaker than what I was accustomed to with Tad: perhaps this was due to the condensed nature or perhaps it was that much of the text was actually written by Nina? I'm undecided. On the whole I enjoyed it more than Caliban's Hour. I would recommend this book to fans of Tad but not to the uninitiated.

I am a big fan of Tad Williams Dragonbone chair series. This is different but still very good a nice variation on the traditional vampire story.

I've spend decades hiking and backpacking with my dogs in parks and wilderness areas across the country. My first trips were made with a mutt I had in the 70's, now I hike with a pack of three purebreds who range in age from 10 years to 8 months.

I've read most of what's out there on hiking with your dog. This book was unremarkable largely because it was so poorly organized and prepared. There isn't any new or particularly insightful information included - and I suspect it is a vanity press edition as I was distressed at the large number of spelling and grammatical errors in the book. Gary my friend, that's the Monks of New Skete, (skeets are what we shoot!)

Hiking and backpacking with your dogs is a wonderful way to bond with them but I suggest you find a different book to guide your way.

Written by an avid hiker and proud dog owner, Dogs on the Trail: Hiking, Camping, and Traveling With Your Dog is a no-nonsense guide to hitting the trail with a faithful canine companion. Chapters cover selecting the right type of dog for backpacking excursions, recommended equipment and preparations, how to train one's pooch, etiquette on the trail, special notes for dealing with adverse weather or long trips, and much more. A compact guide written in plain, down-to-earth terms, Dogs on the Trail is a "must-have" for anyone interested in sharing the wonder of nature with a beloved animal companion.

I was very disappointed by the book. I thought it would contain more than an emergency kit checklist and multiple references to other things to do with dogs. It was definitely not worth the money. It was also frustrating to see multiple typos as I read the book. My advice...keep looking for another book. I am returning this one as soon as the mailman comes back.

Hoffmans' updated version of this dog-hiking staple gets to the heart of the matter and provides in-depth horse sense for making your dog your best hiking companion. From selecting a dog, to hiking training and etiquette, this book covers the bases and inspires the reader to get out on the trail and take a deep breath.

From basic to advanced, picking the right kind of dog to canine first aid, what you need to know is here. Many helpful facts and advice that anyone considering dog ownership and/or hiking should know. This book offers a bonus - it can be read just for the joy of reading, as well as the great experience and guidance in contains.

To know "what" the book is about, read other reviews. To know "how" the book was, read this review.

This is the only Harlequin Temptation I've read.

Usually, I assess reviews online, then buy books, just as I did with this one. As I was reading it, I thought it wasn't really fun or entertaining. It was dull and dumb. The dialog was practically missing. I found the reviews here very misleading. This book had potential for being exciting, and in my case relateable, but sadly went downhill from the start. I forced myself to finish it, could barely do it. When I simply cannot recall much about a story, it means there wasn't much to it in the first place, or it wasn't that good. The hero was okay, the heroine wasn't a great one either, but they did have a slight sweetness about them, leading to a few nice moments. She wasn't interesting or especially respectable or controlled. She lacked strength, for the most part. And the story was super dull. This is what I get for looking forward to a book. But it does seem there are several spectacular Temptation books out there, and I will not let this one put me off from reading them. Oh, and there was something odd about the sex scene. It seemed to have lasted 15 seconds. Strange. It should have been fully included or fully excluded, because this just made it curious and embarassing. There's alot of casual unromantic baseball going on in here, so prepare to groan from boredom. Most of us don't have the time or the mind to waste on what was perhaps best unpublished.

I generally enjoy Kate Hoffmann's work. This book was no exception. The plot was fun and the characters were very likeable. I generally do not enjoy books featuring San Francisco as a backdrop because it is usually inaccurate. However, Hoffmann was on the nose with much of her description. Her books usually feature a fair amount of humor which I enjoy. Although I did not care for her two hero books (reminded me too much of partner swapping), I give this one a thumbs up. Try her other book "Sweet Revenge" too.

This was one of the most enjoyable Temptation Romances I've ever read -- and I've read a lot of 'em! The story line is most unusual, the characters fun, the romance passionate. Nora Pierce suffers from an image problem -- the image of her alter-ego, a prissy advice columnist, is taking over her life. By wearing a wig and making a few other cosmetic changes, she seduces a sexy fellow newspaper employee -- never realizing he knows *exactly* who is seducing him. The characters have a 'Moonlighting' style of repartee and they can raise the temperature just by looking at each other. Buy this book before it's gone!

