Reed Books

The Carpatho-Rusyn Americans - Paul Magocsi
The best introduction to the Carpatho-Rusyn people and country

This is a delightful book about the Carpatho-Rusyn people, culture and land. It is easy to read yet fully detailed about the major topics of this small but complex area of study. The author is the leading expert on Rusyn history and culture and this is his beginner's guide to this topic. The text is illustrated throughout with black-and white photographs, artwork, and maps and there is an eight page insert of color plates called "The Seasons of the Church" that illustrates the liturgical uniqueness of this group.

The first chapter, "From a Little-Known Land", is an introduction to the geography of the Carpathian Mountain region which is the Rusyn homeland. A 1914 map of northeastern Austria-Hungary shows this land when it was last united in one country.

The second chapter is called "The Homeland" and follows the history of this region up to the mid-1980s when the book was written. This region is in the geographic center of Europe and has been at the divide between Eastern and Western Europe for centuries. This is the land where the Roman alphabet changes to the Cyrillic, and where western Christian and Byzantine Orthodox theologies meet. It is the home of the Uniate church, a curious compromise where Byzantine liturgies are performed in churches owing their allegiance to the pope in Rome. The language is a dialect of Ukrainian, but has been greatly influenced by the Polish and Hungarian spoken in the countries the land has been a part of for centuries. The cultural awakening of these people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the 18th and 19th centuries is outlined. The division of the land between Poland and Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I, and the later removal of a section into the USSR after World War II are outlined.

"Events of the Immigration", the third chapter, describes the conditions that led to a vast immigration of Rusyn people to the USA in the late 19th and early 20th century. This immigration was stopped by World War I and was reduced to a trickle after the war.
"The New World" describes the arrival of the Rusyns in the coal mines and steel mills of western Pennsylvania, and the factories of New York and New Jersey. The people brought their own Uniate priests who were often married and they built their own churches. They ran into misunderstandings with American Catholic bishops who had little knowledge of the unique situation of these eastern rite Catholic churches.

In "Assimilation and Adaptation" Magocsi tells the story of how these churches confronted their problems in various ways. Some of the early churches, led by Father Alexis Toth, converted to Russian Orthodoxy and built up that church in America. After World War I some churches formed a new church that was affiliated with the Greek Orthodox community. Of course, some remained in the Uniate churches of their ancestors, while still others started attending Roman Catholic churches. The Rusyn press and fraternal organizations in the USA are also described in this chapter.

The next chapter, "People of Prominence" , discusses some famous Rusyn-Americans and their contributions. Sandra Dee and Andy Warhol are the most famous of these but many others are also mentioned.

The last chapter, "Looking Toward the Future", describes the resurgence of interest in Rusyn heritage in the USA and mentions some of the prominent people and groups involved. However, since this book was written in 1989, years before Ukrainian and Slovak independence, the future described in this chapter appears a little dated. A new edition of this book has just been published, and hopefully will bring Rusyn history up to date with some information on the Rusyns of Slovakia and Ukraine.

The illustrations in this book really make it outstanding. There are illustrations of major historic figures like Cyril and Methodius, Prince Fedir Koriatovych, Aleksander Dukhnovych, Adolf Dobriansky, Reverend Alexis Toth, and Gregory Zhatkovich. Also lots of pictures are of ordinary people, like young girls or children in traditional costumes, dance or choral groups also in traditional dress, immigrants arriving at Governor's Island, miners and factory workers, church groups, and family groups. The unique architecture of Rusyn churches is represented by eight pictures from both North America and the Carpathian Mountains.

If you have one book about the Rusyn people, this should be it.

This is a delightful book about the Carpatho-Rusyn people, culture and land. It is easy to read yet fully detailed about the major topics of this small but complex area of study. The author is the leading expert on Rusyn history and culture and this is his beginner's guide to this topic. The text is illustrated throughout with black-and white photographs, artwork, and maps and there is an eight page insert of color plates called "The Seasons of the Church" that illustrates the liturgical uniqueness of this group.

