Smith Books

this book is a useful reference for both the general public and for councils/communities establishing dog parks and for those that are already established.

very well written and researched - the dog park ettique guidelines and the body language sections are essential reading in my opinion. I feel too many dog people go to these parks in total ignorance as to proper ettique and K9 body language.
I highly recommened this book to all.

I am in the process of organizing a group to have a Free Run Dog Park built in Anderson County SC. I have excellent planning documents from Barkingham park in Florida and some additional input. I purchased this book as a guide to writing rules & recommendations for potential users. It will serve that purpose well, but it is an even better source of ideas for the layout and planning of our own park. As part of our project we intend to donate several copies of the book to our county library and post that information with the rules.

When I got this book, I wasn't expecting much - - still, I wanted to see what it had to say, because for me, a trip to the dog park can be just as fun as stressful. - - I have a very small poodle, and always worry about his safety. - - Within moments of getting it, I have to say, I realized that I picked a good book... especially when I got to the chapter that includes training tips to prepare your dog for a trip to the dog park. (- - I've put a lot of time and effort into training my dog, but the book presents some really useful ideas I had never thought of myself...) As an added bonus, the book is full of ideas that simply don't seem to be "floating around the net" (This is a shortcoming of buying books these days... I hate it when I buy a book and find out I could have gotten the same information off of WIKIPEDIA!)

Well written, the book is substantive, yet short of "fluff" and has an excellent further reading session. I also like the layout of the book - - its very straightforward and well done... not a lot of goofy graphics, fillers and "white space" - - you open the book, you read the 127 pages comfortably ... and if you've got a highlight pen, can walk away with lot's and lot's of stuff to think about as you get ready for your next trip.

Topics include: suggestions of who should and shouldn't use a dog park; dog park design and safety, rules and etiquette; training issues; understanding canine temperament body language; conflict resolution and health issues. All in all, as a person who likes dog parks, I really feel that the book lives up to the claims on the back cover which promises ways of having fun and staying safe at a dog park... and offers to teach practical skills to reach this goal... Based on this fact, and the fact that the book will definitely be a KEEPER that I'll come back to for many years to come, I give it a full five stars... and hope you'll decide to get it and enjoy it too !

Anyone can post an Amazon review. And I've never commented before. But I feel it is unfair to mark the book down just because your home country doesn't have dog parks. Then don't post a review. Obviously, even she found the book helpful, so it shouldn't be damaged by her review.
Thank you.

If you finally have a dog park coming near you and you want to
take your dog(s) to the park for some off leash fun, get this
book to prepare beforehand. Cheryl covers what to look for in a
good dog park - rules, park etiquette (yours and your dog),
openings, landscaping and clean-up.

Cheryl also covers different personality types in dogs and
which dog may want to stay home rather than go to the park.

There's also a very cool section of scenarios to see if you can
tell what is going on in different dog interactions. Don't
worry if you don't get them all right, it takes practice
reading dog body language.

There's a whole chapter that acts as a checklist for those who
enjoy making sure they have all the details to prepare for a
good experience with their dog. What to wear - you and your
dog. How to arrive and enter as well as exit the park. What to
do while in the park.

Cheryl also covers health issues that may come up from visiting
a dog park. The various illnesses that can come from shared
water bowls, airborne illnesses, and poop-borne illnesses.
These aren't meant to scare you from going!

The last chapter has suggested resources for training behaviors
as well as how to learn canine body language. There is a lot of
resources for dog park rules, how to find one, and how to get
one setup in your area.

These books on tape are excellent. The story is told by Durvil who is an excellent swordsman. I learned to really like him through the stories. He defends King Arthur, but he really doesn't like Lancelot. Durvil fights many fights and describes how the shield walls are broken. He also falls in love with Keinwin and has 3 daughters with her.

There is a whole lot more to these tapes than I have described. You will love it!

This is one of the best and most realist serie about the King Arthur legend! This serie really hooked me through out it all.

This superb blend of historical research and creative imagination links England's past and present. Woven through its epic story are themes that shine like gold some fifteen centuries later: honor, friendship, loyalty and courage tested in dirt, sweat and blood. Moreover it speaks of the origins of a great people, the people of Great Britain.

