J Books

This is an excellent work about Theodore Roosevelt as a father. Although the author discusses his children throughout the book, the focus is on TR himself. One thing I have admired about President Roosevelt is that he loved being a father (although his relationship with his oldest daughter, Alice, was strained), and this drew me to read this book. I was not disappointed.

The author also gives us a glimpse into TR's father, Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., who was a very generous man with his time and money. After reading about him, I understood why TR valued public service.

Because the author focuses on the president, the reader will see how TR influenced his children to value public service. For example, all of his sons served in the military. Indeed, Quentin Roosevelt died as a pilot in a dogfight in World War I. The elder son, Theodore Roosevelt II, led the first wave on Utah Beach in Normandy on D-Day during World War II. He died of a heart attack some weeks later. Archie was declared 100% disabled in both World War I and World War II. Kermit also served well in both wars, but suffered from alcoholism and depression (TR's brother, who was Eleanor Roosevelt's father, also suffered from the same). Also, TR's youngest daughter, Ethel, served as a nurse in France in World War I.

This book is definitely worth reading to get a view of Theodore Roosevelt as a family man. I wish we had more elected officials like him today.

Completely understanding TR is impossible without considering his children, or his own childhood for that matter. These are the foci of the "The Lion's Pride: Theodore Roosevelt and His Family in Peace and War." TR was deeply influenced by his father, a wealthy and generous, many would claim great man whose most glaring defect and regret was what amounted to a buy out of his Civil War service obligation. TR called him the "greatest man I ever knew." Yet, in many respects TR spent the rest of his life attempting to overcome and reverse this blemish upon the family record through extraordinary patriotism and service. Leading at the apex of conflict and danger was the duty of a great and privileged family. This credo was embraced wholeheartedly by his children, which makes for fascinating reading. While some would argue this compulsion became excessive and detrimental, the Roosevelt's had no regrets and curiously embraced their family tragedies in the midst of great pain. This phenomenon is particularly evident in the death of the youngest, Quintin while flying patrol over German lines in WWI. On the other hand, if you are looking for an in depth look at any one or more of the children this book will not suffice. Indeed, the early chapters focus on TR's life leading up to WWI, while the latter chapters are largely dedicated to his offspring's activities in young adulthood, particularly those related to the Great War. There is little regarding TR's close and often tender relationship with his children during their childhood in the White House or at Sagamore Hill. As a result, while I greatly enjoyed this book, I was hoping for more breadth and insight into the children's upbringing and their lives after TR's death.

Renehan's accounting of the last years of Theodore Roosevelt Jr. is condensed and fascinating. Mostly covering 1898 and 1910-1919, the book provides insight into the southern New York high society of the early 20th century. Famous names, including Vanderbilt, Roosevelt, Cowles, and Coolidge, parade across the pages.

Nuggets include the mention of Harvard in that time as a conservative and pro-military bastion (compared to today's institution fighting military recruitment in court), Woodrow Wilson viewed as an appeaser, a coward, and an appointer of bigots in his administration (in contrast to a reputation as being a visionary negotiator), observation by Gen. George Patton that Theodore's eldest son, Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt III, was a courageous commander- but no soldier (both father and son won the Medal of Honor...a feat perhaps not matched by any other American family), and the contrast highlighted between Kaiser Wilhelm's non-combat patronage of his sons (during WWI) and the former president Roosevelt's sons participating in front line combat. Another interesting fact: three of Roosevelt's four sons died in military service--one killed in action, one dead of a heart attack a month after D-Day and one day before he was to be promoted to major general, and one a suicide). The fourth suffered from the long term effects of severe war wounds.

Roosevelt is also revealed as a founding father of the original progressive movement...born out of the Republican party, no less. "Progressive" used to mean advocating sensible capitalism through the restraint of unlimited power of large corporations (through the Sherman Act) and the promotion of sound environmental policy and conservation. It also demanded the U.S. government uphold its main role--that of national defense. This is in stark contrast to today's "progressive" thinking--complete rejection of market economics and corporations, radical environmentalism, and pacifism. Roosevelt must spin in his grave.

All in all a great primer of the former president. Makes you want to immediately run out and read more.

I read any book on TR. This one I was hoping would reveal more about his family. It still is a good read about TR.

This book made me want to be a better, more involved citizen. It really gets at the heart of this incredible family.

