Sheridan Books

Mr. Oscar Wilde certainly fulfilled his end of the deal in uttering the wonderful words of wit contained in this small book.

Upon finding this book on display in a major bookstore, time flew by while I read through the whole miniature thing.

While walking up to the cashier to purchase it, however, I stopped dead in my tracks. Damn! The words on the back flap of the dust jacket read: "Printed in China."

I'm sure that Mr. Wilde would have some sharp words to say about a book of his work - words celebrating love of life and liberty - being produced in a country ran by a dictator - one that routinely uses either slave labor (in the form of "political" prisoners) or indentured servants (as in people who are not allowed to either quit or leave a job once taken) in their state-run industries.

I recommend Wilde's work wholeheartedly - but to purchase this tainted volume would certainly be unjust.

very good book. his talk about women is funny. His qoute all amke perfect sense....( i think.

Yes, this is a tiny book, but it is worth owning. Wilde has issued forth enough wonderful quotes to fill a much larger tome, but, that said, this is a nice novelty item. The diminutive book is packed with great photos of Wilde, the quotes that made him famous, as well as many quirky illustrations of the author.
Enjoy these quips from the man who uttered "either this wallpaper goes or I do" as his final words. I highly encourage you to also read Wilde's only novel, The Picture Of Dorian Gray.

Some decent info on Roman Letter forms in the beginning. Then the book goes through of tons of (useless to me) info which leaves me wondering whether there is time barrier or cultural barrier. It seems the author was a sign painter in England (i believe) and I found things to be way different in the U.S. First off, I don't size brushes up as either a "goose" or a "swan". This book also has all that useful info most other books have about running a business and how to set up safe scaffolding. Give me a break. I gave it 2 stars only because there are very few "sign painters" books available, it should be lower a guess.

This book covers very general techniques used in signworks. Screenprinting, hand lettering, and other techniques are covered. Not bad, but if you need deeper knowledge this book won't do it.

Bill Stewart, answers all of those niggling questions, from what type of sanding paper to use, to remove letters off old signs...to how many strokes of the paint brush are required to paint the letter P!

"Sign Work" is a true reference manual, perfect for the beginner and for those already experienced who may wish to freshen up on various techniques employed for such a craft.

It covers a whole gammet of subjects, materials, costing of signs, colours, lettering, gilding and bronzing, glass decoration to screen printing.

I just wish there were more artistic references like this one!

This book is full of political commentary with good use of non political stories as well as in your face political stories. The use of everyday people who move through their own days and lives is positioned in direct opposition to the "Troubles" that are a part of their lives. Whether the story is about two men from different sides, or a grandmother waiting up for her grandson, you see that the people have a mission and it is to help each other understand or just get through the days. There is also social commentary on the lives of these Irish Catholics who are the poor class in Northern Ireland. These stories are wrapped around less obvious commentary that strikes one as just plain good story telling. It is the way the book is set up that may bring you to a greater understanding of the way things are seen in N. Ireland. Gerry Adams loves his country and you can see it and feel it in the descriptions of his surroundings and the simple people he knows. I loved these stories and am even more admiring of the man who wrote them. He is a man of his people.

Irish-Americans love affair with terrorism continues with this book with Jimmy Breslin (who should be ashamed of himself) adding his endorsement of the bearded killer.Adams may or may not have some talent as a writer but I suspect his shady past adds a sick and decayed glamor in the minds of his fans, particularly in the US which has a distant and romantic view of IRA violence. On an ironical note I wonder how many Irish-Americans who died in the WTC were Noraid members.

If Gerry Adams had not decided to become one of the many who have fought for a united Ireland, and eventually head of the Sinn Fein, the political party engaged in joining the Six Counties with the rest of Ireland, he could have certainly found a place in the literary tradition of Ireland. "The Street" is an extremely well-written, insightful "insider's" view of the situation in Northern Ireland over the past few decades, since "The Troubles" escalated again in the 1970s. Not all of the stories are about the violence, however. Some of the best are about trying to get beyond the violence to understand why so many of Ireland's people have felt so strongly that it was worth fighting for so long. Some of the stories are simply astute character studies that are charming from beginning to end. It would not be too far a stretch to compare this book, in spirit at least, with another famous, slim book of stories by a master writer, James Joyce's "Dubliners." Indeed, Adams's stories do for the North what Joyce did for Dublin: they open a window on a fascinating, diverse group of people in a place that could fascinate all by itself. Adams's short stories are the kind that you can go back and read again and again. The book offers yet another reason to hope the situation in Northern Ireland can be resolved soon: so that Gerry Adams can spend more time writing.

