Peter Books

I loved Waggit and all his friends. It was a really good story.
There were parts that made me really, really sad. I loved all the dogs. It madeyou want to keep reading because it was kind of like a mystery and made you
wonder what would happen next. Waggit has all these adventures and the
writer makes you feel like you are really there. You could picture it really
well in your head. The writer uses big vocabulary words, which is
good. I liked the glossary and all the dogs¹ lingo. I liked it that all the
dogs had all their personalities and you could picture people as the dogs. I
hope to meet up with them all again. The drawings and map were good too.

Emma H. 13

I loved Waggit and all his friends. It was a really good story.
There were parts that made me really, really sad. I loved all the dogs. It made you want to keep reading because it was kind of like a mystery and made you
wonder what would happen next. Waggit has all these adventures and the
writer makes you feel like you are really there. You could picture it really
well in your head. The writer uses big vocabulary words, which is
good. I liked the glossary and all the dogs lingo. I liked it that all the
dogs had all their personalities and you could picture people as the dogs. I
hope to meet up with them all again. The drawings and map were good too.

Emma H. 13

My husband saw a review for "Waggit's TALE" in the Sunday "Phildelphia Inquirer" earlier this summer. Since my little, white German Shepherd Dog is a spitting image of Waggit, I just had to get the book.

Although touted as a children's book, I think it can be enjoyed by everyone. I specifically bought the book to read with my 8 year old niece, but have enjoyed it on my own.

There is nothing better than life with a dog, or two, or three or more. Waggit can remind all of us about what is important in life. Dogs keep it simple, and simplicity is so underrated in the hustle and bustle most of us have come to know as "life". Everyone should have a dog, and this book!

Regards,
Andrea and Fiona

I found Waggit to be realistic in story form and highly recommend this book to everyone,not just ages 9-12....Waggit is FANTASTIC!!!!

I really enjoyed this book! The story had lots of different adventures in it. It was funny at times and it was sad at times. There was something new at the end of every chapter that made me want to read the next chapter. I highly recommend this book to other readers. (Age 9)

My daughter gave me this book to read because some of it is about Providence College where I attended college. (Actually he made it into a ficticious college) Well I could not put it down! I never heard of this writer but he is wonderful. I have lived most of my life in RI and he is dead on with so many of his discriptions. I wonder if he's from here? I've never been to California but he really knows how to paint a picture of it and his characters are all rich in their own ways.
I don't know why this book isn't a best seller. But don't let it stop you from reading it.

It's 12:30 Arizona time. I finshed MB about an hour ago -- yes that's how I spent my Holloween. I loved it. My brother gave it to me. I guess it spread around his frat at ASU and believe me those dudes don't read so I had to see the book they were reading. I wasn't disappointed. Even though Conti can come off as a misoginist, he, like the hero, Bobby, redeems himself at the end. The writing is good and Conti has many laughs and crys along the way. But can someone tell me why it's almost 200 bucks on Amazon? It was good but not that good.

I too saw Peter Conti's work out here in California. He did some plays and movies with Joe Pesci. I was 2 and they were both unbelieveable. Then he disappeared. A friend gave me the book to read and it rocks. But why isn't it a best seller. The Bobby character is kind of a loveable loser who redeems himself. Conti who I don't think is from out here really has a sense of what a certain side of L.A. life is like. The Korean Prom and the pool scene at Chateau Martmount were dead on.
I hope he surfices again.

I've been following Peter Conti's career since the early 1990's when he had a string of hit plays and worked with the hottest people in Hollywood. It seemed like every week there would be a new movie or play that he'd have out. Then he writes this kick-ass book and POOF we never hear from him again. Peter if you read this, what's up dude. You're like one of the most talented writers. When is your next book, movie or play coming out?
As for MB... It should have been a best seller. I guess its too hardcore for the mainstream. It could be a great movie. The best part is by the garbage dump and Anastasia is the bomb.
Okay, sorry this wasn't all intellectual. But buy the damn book.

Conti's book came highly recommended to me from respectable readers. I read myself it in one sitting, quite a journey. Martin Barnett will become a cult classic for those of us who made it through those crazy years in LA.

This book has been in my family for four generations, the 1912 edition having been given to my father by his grandmother in 1948.