The first chapter, "From a Little-Known Land", is an introduction to the geography of the Carpathian Mountain region which is the Rusyn homeland. A 1914 map of northeastern Austria-Hungary shows this land when it was last united in one country.

The second chapter is called "The Homeland" and follows the history of this region up to the mid-1980s when the book was written. This region is in the geographic center of Europe and has been at the divide between Eastern and Western Europe for centuries. This is the land where the Roman alphabet changes to the Cyrillic, and where western Christian and Byzantine Orthodox theologies meet. It is the home of the Uniate church, a curious compromise where Byzantine liturgies are performed in churches owing their allegiance to the pope in Rome. The language is a dialect of Ukrainian, but has been greatly influenced by the Polish and Hungarian spoken in the countries the land has been a part of for centuries. The cultural awakening of these people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the 18th and 19th centuries is outlined. The division of the land between Poland and Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I, and the later removal of a section into the USSR after World War II are outlined.

"Events of the Immigration", the third chapter, describes the conditions that led to a vast immigration of Rusyn people to the USA in the late 19th and early 20th century. This immigration was stopped by World War I and was reduced to a trickle after the war.
"The New World" describes the arrival of the Rusyns in the coal mines and steel mills of western Pennsylvania, and the factories of New York and New Jersey. The people brought their own Uniate priests who were often married and they built their own churches. They ran into misunderstandings with American Catholic bishops who had little knowledge of the unique situation of these eastern rite Catholic churches.

In "Assimilation and Adaptation" Magocsi tells the story of how these churches confronted their problems in various ways. Some of the early churches, led by Father Alexis Toth, converted to Russian Orthodoxy and built up that church in America. After World War I some churches formed a new church that was affiliated with the Greek Orthodox community. Of course, some remained in the Uniate churches of their ancestors, while still others started attending Roman Catholic churches. The Rusyn press and fraternal organizations in the USA are also described in this chapter.

The next chapter, "People of Prominence" , discusses some famous Rusyn-Americans and their contributions. Sandra Dee and Andy Warhol are the most famous of these but many others are also mentioned.

The last chapter, "Looking Toward the Future", describes the resurgence of interest in Rusyn heritage in the USA and mentions some of the prominent people and groups involved. However, since this book was written in 1989, years before Ukrainian and Slovak independence, the future described in this chapter appears a little dated. A new edition of this book has just been published, and hopefully will bring Rusyn history up to date with some information on the Rusyns of Slovakia and Ukraine.

The illustrations in this book really make it outstanding. There are illustrations of major historic figures like Cyril and Methodius, Prince Fedir Koriatovych, Aleksander Dukhnovych, Adolf Dobriansky, Reverend Alexis Toth, and Gregory Zhatkovich. Also lots of pictures are of ordinary people, like young girls or children in traditional costumes, dance or choral groups also in traditional dress, immigrants arriving at Governor's Island, miners and factory workers, church groups, and family groups. The unique architecture of Rusyn churches is represented by eight pictures from both North America and the Carpathian Mountains.

If you have one book about the Rusyn people, this should be it.

This is a delightful book about the Carpatho-Rusyn people, culture and land. It is easy to read yet fully detailed about the major topics of this small but complex area of study. The author is the leading expert on Rusyn history and culture and this is his beginner's guide to this topic. The text is illustrated throughout with black-and white photographs, artwork, and maps and there is an eight page insert of color plates called "The Seasons of the Church" that illustrates the liturgical uniqueness of this group.

This year 2000 revision of a 1989 text brings a classic introduction to the Rusyn people back into print and up to date. I call it a revision rather than a new edition because the changes are actually quite minor. Five paragraphs have been rewritten and two new ones added. To reflect the passing of eleven years, a few dates and numbers have also been changed. Two pictures were replaced with new ones and the captions to three others have been enhanced. Also, the two maps have been redrawn. On the page called Further Reading, three items were dropped and two new items added.

The illustrations in this new printing suffer from a common problem with reprints. the photos are darker and less in focus than those in the original edition. If the illustrations are the important part of this book for you, then seek out the original edition rather than this updated revision.