Stanley,
Thank you for "Looker." The characters were as real as the pages and
paper on which they were written. Your knowing and seeing of Black gay Men's lives made the book a page turner. The tapestry of lust, love, pain, joy, anger, betrayal, safe hatred, sardonic sex, rage, crime, and bliss wove a tale reminiscent of what "real" Black gay men know to be our truths. Never before have had I read such a description of Black gay men living on the periphery of our community; while we exist in its midst.
Bran was a man undamaged by the gay experience, simply reluctant to love.

Most importantly you aptly connected the lives of varying generations
of "WE".
Love unrequited and finally realized and revealed. A love based on friendship. Wow!


Do it again,

Borris Powell
New York

This is no E Lynn Harris novel by any means but I must say it is well written, Engaging, Shocking, Real, and Exciting. My hat off to Stanley Bennet Clay. Thanks for giving us good quality fiction.

Well I must say. I enjoyed this book immensely.I didn't won't this book to end,hey clay what about a part two?????? You have another loyal fan,please keep the books coming.God bless you and much more success.

I enjoyed this book immensely. It kept me engaged and I couldn't put the book down until the end.

Stanley Bennett Clay is a masterful writer, but he's more than that. He is a wicked and compelling storyteller. With this his 3rd novel, SBC is at his best. The way that he so gingerly and brilliantly handles a myriad of characters--Omar, Brando, Shane, Dee, Mrs. Fant, Miss Zara, Eli, Vanessa and William and a few others AND their varied storylines--love unrequited, past pains and parental hurt, betrayal, bisexuality, without losing his stride OR his fire, is just commendable and makes for a wonderfully rich and page-turning read had me finishing off this morsel of a masterpiece in a matter of days! KUDOS AND ACCOLADES!!!

The Human Comedy is a saga of 92 novels that Balzac said was written by French society. Legend described him as the night-shirted social recorder working until dawn fueled by liters of coffee. Lost Illusions (1837-1843) is considered to be one of the best of the novels in the series in scope and structure. From the frenetic world of writers and booksellers in Paris to the grueling life of hard work and boredom in villages, Balzac traced the systematic destruction of illusions in his characters. No one could be trusted (friends, foes, or family) when the creative or inventive characters attempted to reach a goal. The flicker of hope and joy related to an artistic or business accomplishment was extinguished within days or hours. The enduring artists and producers were those who lived almost without hope, guided by a strict code of ethics protected only by their ability to keep their accomplishments secret. Ultimately, some of these survivors reached their goals. But by then, they no longer placed high value in them, much of the luster lost with their illusions. Lost Illusions set the standard for many of the wonderful French novels of the subsequent years of the 19th Century. The reader is immersed in French culture in a manner similar to the later writing of Gustav Flaubert.

Lost Illusions by Balzac is one of the most famous novels out of the ninety two he wrote in his lifetime and maybe also among a million his admirers have written in 175 years since his first novel was published.

Balzac choses Lucien as a romantic, good-looking dreamy poet. We are first thrust into his provincial life, with details about his ordinary life and extraordinary ambitions that he has no means of realizing. Except patronage by an older woman! She leads him to Paris, only to abandon him to fight his way into the high society. How Lucien rises and falls in the glamorous, amorous, corrupt and vicious life as a journalist in Paris is picturized through a narrative that is bathed in realism, and yet proceeds through both suspense and wit, in the spirit of the pace at which Balzac could conjure up such novels.

In the provinces, Lucien has a friend, David, who likewise is somewhat lacking in social and economic acumen, and is a hard working inventor. David own father ruins him by extracting an unreasonable price for the printing press that he leaves or sells to his own son. Crafty competitors take advantage of David's credulous character. David endures both provincial small mindedness and economic setbacks suffered to keep Lucien afloat. Balzac displays his knowledge of these disparate characters with remarkable attention to detail. He weaves an undercurrent, of what could have passes as a dissertation, on the art and science of paper making.

Balzac creates in his one book, a saga that unravels friendship, love, jealousy, lust, ambition, vanity, greed and absurdity that lurk in our beings and in our relationships. By using two main pillars, Lucien and David, Balzac erects a bridge into the two worlds of poetry and science. He shuns hint of any romance of either worlds, and shows how much character, how many hardships and set-backs, how much devotion and labor are required for a man to become a known poet or a scientist.