The premise of the story is given in the introduction; the narrator happens upon a marvelous clock in Father Time's attic, which strikes the hour with songs and puppet dances. Twenty-four stories follow, one for each hour of the day. Each story begins with a verse that corresponds to the hour of the day: lighting the fire, preparing breakfast, sending the children to school, making the noonday meal, milking, tea, bedtime. The verses alone are fascinating, as they bring to life the househould routines of a very different era.

The stories are illustrated with Howard Pyle's remarkable drawings. Each tale has a frontispiece for the title, and the beginning of the text and each picture caption is heralded with a large ornmental letter like those in illuminated manuscripts. The illustrations are gorgeous. Pyle was fond of capturing scenes of nobility and royal splendour, pastoral life, and witchcraft. Some are stylized portraits of princesses in exquisite gowns and classic poses, while others demonstrate Pyle's gift for caricature and expression.

The stories themselves are wonderful, full of heroes and heroines, bravery, beauty, wits and trickery. Although there are allusions to mystic and Christian themes, and to folklore and fables, most of the stories will be unfamiliar and fresh to modern readers. The langauge is rich with metaphor, droll imagery, and dialogue that is made to be read aloud. As with Aesop's fables, the stories are meant to instruct, but the morals take a back seat to the storytelling, at least until the conclusion of each tale, and a great deal is left up to the reader to interpret.

This was my favorite book as a child, and I still turn to it on sleepless nights. But our beloved family heirloom is growing very delicate, so I am very glad that the book is still in print. I hope to share it with my own children someday.

This is the most wonderful collection of fairytales, which I first encountered in the third grade and have reread countless times since. I'd rank it with the multicolored Fairy Book series by Andrew Lang as world class for this genre. A classic!

My father heard these stories as a child. He read them to me. I read them to my kids and my grandkids. The vocabulary, the cadences, the varied plots and the sheer magic of these tales is timeless. The poems at the beginning of each chapter are related to the hours. Kids insist that you read them too. Pyle always sees to it that bullies, evil magicians, cheaters and older nasty siblings get their comeuppance. Little ones enjoy that aspect. Great archaic words are dusted off along with long disused similies and metaphores. It's the kind of book that comes to mind when you meet a bright eyed new child who has read everything else or seen everything else. At age 70 I still keep a copy in my bed's head board. Rap, tap, tap he knocked at the door.

The narrator of the twenty-four stories (plus an introduction) finds a special clock in Father Time's attic, which strikes on the hour with songs and puppet dances. "Four and twenty marvelous tales, one for each hour of the day" all start with a verse to coincide with that particular hour. Drawings are included to add further depth. Each ends with a morality lesson, which never interferes with the story, but helps wrap up that entry.

This nineteenth century collection is remarkable in different ways depending on the reader. The tales provide insight into daily household life and the morality of a bygone era. The contributions also furbish delightful fairy tales for the young at heart that are enhanced by superb figures of speech and tremendous illustrations with a finale moral lesson. This collection is a winner and will send many a reader searching for other works by Howard Pyle.

Harriet Klausner

I have been searching for this book for quite a while. The stories included are gloriously written and the illustrations are phenomenal. The reason I started looking for it again was because my Grandson will soon enjoy it. He is only 5 years old, but again, I started reading it (repeatedly) starting at age 7. I think I re-loaned it until my card was worn out! I will get him his very own copy and I know he will enjoy it as much as I.

This book, which can be viewed as a prequel to Stillwell's "History of mathematics", is an excellent resource for someone who wishes to get a view of mathematics as a field of inquiry driven by the need to solve problems as much as by creative desire to uncover connections between seemingly unrelated ideas by people who made mathematics, such as Gauss, Hamilton, Abel, Euler, Riemann. There are lively short essays about these and other great mathematicians. When read along with regular (good) textbooks on, e.g., complex variables, geometry, the two Stillwell's books will lead to a much better understanding of mathematical ideas.

There are many great ideas in mathematics and what makes them unique is that many of them were considered impossible for a long period of time. In this book, Stillwell presents many of those ideas using an expository style that is both understandable and complete. The chapters are:

