Phillips Books

Law for the Elephant is an incredibly well researched work that deserves much attention. If the myth of the lawless trail riders perpetuated by pulp fiction scribes yet infiltrated the ranks of professional historians up until the publication of this work, this book was their death knell.
Reid methodically debunks one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of mid nineteenth century life on the Overland trail. His exhaustive use of primary sources and his meticulous notes must brand this book as the definitive work on the subject of property and social behavior on the overland trail from a legal perspective. The weight of evidence regarding the relative lawfulness of the travelers is such that, as presented, nearly half way through the reader is inexorably swayed to its veracity. Reid presents not a modicum or even generous amount of proof, but a crush of evidence. The fact that he was only able to locate three specific journal entries of lawlessness regarding property, while it does not suggest there was not more, is significantly persuasive. The fact that he is able to logically illustrate that these cases of lawlessness may be shown as examples of how legal theory and values were imbued within the lawbreakers, is doubly clever.
Although not a scintillating read, Reid displays a certain deftness for keeping the readers attention through what could have been far drier material in the hands of one not so gifted with the pen. His assemblage of innumerable primary sources is a praiseworthy accomplishment. Quotes from primary sources are woven consistently and seemingly effortlessly throughout the text, creating a patchwork of storytelling by case study.
This is not to say, however, that this is an entertaining read for laity or even the armchair historian. Reid occasionally slips into legalese that may momentarily obfuscate the read for even the professional historian, but a standard or legal dictionary remedies this. Also, Reid believes the average American on the trail possessed a greater knowledge of the law then than previously thought. Although this may be the case, some of what Reid chalks up to proof of extensive legal knowledge seems no more than ordinary common sense on behalf of the traveler. In a broader sense, to be fair, Reid does not delve deeply into criminality other than in regard to property. But, conventional wisdom suggests that the two are closely linked and thus, Reid obliquely strengthens his argument by this subtle correlation. These few minor criticisms notwithstanding, as a work of legal historical scholarship, Law for the Elephant is nearly flawless and is a significant contribution to the historiography of the overland trail.

The Overland Trail that spread to the gold fields of California and Oregon was a trying ordeal; it tested the will and endurance of the American character. The experience of the trail not only shaped America geographically, but socially, politically, and economically as well. The trail also shaped another American institution: law. Law and the Overland Trail is a topic that deserves greater study to determine charaterisitcs of the overland trail and the development of law in America. Law during antebellum America focused on capital speculation and corporate structure, and a bed of safe property law allowed corporate proliferation to occur. Reid examines inherent social and legal developments of the Overland Trail with great detail by examining a plethora of sources. He examines diaries, papers and other records for inferences to legal conduct. Reid explores the use of property law on the Overland Trail. He concludes that property law was something that was inherent to Americans in general, and not something forced upon them by corporate America (p. 335). The trail is unique in American legal history, because it shows how Americans administered law in a lawless land. Reid starts the book with general assumptions about the trail, emigrants and jurisprudence. He notes that the emigrant is a typical American: man women, child, old Young, ethnic, educated and uneducated. This mass of humanity seeking a new existence, in a place presented as a paradise, was not a lawless immoral group as legend, and some scholarship dictates. In assuming so, Reid states that, "Easily overlooked is the possibility that law could be the common denominator, explaining both the definitions people shared and the conduct they followed" (p. 10). Reid examines a common thread: property rights. The remainder of the book examines the interrelationships, uses, and behaviors associated with property and property rights. He notes that the creation, operation, and dissolution of joint stock ventures operated with a high degree of jurisprudence. An interesting aspect explored is the concept of ownership. Except for natural resources such as water, property was an abstract concept. Emigrants abandoned property as the hardships of the trial demanded, to avoid liabilities associated with traveling weight. Emigrants obtained supplies by barter, or by acquiring discarded property (p. 293). Reid notes that the transfer and handling of property, whether by and individual, or partnership was peaceful, and rarely was violence employed as a means of resolution (p. 341-54). Reid concludes by stating, "Instead, they respected the rights of property owners much as if still back east in the midst of plenty. By respect for their neighbor, and their neighbors property, they were, more than not, adhering to a morality of law" (p. 364). Law for the Elephant is an excellent macro interpretation of property, legal, and social relations of California gold rush emigrants. Another advantage the work provides us is an understanding of why current views of property came to be. The research is well covered, and the readability of the book is excellent. The book not only provides generalizations about law and the Overland Trail, but gives insight into how emigrants acted at the micro level as well.

