Rowe Books

The fact that many of the suggestions may be intuitive, as one critic alleges, is irrelevent. Many people act contrary to their intuition out of laziness, depression or whatever. Positive reinforcemnt of classic truths could be of great help to such people and should not be trivialized or dismissed.

Such advice is plentiful in this invaluable book and not all of it is intuitive. One such is the statement that, even if you are in your nineties, it is not too late to begin weight training. Fortunately for me, I read this book soon after publication and am eternally thankful that, at the age of 76, I go to a gym several times weekly and run regularly. While x-rays show me to be racked with osteoarthritis I am asymptomatic.

I consider "Successful Aging" a must read.

This book was used in teaching a class for senior adults about effective aging. It was most helpful and easy to understand.

The research findings reported in Successful Aging have been supported in a new 20-year study by an independent group of researchers. The study by Becca Levy of Yale Univerisity, et al, was reported in 2002. Simply stated, we can decide now to live longer and better. Having a positive attitude about aging is alone responsible for extending life by 7.5 years, and years of activity and involvment, not suffering. This is a very worthwhile read, despite what some stupid old fools have written before.

I stumbled upon the book strictly by accident and ended up paying full list price at Barnes and Noble. After seeing the really great prices on Amazon, I reluctently sat down to read a few chapters to try and get my monies worth. Wow. To say the book was enlightening would be to offer a dis-service to the multi-year McArthur Foundation Study. I picked up a few things from the book that most readers will not and that is basic assumptions that Private Foundations and Private Research gathers far more information about a subject than Government sponsored projects. It occured to me that Government has pretty muched screwed up Social Security as well as providing for long term health care in America. Successful Aging gives an alternative to spending your final years in a Nursing Home. The book is very well thought through, well researched and backed up with countless citations that give credit where credit is due. I found the book an enjoyable read, almost a primer. After reading this book, I ordered out about three hundred dollars worth of additional books on aging. That should tell you something. By the way, I ordered another copy of the book in out of print library edition to add to my collection. Great Book! Great Read! Don't get old without it!

Easy reading in simple language. Encouraging and uplifting. I love how it details the connection between social inter-actions and quality of life. Really good advice for maintaining independence in old age from a physical and mental perspective. Best of all, there is no pressure to rush out and make special purchases. I am getting copies as gifts for siblings - worth reading.

First of all, I like Massons book very much. His exposure of therapeutic abuse is excellent. Freud, Jung, Pearls, not to mention people like Rosen and Bettelheim, are thoroughly exposed. But when Masson claim that these abuses are an integrated part of the very method of psychotherapy he just can't prove it. Massons alternative to psychotherapy seems to be self-help groups where people talk to each other without "experts" involved. But those who have been a part of such groups surely know that one of the main things that are discussed there is how you can get the best therapist....
In short - Massons criticism is fine; his alternative is not an alternative at all. Unfortunately, in this world psychotherapy is necessary, whether Masson likes it or not....

Masson's attack on the foundations of psychoanalytic therapy is a mixture of a little good and a whole lot of bad. The good has unfortunately been better stated elsewhere, and the bad is a rehash of stuff that was better left in the Seventies.

Today, it has been established with a great deal of scientific certainty that full-blown schizophrenia is an organic disease of the brain, not a behavioral problem. In other words, talk therapy for schizophrenia makes about as much sense as talk therapy for liver cancer. Schizophrenics need medication and cognitive therapy that helps them break habits that they have become accustomed to due to having organic dysfunctions (much in the same way an alcoholic with said liver would need not only a transplant but therapy to avoid relapsing into alcoholism).

Masson doesn't care about any of this and spends most of his book attacking the medicality of the psychiatric trade. Which is fine, but his resolutions are thin and inept: in place of existing therapies, he lamely suggests that we have leaderless self-help groups, a suggestion which makes about as much sense as teaching people to drive by putting four non-drivers in a car and having them all take turns at the wheel. (Never mind the damage to the car, the surroundings, the passengers, or passers-by.)

The few good bits in the book, like the correspondences between Freud and Fleiss, have been examined better by other writers. Masson brings nothing to the party except a good deal of presumptions, such as the notion that anyone who is in favor of mental health is also against the "problem" of pornography. It comes as little surprise to find that Masson is husband to Catherine Mackinnon, whose near-illiterate attacks on pornography would be a rich source for humor if they hadn't influenced so many thinkers and politicians.

In short, this is a dismal book with untenable conclusions, and a sprinkling of good notions lost in a morass of long-invalidated premises.

I was completely misled by the title, expecting to read about actual bad effects of talk therapy. This is actually two books in one: arguments against the practice of psychiatry and psychotherapy, and a history of malpractice by some of the most respected figures in those fields. This latter is the better part, being well-sourced (for once), but one-sided. Despite the footnoting, it is well-written and a fairly quick read.

Masson's arguments against the two professions (he lumps them together) are social and political and have nothing to do with the efficacy of either. Like Thomas Szasz and Scientologists, he claims there is no such thing as mental illness.