*) The Irrational - where the discovery of irrational numbers and how it shocked the Pythagoreans is explained. It forever destroyed the idea that everything could be completely expressed using only the integers. This discovery also made it clear that some things would forever remain unknown.
*) The Imaginary - this section describes the development of the "imaginary" numbers, where the impossible task of taking the square root of a negative number became routine.
*) The Horizon - where converging parallel lines allowed artists to perform what was considered impossible, give two-dimensional paintings a three-dimensional perspective.
*) The Infinitesimal - where splitting a figure into extremely small sections made it possible to easily solve an enormous number of complex problems.
*) Curved space - where the natural world of Euclid was suddenly overturned by the creation of curved worlds that are even more natural.
*) The Fourth Dimension - where the impossibility of structures having more than three dimensions is proven false. Along the way, imaginary numbers are made even more so by the development of the quaternions.
*) The Ideal - in this case, the impossibility of numbers having more than one fundamental factorization is overturned only to be partially restored.
*) Periodic Space - among others, M. C. Escher demonstrated that it is easy to place impossible objects on a canvas.
*) The Infinite - where it is demonstrated that not all infinities are alike, it is the case that some infinities have more elements than others.

Stillwell does an excellent job in pointing out that "impossible" is a difficult word to use in mathematics, as it is relative to the definitions of the object being examined. While there is absolute truth in mathematics, something lacking in many other areas of human endeavor, the truth is also often relative to how imaginative we are in our definitions.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission

While browsing this book on the shelf of the Singapore National Library one sunday, I was shocked and delighted to spot on the chapter 7 of "Ideal". Being a Mathematics student of Abstract Math 30 years ago, I could not find a satisfactory answer from my French University Math professors or any Math books who could tell me what does this "Ideal" concept really mean beyond its arcane definition, where did it derive from, and why most textbooks insert "Ideal" in the chapter of Ring Theory?
Prof John Stillwell did a beautiful job by explaining in simple layman language the historical background of Kummer's work on FLT (Fermat Last Theorem), who encountered the controversy of Fundamental Law of Arithematics with Algebraic Number extended Field [a+ SQRT(-b)]. So instead of giving up, Kummer 'faked' the 'Ideal' number which he guessed could resolve the conflict. It was after his death that Dedekind discovered prime ideal, principal ideal's existence hidden in the compound of other numbers (Greatest Common Divisors of Rationals and Algebriac numbers, to be exact). Beautiful fake and discovery story in Mathematics!

If you look at the other reviews you'll see they are all full of praise. I really expected very much from this book, but the more I read in it the more I got disappointed. The material presented is indeed interesting, but the author's way of explaining things is quite often less than ideal. If this book had been written by someone like Paul Nahin, William Dunham or Adrian Paenza it would have been much better. Knowing much is one thing, explaining it the best way is another and unfortunately Stillwell isn't particularly good in the last thing.

It is very nice to see a book that treats topics other than irrational and complex numbers (though they are important to understand first, of course!) like quaternions and prime ideals, not to mention all the geometrical connections. This book gives a great historical and motivational perspective; the author may be augmenting the personalities in the book to add to the suspense and mystery, but overall the effect is beautiful.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in Mathematics, including advanced students (I am a PhD student hovering near the border of Computer Science and Math). It is a welcome inspirational supplement to the tragedy of axioms and formalism that is modern mathematics education.

I read this book twice the first day I owned it.....so much passion and wisdom. I only wish I had this book earlier in my career.

This is an easy read and well worth it! I enjoyed the book so much that I passed it on to several colleagues. The response from all of them was very positive. It is amazing how many times I hear people refer to the 10 Truths while discussing work matters. The book really does provide simple principles that support a well balanced leader. I highly recommend it!

This book is informative, inspiring and entertaining. Pete Luongo has led a large, successful company. In this book, he shares a management philosophy that was developed over years of experience. At its heart it comes down to caring about your people. But caring does not mean you don't hold them accountable. This book shows how you can do both, how you can set the standard of excellence and inspire others to achieve their personal best.
I have heard Pete speak and I have read his book. I recommend both very highly. Now, as I lead others, I hear Pete's words ringing through my head. Hearing his message and reading this book have made me a better leader.

A must read for all levels of management. Written in such a way that people understand it and relate to the important message Pete Luongo has shared.

This book is a pragmatic view of how our professional and personal lives are perpetually entwined. Pete Luongo's concepts are uncomplicated and simple to grasp as he presents us with a guide for their implementation. His passion for life, and his belief to maximize the quality of the relationships we develop during our existence, is contagious. Additionally, the format of the book allows it to be easily read AND used later for quick reference, if necessary.

This book is so cool, i recommend this book for readers who enjoy farm life and animals who lives on the farm, If I would rate this book on a 5-point scale, I would say it would be a 4..because the pictures could have been colourful instead of black and white, but overall I liked this book. Bye!