The first chapter, "From a Little-Known Land", is an introduction to the geography of the Carpathian Mountain region which is the Rusyn homeland. A 1914 map of northeastern Austria-Hungary shows this land when it was last united in one country.

The second chapter is called "The Homeland" and follows the history of this region up to the mid-1980s when the book was written. This region is in the geographic center of Europe and has been at the divide between Eastern and Western Europe for centuries. This is the land where the Roman alphabet changes to the Cyrillic, and where western Christian and Byzantine Orthodox theologies meet. It is the home of the Uniate church, a curious compromise where Byzantine liturgies are performed in churches owing their allegiance to the pope in Rome. The language is a dialect of Ukrainian, but has been greatly influenced by the Polish and Hungarian spoken in the countries the land has been a part of for centuries. The cultural awakening of these people in the Austro-Hungarian Empire of the 18th and 19th centuries is outlined. The division of the land between Poland and Czechoslovakia at the end of World War I, and the later removal of a section into the USSR after World War II are outlined.

"Events of the Immigration", the third chapter, describes the conditions that led to a vast immigration of Rusyn people to the USA in the late 19th and early 20th century. This immigration was stopped by World War I and was reduced to a trickle after the war.
"The New World" describes the arrival of the Rusyns in the coal mines and steel mills of western Pennsylvania, and the factories of New York and New Jersey. The people brought their own Uniate priests who were often married and they built their own churches. They ran into misunderstandings with American Catholic bishops who had little knowledge of the unique situation of these eastern rite Catholic churches.

In "Assimilation and Adaptation" Magocsi tells the story of how these churches confronted their problems in various ways. Some of the early churches, led by Father Alexis Toth, converted to Russian Orthodoxy and built up that church in America. After World War I some churches formed a new church that was affiliated with the Greek Orthodox community. Of course, some remained in the Uniate churches of their ancestors, while still others started attending Roman Catholic churches. The Rusyn press and fraternal organizations in the USA are also described in this chapter.

The next chapter, "People of Prominence" , discusses some famous Rusyn-Americans and their contributions. Sandra Dee and Andy Warhol are the most famous of these but many others are also mentioned.

The last chapter, "Looking Toward the Future", describes the resurgence of interest in Rusyn heritage in America and mentions some of the prominent people and groups involved.

The illustrations in this book really make it outstanding. There are illustrations of major historic figures like Cyril and Methodius, Prince Fedir Koriatovych, Aleksander Dukhnovych, Adolf Dobriansky, Reverend Alexis Toth, and Gregory Zhatkovich. Also lots of pictures are of ordinary people, like young girls or children in traditional costumes, dance or choral groups also in traditional dress, immigrants arriving at Governor's Island, miners and factory workers, church groups, and family groups. The unique architecture of Rusyn churches is represented by eight pictures from both North America and the Carpathian Mountains.

If you have one book about the Rusyn people, this should be it.

I am a nurse who is presently at a clinic that does travel shots for the people going out of the country. This book is very informative and helpful. I use it all the time.

Indispensable. It is intended for professionals. Not to be followed without medical consultation.
Lya A. MD

CDC Health Information for International Travel 2008 (Health Information for International Travel) Good reference material. Easy to use.

While many underground cartoonists of the `60s and `70s focused their stories on counter-cultural issues of the time, writer/artist Jack Jackson headed in the other direction, bringing the stories of early Texas personalities to life. COMANCHE MOON tells the epic story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her famed son, Quanah. Set during the final days of the Comanche, who once roamed from the Kansas Territory to central Texas, it is a fascinating and moving historical portrait.

At age 9, Cynthia Ann, the daughter of Anglo settlers, is kidnapped by Comanches during a raid in 1836. Renamed Naduah, she adapts to their ways, marrying a chief and bearing a son, Quanah. Quanah rises from an uncertain beginning to become a powerful and feared warrior, and the last chief of the Quahadi Comanche. But his most startling transition was yet to come, as he adopted the white man's ways and introduced Native American culture to white society.