It's also quite dated. These days, medical insurance generally won't pay to keep people hospitalized for more than a few days, and the state hospitals were emptied long ago, so the potential for abuse is much lower. Psychiatry is generally psychopharmacology, and Masson barely mentions cognitive behavior therapy, which is currently the psychotherapy of choice and has little to do with older talk therapies.

I thought this book should be read by all mental health professionals and the so called accreditation organizations (they don't look in the right places). . . Masson goes directly to asking questions about the power deferential in therapy . . .

I could go on with my own observations and experiences within this field, but this is not the place . . . I do, however, believe that both power and psychiatry practice need better supervision. . .

My only critique of the book is that because Masson seems to know most about psychiatry and psychoanalysis, he quickly added Chapter 8 not fleshing this section out enough.

This book has inspired me to want to do some research -- I would like to do some reseach on what Masson brings up on p. 190 -- and the psychology of the seller of the Brooklyn Bridge. . .

The basic argument of this book is that psychotherapy is wrong and should be abolished. Any thesis can be legitimately supported, provided that the arguments used are logical. Unfortunately, this book is a bizarre patchwork of unrelated facts and illogical arguments. It reads like an angry statement "against", with no constructive goal in sight.

Masson sees abuse and injustice everywhere in psychotherapy. In his description of psychotherapy, the author is like somebody who is looking at the world through a pair of glasses that filter out all colours, except for the black. Seeing only shades of black in the world, he complains of how awful and oppressive this view is. And it certainly is, because he set himself up for this experience from the very beginning. Adopting his viewpoint, one could say exactly the same about most aspects of life, for example school, family, work, the judicial system, the political system. And is the solution to just dismantle all these institutions, like the author suggests to do with psychotherapy? One quickly realises how far removed from reality this proposition is.

Masson states that psychotherapy is inherently bad. This statement raises a number of questions: Can emotional distress be studied? Can it be managed? Can people help one another, and how? These are very interesting questions, but unfortunately Masson doesn't seem interested in them. He simply states that psychotherapy should cease to exist. "It can and should be replaced by open and searching criticism of the very foundation of our society" (p.295) This is such an idealistic statement. Is this all he would suggest to somebody who is looking for help? The only attempt he makes to offer a practical idea is about "self-help groups that are leaderless and avoid authoritarian structures, in which no money is exchanged, that are not grounded on religious principles [...], and in which all participants have experienced the problem they come to discuss". When this is all he has to offer in a book of 300 pages, you quickly realise that his work lacks a constructive intent.

Another problem with the book is that Masson's highly biased approach when describing different orientations to therapy makes his work lack credibility. For example, the chapter on Gestalt consists of a series of judgments about Fritz Perls as a person; only a few words are spent on his method. Reading the section on Ericksonian hypnotherapy, you have the impression that Masson skimmed through various books about Erickson, found some case histories that shocked him, and that he cut and pasted portions of such case histories into his book. This is a very poor representation of the Ericksonian approach. Such lack of objectivity discredits Masson's work. Not knowing anything about some of the therapists described in the book, I am inclined to think that Masson has misrepresented them just as much as he has misrepresented Erickson, and therefore the credibility of the whole book drops low.

However, I believe that there is some good to be found in "Against therapy". Even if its main contention is unreasonable and poorly supported, the fact that Masson's ideas are so extreme provokes the reader into taking a stand and making her/his own judgment about what is right, what is wrong and what you're not sure of.

One other important theme underlying most of the book's arguments is that psychotherapy reflects and expresses the social and political environment where therapy lies. However Masson does not attempt to develop this theme. People like Wilhelm Reich have written extensively about the social and political implications of therapy. The book makes no mention of these writings, which is a huge omission.

It would have made more justice to its work if Masson had titled the book something like "Abuses and violence in psychotherapy and psychiatry." If you are looking for examples of such situations, the book offers interesting materials and is food for thought. If you are looking for an objective and logical discussion of psychotherapy, look elsewhere.

This book is put into lots and lots of short stories. I love many of the authors that contributed stories. Some of the stories were very good, such as:

"The Secret of Life, According to Aunt Gladys" by Bruce Coville
"Waiting for Sebastian" by Richard Peck
"Passport" by Laurie Halse Anderson

These were the ones I would have liked for them to be real books. But not an amazing book in a whole. If you're into the whole family traditions, family secrets thing, then I might recommend it. And also if you'd just read the good stories (above), then go for this book, but this one isn't a winner.

~Atalanta

This book is full of fictional short stories. All there short stories had the same overall topic, dirty laundry of the family's past, present, and future. This book explains how not every family is perfect, and has someing shamful to hide from the rest of the world. This was a good book, some stories more engaging than others. Overall, I think this book lacked in interesting deatail, but included creative ideas for each story. I would recamend this anyone to read this book that needs a laugh, but more encouragement to the teenage readers.

"Dirty Laundry: Stories About Family Secrets" is a well compiled and, for the most part, well written anthology of stories. Each revolves around a long-concealed secret, and most are entertaining, though the overall tone of the book does tend to lean toward the morbid - or at least unpleasant.

