Smith Books

Howard Blackburn accomplished a feat of endurance and spirit that equals any. This is a well told tale of the man who froze his hands to the oars of his dory to row 100 miles in January off Newfoundland. Gripping and substantial, this book stays with you.

It would be too easy to simply say that Howard Blackburn rose above his adversity. I should like to have known more about, or even known him - fisherman, retailer, sailor and philanthropist - here is a man of legend among men of iron. Howard's tale is marvelous; a testament to the pioneers and explorers who follow their restless dreams without compromise. Lone Voyager is a fascinating and enlightening look into the industry of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the men who fought long odds and the compelling draw of a man possessed of his visions.

Though I live in Gloucester and have spent a good many evenings in Howard Blackburn's establishment with his pictures and newspaper articles hanging on the walls, I only recently discovered this book. What a wonderful adventure! The first chapter, which tells the story of the fishing trip during which Blackburn lost his fingers and toes, sets the stage well for the rest of the adventure. And what an adventure it is! Here in Gloucester they talk of the days of "iron men in wooden ships" and Blackburn was the toughest and most indomitable of all those iron men. After surviving the trip that opens the book, he goes on to start his famous tavern in Gloucester, cross the Atlantic twice on his own, sail around Cape Horn and up the Pacific Coast bound for the Klondike, and undertake a perfectly fascinating trip up the Hudson River, through the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi.

Because I wrote a book based in the seafaring history of Lake Erie I was particularly gratified to read that Blackburn wrote that of all the waters he ever crossed he considered Lake Erie to have been the worst --- even worse than the Grand Banks in the Atlantic.

Author Joe Garland is well known both as a historian and a sailor and both those skills are well used in the telling of this tale. This is an extraordinary story of an extraordinary man told by an extraordinary writer. What more does a reader want?

I found an old copy of this book and read it a year ago. An incredible true story. I`m glad to see that it is available in paperpback again.

Howard Blackburn was one cool dude! I mean the guy gets caught away from the mother ship and rows for 5 days to live but it costs him all his fingers and that's just the first two chapters! You've got him going off to the Yukon on a gold rush jaunt, a couple of single handed trips across the Atlantic. A circumnavigation of the Eastern US via the Great Lakes and the Misissippi River and around Florida. He just won't quit.

Anyway I bought the book because of the stories about dories, and was hooked by all the other adventures as well.

BTW there is a rowing race of 22 miles in open Atlantic called the "Blackburn Challange" The folks of Glouster loved him.

thanks to this book! Wow! I took vanilla and chocolate marshmallows to my brother's wedding this weekend in pretty apothocary jars. Everyone thought I was amazing. I tried to tell them how easy it is to make your own marshmallows but noone would believe me. :-)

This week I'm on to orange marshamallows.

I have made several recipes and they all came out great. I will never buy marshmallows again! The mallomars were delicious - even though I used a british biscuit instead of making my own. Similar to a graham cracker but sweeter, round in shape. Very clear directions and easy to follow.

This book delivers a modern, delicious perspective on an old, boring confection! The wonderful photography is only outdone by the detailed, easy-to follow recipies themselves. I will never buy another comercially-made marshmallow knowing how easy it was to make these delicious treats. My personal fav were the brownies topped with fluff. They were absolutely delectable! I recieved the book as a gift and I intend to gift one to all my loved ones who enjoy cooking. This book is a MUST for anyone who likes to eat!

This is a well designed and beautifully photographed book that has made me the culinary genius of the family. The marshmallow treats are the talk of every party. But the hidden gems in this book are Eileen's Deep Chocolate Brownies and her Sweet Cream Dessert Biscuits. And once you get into the fluff, you never return.

Can't wait for the next one from her.

I didn't know where to start! So many great photos and intriguing ideas. I wound up making
the banana marshmallows on page 42 to give as Christmas gifts to the friends and neighbors who were probably cookied-out. I put a half dozen marshmallows in cute little red foil boxes. They were a total hit and nobody could believe that I had made them myself. Hard time finding the banana nectar. I finally found it at Whole Foods. Can't wait to try a few more of the flavors. I hear the lemon is spectacular.

Jeanne Smith has written a book so fascinating that it is hard to put down. The blending of two worlds, 1400 years apart, and two souls (or is it just one?) from each time period is masterfully done. It is a time travel adventure, a love story, a King Arthur fable, and a book full of fantasy creatures all rolled up into one. There is never a dull moment. I recommend it wholeheartedly! Can't wait for the sequel to come out!

J M Smith's book takes threads from the tapestry of Authurian legend and weaves them into a classic but modern tale of a struggle between good and evil. Set across several continents with vivid characters and magical, mysterious forces, the natural and supernatural elements conspire to produce a thrilling climax.
Put work and chores aside for a while. You won't be able to do either until you turn the very last page.