This superb blend of historical research and creative imagination links England's past and present. Woven through its epic story are themes that shine like gold some fifteen centuries later: honor, friendship, loyalty and courage tested in dirt, sweat and blood. Moreover it speaks of the origins of a great people, the people of Great Britain.

Bernard Cornwell sheds new light on the arthurian sagas and tells a tale of Arthur the man who was never a king who had no camelot and no knights in shining armour. instead he lead his warriors (with spears and lice-ridden jerkins) and fought against the saxons,(not evil knights). these books are a work of genius.

Cordwainer Smith is the Leonardo De Vinccii of the sience fiction writers.
It's a pure pleasure to read his books.
It is a pitty that he wrote so few.

. Cordwainer Smith's WE THE UNDERPEOPLE is set in the future and tells of planoforming ships in which the Underpeople, humanlike beings created from animals to do human work, have no rights --and have become more than workers. When Rod joins forces with the cat woman C'Mell, rebellion is sparked.

Smith wrote relatively few short stories and only one SF novel, mostly in the 1960's. Even so, he is one of the great SF writers with a style that is unique. His entire work is available in two hardback books, but this edition gives you his novel, Norstrilia, and the associated short stories (a large fraction of his total output). This is the most cost effective way get an introduction to his work, but you may end up wanting his complete short stories too and there is obviously overlap. I think this is better than the stand-alone Norstrilia because it includes the relevant short stories in one edition.

I have been rereading Cordwainer Smith since I first discovered his writing in the 60's. For those who do not know Cordwainer Smith was the pen name of Paul Linebarger who passed away at the age of only 53.

This version brings together both the novel 'Norstrilia', aka 'The Planet Buyer', and short stories featuring the quest for freedom of the Underpeople. We get to look into the struggle for freedom through the stories of D'joan and C'mell. We meet the people of Norstrilia and the boy who bought Earth, Rod McBan the 151st.

Most of the science fiction and fantasy that I read make for good stories with plenty of action and well developed characters. But the fiction of Smith makes you enjoy his writing and think. This is especially true now that we are at the beginnings of gene engineering and cloning. These two things are the basis of his writing, even though these subjects were nothing more than Science Fiction 40 years ago.

I can only hope that a companion volume with the stories about the establishment of the Lords of the Instrumentality will be forthcoming. This is highly recommended for those who have never read any works by Cordwainer Smith and for those who wish to reread his works.

I have many, many SF books. Cordwainer Smith rates with the best of the Golden age; this collection should be on the shelf of any SF fan

The Well Wishers
By Edward Eager

This is the second book in the series. We have been introduced to James, Laura, Deborah, Lydia, Kip and Gordy in the book, Magic or Not.

This book is written in the point of view of the children. Each child takes his or her turn telling the events of the story, in their own words.

James admits that he might be too old to believe in magic. Laura thinks that the magic of the well rightfully belongs to her, since she discovered it. She is very upset to think that Gordy has started the magic again, by tossing a threatening note into the well. She is also upset that Gordy got the first wish and the first magical adventure, leaving the rest of the group out in the cold.

When Lydia is faced with a bully from her past, she makes a wish that is not in harmony with the well. This starts the ball rolling with dire consequences.

Now the kids from Silvermine Road really know they are on an adventure and there is no doubt that the well really is magical.

I enjoyed this story. I also thought it picked up the pace a little, from the first book.

Jill Ammon Vanderwood, author of two magical adventure books:
Through the Rug
Through The Rug: Follow That Dog (Through the Rug)

This is a great book about magic! Five kids discover a magic wishing well and use it for the greater good-sort of. Edward Eager's books are all immensely enjoyable, much like Harry Potter or E. Nesbit! Wonderful and I recommend all his books!

Anemic sequel to the earlier and superior MAGIC OR NOT? The same children reappear, Kip, Lydia, Laura, Gordy in an upscale suburban neighborhood something like Scarsdale, NY or Greenwich, CT. Children love this book with its search for magical wishing wells, as well as trying to figure out Eager's clever puzzle--are the things that happen to them the result of their wishes, or is it all just a coincidence? Adults will like the spectacle of the different John Cheever-ish neighbors being lampooned in a variety of smirky ways. One added bonus is that, his character Madame Salvatini, the retired opera singer, reminisces of the days when she was young and she was just "plain Maggie Smith." This book was written well before Maggie Smith became an international star. "No one gave a hoot about me when I was plain Maggie Smith; but they drank champagne out of Madame Salvatini's slipper!"

soo good! i think you really should read it

This is a great book; magical, but with sense. I think any kid would like this book.