This is an excellent book by an excellent author. I've never been disappointed in one of his books and this is one of his best! I wish it could have been longer or that there were a sequel to it. The main characters are Farmer Tubbs and a lot of animals that live on his farm. I recomment this book for anyone who likes pigs, animals, or humorous stories. It's probably more of a child's book, but I think everyone would enjoy it.

This book is very exciting I learned about how ACE the pig can communicate with his owner. He has alot of adventures. I would reccommend this book to any age I think it would brighten anyone`s day to hear about a big fat pig that made me laugh. It`s a book that you can`t put down but sometimes you have to . I would give it five golden stars. ACE the pig, Nanny the lamb and Megan,are all the people that live on Ted Tubbs Farm. ACE isn`t an ordinary pig If you want to find out why, you should read this book.

This book is very exciting I learned about how ACE the pig can communicate with his owner. He has alot of adventures. I would reccommend this book to any age I think it would brighten anyone`s day to hear about a big fat pig that made me laugh. It`s a book that you can`t put down but sometimes you have to . I would give it five golden stars. ACE the pig, Nanny the lamb and Megan,are all the people that live on Ted Tubbs Farm. ACE isn`t an ordinary pig If you want to find out why, you should read this book.

This is another Dick King-Smith favorite of many people. This author has a way with words..............especially with Ace; he can understand HUMAN WORDS! He and his owner share a bond somehow; they can "understand" each other. Named Ace after the Ace of clubs (because he has a club-shaped birthmark), he doesn't want to go where his brothers and sisters are going, and he's prepared to do anything as long as he doesn't have to......he doesn't really have to do anything, though because of his talent, although he DOES makes peace with the farmer's pets, Megan & Clarence. Ace, along with lots of other King-Smith's pigs, is better than E.B. White's Wilbur.

How does life in a non-industrial society compare to life in our own? In which society are people happier? If life in non-industrial societies compares favorably to life in our own, then why are the barrios of the third world filling up with migrants from remote villages? This book provides surprising insights into these questions. It also provokes reflections on our own society and its influence on the rest of the world. After reading a used copy I picked up for free, I bought seven copies of this book for friends and family!

This book has changed the way I looked at the issues of development, modernisation & morals. An amazing read, beautifully written and with great insights.

I have just returned from a trip to Ladakh and I could really relate to what Ms.Norberg talks about in the book.

Just a couple of side issues. It'd be good to know what exactly went wrong in Ladakh. Here are a people who for 2000 years had lived successfully by the rules of Buddhism. How & why did Buddhism fail these people in the face of global/western economic & cultural imperialism? Does the blame lie with Buddhism- it being too 'compassionate' and allowing a religion? Does the blame lie with the Ladakhis who probably were not as sincere Buddhists as they are made out to be?

After all if they really were such devout Buddhists, how come they fell to the greed that capitalism breeds?

Anyway, these are issues which could have been addressed in the book. Regardless, the book is excellent! A must read.

Rarely have I felt more dispair about the direction of what we know as civilization as I felt halfway through this book. The Ladakh people are described as happy, healthy, and self-reliant. Suddenly, the "real world" happens to them, and they come to see themselves as poor, when before they had no need of money.

The authors do a nice job of weaving a story of hope at the end but I have concern for the future of these people. It helps me understand the decision the government of Bhutan has made to isolate themselves from western-style civilization.

After reading this book, I suddenly realized the root problem of Western Civilization: We have no culture. Where there was once culture, we now have an expanding economic order threatening all life on the planet. Through its mechanism of growth and expansion, the global economy is conquering and converting life's diversity into an ecological and social monoculture of cash crops, Levis, soda pop and movie theatres. Perhaps moonscape would be a better word. Of course, it doesn't have to be this way. Our fast-paced, increasingly technological, capital-intensive, fossil fuel-centered, centralized, highly specialized, travel and commercial-oriented, often stressful society is by no means the end-all-be-all of human history. Murder, child abuse, drug abuse, theft, poverty, hunger, and every other problem that plagues the West are not products of human nature. The pathology of civilization is not natural or inevitable, and the Ladakhi are proof of this. Read this book and rediscover ancient, profound, life-affirmating alternatives to the modern humdrum. Discover another way of living, thinking and feeling. Important, necessary, engaging and masterfully written - this book was a treasure to read. Indeed, it was an awaking.