While Marcia's writing was quite literate, this was actually one of the worst books I've yet read on the subject of ocean cruising. Marcia seems to find something negative to say about nearly everyone she encounters. The entire book is filled with mundane experiences and constant complaints about the people she encounters. Her statement on page 213 says it all, "But much as our days were fraught with incidents, I could never recall any that could be elevated, even in the re-telling, to the status of `an adventure'."

This is a wonderful story of two brave people who do what most people only dream of doing... Marcia is an amazing writer, and this book will make you feel like you are right there with them and Moongazer... It's very well writen, very entertaining, and a very, very good read!

Great book!!

Almost everyone who does any significant amount of ocean cruising in a modestly sized sailboat trys to write a book about it. Marcia Pirie just happens to be witty, clever, literate , an unusually keen observer, and a very superior writer so her "we chucked it all, bought a boat and sailed the ocean blue" book is vastly superior to most others of the genre. Not so much a "how to" book as a "why you might want to" book. An armchair sailor's delight.

For anyone planning to spend even some of their life living on the ocean this is a great read. Although he skips over places where more details would have been valuable, you cannot doubt the passion and love of sailing that Jerry shows in his book.

As I'm planning a similar trip with my son, I could be a little biased here, but I'm sure there is enough material for a whole book in every leg of this long ocean voyage!

Not a classic, but nonetheless an enjoyable personal insight into one man's great adventure.

Jerry Heutink, builder and captain of the 46-foot trimaran Trillium II, is also a master storyteller with a natural gift for crafting a travelogue replete with tales of adventure, pleasure, and danger. A Trimaran Sails The Seven Seas is the story of his cruise that ranged from the midsummer night's sun of northern waters to the breathtaking beauty of sunsets in the tropics. Here recounted are the challenges of the North Sea, Atlantic, Mediterranean, West Indies, and the Far East waters. From a killer wave in the Bermuda Triangle to the winds of Biscay Bay, A Trimaran Sails The Seven Seas is exciting, fun, and informative reading ideal for the armchair traveler and nautical buff.

Skipper Heutink clearly enjoys sailing, and occasionally enjoys his paying guests' company too, but he consistently fails to give us much to care about. I found this book frustrating because the author focuses on his infatuation with pretty girls (he's married and his son is his first mate), the daily trivia of mooring, cooking, and drinking, and how proud he is of his son and the trimaran he built. The prose is poorly edited and hard to parse, mostly due to Heutink's inconsistent nautical jargon, tendency to omit salient details, and failure to include maps with the names of places he visits. He's no storyteller; this is a fleshed-out (and mostly pretty dull) diary with no connective tissue. I learned nothing, and had more questions at the end than when I started the book.

Like other tales, ghost stories set a tone that may be terrifying, mournful, moralistic, thought provoking, whimsical, or even humorous. In this anthology, ghosts appear for a variety of reasons. In "Across the Moors" by William Fryer Harvey, the anonymous ghost seems to wish only to tell someone about the experience that "served as the turning point in my life." Predictably, others seek revenge, even against the descendants of those who harmed them. In many stories, the presence returns because it is not at peace in some way or it wishes to warn the living. A handful of ghosts relive their deaths, so to speak. A few ghosts are not even aware that they are dead. Another twist features inexorable, repeating events of a ghastly nature instead of the beings themselves.