Rarely does one book encompass all of the finest elements of fiction-- well-developed, intriguing characters; a heart-warming and seamless plot; and most importantly, an authentic, crystal-clear voice. "When Charlotte Comes Home" is such a book. In her first novel, Millea Smith creates the well-detailed universe of Omaha in the 1960s and 1970s, and the results are breathtaking. As a lover of contemporary American fiction, I place her among the likes of Anne Tyler and Barbara Kingsolver. YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!

The novel opens in a compelling way, as before we begin, we know that Charlotte will not come home. Until and after we get to that point, we are treated to a wealth of interesting characters who, like us all, do the best they can in a time, the 60s, and place, Omaha, that limit them. Smith writes with truthful candor about untimely death and its impact on the Holly family and their friends. The novel portrays all its varying characters with generosity, compassion, and understanding.

I was profoundly affected by Smith's precision in writing but most importantly by the novel's story. It is brilliant!

This is the story of Fred Holly, growing up in Omaha in the 1960s and 1970s; and the Holly family--Fred, Sarah, Laurence, who has Down's syndrome, and Charlotte, the youngest.

The Holly family gets to know neighbor James Day well, as he takes dance lessons at the same studio along with Sarah. Their parents, Morgan and Eileen and Serena and Ronald, become close friends. The children grow up in an almost idyllic world--with performances for the parents and friends in the attic that is their space, and art and dance classes, and a special school for Laurence.

Fred early on realizes he longs to live in the ivory tower that is the Joslyn Museum. He he takes classes there, volunteers, and dreams of being a museum director and leaving Omaha. As he gets older, he and his best friend James are exposed to the world of rock and roll, and first loves. Fred loves from afar, and helps his beloved though a rocky relationship with another boy. He is also angered by James' attraction to his debate coach, Neil; and does not quite understand his anger.

As they near age 18, the Vietnam War is raging. Suddenly Charlotte is ill--the annoying 11-year-old little sister who wanted to always hang out with the teenagers, who borrowed records and stole change--and their lives change forever.

This is Maureen Millea Smith's first novel, and it is a true gem. Intriguing and well-defined characters, a talent for depicting an era and a place, and a wonderful story combine to make this book nearly perfect.

Armchair Interviews: This would make a great book for a book club.

This book takes the reader deliciously back to the decades of the 60s and 70s. I laughed out loud when reading the author's description of the children's view of their parent's adult nights out. TheRolling Stones, Kent State, the Ed Sullivan Show, the draft and Vietnam are all captured delicately and beautifully, within the pages of Smith's book. I hurt and laughed and cried right along with the Holly family. This is a sensitive, funny and heartwarming book. Definitely destined to be a classic!

WHEN CHARLOTTE COMES HOME is a beautifully written story. Fred was a sensitive young man growing up in a Catholic family in Omaha when the death of his spunky younger sister caused a deep and far-reaching affect on his entire family and broader community. With the bleak backdrop of the 60's and 70's, Fred looks back on his early, formative years and his own sexual awakening and coming of age as a young gay man. Beautifully written, evocative of a definitive time and place, this story of one family's loss will resonate for anyone who has ever lost someone they love. And young people deciding who and how to love will find solace here too.

As a rabbit rescue I thought I pretty much knew everything when it comes to rabbits. Majority of the rabbits I take in are sick or injured so my vet and I have learned together.

But even I learned a few new tricks. The chapter on medications is worth the cost of the book by it's self. I'm going to give a copy to my vet, I have the feeling even he could learn a thing or two from this book..

Bunny Haven Rabbit Rescue
A 2nd Chance 4 Easter Rabbits

The personal experiences and detailed care for disabled rabbits in this book is outstanding. Great job!

THis book is a must have for rabbit owners. It serves as reference for when rabbits display symptoms that you may not recognize at first and it provides solutions that can save your rabbit's life!