San Francisco Herald etiquette columnist Nora Pierce panics over her lack of a relationship let alone having sex with a boyfriend. She wonders if her alter ego Prudence Trueheart has taken over her mind and body. Nora decides it is time to regain her life, not that she is complaining about her column. On the same paper, sports columnist Pete Beckett is known for scoring with the women. He thinks Nora is prissy until he accidentally gives her a shiner with a wiffle ball and sees the most beautiful eyes he ever saw. However, Nora will not even do lunch with Pete.

At Vic's Watering Hole in Fisherman's Wharf, Pete tries to pick up a woman at the bar who by her perfume he knows instantly is Nora wearing a wig. She pretends to be someone else and he goes along with it because Nora-Prudence and now her latest identity the woman with no name fascinates him. As Nora and Pete fall in love, she wonders how he will react when he knows the truth. He wonders how she will react when she learns he already knows the truth.

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT is a blazing but amusing contemporary romance that shows the width of talent Kate Hoffman possesses. Ms. Hoffman, known for her comic romantic romps, shows she can turn the pages to ultra torrid with two sexy charcaters leading the way. Pete is an all star hunk while Nora struggles to enter the game. The story line is hot, yet employs humor that will leave readers desiring similar works from Ms. Hoffman.

Harriet Klausner

Etiquette columnist for the San Francisco Herald, Nora Pierce is starting to look and sound like her alter ego, Prudence Trueheart, a bit too much for her peace of mind. When Nora is whacked in the face by a whiffle ball thrown by sexy sports columnist, Pete Beckett, she realizes just how sadly her life is lacking romantic male company. Convinced she only feels attracted to Pete because of her lack of a social life and a boyfriend, Nora decides it's time to go out and have some fun, discreetly, and take back control from Prudence. Nora counts on having a good time, but she never imagines the night will lead to hot and steamy sex with the same man who'd given her a shiner that very morning!

Pete Beckett didn't really mean to hit `prissy' Prudence. It was "a perfect line drive to right field" and a colleague didn't make the catch! When Pete goes to retrieve the whiffle ball, he crouches next to Nora and ends up looking into the most beautiful eyes and a face that is much prettier when examined close up. Pete wants a chance to get to know Nora better, but she won't even agree to lunch. So, when she walks into a bar at Fisherman's Wharf, it takes only a whiff of her perfume for him to realize it's Nora under the wig! After an amazing night of sizzling passion, Pete wants more, but how can he convince Nora of it? Especially when Pete knows that Nora is unaware that he knows the sexy woman in the bar was Nora wearing a wig. Then Pete cooks up a plan - Nora is going to give him etiquette lessons in dating, while he figures out a way to get her back in his bed and keep her there!

Kate Hoffman's ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT brims with warm and lovable characters and delightful dialogue. Fans of Ms Hoffman's can sit back and get ready to enjoy a thoroughly entertaining and scintillating read, as this story promises to keep those pages turning rapidly.

You can't help but love Nora's character; a woman so adorable and fascinating, warm and humorous. I particularly enjoyed the scene when Nora gets arrested while trying to break into Pete's bedroom window to retrieve her wig! The interaction between the characters is realistic and engaging, while giving the reader several laugh-out loud moments. I found Pete's character wonderful, too. His warmth, sex appeal and tender considerations of Nora are charming. Pete is every woman's fantasy hero; gorgeous, strong, caring and sexy. The secondary characters were refreshing, adding more humor to the story and helping it along very smoothly. While Nora worries about how Pete will react when he learns Nora is the woman under the wig, Pete wonders what she will say when she realizes he's known from the minute he met her at the bar.

ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT is a tantalizing and amusing tale that is sure to delight all readers of contemporary category romance. Ms Hoffman gives her fans another humorous and romantic romp while still providing plenty of steamy and torrid love scenes. If you love hot and sultry stories with plenty of humor, ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT is one book you shouldn't miss out on!

Elena Channing for HEART RATE REVIEWS

I'm a teacher and a parent of two teenagers. The book was purchased for some help in dealing with difficult children, either in the way of solice or advice. I found little solice, other than to realize that there are plenty of difficult children in the world. As far as advice, there is one very good chapter near the end.

The majority of this book tells us what most people who deal with children already know: characteristics of a bad child. Chapter after chapter points out characterisitics of difficult children; without any disrespect to the author I would think that most of these characteristics are pretty obvious.

The one helpful chapter gives an outline for a plan to help curb rebellious, disrespectful, and uncaring children. Making a list of favorite things (motivators) and corresponding consequences is simple but brilliant. The advice in this one chapter might be worth the cost of the whole book.