This book, MERLYN, is destined to become a classic, a story foir all time. It is a marvel. I loved the plot. I loved the people. I hated to see it end. I hope that Merlyn's story will go on and on, and I will read and re-read every volume. Don't ask me to part with these people; I can't. It's funny and scary, tender and ruthless, with a villain who will chill your marrow, a heroine you will love, a hero who will make you laugh, and most of all, the Enchanter, who will make you hope.

This book, Merlyn, is destined to become a classic, a story for all time. It is a marvel. I loved the plot; I loved the people. I hated to see it end. I hope that Merlyn's story will go on and on, and I will read and re-read every volume. Don't ask me to part with these people; I can't. It's funny and scary, tender and ruthless, with a villain who will chill your marrow, a heroine you will love, a hero who will make you laugh, and most of all, the Enchanter, who will make you hope.

I could not put this book down! It has fantasy, excitement, an "otherworldness" that is so exciting and absorbing that it will be one of my favorites for years and years. I could hardly wait to have a copy of this fascinating tale to read over and over. Just writing this review has made me anxious to read it again... NOW. I am so pleased to know that others now have the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful book and love it as much as I have.

My niece's baby was born at 28 weeks. Needless to say, this was a shock and a scary time for them. I saw this book and thought it might bring some comfort to her and her husband. She said the book is great. Brings tears to her eyes, but she can relate to all the stories that she has been reading.

I could relate to every story having been in all those situations. Being a parent of a micro-preemie is an isolating feeling. It helps to know there are others who are out there going through the same thing you are and are surviving it!

Many people don't realize that micropreemies do have a solid chance to survive and enjoy relatively normal lives thanks to modern medicine and the love and dedication of parents and NICU nurses. But with Mr. Smith's book, it takes the reader right into the lives of people who have experienced the birth of a very premature baby, and -- without sugarcoating it -- shows how these miracle babies are wonderful examples for all about the fight for precious life!
Every hospital neonatal intensive care unit should have this available by the case for those who need the support and positive reinforcement when confronted with what can be a perilous situation.

Parents facing the suspense and stress of premature childbirth can take heart by reading this! In fact, it should be in the waiting room by every hospital's preemie ward, so anxious parents can read these stories of tiny bodies with enormous courage. Tim Smith has told the tale of his own daughter's bravery, and the tales of other families going through this difficult experience, with insight and warmth. This is a must-have for anyone who needs to believe in the power of the human spirit.

I thought that the book "Miracle Birth Stories Of Very Premature Babies" by Timothy Smith was a well crafted and welcome addition to the world of medical literature. As I was reading, I felt like I was in the hospital with each set of parents, going through their triumphs and defeats with them.

One strong aspect of the book is that it is written for the average person, in basic language that we can all understand. The medical information provided is relevent and accurate, but we are not bogged down in medical and hospital terminology. Medical journals and texts are often written in a very dry, academic tone that is hard to get through. Also, as I was reading I also felt that I was learning information about a controversial topic without being preached to.

We have all heard things about this topic through magazines, television news, newspapers, tabloids, etc. Smith is a veteran newspaper reporter and it shows. Each story is special in their own situation, and the different families are tied together in a nice way through a common cord of compassion, mutual experiences, and hopes for the future. I wish that premature birth parents in hospitals everywhere could receive this book. It is truly inspirational and lets them know they are not alone.

This was very fun to look at what people do to things with wheels. Inventive, well photographed, and crocked full of idea's.

"Mobile Mansions" opens your eyes to what can be called a "home" and to a lifestyle that many dream of, but few experience. Mankind has always had a nomadic instinct, and these motor powered homes-on-wheels are just the latest manifestation of that idea. Don't let rising gas prices ruin that experience. The book will give you a lot of ideas on what is really needed and what isn't.

Love it!! Looking for more like it! It sits promenently on my coffee table. It gets opened regularly by everyone. It was a Christmas gift to me, from me. I couldn't get it away from my 24 year old son from moment I opened it. Filled with great history and entertaining writings. Buy it!

Take a nostalgia trip down through the years of motor homes. Of course in the early days they were called motor homes, instead they started with wagons such as those in cowboy movies and in the Gypsy wagons (still to be found out here in the west in use by sheepherders). But soon after the advent of the automobile came specialized bodies that had tents, beds, even a church.

This book begins with pictures from the past, but quickly turns to new photographs taken by the author. Most of these are of vintage vehicles that have been painstakingly restored by their new owners.