As a past owner of a special needs rabbit (my bun recently passed away), I know a lot of "wheel reinventing" happens to owners of disabled rabbits. This book covers important care topics to give your disabled or sick rabbit the best care possible early at the onset of the disability or illness.
I hope many will buy this book for themselves or other rabbit owners or vets. God Bless

This is the book that rabbit owners have been waiting for. It covers everything from the basics down to what signs to look for in case of trouble. It's extremely well done. I highly recommend it.

Very cute book and great word play. I'm going to use it with 8th graders to teach vivid verb examples.

This delightful book is filled with a play on words and my granddaughter loves my reading it to her, then asks to have it read again & again.

I'd heard of this author, Rick Walton, at a Conference I attended this summer (recommended by the professor) & have found his books to be excellent.

Filled with puns that are sure to keep children laughing out loud, this is the return of the book that is just plain fun to read. With illustrations as humorous as the puns themselves it is an opportunity to celebrate the joy of silliness with your children. Why the Banana Split is a highly recommended purchase for young children.

The cover of this book had my attention with its witty title and silly banana cowboy running across the cover. The title also makes you want to find out why the banana "split." So, I started to read Rick Walton's word-play adventure. He has created over thirty books for kids and he loves to travel with his family. Whenever they get the chance, they love to visit Yellowstone or Disneyland. They also love to eat bananas.

Jimmy Holder has created a unique form of art from a comical standpoint. His art has a motion all of its own and you can feel the emotions of the characters as they scream, run, skedaddle and exit the vicinity of the voracious dinosaur's presence. As he looms above the streets with his tiny green suitcase, you can't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

First, you see a town of people absolutely motionless with fingers pointing up into the air, then you see everyone start to run. "Rex" just grins and seems to be enjoying the mayhem. Then, they all scream: "Run Away! Run Away."

Next thing you know, the jump ropes have eyes and eyelashes and are skipping town. Bananas peel out of town and frogs hop a train. The frogs are especially adorable as they almost seem to be quivering in fear and leaping into a yellow train. The page about trees and water reminded me of something from Lord of the Rings. Next, all the boots take a hike on their own and knives cut up vegetables as they run.

"Why are you all running away?" asked Rex.

"We don't want you to eat us."

"But I only eat fruit!" said Rex

So, everyone returns and then you turn the page:

"All except for the bananas."

Who are all running around on the freeway in a state of utmost despair. It is quite witty, very funny and will even make parents grin.

~The Rebecca Review

This highly entertaining tale describes how a town's inhabitants react when Rex the dinosaur arrives. Everyone has a unique way of reacting to the great big dinosaur with huge teeth. But the author's description of HOW the town reacts is what makes this story a true delight. Children will be delighted with the detailed and action-packed illustrations. Adults, however, may be surprised to find the pun-filled story line is as entertaining for them as for the intended 4 to 8-year-old reading audience. A true masterpiece of plays on language, parents will find themselves wanting to read this story again and again to their children -- and themselves!

This poetry anthology shows the purest of writing from the Appalachian region's best poets. All of the poets featured in the book had been previously published. My favorite poem of course...is the one that inspired the title of the book!

Wild Sweet Notes: Fifty Years of West Virginia Poetry leaves me in awe of the poetic achievements of West Virginia writers. Rarely does a poetry collection read as compellingly as a novel and possess the same power to hold a reader so strongly in its grip that it is nearly impossible to put the book down. But Wild Sweet Notes accomplishes this and more and in the process reveals that West Virginia is not an intellectual and cultural black hole but rather a place where poetry is a natural and necessary response to life in a harsh, unyielding and sometimes strange place. These poets could all be Welsh given the way they see and feel and touch their world and let it touch them; the way they use language and the music of words to capture the experience of the mines and miners, the black and barren waste of land and men, the mystery of the back-woods hollows and mountains and people who live there, the dreams of the young and the memories of the aged. West Virginia surprises the visitor in many ways - its beauty, its drama, the tenacity and strength of its people, its landscape where nature nurtures and destroys. It is a land where appearances are illusions, where the man who runs the little roadside grocery could have the wisdom of a sage and the heart of a poet. But who would know it from his rumpled clothes, his weathered face and gnarled hands, except perhaps by looking into his eyes and reading what they have to say. Wild Sweet Notes is not a simplistic down-home collection of local poetry, but rather a universal journey through time, the mind, landscapes, essences, and the enduring spirit of people and a place so little known, so misrepresented and so misunderstood. Few poetry collections are as satisfying, moving, enlightening and rewarding as Wild Sweet Notes.