I am quoting an example from this translation (carried out by Katharine Prescott Wormeley):

"No one can be a great man cheaply," said d'Arthez in his gentle voice. "Genius waters her work with tears.Talent is a moral being which, like all other beings, is subject to the maladies of childhood. Society rejects undeveloped talent just as nature removes her feeble or deformed creations. Whoever wishes to rise above his fellows must be prepared to struggle, and not recoil at difficulty. A great writer is a martyr who does not die - that's the whole of it!"

Besides the two pillars, the book has an interesting array of characters. Actresses, society women, editors and publishers, lawyers, struggling writers, dandies - all appear with their human failings and foibles as part of a drama that unfolds with an enrapturing narrative. Be it history, economics, alchemy, or psychology, or any topic under the sun, Balzac ushers in his great knowledge, suspending and supporting the story with able and apt pointers, tresses and metaphors.

Balzac's Lost Illusions is undoubtedly a classic everyone can enjoy and must read at some point in their lives. Highly recommended.

I read this book during my latest visit to my favorite middle east country. I must admit that I didn't enjoy this book as much as others. I felt like it was slow to come around and I thought there was too much detail on (seemingly) unimportant things at times. I'm just a regular person, so that said if you are an accomplished reader you may love this, for neophytes such as myself, other titles are more likely to be properly enjoyed (see my reviews)...and keep me updated!

This is one of the best novels by Balzac, which is to say much, since he is still one of the best writers that have ever lived. Here, as in the rest of his work, the reader can appreciate Balzac's knowledge of worldly life, and especially the world of business, so alien to other writers. In this book he elaborates on the printing business as well as on journalism -vastly so-, back when it first began as a mercantilist activity. He contrasts the small life and intrigues of the province with the -no less petty but more gandiose- life and intrigues of the big city, Paris, and in particular of the faubourg Saint-Germain, the paradise of the Parisian jet-set.

David Sechard is a young man who inherits, at great cost, his cold and greedy father's printing business. Lucien Chardon (later "de Rubempre", after taking his impoversihed mother's more aristocratic last name) is his best friend. Both of them share a love for poetry, but it is Lucien who comes to shine as the young genius of province, the promise for whom it is worth it to sacrifice it all. Lucien gets the love of one Louise de Bargeton, the "queen of Angouleme", the most cultivated and refined woman in town. Louise promises to take Lucien to Paris, introduce him into the great society, and make him triumph as a poet. His family gives him all they can to get him started, and off he goes to Paris. But he happens to be arrogant, proud, and insecure, and soon he suffers the despise and insolence of aristocrats and other rich people. After what he believes to be an offense from Louise, he rejects her, earning her eternal hatred.

In the meantime, Lucien has been spending time with two very different circles of friends. The first is composed of a group of young intellectuals, hardworking guys sacrificing money and fun for the sake of science, art, and knowledge. They are there for him in times of need, and encourage him to keep up with his writing. The second group is a bunch of journalists, easy going but corrupt people who convince him to achieve quick fame and money. Lucien gets more and more trapped by this seemingly easy life, and after he conquers the love of the prettiest actress in Paris, his fate is decided. He achieves fame and fortune overnight, and so he jumps completely into the world of parties, frivolity and silly competition for status. At this point in the novel, Balzac introduces us to the sordid, decadent, and disgusting world of journalism understood as an unmerciful network of extortion and constant blackmailing. Lucien slides down that road, getting recognition and fame, oblivious to the growing net of envy that closes in around him every day.

What follows is the sad story of an unlikable character. Lucien has very little redeeming qualities about him, as opposed to some of his early friends, his young lover and his family. He is blind as blind can be, since his extreme selfishness builds a cloud in which he lives. He cares for nobody, except perhaps for the little Coralie, and he goes on leaving too many wounded bodies by the side of the road. Nevertheless, this character is the vehicle that allows Balzac to show us the real world out there. This writer never ever gives up to the temptation of sweetening things for the reader, he's brave and persists on his plan. Balzac is never a moralizing preacher, he is just a skillful painter of life as it is.

Here, as in the rest of his work, you will find characters who also appear in other novels, an ingenious device intended to give us a feeling of reality. This book is never boring and builds up tension rapidly, even for its length. It is an encompassing ride through all the fancies of youth gone wrong, as well as an unrelenting depiction of all the falseness and emptiness of high society. Much recommended.