Jackson pulls out all the stops for this graphic novel. While I recall studying Quanah Parker and these events in my Texas history class many years ago, it was not presented with this level of detail. This is certainly not your typical read-in-an-hour trade paperback - you actually have to focus, and you may even learn a thing or two if you're not careful. Jackson's historical sources are numerous, events and characters are clearly identified, and maps are abundant. I especially enjoyed his casual presentation of the Comanche's speech, almost as if they were using modern slang. The art is very detailed, at times almost approaching photorealism. Jackson takes great pains to accurately depict historical figures from daguerreotypes. At times, it resembles the early black and white work of his contemporary, Richard Corben.

With all that said, there are certain parts that should appeal to the purely underground comic fan - Jackson's depictions of Quanah's mystic vision, his first experience with peyote, and his death resemble psychedelia straight out of Zap Comics. Great reading, fully educational, and very cool.

This is the finest and most intricate graphic book (not quite a novel) I've ever read. The illustrations reach levels of beauty and artistry seldom seen in this genre of storytelling. Comanche Moon (not to be confused with the Larry McMurtry novel of the same name) tells the end times history of the Comanche peoples, with emphasis on their great leader, Quanah Parker, and his mother, the "white Comanche" Cynthia Ann Parker. The story of the Comanche's' violent way of life, their struggles against the whites in Texas and across the Southwest, and of the brilliant leadership of Quanah Parker, are rendered in a way that provides as much meaningful information to a reader as most text-only tales of the Comanche and the brutal period of the mid-1800's thru the 1870's. This is a great (though often sad and bloody) segment of North American history, and this rapidly-paced, carefully produced graphic re-telling of it is a more than worthy read.

Historically accurate biography of Quanah Parker, last Commanche to live free on the LLana Estacata of Texas. Also bio information about his mother Cynthia Ann Parker, a European girl captured and raised by Commanches as their own, later taken back by her white family by force after she had married and had children as a Commanche woman. Lots of information regarding the everyday life of Commanche people. Told in a graphic novel format , the drawing is not particularly beautiful, but the story and accuracy make up for it. My copy is bound in psuedo leather, looks nice. Highly recomended for adults or older adolecents. Especially those who are intellectually curious, who may or may not have trouble with standard written texts.

This book is the result of an 1984 fact-finding mission to Nicaragua undertaken by Reed Brody, who is now with Human Rights Watch. It is based on a rigourous methodology involving sworn affadavits of personal eyewitness accounts of atrocities. The witnesses were interviewed with no Nicaraguan government presence or interference.

The book consists of detailed descriptions of numerous attacks on civilians by the Contras. A section is devoted to attacks on coffee pickers; there is one on attacks on farms and villages, and another on attacks on civilian vehicles. Also included are sections on kidnappings and rapes.

When it appeared, this book was considered dangerous enough by the Reagan administration that Brody was publicly denounced by President Reagan who attempted to smear his reputation.

Unfortunately, "Contra Terror in Nicaragua" is accurate. It provides a glimpse into the Reagan administration's policy of directing systematic violence at a civilian peasant population for the purpose of ousting the government of Nicaragua. It will be recalled that this government won internationally certified elections in 1984 and was the choice of the people. The campaign of violence was unremitting and lasted about nine years.

Brody's book is an important historical document on an extremely sad and disturbing episode in American foreign policy. The people in Washington who were responsible for this are rightly regarded as war criminals. This includes John Negroponte, currently US ambassador to Iraq. From 1981-84 he was overseeing operation of the Contras from their bases in Honduras, where he was US ambassador.

This is an important historical record. Don't expect any lavish prose or entertaining reading. This is "just the facts", documenting case after case of attacks against civilians by lavishly US funded and orchestrated Contra forces in the 1980's.

In the book, you get an introductory explanation of the methods and sources for the information, followed by background information of the political climate. Then you get a number of selected individual cases of attacks on civilians that are thoroughly detailed with names, dates and descriptions. Each of these stories is told over a couple pages each. Lastly are a cronology of Contra attacks on civilians between 1981 and 1984 which seems to list a couple hundred instances with a short description of each, and the source notes.