I was horrified when I heard about this book and the concepts underlying it. Please consider this instead: Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves by Naomi Aldort.
I know this isn't very helpful as a review of this book. But look into this alternative. Children are not bad. Everyone reacts in negative ways for a reason. Uncaring is not a syndrome, it's an defensive reaction.
As far as I'm concerned, this book is merely for justification for Uncaring Parents.

I raised four sons and, though none of them would have been considered an "Uncaring Child" by Dr. Hoffman's definition, they each had their imperfect moments. The terrific advice Hoffman gives in his book would be of help to any parent/teacher/counselor - whether they are dealing with children who are on the verge of becoming major problems, or just causing their elders to grow gray hairs :-) I am definitely passing the book on to my sons and their wives, to help them with rearing my eight grandchildren!

Dr. Hoffman clearly defines the characteristics of the uncaring child and provides a practical method for parents and step parents to use for improving behavior. His book instructs us how to take an objective view at our children without the guilt feelings associated with their upbringing. This is a great book for parents who are perplexed about their young child's behavior as well as for those whose children are in their teens and early adulthood. It has certainly helped me to better understand our child/parent relationships.

I recently had been recommended to purchase this book due to the mind-boggling difficulties I am experiencing with my young son. I have been at a loss and this book is absolutely ingenious. Dr. Hoffman's approach to the "difficult" child is truley enlightening and immensely helpful. I have now begun to both gain control over and understand some of my sons actions. This book is extremely well written and to me, invaluable.

This book contains a lot of really usefull exercises for concentrating your attention and training your perceptive skills.
Chapters 1 through 5 gives you some basic information that you should know before you begin, getting you ready for the work you will be doing for the following chapters.
Chapters 6-7 talk about perceptive skills and also give you some good exercises to increase your pereptive abilities.
Chapter 8 is concentrated on your projective skills.
Chapter 9 talks about reprogramming yourself.
The next 3 chapters also provide a lot of valuable information as well as exercises.

I liked very much how the book is structured - information is mixed with practical exercises that you can perform as you go. Some exercises are done solo and some in groups of two or more people, so it's better if you have a partner to study this book with, although you can manage on your own just as well

I bought this book when I started getting interested in psychic development in 1997, in the USA. I found it quite easy to follow and for the first time I understood what psychic development meant. i still own my copy and I will continue to refer to it. Recommended for beginners.

I got this book at a metaphuysical bookstore after a very good & accurate psychic had told me that I have a very strong ability and just need to develop it , that I dwell on things and that was blocking me from moving forward .... I have always known things & knew what she meant , Itook her advice , I went to a bookstore and bought Enid Hoffmans book , I could not believe the results of her 3 minute mind excercises , I had results right away and developed my ability very well this was 4 years ago -Today- with this book and medation classes I went to at a local church has change my perspective and my entire life for the better , I now work in the psychic feild and I am in top in my feild . This is for someone that truely wants to know there higher self, is positve and dedicated & if you buy this book read it all the way threw! Peace & Light

I purchased this book to develop my already strong intuition. I wanted to better understand why I could see peoples colors and what the colors meant. This book really has helped to develop my skills. Her focusing, relaxation, breathing, and affirmation exercizes would be great for anyone, even those not wanting to develop phychic skills. This book is very serious stuff and you must be able to devote yourself to it. The exercizes, although easy, will really take a lot of time and practice. This book is definatly a must have for anyone wishing to expand themselves.

This book is great for the serious student of psychic develpoment, but is no book for a person simply wishing to become a "mind reader". It contains heplful information, and diffrent exercises to increase your psychic ability. Be warned however, if you have no intention of dedicating an amount of time to this or working hard on the exercises, you might want to try a diffrent book instead.

If you can deduce, by my "star" rating of this text, that I disagree with the Amherst, MA reader, then you have enough scruples to learn quite a lot from this text, and have fun doing it!

This text is astounding. As someone who frequently needs to brush up on my math, I find this to be the most well organized, well written, and well-thought out text that I've encountered. Of particular interest is the acknowledgment of computer-based numerical methods, which helps alleviate that 'black-box' feeling that one often gets when your favorite analytic program spits an answer out.

I normally wouldn't bother to write a review, but I felt compelled to write one after reading through the critical review below. This reviewer was clearly frustrated by the text, but the reasons for his frustration are actually the texts strengths. Namely, this is not a 'recipe book'. To do the problems, one must learn the underlying theory and concepts, (which are laid out very well in the text). Ultimately, this is a much more powerful teaching method, to which nearly ANY educational professional will attest.