I love Balzac. At his best he soars above the rest of French literature and here he is definitely at his finest. Easy to see why Proust thought him the best, at his best. Vautrin/Collyn is at his most sinister and attractive. If you haven't read Balzac before, this is the best to start with.

A part of my family research - but brings the sadness, the strength and the Christian conviction to a very harsh reality. Something all of us from those roots need to read.

This should be in the homes of every Baptist family, as it already is in most Amish families. As the book itself explains, it is a history of fifteen centuries of the suffering of the Baptist people and their martyrdom at the hands of the catholic church. A list of popes up to the time it was written is included in the back. It proves that Baptists existed long before Martin Luther, and were martyred for such sins as reading the Bible and Baptizing adults after they were saved. It is impossible to deny these facts because this book documented these horrors and was written hundreds of years ago, before political correctness came into being, using the records of governments most of which have since been destroyed. The names of hundreds of individual Baptist people are recorded along with descriptions of the accusations against them, their tortures and death. It is detailed, and too graphic for children.

This is an excellent work and a great accompaniment to Foxes' Book of Martyrs. It is an enormous volume with much information I have not seen before.
I highly recommend it as an addition to every Christian's library, and to anyone studying the subject of martyrdom.

The story of the Anabaptists is one of incredible pain and spiritual triumph. This impressive work was written in the seventeenth century and recounts the stories of many men and women who suffered and often faced terrible death for what they thought was right. Apart from individuals stories, the book contains many emotionally touching letters written by martyrs to their families and friends. The book also describes the sufferings of some of the early Christians and the later Waldensians.
The legacy of the Anabaptists lives on in the Amish and Mennonites. In fact, an article about Amish forgiveness in the aftermath of the recent tragic school shooting was one of the things that brought this book to my attention. Personally, I feel Christians of any denomination could take something useful from this book.
Overall, "Martyr's Mirror" is an extremely powerful and moving book.

This is a must own book for those interested in Christian heritage. This puts Foxe's Book of Martyrs to shame. It is well worth the money you will spend on it.

This revised edition is a great resource for both beginners and more advanced users. The illustrations and instructions are very clear and easy to follow and the allover design is very good.

I bought this book when I decided it was time to get back to some of my needlework projects after many, many years. The book is very helpful, showing detailed, clear drawings of stitches. There are also color photos of completed work so you can see what the stitches look like in color, etc. Highly recommend this book.

What everyone says here is TRUE! Mary Thomas wrote the first classic encyclopedia of stitches and it has been lovingly updated. It is the PERFECT embroidery overview ever created for both total beginners and advanced. Clearly written with illustrated instructions, expect to be inspired and prepare to succeed!!

I was trying to find a good basic embroidery book and had no luck. Though found all kinds of needlepoint, or machine embroidery books or expensive software but it was really hard to find a good hand-embroidery book. I couldn't believe my good fortune when I found this. It is a total treasure! If the publishers could come up with a spiral bound version, that would be even better.

Have fun!!

This is simply the best embroidery stitch book I have ever read. An excellent buy. The pictures, instructions and phots all correlate with colour to make learning a new stitch a breeze. I have found the instructions straight forward and clear. Recommend this book to anybody working in textiles.

I hadn't touched embroidery for about 40 years and this book is so detailed with TONS of photos that I had no trouble learning lots of new stitches. I took it to work and shared it with two very experienced embroiders and both were very impressed with the variety of stitches presented and the detailed images.

I needed this book right away for a Summer school class, and I received the book less than a week after ordering it!

This is the wonderful first edition of The Mathematical Experience written by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh. However it is NOT the study edition which was designed for use in the classroom. The ISBN number for the Study edition is: 0-8176-3739-7.
The authors are Davis, Hersh, and Marchisotto

In my view, this book (which looks like a collection of articles gathered up under several rubrics) shares typical achievements and flaws of all popular-math literature; namely, it's enjoyable and enlightening as far as historical and philosophical aspects of the material presented, yet when they authors actually get to mathematics, it becomes fragmeted, jerky, and confused. Symptomatic of this is the chapter on nonstandard calculus: the historical narrative is very interesting, yet the math proper is confused and incomprehensible. Perhaps that is because it's impossible to express it fully and right in a popularizing context; perhaps it is so because I'm too obtuse to have understood it (but then the most of the target audience is probably no better); or maybe it's because the authors didn't do a terribly good job of it. The next chapter (Fourier analysis) suffers from the same.