Phillip Keller has taken a very familiar passage of Scripture and helped me to REALLY understand it. His style of writing makes you feel that he is sitting right next to you and discussing the book WITH you. I highly recommend this book because it has helped me to get into a more intimate relationship with God, my Father. This book takes a very well known piece of Scripture and brings it truths home to you so that the Scripture moves into your heart and takes up residence there. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to know our Father more intimately.

This book is a marvel. Mr. Keller takes a very familiar part of Christianity and makes it live in your heart. He goes through the LORD's Prayer verse by verse. As he does this, he makes it part of your life by helping you see not only what it means but how it can be applied to your life. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone that wants to come to know our LORD but, also, to any Christian that would like to be in a more intimate relationship with his Father in Heaven and our LORD, Jesus Christ.

This book is one of the best books I have ever read, because it gave me a lot of wisdom, in the way of marrige. Even though I am not married yet I learned a lot from this series of letters in the novel. It taught me that I should relax more and not be so uptight. This novel also taught me that when I do get married I will follow some of the guidelines of his letters and use them in my everyday married life. The author showed me the importance of marrige, and how highly I should respect it.I recommend this book to anyone who is planing or think about taking the step into marrige. This book devoloped my relationship with my campanion, to an extent were we can talk about or problems. I reliezed through this book marriage is not all fun and games, it is a serious desicion. After reading this book my knowledge about marriage is greater then it ever was. I thought that even though I am not married, I can be a better person if I read this again when I get married, because there was so much wisdom within those letters. This book was so outstanding to read about his girlfriend because I could tell that they are thinking about taking that special step.I hope he learns as much as i did, becauses he will use it a lot sooner than I will.

Thank you God Bless

Joshua Thompson

This book is one of the best books I have ever read, because it gave me a lot of wisdom, in the way of marrige. Even though I am not married yet I learned a lot from this series of letters in the novel. It taught me that I should relax more and not be so uptight. This novel also taught me that when I do get married I will follow some of the guidelines of his letters and use them in my everyday married life. The author showed me the importance of marrige, and how highly I should respect it.I recommend this book to anyone who is planing or think about taking the step into marrige. This book devoloped my relationship with my campanion, to an extent were we can talk about or problems. I reliezed through this book marriage is not all fun and games, it is a serious desicion. After reading this book my knowledge about marriage is greater then it ever was. I thought that even though I am not married, I can be a better person if I read this again when I get married, because there was so much wisdom within those letters. This book was so outstanding to read about his girlfriend because I could tell that they are thinking about taking that special step.I hope he learns as much as i did, becauses he will use it a lot sooner than I will. Thank you God Bless

Joshua Thompson

This book, 'The Life and Times of Sherlock Holmes', is a glossy, colourful rendering of the great detective's life by Philip Weller and Christopher Roden. Weller, a retiree of the Royal Air Force, is a well-known Sherlockian, founder of S.H.E.R.L.O.C.K. (Sherlock Holmes Enthusiasts Regionally Located Outside the Capital of the Kingdom), is author of many Holmes-related studies. Roden recently provided the introductions to a new edition of the complete canon of the Holmes stories published by Oxford University Press; he has also written several articles for journals related to Holmes, and has served as editor of A.C.D., the journal of the Arthur Conan Doyle Society. With credentials such as this, the reader can be sure of two things - the detail and information is going to be worthwhile, and the love of the subject going into the study is tremendous.