During one of my too-infrequent visits back home, I bought a copy of this anthology at the West Virginia Writers' booth at the 2006 West Virginia Book Fair in Charleston, not knowing what to expect but willing to bet some bucks I would find it worthwhile. In retrospect I don't see any way I could have been prepared for the cascading ephiphantic experiences that followed upon reading it. I was up half the night, alternately laughing, crying and struck dumb by the sheer recognition these poems triggered in me. For several weeks afterward I felt as if there were a new dimension visible in the world as I experience it--I had gotten in luminous touch with the West Virginian I was forced to suppress when I out-migrated three decades ago, driven by economic and personal necessity.
To some extent, this effect upon me is likely due to the fact that the West Virginia in which I grew up is now largely extinct. This isn't necessarily good or bad, it's just the way it is; the government brought the interstates and the interstates brought drug trafficking, North Carolina drivers, AIDS, white-haired folks from Ontario passing through on their way south, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, gang fashions past their bicoastal sell-by dates but plenty fresh in these parts, and sometimes a little prosperity. First electrification, then the highways, brought the means of general and permanent change. So much change that it even became possible to elect a governor who's too young, too urban to know what "Open For Business" actually means. But the folks who created these poems--THEY knew the place I knew when I didn't know anyplace else. And they write about it in the first language I learned.
I thank them for reminding me that I am more than my last thirty years.

REVIEW: Wild Sweet Notes Fifty Years of West Virginia Poetry 1950-1999, 418 pages Publisher's Place, Inc., Huntington, W. Va. www.publishersplace.org

Today, for many people, home is a state of mind. Home of the past and the home of the future. "Wild Sweet Notes," Fifty Years of West Virginia Poetry l950-1999, edited by Barbara Smith and Kirk Judd is a literary treasure for not only West Virginians and others of the Appalachian region, but for readers of poetry and prose of any geographic locale. This collection contains a rich texture where universal themes are rendered with evocative voices.

The editors are to be complimented on their artful selections and placement of this diverse range of poetry and bringing together a cohesive book of superb quality. Certainly, the pride of West Virginia comes through; and as a West Virginian, I feel there is much to celebrate with this publication. The writers represented cry out on issues that are all about humanity.

The word "confluence" comes to mind--a word that the late Willie Norris used to describe his world of the South. Yes, there is a confluence in this collection where the personal becomes public and the public becomes personal because of the intense commitment to the landscape, family, and friends. A strong appreciation exists for what money can't buy--the feeling that a person is a part of something larger than the self.

Several of these writers have a national reputation as poets and as writers of fiction and nonfiction. However, every writer represented in this book is equally worthy and deserves the highest praise and recognition. Reading this book you say to yourself, "One is as outstanding as the other." When I studied creative writing with Lester Goran (Isaac Singer's translator) at the University of Miami, Goran repeatedly said, "The arts are not about a democratic process." It took a few years of experience writing and submitting my work to appreciate his words. Thus, I believe in giving equal tribute and praise when deserved, and I particularly feel this way in regard to this anthology.

Striking images appear in the late David Jarvis' poems that breathe with keen observation and emotion. I have a bias for what he created having read his chapbook, The Born Again Tourist. Jarvis' work leaves much for the reader to complete in his or her own mind. It is the same kind of feeling that I have when I view a Walker Evans photograph. Following is an excerpt:

Sometimes I hear them call my name at night.

Why do they make me wear these chains

And stake me to this land,

Land stained with their sweat and blood

And rich with their bones

This faceless choir that's chanting now from mountaintops

An ageless aria that penetrates the rock

And writes through hollows

Where streams rush like their ancient bloodlines. ***

Joseph W. Caldwell's, "BELLS ON PARCHMENT CREEK" resonates with an immediacy of the kind that lasts for decades, and you sense it will be handed down to the next generation as an historical document. Excerpts of the first and last stanzas are as follows. (Stanzas two and three are extraordinary in lending to the development of this poem but are omitted here because I believe it is unfair to reveal too much in a review).