Overall, I say, it's a good, although overrated, book. Read it, get what you can out of it and don't fret about the rest: the book is really a collection of articles, apparently written for different purposes, at different times, and for different publications; the quality of writing varies from section to section, although the overall structure and topicality are unquestionably very good. The book has an extensive and diverse bibliography along with a rather mediocre (close to names-only) index. Well, no book is perfect, including this one: overall it's solid four stars -- recommended.

The authors deal with various important aspects of mathematics and about practising mathematics. They also deal with the philosophy of mathematics. By and large, they do it engagingly. Specifically, they tackle why mathematics seems to 'work'; how a mathematician actually goes about doing mathematics; they offer some light treatment of a few mathematical topics, and they illustrate mathematical thinking as well.

This book is best read by students thinking about choosing mathematics as a career, or even just as a field of study. Although, any layperson will come off with a greater appreciation of what mathematics is, and what mathematicians do.

The Mathematical Experience by Philip J. Davis and Reuben Hersh
1981 Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston

Is all of pure mathematics a meaningless game? What are the contradictions that upset the very foundations of mathematics? If a can of tuna cost $1.05 how much does two cans of tuna cost (Pg. 71)? If you think you know the answer, don't be so sure. How old are the oldest mathematical tables? What is mathematics anyway, and why does it work? Can anyone prove that 1 + 1 = 2?
This is a book about the history and philosophy of mathematics. I'm certainly not a mathematician, and there are parts of the book I will never understand, yet the balance of it made the experience well worth while. The authors presented the material so that it is interesting and (mostly) easily understood. They have a creative way of making a difficult subject exciting. They do this by giving us insights into how mathematicians work and create. They live up to the title making mathematics a human experience by adding fascinating history. Frankly I was shocked when they pointing out how even mathematicians have made questionable assumptions and taken some basic "truths" on faith. They show the beauty of math in the "Aesthetic Component" chapter. Ultimately the question that comes up again and again is the question of whether or not we can really know anything about time and space independent of our own experience to make an adequate foundation for a complete system in mathematics. If you have ever wondered about the world of mathematics and the personalities involved you might consider this book. If you are a mathematics teacher you should read this book. If you are a mathematician you could find it quite unsettling.
It contains eight chapters, each one broken up into many subtitles so if you do get bogged down in the mathematics it isn't for long. There are 440 pages. I'd like to see a much more complete glossary for people like me who need it.

Peter Irons as a professorial reviewer brings much to the table, but it should be known that these recordings (and many, many more) are available at no charge either from the National Archives (should you happen to be in College Park, Maryland, and have the time and inclination to listen to or to copy them from a collection of mostly reel-to-reel tapes), or, more accessibly, from the web site [...].

When it comes to the major cases in the Warren era, the listening can be somewhat sluggish, as the Court through the Warren years did not feature a particularly hot bench (the arguments were often momentous, but not usually lively), and tended toward multi-hour arguments in major cases. In the late- and post-Warren years, however, as both the justices and the advocates become more vocally passionate, the listening is more often stirring both for the professionally trained legal mind and for the lay listener.

This book and its corresponding tapes are great to read and listen to the actual dialogue of the Supreme Court. I used the Tinker (student expression) and the Abington (Bible reading) cases in my School Law class. These cases enable students to listen to a primary source.

Great buy. Excellent recording quality. Makes an excellent gift for any attorney or anyone else interested in learning about the workings of the US Supreme Court and its inner workings. Highly recommend.

These recordings are a great resources for anyone intersted in the US supreme court. This is probably doubly true as the nomination and approval process is upon us again. The records reveal much that is lost in a purely written transcript, which is the source of one of my misgivings of the packaging -- the companion book is nothing more than a literal transcription of the tapes. The book could have provided more background, or in-depth analysis, or a copy of the constitution, or the full text of the opinions. Sadly, it provides none of these.

It is remarkable how the personal experiences of the various justices seem to color their opinions. Most interesting is when future Supremes appear before the court as attorneys.

Finally, I find it interesting that the quality of the arguments seems to be independent of the decisions of the courts -- some of the weakest orators yielded winning arguments.

Still, despite these misgivings, this provides a wonderful ear to the wall of the highest court in the land. Perhaps the best thing about these arguments is that they are completely accessible to the layman -- there is little legalisms, just big issues understandable by all, even if they are controversial.