A MUST READ

The first half of *Ancient Futures* will delight and amaze you; the second half will break your heart.

In the 1970s, the Ladakhis of Little Tibet were a happy people. They had a sustainable traditional economy based on trade and cooperation - not money. One person's gain was not another person's loss. There was plenty of leisure, no hunger or poverty, very little sickness or disease, everyone was valued, there was no pollution and nothing was wasted. They got along fine with their Muslim neighbors and they kept their population stable through marriage customs based on land use. Almost every family had a celibate monk or nun. Buddhist monasteries and people had a mutually beneficial economic, social and spiritual relationship. Ladakhis are a naturally contemplative people with a great deal of spiritual awareness. "Schon chan" (one who angers easily) is about the only insult in the Ladakhi lnaguage. "Lack of pride is a virtue, for pride, born of ego, has nothing to do with self-respect among these Buddhist people." The author says that it took her two years of living among them to realize that the people were genuinely and joyfully HAPPY. Then the world beat a path to their door and all that changed - in fewer than two decades.

It's like a little piece of cultural time-lapse photography. What took western culture more than four centuries to do to the Native-Americans took only twenty years here. Ladakh has become a cautionary tale and a monument to western greed and stupidity.

Now there is poverty and unemployment, stress-related disease, women are devalued, the people are ashamed of their "backward" culture, there is little leisure but a great deal of pollution and waste as well as dispute between Muslims and Buddhists and the population had increased markedly. ("Interestingly, a number of Ladakhis have linked the rise of birth rates to the advent of modern democracy. "Power is a question of votes" is a current slogan, meaning that, in the modern sector, the larger your group, the greater your access to power. Competition for jobs and political representation within the new centralized structures is increasingly dividing Ladakhis.")

Chiildren are trained to become specialists in a technological rather than an ecological society. They no longer have time to learn the superb survival techniques of their families. Western culture is creating artificial scarsity and inducing competition.

Now I understand the mechanism better. A culture that has a heavily subsidized infrastructure invades a traditional self-sustaining culture and creates artificial "needs." So they go to the city to earn money which they never needed before, leaving their farms and women, who are immediately devalued because they're not wage earners. The people are no longer planting, irrigating, spinning wool, gathering seeds, harvesting, playing music and singing and telling stories, having seasonal parties, marriage parties or funeral watches - together.

Time has become a commodity. It has become uneconomical to grow one's own food, make one's own clothes and build one's own house. You have to pay your neighbors for the work that the whole community used to do for free.

The men are in the cities earning money and the women are producing tourist commodities with the wool they used to spin for their own use and the food they used to grow for their own families. Now they grow cash crops for strangers so they can make enough money to buy polyester clothes and walkmans and jeans for their kids and food grown hundreds of miles away and fuel trucked in from afar.

The Yak and the Dzo, uniquely suited for high altitudes of Ladakh gave rich milk but not as much as western cattle. So what did the conquering culture do? They imported cattle that can't make it at such altitudes, so more land has to be relegated to planting crops to feed the cattle, thereby upsetting the balance. And they call this progress.

Why can't we just leave people alone - especially when they're doing FINE without us?

"When one-third of the world's population consumes two-thirds of the world's resources," says Norberg-Hodge, "and then in effect turns around and tells the others to do as they do, it is little short of a hoax. Development is all too often a euphemism for exploitation, a new colonialism."

All this would be a dismal tragedy comparable to Columbus's complete genocide of the Tainos if not for a "counter development" movement generated in part by this author. Since the Ladakhis can't go back, they can at least go forward. Instead of importing expensive fossil fuels (previously they had used yak dung and kept warm) they can have solar houses and greenhouses, which have worked very well and given them one benefit that they have previously not had. That's something. Information is another plus. The people are being made aware that westerners pay more for whole grains, organic vegetables, pure water, natural fibers, and natural building materials - things these people have had for a thousand years without money. This is something so-called third-world people are generally not told about.

Once in a while a book comes along that changes one's perspective forever. *Ancient Futures* is such a book. I haven't been the same since.

One of the reviewers on this site said he ended up buy copies for his friends. So have I. This book is a must-read for every person who is concerned about the preservation of our planet and our species.

pamhan99@aol.com

These are retold fairy tales, but not the funny ones. Still, by exploring the tragedy, warmth, and soulfulness of these tales, deeply talented authors delve into the soul and try to find comfort int hese new flavors of fairy tales.