The book was edited by author Lisa Rowe Frautino, who also penned its well-written but sometimes very disturbing story, "FRESh PAINt". A couple other stories of note are "The Secret of Life, According to Aunt Gladys" by Bruce Coville ("Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher"), "I Will Not Think of Maine" by M.E. Kerr, and "Rice Pudding Days" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

To sum up: I personally am not a fan of unhappy stories, especially so many in one place, but this is still a high-quality book which makes for interesting and often mysterious reading. Still, I would not recommend it to anyone under 14 or so -- for a younger person looking for a short story anthology, I would recommend "13: Thirteen stories that celebrate the agony and ecstasy of being thirteen" (which incidentally also features an entertaining story by the aforementioned Coville).

I wasn't overly impressed with this collection of short stories. The first story "The Secret Life, According to Aunt Gladys" by Bruce Coville started the book off in a great place (although the book sleeve ruined an early shock) especially with its haunting last line. Then the stories of Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Dian Curtis Regan, Anna Grossnickle Hines, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Richard Peck all suffered from predictability and a been-there-read-that mentality. The stories were okay, and some even better than that, but reading one after the other was just too much.

The next story, although entertaining, was too science fiction for me. Yes, "I Will Not Think of Maine" by M.E. Kerr dealt with a family secret, but you have to beleive in the supernatural to fully except the story. Currently, I'm reading for reality. I'm looking for stories that can be used to help some of the kids that I'm working for. This story is not one of them.

Then came a diamond in the rough. "FRESh PAINt" by Lisa Rowe Fraustino (the editor) was a awesome and moving story. I can't beleive that none of the other reviewers to this date (July 14, 2001) have mentioned it. This short story was one of the longest in the book (and I hate LONG SHORT stories) but I flew through it. "FRESh PAINt" has a strong mystery, a strong family secrets, and a painful moment that brought me to tears. Anyone who has read the story knows what I am talking about.

The rest of the stories also were pretty good and seem to be favorites of other reviewers. "Passport" bt Laurie Halse Anderson has a creative and sharp-tongued style that made it a joy to read. "Something Like... Love" by Graham Salisbury was a nice story, but its family secret was probably the weakest of the collection. "Popeye the Sailor" by Chris Crutcher was definitely the correct story to end the book with. Its conclusion seems to put an okay book to rest. The style of the story (it opens as a play before turning to narrative) is gripping. The story shocks you into beleiving and it ends before we know everything, but we know enough. It's a wonderful story.

Overall, the book is decent. The long stretch of predictablity to supernatural from Campbell Bartoletti's "Rice Pudding Days" to Kerr's "I Will Not Think of Maine" makes the book hard to finish, but with Rowe Fraustino and Crutcher, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

As a grad school student who had to read a book on controversy in literature for class, I stumbled across this book in the library and was more than pleasantly surprised. The stories are sometimes touching, sometimes humorous and very different from one another. I think this book helps people understand that no family is truly "normal". I especially liked "Rice Pudding Days", "Passport" and "Popeye the Sailor"

I read this book to flesh out my own background in the history of the DSM for a History of Psychology class that I am teaching. I found the book insightful, informative, and well written. I would recommend it to anyone who has interest in the politics behind the creation of the DSM.

While there is nothing wrong with intelligent criticism, I could find very little in this book. Sadly, there are mental health professionals who abuse their positions and behave unethically, as there are in every other profession. That does not mean we should throw out the DSM because people have misused it.

It is also true that there has been bias arising from cultural ignorance, sexism, etc. And yes, politics is sometimes involved in decisions. Which profession has been immune from these things? In general, the mental health profession has been trying to increase professionals' understanding of cultural contexts for behavior through coursework and changes in the new DSM-IV-TR.

Even though this book sometimes includes actual material from the DSM, it basically misrepesents the facts about mental disorders. For example, it says a person can be diagnosed with major depression simply because he or she has trouble sleeping. While sleep disturbance may be a symptom of depression, someone who knows what she/he is doing knows that it may not be depression at all. Depression involves much more than that. The DSM is not perfect, and indeed a few classifications are questionable, such as schizoid personality disorder (extreme introversion). I am not sure whether that one is truly a disorder. The authors say that the DSM patholgizes everyday behavior. Does spending an hour or more every day washing one's hands over and over(obsessive compulsive disorder) seem like everyday behavior?

This book is weak and pointless, a disappointing attempt at criticism.

For those of us who eagerly consume critiques of the mental health industry, this book is not necessarily what we have come to expect. I often expect what amounts to a quick adrenalin rush, with horror stories of abuse by the system driving me to the barricades. Kutchins and Kirk do not provide a quick rush, nor even a quick read. But when you find yourself on the barricades, they do give you the ammunition.

This is a very detailed social/political history of the DSM, in and out of committee meetings and individual correspondence, providing the evidence of the point made so well by others such as Kaplan: that the DSM is in fact a political document, evolving to suit conflicting political and financial interests. More than a story of good guys and bad guys, much of this history includes the sad moral of unintended consequences, as in the fight to get PTSD into the DSM.