This is a not just a biographical sketch of Sherlock Holmes, but also a visual treat for the reader. There over 200 illustrations in the book, many in full colour. These come from the original sketches that accompanied the stories in the Strand magazine, from photographs and movie stills during the film/television series years, pictures of Sherlock Holmes memorabilia, souvenirs, places mentioned in the stories, and various images of Conan Doyle.

The authors look at several topics in turn - the world context of Sherlock Holmes (both London and other places), the actual stories of the canon, the life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and various lists including groups and a brief (and necessarily incomplete) bibliography. The format, particularly for the discussion of the stories, is very good both for reading and for reference - this provides a short synopsis of each story, including major events, places and characters, as well as original publication information.

This is a worthy addition to any Sherlockian or Holmesian library.

To truly appreciate any of Doyle's writing you have to understand the time and place it occured.

A must have for an avid fan

While the current review is lovely, it's quite wordy for my attention span--I am sure some share my sentiments. Simply put: buy this publication if you like Anton Chekhov. The editor's autobiography and narrative is comprehensive, readable and not at all boring--the included maps are a nice touch and the composition as a whole is a stunning one. You will likely find it easy to relate to his writings or at least enjoy his prose, candor and humor. You will find many moments or evenings of enjoyment from taking a trip down Chekhov lane.

Janet Malcolm's "Reading Chekhov: A Critical Journey" (2001) - a brilliant little book undeservedly maligned by some reviewers - sent me straight back to the book store for a biography of Anton Chekhov. I can report from this trip that the largest bookstore in South East Asia does not carry one single biography of Chekhov!

Instead, I found "Anton Chekhov: A Life in Letters" (2004). And I did not regret it one bit. The book is the fullest collection of Chekhov's letters in English translation to date and contains 370 selected letters reproduced in full. It comes with a chronology of Chekhov's life, a very readable, splendid short introduction, suggestions for further reading, a helpful list of correspondents and four very useful maps. An index at the end of the volume assists in, among other things, finding references to stories and plays in Chekhov's letters.

According to the editors, this book is also the first uncensored edition of Chekhov's correspondence in any language. Chekhov, a physician by training, called the facts of life by their name and took life's mishaps with a sense of humor. Later editors, more prudish and therefore considerably more boring, simply cut out what they called "rude language." Only after Glasnost, in the 1990s, the official portrait of Chekhov as a "decorous and refined gentleman with a stick, who never permitted himself to use racy language and who was rather pious and sickly, with little interest in women" (xv) was beginning to be revised.

The editors point out that Chekhov "may have hidden himself in his literary works, leaving it up to his readers to puzzle out his point of view, and he may have had an aversion to talking about himself in public, but in his letters he could be surprisingly outspoken at times," (xxxv) and so it happens that his correspondence reads almost like the autobiography he always declined to write.

Chekhov's letters illustrate why he is perhaps Russia's best-loved writer: "The qualities which first endeared him to Russian readers back in the 1880s are the same ones which explain his appeal today. He wrote no vast novels in which he attempted to solve the problems of existence [that would be Dostoevsky] or fathom the forces of world history [Tolstoy in "War and Peace"]. He had no particular axe to grind about how people should live their lives, but, like the good doctor that he was, he had a superb ability to diagnose what it was that prevented people from finding happiness and fulfillment and a unique talent for pinpointing it in a clear-sighted way that was a the same time immensely gentle and compassionate. He also had an infectious sense of humour and an unerring sense of life's ironies, which prevented his writing from ever becoming too portentous or sentimental." (xxxvii)

The photo used for the cover shows a pensive Chekhov with a slightly mischievous smile playing around the corner of his mouth. Almost as if just then one of his famous quips had crossed his mind: "Medicine is my lawful wedded wife, and literature is my mistress. When I've had enough of the one, I can go and spend the night with the other."