Many cases are compiled from the reports of groups like America's Watch, Center for Constitutional Rights, Washington Office on Latin America...etc. Many are compiled from eye-witness and victim's affidavits, and from the extensive report of Reed Brody's fact finding team from between 1984-85 in Nicaragua.

What you will see here are the tactics used by the people that the US government was hailing as "freedom fighters", and whom Reagan called "the moral equals of our founding fathers". The overriding point, and what this book shows, is that the attacks against civilians were not random errors, or the acts of a few renegade contras. They were conscious, pervasive and intentional policy of the leadership.

I'm writing this review over 15 years after the publication of this book, but it's very important to know what our government was really doing. And, in the year 2002, When "terrorism" is on everyone's mind, and you hear our leaders repeatedly saying things like: "there's no justification for attacking civilians" or how we must go after any evil "states that sponsor terrorism", it's important to remember the not too distant history, and consider how well our own government would measure up to these principles.

We now have a presidential candidate who chants to an old Beach Boys tune Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran and who twenty years ago voted to bomb Nicaragua. Here we may read the devastating results of that anti-life policy. It is no joke. War is no joke. War is hell.

Every US citizen needs this year to read this book, to remember our taxpayer supported terrorist army which blew up health care clinics, schools and the simple bamboo homes of very poor people.

Reed Brody is the former Assistant Attorney General for the State of New York, and as a skilled prosecutor, knows the rules of evidence in presenting a compelling case beyond any reasonable doubt.

In this book he leaves no room for doubt regarding the crimes against humanity committed by our government against the poor people of Nicaragua twenty years ago. He presents undeniable testimony of incidents of crimes against humanity committed by our mercenary terrorist guerrilla army, inclduing rapes, kidnappings and deadly attacks against civilian vehicles, farms and villages and agricultural workers.

He lays open the case in a compelling introduction, he states in two and half dozen incidents, and concludes with an afterword and with three appendices entitled: Verfication, in which he describes the methodology and adherence to reliable rules of evidence; Who are the contra?, in which he describes at great length the make-up of the leadership as well as their illegal "private" US funding, and closes with a long chronology of contra attacks up to that time.

In this present era of imperial warfare, in which approved journalists are "embedded" within the attacking US army and thus kept from performing their free and independednt function, in which news reports are heavily Redacted by the media monopolies to keep the US public from an informed decision and to cover up our present crimes against humanity, and in which independent reporters of other nations are fired upon by our troops to keep the truth of our barbarous war crimes from emerging, we must remember this time when it was possible for courageous US citizens to travel to the scenes of our terrorist attacks upon civilian populations and report them to us at home, truthfully and undeniably. Let us study carefully these cases of Atty. Reed Brody, examine his methodology, and even if unable to travel to Fallujah and Guantanamo and elsewhere to report back the abuses by our troops, at least we can work so that never again we suffer under another rogue president who commits our nation to A Stupid, Unjust, and Criminal War: Iraq, 2001-2007.

This book is the MOST awsome book!!! It really gives a trainer's point of view on the work and skills included!! The story is almost touching, and it really brings the world of dolphins into the light!!

I love this book! Don C Reed tells the story of his career as a dolphin trainer and the relationships he shared with these great animals. After reading this book, i was inspired to become a dolphin trainer when I grow up. You should DEFINITELY read this book!

I liked the book because I like the ocean and it is interesting to know the trainer's point of view about dolphins. It is also interesting to know that all dolphins aren't nice. I am ten years old.

This text was required for a class in School Administration in my post grad class at Seton Hall University. The author is easy to follow along with as he presents theories along with examples of organizational life in the education system. An excellent chapter on the Culture and Climate of Schools can be used by administrators in any field to better recognize these characteristics, as well as organizational health, before taking steps to change the culture or climate. Another very good chapter deals with Leadership in Schools and helps to identify the various theories of leadership and the strengths and weaknesses associated with each type. A great book for administrators in either the private or public sector.

Very quick receipt, well packaged, and fairly priced for the excellent condition of this book. Thank you so much for the great service.