I teach undergraduate psychology, and I applaud the authors' coherent explanations of technical issues such as reliablity and validity of assessment. My teaching experience informs me that this is a tedious exercise for most students, and, I assume, for the educated lay readership to whom Kutchins and Kirk appeal. But it is critical to the central theme of the story: the misuse of the aura of science to mask a fundamentally political process.

Are there victims and villains of this process? Of course, and they are the usual villains: a system of managed care, and a variety of bureaucracies and agencies pursuing government funding, grants and influence based on ultimately manipulated numbers. And the usual victims: the over-labelled, over-prescribed and stigmatized recipients of "care".

The story wanders through so many mazes that a reader may lose the thread: PTSD, homosexuality, female masochism, borderline personality disorder. Each story differs in who started the process of getting a diagnosis in or out of the DSM, the motivation for doing so, the outcome of the fight, and the specific consequences. Fortunately, the authors provide an excellent summary in the last chapter, and weave those threads back together.

More than once in reading this book, I found myself thinking that every political or social issue fight needs its policy wonks. Kutchins and Kirk may be our wonks.

This expose represents the most thorough documentation that psychiatry is a psuedo-science to date. The proof that psychiatry is no more (and possibly much less) than the mere sum of its internal politics is amply provided by the authors in the form of personal correspondance between the brightest minds and most powerful leaders of the discipline. For the impatient or the semi-literate, a long, slow read lies ahead. For those with an eye for detail, prepare to witness the unraveling of the most influential scientific institution in America, decades in the making. According to this book shouting matches, voting, back door meetings and boycotts were the "data" that came to comprise what most people believe is a scientific definition of mental illness, the DSM-IV in a process that better resembles the way a legsilature works as opposed to scientific research. The authors take great care to not inflate the value of their findings. The book is written by a journalist and a social worker and was not vetted or peer reviewed by Scientologists, angry parents of drugged kids, or psychiatrists--and this provides the most convincing evidence of its overall credibility. Really, this is a rare work of valid, honest journalism covering a subject that is mostly the domain of anonymous hotheads and arrogant "experts" all of whom are making claims without evidence in service of their own personal or professional objectives. In this sea of muckety-muck, this book is an island of reason.

Those who give this book a one star rating most likely have interests that are being threatened. Drug company representatives? Drug prescribers? So, pull down the average rating and reduce the number of people who buy it. It's what the republicans try to do to Al Franken's books.

The book conveys facts in a neutral, understated tone, and from those facts develops reasonable beliefs. Which ideas did you disagree with? That the diagnostic categories lack reliability and validity? That DSM has been shaped more by special interests than by science? That the criteria for each diagnosis are purely arbitrary?

Read the book. You'll think twice about letting someone you care about be diagnosed.

A huge dissapoitment. Seller was great - but the book ... i dont find it special usefull. I expected some patterns that i could understand - whit right stitches and not just " how you can figure out by youre self".


Cover dont match whats inside ... The pics yes , but not as i belived - that i could just find my needles and yarn and go for it.

This book gets high marks for taking the time to explain the basic construction of the tam. From there it goes on to discuss how various parts of the tam can be modified for different effects. The knitter begins to understand the 'why' of things much more quickly with this approach. I was able to follow the concepts easily and make several tams without any prior experience with circular or pointed needles. I did not give 5 stars however because there are several major errors in the modified instructions for larger gauge yarns. These are frustrating if the instructions are followed blindly although it becomes obvious pretty quickly where the mistakes lie (e.g. factor of 2 off in a calculation, repeat asterisk in the wrong place). I recommend going over all calculations for the larger gauge yarns thoroughly. These really need to be corrected in a later edition.

This review is in part an answer and a rebuttal to karen a lothrop's one-star review (see below).

Mary Rowe has produced a book full of history, a bit of anthropology, knitting, and lots of tam o'shanters! Within this specialization, wonderful information is given covering all aspects of knitting one of these articles, from the materials required, to the shape and construction of the item, to the stitch patterns available and their adaptability to tams. Any confident intermediate knitter will benefit greatly from this work.

That said, certain issues ARE assumed. This is most certainly NOT a book on how to knit, nor even a book on how to knit hats. It is a book on how to knit tams, TAMS! In order to knit an essentially flat, circular piece, some familiarity with both circular needles and double-pointed needles is necessary, for example.

A circular needle loses its usefulness when the circumference of the knitting becomes too small for the needle. Given the variance of yarn weight, needle size, and individual knitting tension (gauge) in the world, it is impossible for the author to anticipate every situation and guess when this point will be reached. A specific criticism of Ms Lathrop's is "she doesn't tell you when to switch from circular to double pointed". She then lists Elizabeth Zimmermann as an example of a knitting author whom she prefers. Mrs Zimmermann's own instruction on this matter, however, is simply, "Naturally you will have had the wit to change to the four needles when the circular needle became unmanageable." (KNITTING WITHOUT TEARS, by Elizabeth Zimmermann, ©1971) In other words, when you can't stand it anymore, change! In Britain, where double-pointed needles that are over ten inches long are more readily available than in America, the entire tam is knitted with them, dispensing with the circulars altogether.