I have used this guidebook three times now when visiting Lille, Europe's new capital of culture. As well as the brilliant reviews of the principal sites, the book features a surprisingly current guide to the special events and themed weekends of the Lille 2004 season. The hotel reviews are well-written and insightful. On my last trip, I stayed at a delightful little place I would ordinarilly have overlooked, and managed to save over 50 euros thanks to the author's tips. There seem to be dozens of restaurant reviews in the book and we have eaten our way through at least five or six of the author's favourites so far. The reviews and local information are written in a witty and entertaining style that makes it excellent dipping material for the hotel room each night.

I used this book for a few days in Lille, and it proved invaluable. Just like any other travel guide, there are loads of listings of where to go, eat, stay and shop. These listings are for the most part up-to-date and accurate. We discovered that there are also loads of good places which didn't make the listings, but that's hardly suprising given the size of the city. The small format of the book is also good, as the book comfortably fits into your pocket.

But what sets this book apart from other guides is the author's own sense of humour and love of the city. Reading the guide, you feel like you are being guided by an knowledgable and enthusiastic local, rather than just reading a dry listing of what to do.

a little book of big affirmations is a humorous look at the average, everday occurences that we all muddle through...tracy phillips has a knack for taking these everday happenings and spinning them on their ear...the result? laugh out loud humor! this is a book not only for 20 somethings, but for people of all ages...it is about things that all ages can relate to..life, growing-up, and the endless pursuit of a really great job! my advice? get it and have a good laugh!!!

This author is obviously very in tune with the struggles facing our generation in an extremely humorous fashion. Tracy Phillips has her finger on the pulse of 20 and 30 year olds. The author takes us on a ride we won't soon forget. My advice to you is buy this book and do your friends a favor and buy them one also. Laugh out loud funny.

Louisa May Alcott wrote many books, but "Little Women" retains a special place in the heart of American literature. Her warmly realistic stories, sense of comedy and tragedy, and insights into human nature make the romance, humor and sweet stories of "Little Women" come alive.

The four March girls -- practical Meg, rambunctious Jo, sweet Beth and childish artist Amy -- live in genteel poverty with their mother Marmee; their father is away in the Civil War. Despite having little money, the girls keep their spirits up with writing, gardening, homemade plays, and the occasional romp with wealthier pals. Their pal, "poor little rich boy" Laurie, joins in and becomes their adoptive brother, as the girls deal with Meg's first romance, Beth's life-threatening illness, and fears for their father's safety.

The second half of the book opens with Meg's wedding (if not to the man of her dreams, then to the man she loves). Things rapidly go awry after the wedding, when Laurie admits his true feelings to Jo -- only to be rejected. Distraught, he leaves; Amy also leaves on a trip to Europe with a picky old relative. Despite the deterioration of Beth's health, Jo makes her way into a job as a governess, seeking to put her treasured writing into print -- and finds her destiny as well.

There's a clearly autobiographical tone to "Little Women." Not surprising -- the March girls really are like the girls next door. Alcott wrote them with flaws and strengths, and their misadventures -- like Amy's embarrassing problem with her huge lobster -- have the feeling of authenticity. How much of it is real? A passage late in the book portrays Alcott -- in the form of Jo -- "scribbling" down the book itself, and getting it published because it feels so real and true.

Sure, usually classics are hard to read. But "Little Women" is mainly daunting because of its length; the actual stories flow nicely and smoothly. Don't think it's just a book for teenage girls, either -- adults and boys can appreciate it as well. There's something for everyone: drama, romance, humor, sad and happy endings alike.

Alcott's writing itself is nicely detailed. While certain items are no longer in common use (what IS a charabanc anyway?), Alcott's stories themselves seem very fresh and could easily be seen in a modern home. And as nauseating as "heartwarming" stories sometimes are, these definitely qualify. Sometimes, especially in the beginning, Alcott is a bit too preachy and hamhanded. But her touch becomes defter as she writes on.

Jo is the quintessential tomboy, and the best character in the book: rough, gawky, fun-loving, impulsive, with a love of literature and a mouth that is slightly too big. Meg's love of luxury adds a flaw to the "perfect little homemaker" image, and Beth just avoids being shown as too saintly. Amy is an annoying little brat throughout much of the first half of the book, but by her teens she's almost as good as Jo.