Interestingly, ghosts rarely transcend their humanity. Unlike Jacob Marley, whose vision beyond the grave is clearly greater than his living one was and who warns Ebenezer Scrooge against making the same errors he did, these ghosts remain true to their human nature and outlook. The family of "The House of Shadows" by Mary Elizabeth Counselman continues to live as they always have, unchanged. In "How He Left the Hotel" by Louisa Baldwin, a dead man walks whose habits and paths are no different from those he followed when he was alive. Vicious killers become vicious ghosts; malicious people become malicious ghosts, like the engineer of "The Light Was Green" by John Rawson Speer. "A Grammatical Ghost" (Elia W. Peattie) is as fastidious in the afterlife as she was in life. Few if any of these spirits behave any differently than we expect them to, given what we are told and can see of their lives and values. There are few surprises here.

I bought 100 Hair-Raising Little Horror Stories edited by Al Sarrantonio and Martin H. Greenberg and 100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories at the same time because they seemed to make natural companions for long winter nights. I read the second almost a year after reading the first and found it disappointing in comparison.

Perhaps it is their very nature that makes ghost stories less effective than tales of horror. Ghosts are personal, connected in some way to the specific people and places that they haunt. I have nothing to fear from Jacob Marley or from any of the motley crew that roams the pages of this collection. I have killed no one, cheated on no one, and sent no one to the gallows, nor do my home or work place seem to attract spirits. I do not collect morbid objects like "Mordecai's Pipe" (A. V. Milyer). Some of the ghosts' actions seem horrifying, but I felt detached from them, perhaps because they are fictional ghosts acting out against fictional people in ways that are not entirely unexpected.

In comparison, horror stories, like those of Poe, rely on the darkness of the mind and its imaginative ability--how terrifying can the soul's darkness be? It is difficult to translate that sense to ghost stories, which, ironically, seem more tangible. Horror can extend as far as the mind can, but in the end ghosts are merely dead people--mostly predictable dead people. Without a spectacular ending twist, part of the suspense and the element of the unknown is lost.

Still, although there are more misses and fewer hits here than in the horror anthology, this is an entertaining book, worth curling up with on a dark and stormy night.

Diane L. Schirf
Saturday, 13 January 2007.

Let's get the stinkers out of the way first. Oscar Wilde's "The Sphinx Without a Secret" is a story without a ghost, or even a fright. Very disappointing from such a talented writer. That is by far the worst story, so let's not dwell on it.

"The Sixth Tree" shows promise but suffers from a predictable ending, though it does offer a good little moral about man's misplaced reliance on science and, by extension, his own intelligence.

The best story was a much harder call, but I nominate "The Night Caller" by G. L. Raisor. The first line sets a wonderfully malignant tone: "Sherry Elder's descent into madness began on a Thursday." The rest of the story is a fast-paced masterpiece of implied doom and ominous overtones. The word "ghost" isn't mentioned, nor is the identity of the "ghost" stated, but the author makes it clear, regardless. The story is so effective because the reader is free to make his own conclusion.

But there are other fine stories. "The Coat" is menacing, "Mandolin" touching and endearing though it, like Wilde's story, doesn't have a ghost. "The Metronome" is pure vengeance from a murdered child, and Fred Chappell's "Miss Prue" deserves mention for its breathtaking descriptive prose, such as these gems: "His eyes were like cinders in the deep sockets. He seemed to belong more to the cool gray autumn wind than to the world of animal flesh." "His voice was windblown ash in a desert land." "She flicked her hand at the question as if it were a tedious housefly." "His voice was like the sound of wind in a ragged thornbush." Great stuff!

Finally, "Summerland" is effective, due to its cynical tone toward séances and spiritualism, in a subtle and understated way, and implies (again, without coming out and stating it) the truth about where our souls go. Or, more specifically, the soul of a man who rents out a decrepit house for the price of a mansion.

The editors have compiled a treasury of ghost stories, old and new, gothic to modern. No horror library is complete without it.

This book was ok. It was cute at times but not really funny. Some of the stories would make you smile but not really laugh. You will probably get better stories from the girls in the typing pool at work.