There are also a good number of vehicles that might be called home made, but these are home made with style. My own favorite was one made from a surplus Air Force crash truck. Beautiful, but it probably only gets three miles per gallon.

This is a beautiful book of four color pictures that would be at home on a coffee table or in your own RV.

"RVers are some of the friendliest people on earth," writes Doug Keister in his new pop culture history, "Mobile Mansions: Taking 'Home Sweet Home' On the Road" ($24.95 in large size paperback from Gibbs Smith, Publisher). "Unlike the rest of us who are permanently or temporarily moored in our bolted-down communities, they take the bumps in the road of life a little more serenely." And none are friendlier than those who own vintage and classic RVs, the mobile conveyances celebrated in Keister's book.

Replete with 200 color photographs, most taken by Keister himself on location, the book explores not only the history of the recreational vehicle but allows the reader to see inside courtesy of the author's crisp, clear interior shots. From Camp Dearborn, Mich., to Quartzsite, Ariz. (with a quick stop in Chico), Keister documents the development of what used to be called "autocamping."

Autocamping was popularized by Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Harvey Firestone (of tire fame), along with an unlikely companion, a naturalist named John Burroughs. After about 1915 the group called themselves "the Vagabonds," attracting newspaper attention everywhere they went. The group was not exactly rustic -- Firestone brought his butler along to help him better appreciate "roughing it."

Later on, the "Tin Can Tourists" organization was established in 1919; they "took their name from the tin can provisions that they subsisted on and, some say, also from the Tin Lizzies many of them drove."

The Great Depression and better roadways put Americans on the road. It was the golden age of the travel trailer. Subsequent decades saw the development of house cars, refined camp cars, family buses, truck campers, vans and motor homes (which had their start with the Frank Motor Home in 1958 which morphed into the Travco Motor Home in 1965.) There are other storied names in the book: Volkswagen, Winnebago, Newell, Barth, Flexible.

Keister devotes a chapter to each kind of "mobile mansion" with a focus on "personal visions" in the last chapter. Pride of place here goes to "Draco," a four-wheel-drive motorhome created by Shahn Torontow of Victoria, British Columbia, who constructed it so his photographer wife, disabled by Lyme disease, "could still go on backcountry photographic expeditions. The bones of Draco are an Oshkosh M-1000 Aircraft Rescue Fire Truck." There's also a wheelchair lift, 14-inch wide tires, a winch and "a 335-horsepower Caterpillar 3406A diesel-pusher engine." The contraption was photographed in Chico. Dishes have magnets glued to their bottoms so they "stick" on steel plate walls and a "macerator-type toilet liquifies waste ... (which) can be pumped into the exhaust system where it is vaporized at over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit."

Pop culture connections abound. Converted Greyhound Scenicruisers (last made in the mid-1950s) help bands reach their next gigs; Charles Kuralt (the CBS "On the Road" guy) used an FMC ("Food Machinery Corporation") motor home; Barbie's "Disco motor home" came from Mattel; Mae West owned "a 1931 22-foot house car build on a Chevrolet truck chassis" -- it slept four and sported a rear balcony where West could address her fans; Ozzie and Harriet used an Alaskan Camper; John Steinbeck traveled with his poodle Charley in 1960 in a GMC pickup truck and Wolverine camper; the Partridge Family's hippie bus was a '57 Chevy school bus; and Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters drove a converted bus, too.

Sprightly fun, Keister's homage to mobile living costs less than 10 gallons of gas -- and lasts a lot longer!

What a great book! I had to take the recommendation of a friend who has rarely steered me wrong to get by the somewhat difficult to swallow premise of a "severed arm" being the focus of the book. But I'm glad I did! The author really pulls it off! One of the most fun, exciting and well written books I've read. The other nine "5 star" reviews before me said it well, and left little to add.

If you like this one, don't miss The "Psychoanalysis and Cure of Satan" by Jeremy Levin, my all-time favorite!

An original and deftly written novel by Mark Haskell Smith, Moist is an outrageously sexual, shocking, and sometimes ludicrous adventure in which minimum-wage mortuary worker named Bob is in search of true love only to find a most unusual severed arm, and become entangled with a one-armed murderer obsessed with Mexican soap opera, a band of mobsters who share certain character traits with LAPD's finest, and other messed-up, drugged-out, or terminally oversexed individuals. Moist is lively and recommended reading as a sure-to-please, zesty satire with a flair for skirting the raw edge of life and love.