I teach a course at a local community college and use this book as my text. The book is relatively cheap, especially for college books, and very well written. It describes some of our most influential Supreme Court cases in the past half century. The style that it is written in is ideal for learning and keeping the reader interested.

First it gives a short one page synopsis of the case that sets out the basis facts. It then quotes the actual Supreme Court oral argument but edits the transcript to give it a more narrative style. The editting is great for explaining the background legal principle while setting out the facts to make the read more enjoyable. After the editted transcript of the oral argument, a short editted version of the Court's opinion is printed. This opinion is nicely editted so as to keep readers interested, unlike the full text of most of the cases that would scare lawyers away.

In summation, the book is organized very well and suitable for those wanting to learn about history, those wanting to learn legal principles, or even those just wanting a fun read.

I was getting to know a song by Charles Trenet, one about a rained-out fairground populated by semi-human monsters, and it flashed on me that it reminded me of one of the Moomintroll stories that had made a fine, somewhat creepy, impression in childhood. Turned out I was remembering "The Hemulen Who Loved Silence" from "Tales from Moomin Valley". That story, proved to have indeed featured a rained-out fairground -- well, not just rained out but spectacularly destroyed by flooding, something that happens frequently in Tove Jansson's books. that story proved to be just as great as I'd remembered, and maybe better as it had psychological insight and satirical wit that I suspect I didn't entirely grasp as a kid. I soon found myself reading one Moomin book after another.

They all have wickedly funny moments, they're all fanciful, they're all subtle in some way. But some of them are really aimed at kids and, despite their considerable charms, can wear thin at times.

Moominpappa at Sea is a really great one for the adult reader. Yes, it has all the fancy and fun of a children's book, but....good lord! it is wonderfully complex. very funny, psychologically perceptive, at times very creepy. Where, say, Moominvalley Midwinter is a series of loosely connected episodes, everything in Moominpappa at Sea fits together very cleverly, from the first sentence to the last.

the plot hinges on Moominpappa's vain, poignant quest to have his family feel like they still need him. Moomintroll on the other hand is making some kind of adolescent transition, getting away from the family, bonding in the dark on the beach with a strange creature.

Jansson is one of the only authors I've ever read, for either child or adult, who can so deftly put her fingers on life as we experience it - the mood shifts, the disappointments and inner worlds and longings, the quirks and kindnesses, the tangible atmosphere of the seasons and the weather and the seaside... by God, she's got it, and with a few flicks of the pen, she can realize them fully and make us feel them too (even when her protagonists are fictional, round little "Moomintrolls" off for a month on a mysterious windswept lighthouse island.) Astonishing. A book to read and reread by anyone in grade 4 and up, especially in August and September (though anytime will do.)

My parents used to read the Moominbooks when to us when we were young, and they made a lasting impression on me. For me, Moominpappa at Sea was probably my favourite, along with Comet in Moominland.

Given that the books were originally written in Finnish the translator has done a fantastic job to make the stories incredibly readable and finely nuanced in English. It's possible that the books appealed to us kids so much because they come out of a European culture quite distinctly different from most of the English and American stories we were used to.

The chapters are the right length to read aloud one at a time to kids. (Good for bedtime stories in the summer holidays, I seem to recall!)

I was fortunate enough a couple of years ago to take a ferry across the Gulf of Finland from Stockholm in Sweden to Turku in Finland, and the little rocky islands in the Gulf are almost exactly as I imagined them from the book...

I first discovered this book at the age of about 12 or 13, already older than the average moomin reader, but having read most of the others. It was obvious that this was no ordinary moomin book, and neither was it strictly a children's book. In fact it is a masterly observation of family dynamics, mid life crises and the human condition, but mixed with a mysterious and fantastic magic that leads to spine tingling excitement and making one question how we know what is real.

Every psychology student has something to analyse in every character, and anyone who ever had a moment of doubt about the meaning of their life has something to ponder. What father with a teenage family would not relate to Moominpappa's melancholy, feeling that his life is without purpose now his family appear to be independent, his urge to be needed, to be able to protect them? What homesick traveller could not understand Moominmamma's longing for her garden, (and its magical transformation which you will have to read for yourselves). The description of her homesickness brings tears to the eyes. And what put-upon mother could not identify with her delight in being able to disappear from her family just long enough to stop them taking her for granted? The glimpses of the fond, but no longer passionate relationship between Moominmamma and Moominpappa, and Moominmamma's endless patience for Pappa's foibles, their need for their own roles, and his inability to understand her own needs says more about the maried state than plenty of far more learned texts. We will all be able to identify the same dynamics in our own families and relationships.