This is text to keep on your shelf!

I've actually used this as a textbook for a class taught by one of the book's writers, and although the instructor himself is brilliant--one of the best teachers I've ever had--the text is absolutely horrendous. The professors who put the text together are opposed to the idea that a book should be based entirely on formulas. Furthermore, they detest the fact that most books give a few example problems in the text upon which EVERY PROBLEM that a student encounters in the excercises will be based. Thus, the teachers decided to write a book wherein hardly any procedural (as opposed to conceptual) examples are given, and which is composed mostly of text. In this way, the teachers hoped to create a MENTAL CONCEPT of the mathematical ideas that are presented. As an added bonus to this tactic, the book is able to introduce a variety of subjects that are normally addressed in a traditional calculus course, since the text focuses primarily on concept rather than implementation. I wholeheartedly agree with the intentions of this book; the execution of these intentions, however, is tremendously disappointing.

In trying to create a mental concept of the mathematics WITHOUT basing that concept on formulas that a student can blindly apply, the writers have intentionally neglected to give the formulas for many important calculus operations. They describe the CONCEPTS behind the equations and the operations only, hoping that the students will be able to figure out what the formulas are themselves; only at later points in the text do they give the actual formulas (sometimes the way they present the formulas are so confusing that you'd wish they hadn't given them; a supreme example of this is their discussion of the formula for integration by parts). Paradoxically, therefore, by trying to form a concept of calculus that does not rely on formulas, the writers have neglected to COMPLETE the concept that they attempt to present, for without discussion of the formulas, the concepts are incomplete, in my opinion.

While I do not necessarily disagree with the idea of having the students figure out the formulas for themselves (after all, it makes them think very seriously about the subject matter) the student is simply not given enough information in the book to be able to do so. Half of the students dropped the class I'm taking now, and of those I talked to, most dropped the class because they were not able to solve the problems with the information they were given in the text (of course, they perceived their incapability as arising from their own failures, which is probably not the case).

Moreover, while I also support the idea of having a book that does not rely on examples as the primary teaching tool, the fact that procedural examples are almost completely omitted is detrimental to the book's efficacy. Examples are helpful in that they show the student how to think mathematically in order to solve certain problems. Thus, without examples, the student often does not know how to approach a problem encountered in the excercises, making it very difficult to tackle them.

Finally, the problems themselves: the amazing majority of the problems have more than one step; there will be a 1.a, 1.b, 1.c, etc. However, each of these sub-problems will consist of at least four computational steps of considerable complexity, so the problems are INCREDIBLY complex, long and tedious (at least I, and the other people I work with, think so). These multi-stepped problems are also very difficult because they require the student to incorporate methods that were not adequately explained, so it takes even longer to solve them. Then, as if this weren't enough, the problems are VERY poorly worded. It is very difficult to figure out what the problem is asking the student to do; sometimes my professor, who had a hand in writing the book, will not know what a problem is asking for (hopefully he did not write the ones he does not himself understand). All in all, therefore, the problems are also seriously defective.

Were these professors to seriously revise this book, it is likely that it could become one of the best textbooks on calculus available. In its present form, though--despite the fact that the intentions of the book are good--the book is completely inadequate for its task.

As a college student, I used this text for Calculus I and found it amazing! After being turned off from math by years of dry, repetitive exercises and abstract concepts which I failed to see as useful, here is a math book that has intriguing, fun problems, helpful visualizations, and encourages THINKING.

This textbook introduces calculus as a language and tool for exploration and understanding in the life and social sciences. Through CONTEXT (e.g. problems involving epidemiology, population dynamics, physics etc.)one gets an in-depth knowledge of mathematical concepts and procedures. Emphasis is given to differential equations, approximation and successive approximations, geometric visualization and mathematical models, and technology (coaching students through programing and utilizing calculators and computers). For those who miss having the formulas spoon-fed to them ahead of time, there are lengthy appendices which include: graphing calculator programs for 5 different calculators, formulas from geometry, algebra, and trig, differential equations, derivatives of functions and inverses, integrals, Taylor polynomials, Taylor's Theorem, antiderivatives, and answers to selected problems.

_Calculus in Context_ challenges readers to figure out problems for themselves; use our OWN brains to come up not only with solutions, but to figure out the MEANS by which to get these solutions. *** NOT spoon-fed and NOT dry or boring!!! ***