Buying a crafting book is a tricky business. Both the skill level addressed and the subject matter covered vary greatly, and the nature of the patterns and instructions given (if any) will correspond to this variance. The general tone of Ms Lothrop's review suggests disappointment that this book did not help her.

Ms Lothrop has my every sympathy. It is frustrating and disheartening to search for a specific reference work, only to find that you don't understand it (or that it doesn't apply). Nevertheless, every book has its intended audience. It is unfair to blame the book if you discover that you are not part of that audience. (For example, I found a knitting book on scarves and shawls that was criticized by a user for being about scarves and shawls. In other words, the user wished that it had some other garments as well.)

Perhaps what is really needed is a more reliable way of assessing a book's appropriateness to one's needs before purchase.

This is a great book for knitting Tams. Mary Rowe describes in detail how to design a tam that is just right for you. All parts of the tam are explained including problem areas and what to avoid.

I appreciate books that give the hows and whys which allow me work with my ideas. The author does provide basic tam instruction and then sorts out all the tools necessary for building your own unique tam.

I will say the book would be most useful to some who has had some experience knitting. Although, I do believe an intrepid beginning knitter would be successful.

This book is dedicated to Elizabeth Zimmerman the knitting Guru.Thats about the only thing that gives this book credibility.Her directions for the basic tam start out okay but she doesn't tell you when to switch from circular to double pointed.then she tells you to decrease using one less stitch but from then on your on your own until the very end.I finished my Tam with no enthusiasm to try another.I anxiously await the arrival of knitting without tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann she lived a long life but I wish she was still around,I knit again because of her inspiration .I buy books to learn how and for guidance.I guess Mary forgot what its like to not know how to make something.Buy knitting without tears unless your experienced

I found the book to be interesting but not one I would read again. . But the subject matter of living with an illness in the family made me read on. ..

If you liked this book, or want to read one that goes straight to your heart, read Stolen Moments by Barbara Jeanne Fisher. . .It is a beautiful story of unrequited love. . .for certain the love story of the nineties. I intended to give the book a quick read, but I got so caught up in the story that I couldn't put the book down. From the very beginning, I was fully caught up in the heart-wrenching account of Julie Hunter's battle with lupus and her growing love for Don Lipton. This love, in the face of Julie's impending death, makes for a story that covers the range of human emotions. The touches of humor are great, too, they add some nice contrast and lighten things a bit when emotions are running high. I've never read a book more deserving of being published. It has rare depth. Julie's story will remind your readers that life and love are precious and not to be taken for granted. It has had an impact on me, and for that I'm grateful. Stolen Moments is written with so much sensitivity that it made me want to cry. It is a spellbinder. What terrific writing. Barbara does have an exceptional gift!

This was a wonderful novel for any age. It's hard to belive that real families can have this very same thing happen to them.

Using colloquial language typical to small-town Mainers, which can only be referred to as "Hillbilly-Boone" talk, Wesley Libby pains a vivid picture through his journal entries of how he and his family live their everyday lives with their special son, Ash. Ash, who was once the smart, tough, loving and musically talented older brother that Wesley admired had now turned into Mr. Hyde. Now he has become violent, uncivil, and insulting, which makes Wesley uneasy around his presence. But what caused this Dr. Jekel/Mr. Hyde personality? Schizoid tended. Now, through his daily diary entries, Wesley plays detective and tries to figure out what sparked Ash's schizoid tended. All in an attempt to get his former older brother back. On one account, Wesley recalls a moment when he saw Ash banging his head against a door in order to stop the voices in his head. In order to witness first hand how the entire Libby family deals with the bizarre change in their son with their feelings of confusion, sorrow and guilt, read the 160 page book Ash: A Novel, by Lisa Rowe Fraustino (Grass and Sky).
In this novel, Lisa Rowe Fraustino writes the book in the mindset of a 15 year old, small-town Maine resident with bad grammar, which makes you feel as if you were reading an actual dairy. With the jokes made by Wesley in order to poke fun at his older sister Deena, the book pulled me in and made me picture what the sister looks and acts like. So by the end of the novel, I felt as if I had already met the family. It's mainly because of the bad grammar, which played a significant role in bringing the book to life, that I enjoyed the book as much as I did.
If you like books that grab you attention from the begining, yet are not to complicated to understand, then Ash: A Novel by Lisa Rowe Fraustino is the book for you. Even though the book is 160 pages, the ending is not a flat cut-off.

ASH is a novel written as a journal told by Wes, who writes about, his family and his brother Ashton and the problems they were going through. Drugs, kids, and religion. The main conflict was between Ashton and his family. Ashton had problems with drugs and finding himself spiritually.