"Little Women" is one of those rare classic novels that is still relevant, funny, fresh and heartbreaking today. Louisa May Alcott's best-known novel is a magnificent achievement.

I first read Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" the summer between 4th and 5th grades. I was absolutely riveted by the story and characters and clearly remember sitting on the porch steps, my nose in the book. I cried when I reached the conclusion, because I was afraid that I had just read the best book in the world, and that I would never find anything else as good. The local librarian convinced me otherwise. I cannot recommend this novel highly enough - for people of all ages. It will always have a special place in my heart.

Ms. Alcott writes about four young women, living in New England, during a period of much strife in America - the Civil War. They are self sufficient, creative and well educated, and each chooses a different life path, traditional and non. Considering the period when the book was written, the author's views on opportunities open to females, restricted though they were by society, is refreshing and liberating. Of course, this was not my focus as a nine year-old. The novel is long, but that never bothered me as a young girl, or much later when I reread it. I didn't want the story to end, actually.

Sisters Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March and their beloved Marmee, (who offers her daughters guidance, comfort and unconditional love), learn to live in genteel poverty while their father, a doctor, is away treating wounded soldiers. This beautifully written classic, chronicles the girls' adolescence through womanhood, with all their trial, tribulations, and joys.

Much of the novel focuses on Jo, the second daughter, and a gifted writer. She is very much a tomboy, and an avid reader who writes plays which the girls act-out with delight and exuberance. When they meet their new next-door neighbor, the wealthy, lonely Theodore Laurence, (called Laurie), they befriend him and invite him to become the only male member of their exclusive theater ensemble. Laurie becomes an important person in all of their lives, and the March family in his. Margaret, (Meg), the oldest, is quite lovely - a young woman with traditional values and tastes. Sensitive Elizabeth, (Beth), is the most fragile sister -quiet, caring and timid. And Amy, the youngest, is a gifted artist, with a tremendous sense of self-importance.

Together they cope with their father's absence and their fear for his safety, severe illness in the family, a death, lack of money precluding many of life's small luxuries, romance, love, marriage and many glorious adventures. In the second part of the novel, Meg marries, Jo's writing becomes a priority, as does Amy's art. During a time of impoverishment, they learn how good it feels to give to those who are much needier than themselves. This aspect of the book is very moving. Ms Alcott brings her characters to life on the page. All of them, even minor personages, are extremely well developed.

"Little Women" was first published in two parts in 1868 and 1869. The author drew from her own childhood experiences to dramatize the lives of the March family. The character "Marmee" is based on her own mother, Abigail May, (Abba), Alcott, whom she described as having: "A great heart that was home for all." Like Marmee, Abba was loving and passionate about women's rights, temperance, and abolition. A truly compelling and wise novel!

Anne K. Phillips, associate professor of English and assistant head of the English department at Kansas State University, is co-editor of the Norton Critical Edition of "Little Women" and "The Louisa May Alcott Encyclopedia," along with Gregory Eiselein, professor and director of graduate studies in English at Kansas State.

Phillips was awarded a University Small Research Grant in January 2002 to examine the first editions of "Little Women" at the Houghton Library at Harvard University, in connection with the development of the Norton Critical Edition.

This edition also provides the authoritative, accurate text of the first edition (1868-69) of "Little Women," accompanied by textual variants and explanatory annotations. Backgrounds and Contexts" includes a wealth of archival materials, among them previously unpublished correspondence and Alcott's own precursors to the novel. Twenty nineteenth-century reviews provide critiques and seven modern essays represent a variety of critical theories used to read and study the novel. A Chronology and Selected Bibliography are also included.