Meanwhile Moomintroll's adolescent emotional awakening must bring nostalgic memories of first love to we adult readers, but must surely mystify the average 8 year old. Younger children do not usually have a developed enough sense of other people's individuality to understand the complexities of what is driving the Moomin family to their peculiar dispersal.

The allegory of the frozen Groke could represent so much - I feel a thesis coming on - but I think represents how people get into a vicious cycle;cut off emotionally because no one interacts with them, and becoming ever more reclusive and antisocialin a vicious cycle. She makes us think about how we subconciously excuse ourselves for avoiding the lonely, scared, mentally ill, etc among us, for fear we may be "tainted" them.

Although I'm sure children will enjoy it at one level I recommend it highly to everyone, particularly if you are in a life crisis. I have lent it to nearly all my close friends and no one has yet not enjoyed it thoroughly.

Anyone who enjoyed this book should also enjoy Moominvalley in November with a similar selection of odd characters who we will all recognize among our own aquaintance.

The good news is you don't have to be a child to be enchanted by the Moomins. The bad news (for me) is missing out on these delightful stories when a child. I always try to begin the Moomin tales in the middle of the day because I know I won't stop until the end of the story.

Moominpappa decides they all need an adventure, and he is most desirous of "taking care" of everyone so Moominmamma can rest and all can be safe and protected. They set sail on an evening in late August to a small island in the Gulf of Finland planning to live in a wonderful lighthouse. The island is strange, bleak and barren. The lighthouse appears abandoned and is locked. The Moomin family consisting of Mamma, Papa, little son Troll, and Little My all go about practical tasks of settling in, first a search to locate a key. The living quarters in the lighthouse are at the very top only to be reached by a rickety spiral staircase. Much to Pappa's dismay, the light is out, and he cannot make it work. The fall storms begin (Pappa never explains why he didn't begin his adventure in the spring) and the life on the island becomes terrifying as well as bleak.

Though the Moomins get angry at one another, they are unfailingly polite and cooperative with the exception of Little My who is a cheerful, cynical pragmatist. Mamma & Pappa are very permissive parents, but always interested in what Troll and Little My are thinking and doing. The author very gently shows how perhaps there is a downside to sleeping and eating when you want, sleeping where your fancy takes you, and going on any adventure that occurs to you. There is delightful comedy where the Moomins throw a birthday party for The Fisherman, and he discovers all his "presents" belonged to him in the first place.

Come, enter the world of the Moomins! You might want to stay!

I was given an earlier printing of this book when I first learned to read, and I think it has something to do with my childhood nickname of "Dictionary Breath." It has remained among my most treasured possessions!

While some of the words don't really seem to merit an entry in this book over its a delightful collection. There are some words such as "grassation" (to lie in wait to attack) which are so incredibly useful I don't know why they aren't in more common circulation.

I would like to see the etymology included, but speculating about a word's etymology and then looking it up elsewhere has become part of the game for me and my friends.

I own two worn-out copies, because I enjoy this book too much to be without. Before buying my first copy of Mrs. Byrnes Dictionary, I couldn't use the word cephalonamancy in a sentence. Can you imagine?

Get a copy!

The book, which I love, was in excellent condition. I was surprised by the speed of delivery. Thanx.

Etymology is a guilty pleasure of mine-- and this book is the guiltiest of them all! Deliciously obscure words all at my fingertips...what more could i ask for. This copy was hard to come by... i think it's out of print now and so if you happen to see a used copy somewhere, no matter how dog-earred, grab it! You won't be disappointed. It's a gem.

I bought this for my son when he was 10. He wore it to tatters, so I am here on Amazon to replace it for him. He's now 15, and has been bemoaning it's loss for about a year. He used to carry this around and use it as an ice breaker, and other kids his age thought it was really cool. He's gone on to Shakespeare, Plato, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, Keys to the Kingdom etc.but Mrs. Byrnes remains his all time favorite book.

Dictionaries are rarely considered pleasure reading, but this one definately fits that bill. An advantage for a young reader is that they can get a lot of knowledge without reading a lot. Yup - Intellectual fast food. Could be addictive.