ON THAT FEBRUARY MORNING

DINNER BELLS SURGED AND SWELLED ALONG THE CREEK

CARRYING SHARPLY IN THIN AIR,

SENDING THE WORD SOMETHING

HAD HAPPENED AT THE HANNING FARM.

EIGHTY-NINE YEARS LATER

SHE RETELLS THIS STORY

ABOUT A MOTHER SHE HARDLY KNEW,

AND THE BELLS STILL TOLLING.

Barbara Smith's Apple Pie Dying has a personal quality, the kind of a reflective conversation where, as the reader, you feel she is conversing with you and sharing intimate thoughts. She causes you to pause and think about your own life. An excerpt of the first stanza is as follows:

How I wish I had been with her

As she measured the flour and the salt,

Cut in the shortening

And sprinkled on water,

Baling the dough,

Rolling it out, lifting it--

Peeling the applies, slicing them

Spicing them and crimping the crust,

Listening to Paul Harvey or Cokie Roberts

Or Oprah in the background,

Mopping the floor and changing the beds,

Filling the birdfeeder while the pastries were baking,

Then cooling, then being basketed and backseated

And on to the church.

In Wilma Stanley Acree `s "At Honanki," she takes you on a journey with her where you examine the vastness of space and time--understanding that which flees and what still remains. An excerpt from the first stanza is as follows:

At Honanki (the Badger House)

the guide,

Arizona Hopi face

framed by gray braids,

leans against the red cliffs,

points at the pictograph, and recites, "This is

Kokopelli,

the Sinagua symbol

of fertility,

fertility of soil,

of woman,

of action and thought.

See the raindrops he scatters."

One of the most compelling pieces I have ever run across on the importance and the beauty of the written words comes in Grace Cavalieri's poem entitled Letter. This will be a piece that I will read at my writing workshops at The New School, in New York City where I teach. Excerpts are as follows:

If you ask what brings us here,

starting out of our lives

like animals in high grass,

I'd say it was what we had in common

with the others--the hum of a song we

believe in which can't be heard,

the sound of our own

luminous bodies rising just behind the hill,

the dream of a light which won't go out,

and a story we're never finished with.

We talk of things we cannot comprehend

so that you'll know about

the inner and the outer world which are the same.

Someone has to be with us in this,

and if you are, then,

you know us best. And I mean all of us

the deer who leaves his marks behind him

in the snow, the red fox moving through the woods.

The poetry and prose that is here is accessible and creative in form. This book can serve many purposes--the main one for the pure and simple joy found in reading. It also makes a lovely gift, which is how I came to know this book. It was given to me as a birthday gift from my brother, Sam Kessell, and Larry Halsted. They also happen to be friends with the late David Jarvis' brother. A West Virginia heritage is like that--we find one another, one way or the other, sooner or later. On another level,"Wild Sweet Notes," has tremendous academic and historical value, which can make a strong contribution in an academic setting. The voices are authentic, direct, and powerful. They serve as excellent examples of fine writing in terms of language and form.

--Reviewed by Mary Sue Kessell Rosen

Bio: I teach writing workshops The New School in New York City (An Essay Writing Workshop and The Bloodroot of Our Voices Workshop, a multi genre course).

Wild Sweet Notes: Fifty Years of West Virginia Poetry leaves me in awe of the poetic achievements of West Virginia writers. Rarely does a poetry collection read as compellingly as a novel and possess the same power to hold a reader so strongly in its grip that it is nearly impossible to put the book down. But Wild Sweet Notes accomplishes this and more and in the process reveals that West Virginia is not an intellectual and cultural black hole but rather a place where poetry is a natural and necessary response to life in a harsh, unyielding and sometimes strange place. These poets could all be Welsh given the way they see and feel and touch their world and let it touch them; the way they use language and the music of words to capture the experience of the mines and miners, the black and barren waste of land and men, the mystery of the back-woods hollows and mountains and people who live there, the dreams of the young and the memories of the aged. West Virginia surprises the visitor in many ways - its beauty, its drama, the tenacity and strength of its people, its landscape where nature nurtures and destroys. It is a land where appearances are illusions, where the man who runs the little roadside grocery could have the wisdom of a sage and the heart of a poet. But who would know it from his rumpled clothes, his weathered face and gnarled hands, except perhaps by looking into his eyes and reading what they have to say. Wild Sweet Notes is not a simplistic down-home collection of local poetry, but rather a universal journey through time, the mind, landscapes, essences, and the enduring spirit of people and a place so little known, so misrepresented and so misunderstood. Few poetry collections are as satisfying, moving, enlightening and rewarding as Wild Sweet Notes.