This is an outstanding edition and the additional academic information makes for richer reading and study. The editing is first-rate and each edition is printed on acid-free paper. Makes a wonderful addition to any library.
JANA

It's a shame to see this excellent older study of Lovecraft out of print - buy it NOW in case someone doesn't do a reissue. Based on Levy's 1969 doctoral thesis at the Sorbonne, the book employs a kind of easy-going French phenomenolgy (he cites Gaston Bachelard a few times) that's ideal for communicating the element of "atmosphere" which Lovecraft made the foundation of his horror fiction, both in theory and practice. More recent criticism, like Donald Burleson's deconstructive reading and Michel Houellebecq's ranting, misquoting manifesto, have some interesting things to say, but are so thesis-driven that one comes away with very little sense of the concreteness of Lovecraft's world. Levy's treatment of the little nuances of style, narrative texture and imagery, the open-endedness of his analyses, and his obvious sympathy with HPL the man make this the ideal companion for anyone venturing into the mythos for the first time, but if you're a compulsive Lovecraft reader (as so many of us are), you'll find yourself having new insights every time you look into it - and the chapters all have a self-contained quality that makes for easy browsing. The translation and notes (1988) by master-Lovecraftian
S.T. Joshi are superb.

Levy's book is filled with explorations of neat themes in Lovecraft such as attics (vs. cellars), dreamworlds, stairways dug from underground up... The book's charm as well as weakness is that it points out Lovecraft's relation to other thinkers (Poe, Hawthorne, Freud, Einstein, Le Fanu) but doesn't get bogged down working those relations out.

First-time novelist Emir Phillips holds nothing back here. You've got armies of orphans fighting demons, scathing insights into the political and social realities of New Orleans before Katrina (and somewhat more visible now), the rants of a dead mobster, some plunges into historical -- even Babylonian -- fiction, and a little mythological fudging around that would feel at home in a Tom Robbins novel. Some sections take a little more chewing than others, particularly those with extensive theological debates. But overall it's a colorful and stimulating read, and it so perfectly captures the character of New Orleans: passionate religion (both pagan and Christian) alongside complete debauchery, framed by an unrivaled love of life tinged with the constant presence of death. It may not be right for a light beach read, but it's great for those who want something to chew on, Creole style.

Lucitan, a Christian Punk Novel
By Emir Phillips

Reviewed by Joe Meyer,
Professor of Political Science,
Los Angeles City College


Janus Bardach and Kathleen Gleeson have written a book on the Russian gulag entitled: "Man is Wolf to Man." In Emir Phillip's novel, "Lucitan," it is far worse than that: angels are wolves to angels, and Man is just part of the fodder.

This novel works on many levels. It's not the first book about a New Orleans DA, but it is the first I'm aware of where the DA is literally the son of the devil.

It's an epic tale of the battle of good and evil where that battle is finally fought on level ground. The problem with most books where God is a main character is that God never can lose; not really. So the whole business becomes a matter of fate, not faith.

But in Lucitan, essentially, the devil tricks God into a fair fight, one where he actually has a chance of winning. And God being God, well, I'll let the reader discover the beautiful simplicity that is Lucitan's God.

Mr. Phillips has a dense literary style that is rarely found in modern novels. He puts great effort into creating characters - human, heavenly and hellish - all of whom seem real and knowable. You don't need to be a graduate of a Catholic grade school to fully comprehend the detail and delightful dark humor of Lucitan.

There are countless numbers of novels that use New Orleans as a background. There are a few which truly capture New Orleans. But Lucitan is a rarity, in that the character that is the "Big EZ" is not presented as its stereotype (that Yankee creation of tourists and conventioneers). No, this New Orleans smells and sweats and feels real, but more importantly, it is an indivisible part of the plot. The story could not happen anywhere else.

This is obviously a book of deep faith and real understanding of the workings of - for lack of better words - good and evil. Mr. Phillips does much more than "give the devil his due." He shows that even the devil is not beyond redemption (or at least that's God's position).

Christians and non Christians alike will be swept up in the fast pace and endless twists as the reader is blown forward to the battle for - well - everything. And don't be too sure you know the outcome.