This book was and is the best introduction to school administration available. I was the foundation for my doctorate program.

For a broad business overview of e-Business technology, this is one of the finest books on the market. The authors effectively present the rationale for electronic commerce, along with both the business and technology foundations. Highly accurate and well presented.

This may be a college textbook but the information inside was extremely valuable in the emerging Ecommerce world! I found myself going to alot of the web sites it has listed in the book and none of it was out of date.

Managerial Orientation
Interdisciplinary Approach
Real-World Orientation
Solid Theoretical Background
Most Current
......

Based on a true event, Element of Blank is a haunting novel of human cruelty to others - and even more so to oneself. Following the life of a young mother and her self-destructive relationship with an abusive husband to its brutal conclusion when he unintentionally yet horrifically murders her, Element of Blank is raw, dark, gritty, and undeniably compelling. A chilling tale of negative human dynamics, not for the faint of heart.

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (8/07)

Ann Harper Reed's "Element of Blank" is a courageous and powerful book on a subject that is definitely not discussed often enough, namely, domestic abuse. Ms. Reed's story of Sally and David is bone-chilling and nail-biting tense. Although the outcome is - unfortunately just like in too many other cases - all too predictable, the journey to the bitter end leaves the reader hoping for a miracle.

Sally, an impressionable high-school student, falls for David real hard. Although he is not nice to her and already early on shows signs of a disturbed mind and abuses her verbally, she leaves home immediately after high school and moves away with him. Things start getting worse rapidly. Sally has to call her mother to come and get her, but after David learns that Sally is pregnant, he comes and gets her after the miscarriage. The relationship does not get any better and is not helped by the birth of the second daughter either. Verbal abuse is followed by escalating physical violence. We learn of drug abuse by both parents. The children are more and more scared and oftentimes neglected by both parents. Sally finally realizes that she needs to get herself and her daughters away from this poisonous situation, but she never manages to do so. Her life ends with a crashed skull - practically in front of the neighbors' eyes.

Ms. Reed's writing is particularly powerful when it comes to Sally's internal musings. There are some occasionally awkward turns of a phrase in descriptions of public situations and personal encounters, as well as quite a few misspelled words. In the beginning I thought that they might have been intentional, since Sally was not extensively educated. Reading further I realized that they most probably were not, since they kept appearing. I believe this book would profit greatly from expert editing and meticulous proof-reading.

The story is extremely engaging and grips the reader from the very first page. I found it impossible to put down, even when personal memories threatened to break my composure down. It followed a path all too well known to me and many other women out there. I was lucky and got out. Sally and so many others were not. This book should be compulsory reading for every woman - whether in an abusive relationship or not. It might save your life or help you save somebody else's life. If the subject of "Element of Blank" would be a happier one, I'd say that I loved this book. I don't think a story this heartbreaking could be loved, at least not by me. But I truly admire Ms. Reed's courage in bringing the subject into the limelight this way.

Inspired by a true event, Ann Harper Reed with her Element of Blank sets out to take readers into the horrendous life of a battered woman, Sally, who was imprisoned in an environment of terror. Accurately and painfully describing common characteristics prevalent among battered women, Reed traces Sally's life from her late teen years until she succumbs to a beating several years later by her abusive husband David leading to her death.

As mentioned in the book's media release, every eighteen seconds, a woman in America is beaten by her husband or boyfriend. Women who are regularly terrorized begin to suffer from a state of "learned helplessness." And not only do the victims suffer physical pain, but they also have to cope with their emotional and psychological pain. In addition, and as we see in Sally's story, the victims blame themselves with the typical response being, "I provoked him, I was a bad wife, mother or housekeeper."

The first section of Element of Blank is narrated in the first person by a teenage Sally. The opening chapter finds Sally in an argument with David which leads to their temporary break-up. We also learn that Sally is often the recipient of David's verbal abuses wherein he would yell at her in front of his friends in his uncle's garage because he thought she insulted him, or he would grab her to show he was angry. However, as she states, "it's strange because it doesn't have any place with the other things I'm talking about; like fighting was part of someone else's relationship." This is generally considered to be the first tension building stage where we witness verbal and sometimes minor physical abuse and where the victim attempts to pacify the abuser. However, it is also the predictor of future abuse. Unfortunately, Sally seems to be in a situation where she receives little helpful support from her family and furthermore no one seems to be intervening in a positive way to point out to her that she should seek help.