This anthology is one of the most emotionally wrenching and satisfying collections of stories that I've read-not just from fantasy authors, but from anyone. Dealing with the darker aspects of childhood, including abuse and alienation, the stories and poetry are full of depth and transformation; magic, despair, and ultimately hope. Some exceptional stories are "The Armless Maiden" by Midori Snyder, "The Juniper Tree" by Peter Straub, "The Lion and the Lark" by Patricia McKillip, "The Lily and the Weaver's Heart" by Nancy Etchemendy, "In the House of My Enemy" by Charles De Lint, and "In the Night Country" by Ellen Steiber. The poems are all beautiful. This book is definitely on my desert island list.

This is a short review.

Actually, this is not a review atall, although I should say it, shortly and to the point: The ArmlessMaiden is a gorgeous anthology, one of the best I've ever read.

This is just a message to people who might stumble upon it in a bookstore or library.

The message is: read it.

You will not be disappointed.

This book has a myriad of short stories, poems, & essays about survivors of child abuse. They are all worked around fairy-tale themes but not Disneyified: no handsome prince comes to rescue a child; instead, these children escape through their own courage & perseverance. An AMAZING book. A shame it is out of print--but I've seen copies used & in remainder bins at bookstores so do yourself a favor & keep looking! This book will make you shudder, weep, cringe, but ultimately leaves you w/a feeling of hope. All the pieces are good, but standouts include Terri Windling's, Charles De Lint's, Ellen Steiber's, & Munro Sickafoose's. Another wonderful aspect is that Windling ignores genre boundaries & hence you see authors such as Sharon Olds & Anne Sexton represented as well. Highly recommended!

I love adult fairy tales, but it seems that all too often, writers pump up the sex and violence to render the tales "adult", rather than more deeply exploring the human emotional dramas in the stories. Maybe that's why I love _The Armless Maiden_. The tales and poems here do include sex and violence, yes, but at their heart is the triumph of the human spirit.

If we look carefully at fairy tales, many of them are actually about what we would now call child abuse. Cinderella was neglected. Handel and Gretel were abandoned. Donkeyskin suffered incest. And there are so many more. And in most of the stories, the protagonist rises above the situation somehow--in the old versions, usually by gaining fortune and position. In the stories in _The Armless Maiden_, the triumph is more often psychological. I read once--I think it was in a book by Marina Warner--that the essential theme of the fairy tale is transformation. In these stories, we see victims transformed into survivors.

These are serious fairy tales for our times, and I recommend the book both to abuse survivors and to those who did not suffer abuse (trust me, everyone knows someone who did). My personal favorite contributions are Emma Bull's poem about Cinderella's stepsister regretting the friendship they never had, and Ellen Kushner's "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep", the story of a young girl in the custody of a cold-hearted guardian, and haunted by the ghost of the woman's unhappy daughter.

One of the best Christmas books I have read. This will be a must read EVERY year for me.

At The Manger: The Stories Of Those Who Were There by Peter V. Orullian is a touching and imaginative novel about what it must have truly been like to witness the birth of Jesus Christ. Presenting viewpoints of this monumental event from a wide variety of perspectives imbued with humility and respectful wonder, At The Manger is highly recommended as uplifting, thoughtful, and thoroughly entertaining reading.

This book is a work of fiction surrounding the nativity. It doesn't tell the stories of anyone the Gospels identify as being there-- Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men (though indications are the wise men arrived a year or two after Jesus' birth, long after Joseph and Mary settled into a house in Bethlehem)-- but rather speculates on what other people might have been drawn to the manger, telling their tales from their perspectives. In general, the stories were touching and inspiring and I enjoyed the book. It was a quick read. Each story stood on its own, but there was a connecting thread between them, so the book was, indeed, a book rather than simply a collection of stories centered around the manger.

I did, however, have some... not really complaints so much as vague disaffections with the book.

For one, few of the people in the book were drawn to the manger by the shepherds' story, as one might suppose. Rather, most of them seem to have stumbled upon the scene or been drawn there by the star. That bothered me a bit. I've never felt that the star was particularly spectacular-- only the wise men, who were stargazers by profession, are ever mentioned as having even noticed it. The angels didn't instruct the shepherds to follow it, but rather to seek a child wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. Nevertheless, various people in the stories follow the star to the manger, where they recall half-forgotten tales their parents or grandparents or whoever told them that lead them to immediately conclude that this baby must be the Messiah.