I loved Belly Laughs 2 just as much as the first book. It was easy to relate to and laugh about the hysterical misadventures of becoming a parent. It makes a great gift for anyone who is going to, has had or has ever been a baby. I had to give each of our four grown-up kids a copy and am encouraging them to submit the stories of our grandkids arrivals to the Stork Search of 99 Contest -- a real bonus to reading the book and recalling those hectic days and nervous nights. This book helps put it all in the right perspective. You are not alone!

this novel stars Sheridan's favorites Janice Cameron and Lily Wu, but takes place in New York City instead of Hawaii. Its sort of a dark mystery that takes place during the 1949 post WWII housing shortage. Lily and Janice share a bedroom in a rooming house filled with a variety of other people who, unbeknownst to one another, all have a connection to the house and its former owners. That's all I can say without revealing too much of the mystery. I found the biographical introduction of the life of the author as interesting as the novel. :)

Old fashion mystery set in New York City 1949. New author Janice Cameron shares a rented room with the mysterious Lily Wu in a house in Washington Square. 2 murders occur. It seems each one of the residents in the house has a secret past, with the exception of Janice, and could be the murderer. Very very medium after a while. The most interesting thing about the book is the tone and time it was written which was 1949.

This book has used a tricky title to tempt you. Unfortunately, you won't learn UML with it, and even less how to use UML in an iterative development process. I would recommend instead the combination of "UML Distilled" and "Applying UML and Patterns". The use of Visual C++ here has no transcendence, and from my point of view, it is just a way to attract Visual C++ developers (they are many!) that want to learn UML and software development processes. In few words: you always can learn something from any book, but this one is not a good source of knowledge. Think twice before purchasing it.

This book, like its counterparts written for Visual Basic, cuts through the techno jargon fluff that other instructive books use for filler. The authors present a comprehensive linked business example that offers continuity throughout the entire volume. This approach is refreshing and does not waste precious time by introducing non-relevant problems. It is a great treasure for experienced project designers as well as those muddling with legacy code.

It is difficult not to compare Morely's work to Jonathan Croall's altogether superior "John Gielgud: A Theatrical Life 1904-2000," which came out shortly before. "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" is decidedly inferior to the Croall book, although a interesting effort on its own merit. It does not have the depth of analysis of Croall's book (essentially skipping over Gielgud's relationship to his family, which Croall goes into in significant detail), as well as making numerous mistakes (saying, for instance, that Gielgud didn't play his first Shaw until doing the Preminger film of "Saint Joan" - forgetting that he played in both "Arms and the Man" and "Androcles & The Lion" at the Old Vic almost twenty years previously; or saying that Gielgud's 1974 Prospero was "his first full-length Shakespeare since 1958," forgetting that he played Othello in 1961. Another puzzling inconsistency was when Morely wrote that Donald Wolfit's hatred of Gielgud started when they did "Richard of Bordeaux" together in 1933, even though he'd already written that Wolfit was furious at Gielgud for allegedly having his Claudius cut down for the West End transfer of "Hamlet" in 1930. Morely also insisted that Gielgud won two Tony Awards for directing "Big Fish, Little Fish" and "Five Finger Excercise" (Gielgud was awarded for the former, but was even nominated for the latter; although Gielgud did win "Best Foreign Production" for "The Importance of Being Earnest" in 1947 and a special Tony for "The Ages of Man" in 1959.)

There are some surprising omissions as well, ignoring completely Gielgud's rivalry with Giles Isham when they were at the Old Vic in 1929/30, when at the offset it was assumed that Isham instead of Gielgud would play Hamlet.

Still, it's an interesting book that probably would have seemed better if I hadn't read Croall's first. He's very matter-of-fact about Gielgud's homosexuality, and uses his 1953 arrest as a focal point (as Croall does). Olivier comes off poorly in both books, although I would say that Morely has more patience with him than Croall seems to (in Croall's book, Olivier is depicted as a kind of antagonist, which I think gives his book more drama). I also think that Morely has a tendency to accept a lot of the Gielgud history at face value, whereas Croall thinks it through and considers the logic of a lot of it. The best example of this is the legendary story of Gielgud and Olivier swapping of roles of Romeo and Mercutio in 1936: Morely accepts that this gimmick was intended from the get-go, whereas Croall ponders (quite logically) that Gielgud and producer Binkie Beaumont were hedging their bets against Olivier's inexperience in Shakespeare at the time, and the role-swapping was agreed upon in case Olivier's reviews as Romeo were so disastrous that they would switch parts to keep the production from suffering. In view of the state of Olivier's career at the time (he had yet to even attempt a leading Shakespearean role on the professional stage), this makes infinitely more sense. Another example is the famous story that Gielgud went to Olivier after the latter opened in Hamlet and said "it's one of the most brilliant performances I've ever seen, but it's still my part." Morely reports it as though
he witnessed it, but Croall points out that not only did neither actor mention it in his autobiography and that Gielgud was actually in America when the comment was allegedly made, but such boasting was very out of character for Gielgud.