I knew Smith in undergraduate school at Evergreen State 25 years ago in Olympia, WA. I remember his musical career, and his intense documentaries of Coke factories, and his relish for Fassbinder and The Talking Heads before I had heard of them. He was an excellent writer then, but nothing could have prepared me for this full-scale realization of his talent at one stroke. This book made me feel that I had discovered the best talent of my generation. Then it turned out he was my best friend in college. Kind of fun to realize this alligator is going to be a top novelist. There's no way to praise all the great things going on in this book. Mark was always twenty steps ahead of everybody else in his humor and style. He was drinking weird coffee conglomerations long before they became a fashion. Similarly, I think this book will represent a new international style: multicultural, and yet not pious, hip, but full of deep passion, humorous, but not silly. Just read it. It's going to be one of the most important books of the era. A high-water mark for the sort of humorous aesthetic cool that seems to wear well. I put Smith on my shelf between Edward Lear and Charles Willeford and am sure these former two feel they are in good company. Ha ha. Way to go, Mark H.!

Kirby Olson, Author
Comedy after Postmodernism: Rereading Comedy from Edward Lear to Charles Willeford

See book description above.

I was not at all disappointed with this somewhat dark comedy, which one author described as having "real machine gun narrative". As mentioned by other reviewers, Smith is comparable to Hiaasen (but not quite at his level) and also, I think, Fitzhugh. For a first novel, Smith has written one heck of an entertaining story with an assortment of unusual characters.

Recommended.

When I began reading Moist, I flipped to the back of the book, and in all capital letters
it read: WHY YOU WILL LOVE MOIST... and now that I have I must agree with those who read & commented before me. I am the kind of reader who doesn't get trapped by trying to figure out where the writer is taking me, ie Agatha Christie--- I don't care to figure out who killed Colonel Mustard in the library with a machete and twelve people must provide an alibi and if I am smart enough to figure out which one is lying. What I care about is the journey the writer takes me on. I like to get lost in what I am reading, to just kick back, so to speak, and just enjoy the ride. And Moist is one hell of a damn good ride.

Bob, our hero, who works at United Pathology Labs is kidnapped by the Mexican Mafia
in the form of crazy Esteban and his colorful band of merry men gringo advisor Martin, Norberto and Amado. There is Maura the masturbation therapist, Bob's soon to be ex-girlfriend, Don the detective, and a severed arm with explicit sensual acts of sex tattooed all over it. To say anymore would give away too much

It is definitely a dark gritty sexy outrageously hilarious story and Mark Haskell Smith is a wonderfully talented storyteller keeping the pace breakneck! I put this book in the "page turner" category. His characters came to life jumping off the page making me laugh, smile, even feel sad and most importantly propelling me to keep turning the page. I was not surprised in the least bit when I had heard Smith was a screenwriter nor that DreamWorks owned this piece of entertainment, because that is exactly what Smith does, he entertains you non-stop. Sit back and enjoy!

I am not usually a fan of short stories, but this book was different. Each story a is character sketch and many of the characters make guest appearances in other stories. This is truly fiction, all the characters are big-hearted people who love their town and each other. I loved Mossy Creek and couldn't which decide story I liked the best.

"Welcome to Mossy Creek the town you can count on ain't goin' nowhere, and don't want to" with these words you get the flavor of life in the small southern town of Mossy Creek. The people are fiesty, funny, sad, and loving. Each chapter is a different character's story. You learn the history of the dispute between Mossy Creek and the nearby town of Bigelow. Each chapter becomes a story unto itself while characters overlap occasionally in the tales. From Miss Ida, the guardian/mayor of Moss Creek who will go to jail rather than put up a new welcome sign outside of Mossy Creek (afterall it was written by a Bigelowan!) to Casey, an Olympic hopeful whose dreams are dashed while returning from her elopement, due to a car accident which leaves her paralyzed from the waist down, you will laugh and cry with the inhabitants of this marvelous town. Come on for the ride and enjoy a few moments in Mossy Creek. It is a fast read and powerful in its emotions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book - lots of fun, quirky characters. Looking forward to the next in the series.

I read this book because I love Deborah Smith's work. I figured at least her stories in the book would be fantastic. I laughed so hard with the first story my husband finally asked me to share the joke. And it just got better after that. I can not wait for the next book to come out! The characters were all fun and lovable. It made me wish my small town was a wee bit smaller, Southern and full of Mossy Creekites!

This tale about the residents of Mossy Creek will warm your heart and touch your soul. It's like sitting down with good friends for a piece of warm apple pie. Delicious!

My Dear Phebe presents war through the eyes of an innocent child pressed all too soon to understand and live in its after math. My Dear Phebe may be a child's view of the Civil War, but it makes a very loud statement about our children, what they see and hear and come to internalize and live after their innocence is stolen and war becomes all too real--no matter which war it is.

While the language is not politically correct for this day and age in My Dear Phebe it is honest and simple. The language tells as much of the story as the linguistic thread itself. It isn't just about the Civil War, but war itself.