Something in the book taht struck out to me was, the reality of the things the family went through. For example, Ashton had a problem with drugs and religion. He left home one night and wasnt heard from for a couple of weeks. His familywas worried sick. But, then he sent them a postcard saying how, "God's peices were spread around the world and I have to put them back toghether." He was really lost. I think that Wes, the younger brother writing the journal learned alot form the problems and experiences he and his family went thtough.

I thought ASH was a good as well as inspirational book. As i was reading this book, i realized all the tings that people go through. But, also how things can turn out alright. For example, Ashton was put through a program and gradually stopped taking drugs and learned to deal with his problems. I would recamend this book to anyone having problems with their parents, siblings, or life.

ASH is a novel written as a journal told by Wes, who writes about, his family and his brother Ashton and the problems they were going through. Drugs, kids, and religion. The main conflict was between Ashton and his family. Ashton had problems with drugs and finding himself spiritually.

Something in the book taht struck out to me was, the reality of the things the family went through. For example, Ashton had a problem with drugs and religion. He left home one night and wasnt heard from for a couple of weeks. His familywas worried sick. But, then he sent them a postcard saying how, "God's peices were spread around the world and I have to put them back toghether." He was really lost. I think that Wes, the younger brother writing the journal learned alot form the problems and experiences he and his family went thtough.

I thought ASH was a good as well as inspirational book. As i was reading this book, i realized all the tings that people go through. But, also how things can turn out alright. For example, Ashton was put through a program and gradually stopped taking drugs and learned to deal with his problems. I would recamend this book to anyone having problems with their parents, siblings, or life.

For many years the genre of horror fiction has been almost exclusively written by heterosexuals for heterosexuals. These stories, typically involve a female victim and a male antagonist. However in this new millennium, when the line that separates gay from straight has become more and more ambiguous, art had begun to imitate life as we are now presented with an anthology of horror stories in which the protagonists as well as the victims are very clearly homosexual.

I first read Queer Fear (2000) in early 2001 after coming across it in a Bookstore I frequented. I read it from cover to cover a number of times, until I had portions of it committed to memory. So, I was extremely excited when I discovered that a second anthology had been compiled into Queer Fear II.

Queer Fear II gets off to a great start with its first story, Bugcrush. It concerns a subject that anyone, gay or straight, can easily identify with, one's first crush. I instantly sympathized with Ben the high school student as he agonized over his own desire for Grant, the object of his crush. When Grant invites Ben over to his house one day, it seems that Ben's dream is about to come true only to have that dream descend into a nightmare of date rape and murder in a most gruesome manner.

David Coffey's On Being a Fetish, gives us a glimpse of the afterlife for Chuck, who died 20 years prior and wanders his hometown as a lonely spirit. A young man described as an Eminem wannabe draws Chuck's attention and interest after an erotic episode with a ouija board. The two begin an unlikely relationship using the ouija board in a most unusual way. The relationship goes to new levels as Chuck basically becomes a voyeur to a willing Eminem's nightly "bedtime" ritual. Other than invoking a sense of fear, the purpose of this story seems to be to disgust the reader with it's description of necrophilia; however, it also serves as a reminder that the need for love follows us even past the grave itself, and that (at least for Chuck)that search is no more easier in death than it is in life.

Other stories such as Gay Town by Robert Boyckuk, make little if any sense at all. Rather than a horror story, the author seems to be making a statement against remaining in the closet rather than living one's life openly. In the end the central mystery goes unexplained, and the reader is left without any sense of closure. Although a good story in and of itself Poppy Z. Brite's Bayou de la Mere, in no way can be considered horror by any definition of the word. Perhaps it's inclusion in Queer Fear II was meant to increase sales by drawing in the authors fans. Bayou de la Mere would likely be more comfortable in a book of gay erotica.

I really wanted to like this book, I really did. However, like many things in life, it simply does not stand up to the original. While it has a few exceptional stories, the mediocre/bad ones are more numerous. In the end, it simply is not worth the time, effort, or expense to weed through the drivel in order to get to the stories worthy of one's attention and interest.

This collection builds on the success of its predecessor. It's a tall order to put together an anthology like this, and Michael Rowe does an excellent job of assembly. What is Queer Horror anyway? How do we define it? Is it just ghost, vampire and monster stories that contain gay and lesbian characters? If this is the case, then we must be extremely broad in our inclusion. Perhaps Queer Horror is more about a perspective, a thrill or sense of loathing that stands outside the norm?

In Rowe's case, I feel that the latter definition is more appropriate. Over and over again, the stories in Queer Fear 2 take us away from the norm, inviting us to be a character on the outside looking in, a perspective that is only too familiar for glbt readers. And in this outsider perspective we find true horror, that which degrades us, dehumanizes us, which sets us up for failure. Repeatedly we see ordinary glbt characters put into extraordinary circumstances, with horrifying results. In C. Mark Umland's "Dead in the Water," we witness the horror of a gay man caught in a failing heterosexual marriage, desperately trying to come to terms with... himself. In Scott Treleaven's "Bugcrush," (which heads the collection and was one of my favorites) we find the teenage roots of many well-known queer addictions - drugs, sex, indulgence. The creeping sense of familiarity we gain at Ben's crush on Grant morphs from teenage nostalgia to adult sexual excess, all within the confines of a backyard shed. Here suddenly is the obsession that started it all, plotted before us in all it's skin-crawling detail.