This book is one of the best guides to sailboat racing you can buy. Perry's easy conversational style makes this an easy to read, easy to understand, yet extraordinarily helpful book, especially for the advanced beginner or intermediate sailor who has some basic racing experience. It covers all aspects - from boat setup, starts, upwind, downwind, etc. - very comprehensive and highly recommended along with "Sailboat Racing with Greg Fisher" as the top two books for anyone desiring to dramatically improve their racing knowledge. Now get out and race!

An excellent review of how to race sailboats. Focused on smaller boats and dingies.

When I meet someone who has shown a strong interest in sailing in the International Dragon class and is looking for some way to impove their understanding of all aspects of what makes one of these boats go quickly this is the one that I recommend. It is covers tactics, rules, boat and crew preparation, sail and rig setup. The one aspect that is not included is team and match racing. A great book for the advanced to intermediate competior.

Whether you just started racing in your local club's sunset series, or you compete seriously in a One Design fleet, this is a book you should get your hands on. It answers all those annoying little questions you always seem to forget about on race day, or feel too sheepish to ask for fear of coming off as unexperienced as you might be. Perry answers most of them quite clearly and simply. He offers a lot of advice to bring your skill along. For the beginning racer it's an awful lot to take in and much of it will be confusing, until you start racing more and see the situations arise. For anyone who is looking to make racing a part of (or a bigger part of) their life, this is a book they should have on the shelf and be ready to go back to over and over again.

This is a great book and I recommend it to everybody that isinterested in racing sailboats. Dave Perry has competed at the highest levels of the sport, and this collection of anecdotes underscores his experiences. Compared to Stuart Walker's muddled and confusing writing, Dave Perry's examples and experiences are valuable and clear, and I am also encouraged by the fact that all of the situations are in one design sailboats...

I saw An Historical Romance in Redbook. Read it (I was contemplating divorce at the time) and immediately bought the whole book. The essays in this book did more than any other book to help me through my divorce. I did keep it by my bedside for those three am crying jags. I still find inspirations in the essays.

When my ex-boyfriend and i separated, i frantically hit the library. I was hoping to discover a book that would help me understand what had happened in my relationship, what was the cause of its failure. Among the many books that i digested during that infamous, awful summer, i stumbled upon this one, by far the best one. Ellen Gilchrist's essay, "Meditations on Divorce", has the largest percentage of truths per square inch of page that i have ever seen. This piece alone is reason enough to purchase the book, in my opinion. Susan Spano's essay is the one that touched me the most, because her comments on the concept of morality put the finger right on the wound for me. Morality, a topic that made her friends (and mine) cringe, but that was at the very core of her problems. My third favorite essay is Anne Roiphe's, a revision of a divorce that never was but that should have been (her own parents'). All in all, this is a fantastic collection that helped me immensely, and that i will always cherish as one of the greatest books of essays i've ever read.

When my ex-boyfriend and i separated, i frantically hit the library. I was hoping to discover a book that would help me understand what had happened in my relationship, what was the cause of its failure. Among the many books that i digested during that infamous, awful summer, i stumbled upon this one, by far the best one. Ellen Gilchrist's essay, "Meditations on Divorce", has the largest percentage of truths per square inch of page that i have ever seen. This piece alone is reason enough to purchase the book, in my opinion. Susan Spano's essay is the one that touched me the most, because her comments on the concept of morality put the finger right on the wound for me. Morality, a topic that made her friends (and mine) cringe, but that was at the very core of her problems. My third favorite essay is Anne Roiphe's, a revision of a divorce that never was but that should have been (her own parents'). All in all, this is a fantastic collection that helped me immensely, and that i will always cherish as one of the greatest books of essays i've ever read.

brillaint writing, key insights, truly a bedside companion for any woman (1 in 2) whose marriage has gone awry. wonderful......

From the first story to the last you will be able gain strength and find answers that have eluded you in the process of divorce. Every woman will find a bit of herself in this book.