Distraught and extremely saddened living without David, Sally feels helpless, completely blaming herself for their breakup. Moreover, Sally perceives her relationship as normal and as she comments, this is the way love works. She describes it as a game they play- a complicated dance where David makes her do one thing, and then she makes him do another, and so on, until they are back in their relationship.

The next stage of Sally's life finds her running away with David upon her graduation from high school to live in a small town in New Mexico, Pie Town. Her parents were adamantly opposed to her decision, however, they could do very little to prevent her from making this terrible mistake and from what we gather it doesn't appear that anyone was around to objectively discuss the ramifications of her actions.

Sally and David wind up living in a run down one room shack that David inherited from his deceased father. A far cry from the home Sally ran away located in Northridge California. It is in Pie Town where Sally lives in a kind of prison and endures continuous physical and psychological abuse at the hands of David. However, as she has a very low esteem of herself, she feels that it is always her fault. David on the other hand promises that the abuse will cease and he will change his ways.

As this stage in her life closes, Sally who is now pregnant returns home to her parents, after she discovers that David had been cheating on her. Once home she tries to lead a normal life and finds employment in an Orange Julius. Unfortunately, she miscarries and receives very little sympathy or support from her parents thus driving her back into the arms of David.

The second section of the book focuses on Sally and David's ghastly lives as they become parents of two girls living in a small isolated valley town in California where the temperature in the summer can reach 116 degrees on a somewhat regular basis.

It is a town that is dedicated to talking about everyone behind their backs and speaks very little about Sally. As the narrative mentions, "that probably has more to do with her light and the despair of her life. Private ugliness like that is bound to make people uncomfortable."

It is also here where Sally finds herself trapped in a cycle of abuse that she believes will never cease. David becomes her supervisor and master and although, she does make an attempt to seek help from co-workers, unfortunately due to either fear or misguidance, she abstains from pursuing concrete steps to rectify her unbearable circumstances.

Element of Blank could have easily been cliché-ridden and bloated however such is not the case, as Reed effectively paints a true life picture of how domestic violence is an appalling problem that we all must face-not only the people who are its victims. Moreover, her writing teems with vivid and sometimes graphic detail as she recreates a living, breathing and unbearable situation that at times is almost overwhelming, particularly where she describes the beatings Sally endured. One criticism I do have is that there is an underdevelopment of Sally's relationship with her parents and also we know very little about David's upbringing. It would have given us a better picture of their respective environments and how it may have been a factor in influencing their future behavior patterns.

Norm Goldman, Editor Bookpleasures

This novel was even better than Lisa Reed's first. The excitement and passion keeps your interest throughout the story!

I bought this book and LITTLE NEW YORK BA$TARD by M. Dylan Raskin as part of an Amazon two-for-almost-the-price-of-one. They're both very different books but I highly recommend both of them.

What a exciting book this is!!!!!!!! I started reading and could not put it down, I read it in 1 day. Lisa Reed did a fabulous job keeping my interest peeked, I was dying to know what happens next. I would definitely read any book she wrote again. She is a creative and writer!

This is one of those books that can't be put aside once started.

It is fast moving, gripping and full of answers to the deeper mysteries of life.

The author is skilled in her craft and weaves her story in a way that draws you into the story... she captures the readers' attention from the first page and holds it throughout. A subject which is in the fore right now (near death experiences) is explored in a most fascinating manner. This is an exceptionally good read.

This little book is a great, quick read, which blends Western and Eastern Spirituality with a tremendous story line. This book communicates complex spiritual concepts like Karma and Dharma, with the Christian sense of personal responsibility to create a visually compelling journey of a soul that leaves one breathless; plus it's extremely timely for our day and age, a must read.