It isn't a story about a family in Michigan or North verses South. It is about people, and especially children. What we teach our children intentionally or as they eaves drop on our lives.

I am reminded of a phrase that has been around nearly as long as war. John Heywood (1546) said, and this has been translated to a more modern linguistic truth, "Little pitchers have big ears, children hear and understand more than you think they do."

While My Dear Phebe is a story about a war torn country, it begs the reader to return to that childhood that loved and accepted everyone for who they were not what label someone had put on them.
"The color of their skin doesn't change the color of their hearts..." Says Parson Johnson introducing a man of color, [Negro, an African America, or a black man] and his family to a congregation divided by their prejudices without knowledge or benefit of knowing first hand what they are against. (Does the name used create an image in your mind -- or does it speak all the same to you?)

This is not just about the Civil War--though the setting is about life during the Civil War. It is not totally about war, but the people in it. It is not about just a certain people but it is instead about children growing up in a country they thought was all about love and laughter when they discover war--and over hear the atrocities. When they hear stories of fields of bodies covered in blood, they think of the pain of the last scrape or cut they had received and associate bigger pain with all that blood. They can't imagine living without a limb, or an eye--but soldiers are being maimed and expected to live that way. Families are being torn apart, deprived of their male support, bread winner, strong back, defender of their life and rights.

"Our life is a Vapor," Uncle J.W. Irvine writes to Phoebe.

When Phoebe is worried that "If you say things too loud they might just come true," she was afraid of the death of loved ones, but also of allowing love to touch her for fear it would be ripped away. A child who heard the vagrancies of adults discussing mundane and sometimes horrific things.

Janet Elaine Smith tells a complex story in a language that simplifies it, though it is not a simple story told in a simplistic way. It is a very deep and moving story told with all the warmth of a letter from a dear uncle far removed from the arms of family. It shows the reader a community that is wrapped together across a nation by families, by love, by a sense of pride and heritage separated by war and tragedy that also draws them together.

I laughed, I cried and I read knowing that a Janet Elaine Smith book always has a happy, if not happily every after, ending. We still have war--but we also still share love, community, family and understanding. A highly recommended read for young and old alike. You'll want to read it as a family. It will renew your faith in mankind.

Twelve-year-old Phebe Irvine lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, which is still frontier country when the Civil War begins. She thinks the war should be far enough away to give her family and their community little trouble, but she soon finds out that's not the case. The family of her best friend and neighbor, Sarah Tuttle, loses husband and father Caleb because he thinks it right to volunteer. Phebe promises to help Sarah, whose mother has nine children at home, any way she can; and Phebe's parents encourage her to do this, even though her only sibling - baby brother Benjamin - grows sicker every day. That's one reason why Phebe's mother has no time to answer letters from Uncle James, who lives a lot closer to the fighting in Pennsylania. So Phebe offers to take over the job of corresponding with Uncle James, and soon finds herself enjoying their exchanges. She confides in him about things she doesn't dare mention to those around her in Sault Ste. Marie, and he supplies news about the war.

As local men die and word of their loss reaches home, the first news from Caleb Tuttle arrives in a different and totally unexpected form: a Negro family just off the underground railroad. The little frontier settlement has to deal with five living, breathing examples of why their absent men are fighting, and Phebe has to grow up even faster than she's already begun to when tragedy strikes at home and a letter arrives from the front.

This fact-based YA novel looks at a much-described period in U.S. history from a little-used viewpoint, that of a young girl on the home front. It mixes and contrasts matter-of-fact daily life (which of course had to go on) with war's horrific events, and makes the reader feel the ebb and flow of Phebe's spirits right along with her. I highly recommend it for readers of all ages. It's realistic without being pessimistic, and its hopeful message is absolutely relevant for today.

Ten-year-old Phebe Irvine lives in Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan during the Civil War. When the story opens, the war hadn't yet really affected the folks as far north as Michigan. But it's beginning to impact the community now as Caleb Tuttle, husband, father and neighbor, enlists to fight for the Union against the Confederacy.

Phebe doesn't really understand much of what the war means. All she knows is it's terrifying to think of men dying so far away from home. And when Caleb leaves his family, Phebe pitches in to help Mrs. Tuttle, the interesting eldest son Josiah, and Sarah, her best friend, with both the farm work and the other Tuttle children. This help is a sacrifice for Phebe's family because her infant brother, Benjamin is very ill.

Just when the Tuttle family fears that Caleb died in the war (because they haven't heard from him since he left home), a message arrives in the form of an escaped slave, Grady. Grady, his wife Maisie and their three children traveled north from Tennessee on the underground railroad with a map from Caleb and permission to stay at the Tuttle farm for the duration of the war.