More than just another horror anthology, glbt readers of all genres will find some fresh perspectives and some well-constructed stories in this volume.

Building on the success of the first volume, Michael Rowe has brought together some familiar and new authors for this anthology of horror fiction featuring gay men and two stories featuring lesbians. Poppy Z. Brite brings us a Gothic story of two gay men in a Louisiana bayou that is connected to some of her other works. In Michael Thomas Ford's "Night of the Werepuss", a woman finds that her vagina has literally grown teeth. The stories by Robert Boyczuk, Nalo Hopkinson, and C. Mark Umland tantalize readers, while those by David Coffey and Scott Treleaven are disturbingly erotic. The final story, "The Narrow World" by Gemma Files, can be compared to some of Clive Barker's work, but with a distinct twist. While I think this volume is not as potent as the first, "Queer Fear II" is a marvelous companion to it that will send readers off to locate more by these twenty-two authors. "Queer Fear II" won a Lambda Literary Award, and is a finalist for the Spectrum Awards, honoring the best in gay and lesbian fantasy and science fiction.

Though thoroughly disappointed by the first Queer Fear anthology, I picked up QF2 full of hope that the ratio of good stories to mediocre/bad stories would surpass that of QF1. Unfortunately, QF2 does not improve upon the first collection. Most of the stories are flat, with thesaurus-styled words that fail not only to produce horror, but also fail to provide any sense of time, place, atmosphere or emotional punch. There are, thankfully, two exceptions offered up here. Poppy Brite's piece, "Bayou de la Mere", though hardly horror in even the loosest definition of the word (it's inclusion, no doubt, designed to increase sales) does evoke a sensual yet real atmosphere and presents some interesting characters. The other is David Coffey's "On Being A Fetish" which is hands-down the best piece in the anthology and a smashingly good short story in its own right. Coffey give us a new spin on Ouija boards and tells his story in a simple but descriptive manner that manages to give us atmosphere, strong characters, and some dark laughs along the way. Coffey is certainly a writer whose work I will search out in the future. Other than those two pieces, though, QF2 falls into mediocrity. If this is the best gay horror out there, I would be shocked and disappointed.

Publisher Comments:
Each year, guest judges selected from the queer literary world review the year¹s best erotica and choose the final collection that makes up Cleis¹s successful series representing a wide range of styles and voices. Best Gay Erotica 2003 features a list of writers on a par with J.T. LeRoy, Felice Picano, Alexander Chee, and M. Christian, among others, whose work appeared in earlier editions.

Synopsis:
Each year judges select the year's best gay erotica and choose the final selections that make up this series.

Anthologies are ALWAYS a mixed bag. This is a better grouping of stories than most. Usually there are a few that just do not appeal to me and that of course is true here. However, there are several that are worth reading more than once....a pleasant surprise.

The editors, suggest that this grouping lacks the "theme" that has emerged in the two prior anthologies. While I agree.....there ARE stories that touch on similar themes. Reading stories with a common aspect but divergent "takes" makes this a fun read.

Best Gay Erotica 2003 is a great book to carry around and read in the "off moments"....those times when you WISH you had something to read but don't have enough time to get fully involved in the 500 page masterpiece of gay fiction you have sitting on the nightstand.

I gave this 3 stars because there are a few good stories in the book that I would be willing to read again. Gymnasty by Jesse Grant for example. But many of the stories were cold, lacking sexual and/or romantic heat that is necessary for good erotica. Some stories were surreal making it necessary for the reader to tried to decipher what was going on to continue reading it. Erotica can be mindless, thought provoking, romantic, and kinky but it loses power when a reader (me) feels like I'm in a college literature class trying to figure out what the author really saying. Hope this helps.

Every single book in this series has Libertus being kidnapped or thrown in jail at some point. Come on! Am I to believe that he has managed to live as long as he has as both a slave then a freedman without learning how to take better care of himself and to be more aware of his environment? Then he's able to use his skills of awareness and logic to solve mysteries? I just don't buy it after so many book. I'm also not convinced that all the over the top patron and client behavior is reasonable -- Marcus Septimus is not his former master so why does he spend so much time with him again? Where is his real patron, his former master? Anyway, I do still like the major characters and I'm pleased that the plots have allowed their lives to develop toward a new family.

The author's knowledge and feel for Roman Britain is second to none and her storytelling keeps the reader asking for more. This latest book is no different and I enjoyed it immensely.

AD 188 and Britain is without a Roman governer. Until a new governor is installed Marcus Septimus is one of the most important men in Roman Britain. He is also the patron of Libertus, one-time slave and mosaic (pavement maker) artist. Marcus has called on Libertus on more than one occasion to help solve crimes among the Romans and Britains.