This is not to say that Morely's book is a wash. He does a fine job of talking about Gielgud's finances, and brings up the point that Ralph Richardson and Gielgud maintained a friendship despite the fact that Richardson was homophobic and openly uncomfortable with Gielgud's private life (a topic Croall doesn't mention, and indeed even Morely doesn't do much more than mention in passsing). Morely does blow it a lot, though - such as the famous anecdote where Gielgud goes to meet Richard Burton in the latter's dressing room after a performance of "Hamlet," and drops the brick "Why don't you come along when you're better...I mean ready?" Every time I've heard that story related (including Croall's book), it took place in 1953 when Burton played the part at the Old Vic, but Morely maintains that the exchange took place during the 1964 Broadway production. I think he booted it, and I think he does that a disconcertingly large amount of the time. He also has a tendency to bring himself into the narrative (a paragraph might begin with "John approached me about writing this book..."), which I find disconcerting.

"John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" is a must-read for serious students of Gielgud's career, but Croall's book is the definitive study and should definitely be read first.

Sir John Gielgud was one of the great Shakespearean thespians of the twentieth century, although I unfortunately never saw him on stage where he was apparently at his best. Morley's biography is well-written and informative, but somehow lacks a certain spark.

It follows Gielgud from his childhood (from a family with several respected actors) to his early acting career, ascending from a skinny-legged boy to a much-respected actor, and then a knight and universally revered thespian. His arrest for soliciting a plainclothes policeman resulted in a reworking of laws on homosexuality. And he left behind an astonishing body of work, from a quiet man whose life essentially revolved around his work.

One of the unusual aspects of "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" is the respect that Morley has for Gielgud. He keeps his tone constantly respectful but not fannish. His handling of potentially sordid situations (the soliciting case) is always careful and respectful, a rarity in most biographies. His handling of Gielgud's homosexuality and its place in 1940s and 1950s England is particularly good. The attitude there and then was quite different from now. Some of the best actors today -- Ian McKellen being the most prominent -- are able to be openly gay, but then it was actually illegal. Morley does a good job describing the social and legal atmosphere at that time, through conversations, letters to the editors, the press's response, and the changes in the law. One slightly frustrating aspect of the book is the lack of presence of the Gielgud family -- when one of them popped back into the narrative, I found myself wondering, "Who is that again?"

Morley also offers insights into British theater and actors, including Gielgud's connections with Vivien Leigh, Lawrence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Noel Coward. We get to hear the good and bad reviews, some from Gielgud himself, such as his disgust with his shoeless "Romeo" costume (though the picture of him in that play isn't bad). And (wow, another rarity) Morley lets us see some examples of Gielgud's undeniable wit. Though he seems to have put his foot in his mouth frequently, he had some great zingers: at one point he complained about a flatulent crew member by saying that he didn't mind dying, but must it be in a gas chamber?

What is lacking? Perhaps it's a greater sense of knowledge about what made Gielgud tick. Morley knew him, but he fails overall to really let the readers really know what he was like. I got bits and pieces of his personality -- his shyness, his wit, his intense love of acting -- but not a picture of the whole. Some of the dates and situations seem unreliable or debatable. That, and I found the pictures a little unsatisfying. I like it when professional and personal photos are balanced out; this book had almost entirely professional pics.

Gielgud was part of a golden generation of great actors, and had a certain quality that filled whatever stage or screen he was on. While "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" can't be called the best, it's certainly worth a look.