During the war Phebe decides that she can contribute to the cause by writing letters to soldiers who are family and friends. Thus begins exchanges that provide support, give much-needed information, and reunites a family.

There are moments of faith that wind its way between instances of tragic death, new-found freedom, a pregnancy, budding friendship and young love in Janet Elaine Smith's young adult novel My Dear Phebe. It's an enlightening and historical look at the turmoil of the Civil War. Included at the end are the actual letters between the real Phebe and soldiers in the war. I enjoyed this book a great deal and your young adult will, too.

So many times, Civil War books are written about the soldiers who fought. It was so refreshing to read about the families that were left behind. Mrs. Smith delivers a slice of Americana in her book. I really enjoyed reading it and it was well worth my time. Adults as well as children, will enjoy this story.

My Dear Phebe is about two young girls and the hardships they faced during the Civil War. Even though the war was so far away, it affected them in many different ways. The different families stuck together and helped one another. Through thick and thin, they all made it together, with love.

"When rumors of an impending war disturb us and our children, it's comforting to read books about our past, to look back and remember other times when children faced such troubled times, and survived them honorably. Janet Elaine Smith's book, "My Dear Phebe" is just such a book. Using family history and actual letters as references, Ms. Smith brings the Civil War back to life. For ten-year-old Phebe and her best friend Sarah, the war seems far away. They soon discover that although the actual battles may be fought many miles away from their little Michigan settlement, changes still come to their town, friends, and families. In "My Dear Phebe", Ms Smith shows how Phebe discovers for herself that the values that make us good and caring people are just as valid in troubled times as they are in good times. I heartily recommend "My Dear Phebe" by Janet Elaine Smith, as a book to open the door to discussions with children, or simply to get lost in a great read."

My Life is a fascinating book. I was most attracted to the style in which Trotsky took responsibity for his mistakes. He didn't try to blame others for what happened at Kronstadt. My Life is a wonderful show of a great and bizarre life. Since the McCarthy era, it has become fashionable to slander revolutionaries or look for "Physcological" motives. My Life is written from a bias, but it certainly has none of taint of an author who tries to discredit someone smarter than them. My Life also show Trotsky as a complete person- bound by unbreakable ties to an idea. My Life is written as many different things- half autobiography and half history of the revolution. The only thing I found bad about My Life is how absorbed it is in its time. My Life is entertaining and readable, and includes some rather funny incidents- like Trotsky naming his socks after Soviet leaders. The only fault is that My Life requires a basic understanding of events to be fully understood. For instance, if you haven't the foggiest what permenant revolution is, you may need to find out. My Life is idea-based, and challenges readers to discover those ideas- and then to do something about them. Buy the book-it is worth a $1,000

Today we expect our political memoir writers to take part in a game of show and tell about the most intimate details of their private personal lives on their road to celebrity. Refreshingly, you will find no such tantalizing details in Russian Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky's memoir written in 1930 just after Stalin had exiled him to Turkey. Instead you will find a thoughtful political self-examination by a man trying to draw the lessons of his fall from power in order to set his future political agenda. This task is in accord with his stated conception of his role as an individual agent at service in the historical struggle toward a socialist future. Thus, underlying the selection of events highlighted in the memoir such as the rise of the revolutionary wave in Russia in 1905 and 1917, the devastation to the socialist program of World War I and the degeneration of the Russian Revolution especially after Lenin's death and the failure of the German Revolution of 1923 is a sense of urgency about the need for continued struggle for a socialist future. It also provides a platform as well for polemics against those foes and former supporters who have either abandoned or betrayed that struggle.

At the beginning of the 21st century when socialist political programs are in decline it is hard to imagine the spirit that drove Trotsky to dedicate his whole life to the fight for a socialist society. However, at the beginning of the 20th century he represented only the most consistent and audacious of a revolutionary generation of Eastern Europeans and Russians who set out to change the history of the 20th century. It was as if the best and brightest of that generation were afraid, for better or worse, not to take part in the revolutionary political struggles that would shape the modern world. As Trotsky notes this element was lacking, with the exceptions of Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht and precious few others, in the Western labor movement. Trotsky using his own experiences tells the story of the creation of this revolutionary cadre with care and generally proper proportions.