Libertus is asked by Marcus to accompany him from Glevum to Isca on official business and although Libertus is busy with his work, he knows that it would be foolish to refuse.

On the way they make a stop at Venta. The place is simmering with unrest towards the Romans, where the Silures are loyal to their former chieftain Caractacus. While there Libertus is shocked to see a man whose funeral he attended not long ago. The man runs away and pursuit of him leads Libertus into danger not only to himself but all the party who are travelling with him . . .

The seventh Libertus mystery from Rosemary Rowe has our aged sleuth paying a visit to Venta Silurium as part of his patron's entourage and promptly getting caught up in a hotbed of insurgency. He only manages to get involved when he sees a man whose funeral he attended earlier that month alive and well in the town's forum. An inquisitive chase through the town results in him being hopelessly lost, running into the town's leading madam and then being waylaid by some hot-headed youths who threaten to kill him as a spy of one of the local gangs.
All in all a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
After enduring a night in the cells and a farcical trial where he is acquitted, Libertus and Marcus go on a trip into the nearby forest and end up with all their horses stolen, locating the body of the slave Promptillius and encountering a local set of Silurians who suspiciously protest undying love for all things Roman. Once our sleuth manages to sit down for five seconds he realises what is going on with the overly stupid Optio and Lyra, the madam, avoids being poisoned and brings the culprits to justice whilst Marcus chafes at the irritation of being delayed in his journey.
This is quite a weak effort from Rowe in the sense it just trundles amicably along with no real sense of murder thriller. The characters elicit little empathy, just irritation and Libertus is in danger of becoming overly obsequious. A little spine would be useful and he could learn from Cadfael.
The series is an enjoyable addition to the ever increasing ancient murder mystery but Libertus is lightweight when compared to the likes of Marcus Covinus, Gordianus the Finder, Metellus the Younger being more at a level of Claudia Seferius. Worth reading for any fan of the genre.

My first reading of this author, a bit slow in starting. I have ordered others in the series.

Rosemary Rowe is the pseudonym of Rosemary Aitken, a highly qualified academic, who has written more than half a dozen best selling textbooks on English Language and communication. She has written fiction for many years under her married name.

It is always nice for the host when a guest visit's the vomitorium, it is a sign that the host has performed his or her duties to perfection and the guest has `pigged out' on the fine fare put before him. But when an honoured guest is found dead in there it is not a good recommendation for the food that has been put before him.

Libertus' patron Marcus Septimus is arrested on suspicion of causing the death. But when Libertus himself is also accused he is forced to go on the run. Hiding out in a not too salubrious part of the city Libertus soon finds himself in danger and this time there is no one to come to his aid . . .

The sixth Libertus mystery from Rosemary Rowe plunges us immediately into a difficult situation as Marcus Aurelius Septimus, Libertus? patron, ends up accused of the murder of one corpulent Gaius Praxus, military commander at his own banquet, found dead in the vomitorium. AfterGovernor Pertinax?s departure from Britain, Septimus, Mellitus and Praxus were power sharing until a successor was sent by Commodus. Now Praxus is dead and Mellitus accuses Marcus of his murder. As Libertus? patron is hauled off to jail, Marcus? wife, Julia Delicta, asks him to help his patron and our sleuth disappears home before the avenging Praxus guard, headed by the bullish Bullface, can grab him.
For considerable time, Libertus finds himself on the run as he tries to understand what has happened and get some details from Golbo, the slave boy attending the vomitorium that Marcus inexplicably dismissed just before the murder, before he himself is falsely accused of complicity. This leads to a nightmarish journey into the more unsavoury areas of Glevum as he is kidnapped by a group of beggars and thieves (The Ghosts of Glevum) who sit in mock council to decide his fate. Forced into ?hiring? them to save his own skin, Libertus makes use of Sosso, the leader of the ragtail band, Parva a young prostitute, Cornovacus, a thief, Lercius, an insane thug, Tullio, the riverman, Molendinarius, the firewood-seller and his wife all of whom are under the ?patronage? of Grossus.
His own house burned down, Gwellia and Junio safely in Corfinium and finding Golbo dead enables Libertus, by using these ?Ghosts? who hear everything and can get into anywhere in Glevum, to figure out who the murderer was and deduce the motive behind the apparent treasonous scroll of Marcus that has come to light. Eventually, the facts are teased out and the traitorous ?ghost? comes to light before being killed by his own people. There is no denouement with the culprits as we skip to Marcus? freedom at the end, but are advised the conspirators and murderer have been apprehended.
The previous Libertus offering was weaker than the rest because it cast our sleuthing hero in a light that didn?t match his previous characterisation. This effort returns us to the old Libertus we know though I get the impression that Rowe has unfortunately restricted herself her with this forcing of Libertus into the Glevum underworld. It ensures an intellectual puzzling of the truth using informants rather than any free sleuthing himself and no empathy with the supporting cast is delivered. So, whilst better than the Legatus Affair, not as good as the first four.