Which is, in fact, my second problem. While the prophecies are there in the Old Testament, they're not all in one place and until Jesus fulfilled them, weren't often seen as referring to the Messiah. That's why so many Jews then and to this day do not recognise Jesus as (having been) the Messiah. He didn't fit what they expected. Now, people who heard the shepherds' story might be expected to think the baby Jesus might be the Messiah, but those having just stumbled on the manger? I'm just not so sure.

My third problem is a little more difficult to explain. But I had a sense of dissatisfaction with the author's selection of characters whose tales make up the book. Oh, the characters were realistic enough, well-rounded and realised. But, they were all people who were down on their luck, unrepentant dregs of society, and/or in despair. While the birth of the Christ certainly speaks to those people, then, today and in the future, the story isn't just for them. I felt by leaving out the well-to-do (and those who were perhaps not wealthy but getting by adequately and mostly happy with their life) that the author somehow implied that the Christmas story has nothing for them, doesn't apply to them.

So, while it was an enjoyable read, to me it felt unfinished, as if the stories of the other people who, surely, must have been there got left out. While these stories were wonderful, I would like to read those other stories, too.

This is an amazing new Christmas story. I love books that make me think and take me out of my comfort zone. "At the Manger" was a cause for personal reflection and a series of short stories that all weave together the lessons of giving and personal sacrifice. At the Manger TOUCHED MY HEART. It is an awesome book to add to your collection.

I must admit I am not usually a reader of Christmas stories. In fact, I only picked this book up on the recommendation of a friend. Upon reading it, however, I found it to be a great read, with excellent writing and intriguing plotlines, brought together by the central event. I would definitely recommend this book for those who enjoy Christmas stories, as well as those who just enjoy a well written, well crafted read!

You don't have to have knowledge of the Adirondacks to love this book. I have never been there and don't know anything about them, but still found this book a wonderful read. What I found most incredible is the amount of research and intervieweing that went into it. Each story held so much useful and clear detail that I felt I got a true sense of the atmosphere and events as they unfolded. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure reads, especially true ones.

I cut my outdoor teeth in the high peaks region back in the late 70s & early 80s. The beauty and unpredictability of the weather in this region are unmatched.
My spine tingled as I read the harrowing stories of people caught in the clutches of bad situations, and fighting to make the best of it.
I've been a Search & Rescue team member in Kern County Ca and Monterey county Ca, and been in some truely frightening situations, but none as scary as a severe thunder & lightning storm on the top of Giant Mountain. This book brought back the rememberance of my primal fear...feeling my hair stand up from the static building before the lightning strikes, the screaming of both me and my trailmates, as the thunder boomed, reminding us of how frail life really is.
What a great book!

I was born and raised in the Adirondacks, and I must admit that learning the details of some of these triumphs and tragedies was just riveting. Mr. Bronski has done an incredible job of bringing these stories to life and making you feel that you actually know the people involved and you are actually in the midst of all the drama, storms etc. I never looked at the Adirondacks as "dangerous", but the title says it all, "At the Mercy of the Mountains".

Could not put it down and did not want it to end. Gave me a greater appreciation for the Daks. Really inspired me to get out there and hike!

Peter Bronski's collection of survival stories is riveting. Beginning with an introduction discussing the unique history and characteristics that are the Adirondacks, Bronski sets the tone for some amazing and harrowing true stories.

The infamous 1995 `blowdown' (derecho) is witnessed by several campers, where tornado-like microburst combined with thousands of lightning strikes terrifies the region. The storm leaves campers stranded in a mix of tangled trees piled like matchsticks. Four young men on a winter hiking trip suddenly experience a fast regional thaw and watch as several feet of snow turn to slush, suddenly flooding their lean-to and leaving them to hike over treacherous lakes and rivers that can't hold their weight. An experienced pilot and his wife crash their small plane into a mountainside, barely surviving, only to find themselves miles from nowhere.

These are just some of the stories that the author brings to life, some old and some recent. The most striking aspect this collection is the emphasis on search and rescue (SAR) in conjunction with the survivors ordeals. There are numerous missing persons mentioned over the years, some found and some lost forever. Instead of dwelling on morbid or gory descriptions, Bronksi focuses on the survivors and those that risk their lives to save others. Sometimes remnants of a lost hiker are found years later. Sometimes the family never gives up the search. This book is an instant classic and a must read for any outdoor enthusiast, especially if they travel in the Adirondacks.