Many of the events such as the disputes within the Russian revolutionary movement, the attempts by the Western Powers to overthrow the Bolsheviks in the Civil War after their seizure of power and the struggle of the various tendencies inside the Russian Communist Party and in the Communist International discussed in the book may not be familiar to today's audience. Nevertheless one can still learn something from the strength of Trotsky's commitment to his cause and the fight to preserve his personal and political integrity against overwhelming odds. As the organizer of the October Revolution, creator of the Red Army in the Civil War, orator, writer and fighter Trotsky he was one of the most feared men of the early 20th century to friend and foe alike. Nevertheless, I do not believe that he took his personal fall from power as a world historic tragedy. Moreover, he does not gloss over his political mistakes. While one would not want to be on the receiving end of his rapier tongue neither does he generally do personal injustice to his various political opponents. Politicians, revolutionary or otherwise, in our times should take note.

The phrase "Life is Beautiful" in the Italian film came from Leon Trotkys's last testament. It was written in exile in Mexico. At the time Trotsky's friends, family, and comrades were being harassed, slandered and murdered by Stalin, when he himself faced imminent assasination. He also faced death from the growing illnesses that had slowed him. Yet, in his testament he proclaimed that life is beautiful. Life must be cleansed of the evil and garbage Capitalism and Stalinism have left to this world.

Read this book and you will see how Trotsky's life became valuable for him because he decided to fight oppression, decided to learn about the world to fight, and never stopped fighting. Maybe your life can be beautiful if you read this book, and decide to fight like Trotsky did.

The introduction by the late Joseph Hansen Trotsky's secretary in Mexico is worth the price of the book. Joe explains how the household and work center in Mexico functioned, about how Trotsky valued hard work, but also valued celebrating comrades birthdays, hobbies like raising rabbits, trips to sites of Mexican history. Reading this also tells you how Joe organized the staff at World Outlook/ Intercontinental Press, working with him was one of the great privileges of my life.

In these pages and memoirs of Trotsky by Joe, George Novack, Farrell Dobbs, and other comrades who knew Trotskty, you could find how serious Trotsky enjoyed and embraced life. In Turkey if he wanted to go fishing, he went to sea with Turkish fishers in their trawlers. If he wanted to raise rabbits as a hobby, he soon was taking care of something bordered on a commercial rabbit farm. Both in valuing work--chained to his desk was the term Trotsky passed down--and valuing parties and celebrations of new people coming onto the staff and leaving, Trotsky made his life beautiful.

Read this book, valued as much as a literary work as a political statement, and learn how you can make your life beautiful.

This is many books in one. A fine autobiography from a literary point of view, a historical document with brilliant insights into the time period and major players, and, most important, a rich and sustained polemic in favor of a life of commitment to revolutionary, working class politics. Trotsky dedicated his later life to keeping alive the continuity of Lenin and the Russian Revolution, and what a fascinating, courageous life it was, full of prison, exile, escape, insurrection, and more exile. Trotsky was an inspiring man of action, one of two or three figures who matter most to the working class. The politics of the working class struggle for total human emancipation is the piston that drives both the man and his autobiography.If not available from Amazon, booksfrompathfinder will have it. Click on "New and Used" near the top of the page.

When I decided to write this review, I had to choose between the various reasons why it's so beautiful and important. But, above all, I think that, in a world where the necessity of Marxist was supposedly to be more deeply felt than ever, what repels most people that would be liable to lend an ear to it is the repelling Stalinist mythology of the revolutionary as the relentless, ruthless, single-minded, google-eyed fanatical. Trotsky, on the contrary begins by assessing that, although his life was out of the ordinary, he neverthless remained a men with a penchant for a well-ordered ordinary life; that he found pleasure in seeing a well-ordered table or a well-kept fence; that he didn't becomne a revolutionary out of a feeling of opression, but because of being faced with a life that, although prosperous, offered him nothing but grey drudgery and no opprtunity for individual achievement; that he, like all revolutionaries, was a man like any other. I think that would be reason enough to commend this modern classic to the reader of today, outside from the wonderful style, the importance of the events narrated and so much else.

Prior to buying and reading this published version of the Wheel of Fate I'd been a fan of the online version. I was pleased to find differences and additions to the online version, but at the same time I feel that some of the power of the ending was taken away in this new version. The online version was seamless, having been built from the bottom up referring to certain events. I understand the need for the change, as the original made clear reference to events in the Xena television series, and applaud the creative solution that had Smitty tapping into another of her online stories for characters and events.

Perhaps another go-over could have smoothed the transition further, since I think in the new version the necessity of Rosalind's role in the whole drama was sadly diluted, and the whole point seemed to change from Rosalind's ability to "remind" Taryn of the skills needed to ensure Rhea's survival on the wheel of fate and Taryn taking an active role in changing that fate, to Taryn's getting Rhea to butt out then having to passively accept death. Though Rosalind was the catalyst, to me there was a lack of urgency in the climactic scene. I wasn't a big fan of the change; I feel it didn't fit the character of Taryn as well. And the reactions of those involved were a touch off. I am, however, a big fan of these books (this one and its sequel...though again, I'm sure there are some changes in the published version that I'm eager to read), and hope that my nit-picking doesn't put anyone off. I'm just rendering my opinion.

As I'm reading I'm sometimes struck simultaneously by the annoyance one may feel (or perhaps jealousy?) at someone for disregarding what anyone else says and asserting that their reality is reality: screw everyone else for their narrow minds, and admiration for those with the courage of their convictions. There's an odd push/pull between the prose being preachy and pretentious, to being taken in by its utter earnestness, which ultimately draws you in to the magic it weaves.

This book is full of a seductive idealism which enchants you. The mysticism and symbolism that are woven throughout lend magic to the tale, and help the reader accept relationships' beginnings and endings that in the harsh light of the "real" world might seem abrupt or unbelievable. The idea of these characters and their world as created by the author is a vivid one, and you owe it to yourself to open your mind and take this wonderful, original, and well-constructed journey.

I was pleasantly surprised when reading this book which is definitely something different in the market of lesbian fiction.
The story and the skilled writing of the author captivates and leaves one with the urge to read it again,
cause you are left with the feeling that if you read it a second and a third time you will see things you haven't noticed before.
It's not just another love story or a story between two people with an age difference. There is so much more to it.

I really appreciated this book and can't wait for the sequel,
anxious to find out if the author was able to write with the same magical skill again.

I read the first edition of this book a few years ago and have recently enjoyed the newest edition. Smith has created colorful, interesting characters to tell this great Uber story. Instead of the typical successful professionals depicted in other novels in the genre, she delivers Taryn, a young Drag King who lives in a house full of witches, and Rosalind, a young professor who has not earned tenure.

I loved the underlying romance. It was love at first sight for Taryn and Rosalind. This happened in spite of Rosalind's recent divorce and lack of previous attraction to women. However, I was a little confused about Rosalind's problems at school. She was called in to her department head's office for supposedly cavorting with a student (ie., Taryn - who isn't a student at all), but there is never any closure to this issue. In fact, Rosalind seemingly exacerbates the situation by enthusiastically bidding on, and winning, Taryn at a local charity auction.

One shortcoming of the book is the characters don't have much depth. The reader is supposed to have a general knowledge of the lives of Xena and Gabrielle. I suppose this device is meant to give Taryn and Rosalind dimensionality. It certainly works if you're a fan of the show, but there is a gap if you're unfamiliar with characters.

An enjoyable read, this book is recommended for a weekend evening home alone with a pot of coffee and a box of biscotti.

Finally, a lesbian book with a somewhat new twist. The characters are well developed and you seem to feel what they feel.

Good writing and a plot that keeps you interested. A few typos, but nothing so bad that it's distracting.

I look forward to more from this author.

Fiction has a way of opening up new worlds to us, exposing us to characters from all walks of life, and even changing our attitudes. Susan Smith's Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate is one of those rare books that does all of the above and does it superbly. Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate is a novel about family, not the family we are born into, but the family we choose as adults. It is a book about the courage to be who you are, about the choices we make, and the honesty to follow through on those choices. Smith has invented a story that is full of love with intense characters who along the way discover parts of themselves for the first time.

Dr. Rosalind Olchawski, a professor at a university in Buffalo, New York, is newly divorced when she is taken to a drag club by her best friend Ellie. Taryn is a young, bold, sexy butch performing at the club, and when Ros and Taryn have a chance encounter after the show, the pull is overwhelming to both. Their tension is immediate, and we are captivated by the possibilities. Rhea and Joe, who are lovers, are Taryn's extended family. Rhea, fiercely strong and stubborn, is slow to accept Ros into their circle. She has her reasons, but are they valid or is she just being selfish? Joe, the family's protector, is the most accepting of Ros. He understands the family dynamics best because of his unique perspective as a transman. He acts as the cohesive bond that helps the characters' interactions evolve, moving from the past through the present to the future.

Smith's writing style has a poetic rhythm that is enjoyable to read. She uses parallels throughout the book to advance the novel and help the reader identify with the dilemmas her characters are facing. At one point she compares Ros' relationship with Taryn to Ros' brother's marriage to a non Christian Indian woman. Both prefer partners with characteristics different from themselves. And both have had to overcome similar obstacles as well as prejudices with the choices they have made.

Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate is a novel that makes a difference. It is filled with understanding and respect for the varied forms that love takes. It discards standard definitions of family, love and gender. Smith's story reminds us that people cannot be put into neat little boxes. Life is fluid and changing, and as Smith so succinctly conveys to us, we must be too.