Spencer Books

Eleanor Perenyi knows how to get into the psyche of her subject...the colorful composer and piano virtuoso, Franz Liszt. More than a biography...this is a study of the breaking down of cultural norms and social taboos in the period of European history when the status of the artist was shifting from servant to an icon to be worshipped. Perenyi knows her 19th century literature and history. This bio reads like a novel spiced with colorful and controversial characters who are both flawed in their humanity...like you and I, and ingrained with genius...unlike us. Franz Liszt could be the poster child for the "Romantic" ideal. A wonderful read and hard to put down. Well done, Mrs. Perenyi!

A really good book about Chaplin.
A must have for any real Chaplin fan.

Impressively detailed account of the life of one of America's great southern writers.

In her lifetime, Carson McCullers was many things to many people, and the conflicting accounts are fascinating. She could be very charming and attentive, a soft-spoken original with deeply engaging, large eyes. But she was a difficult friend to many, becoming obsessively clingy and demanding of attention. A bitch and an angel; as unshakably sulky or as light-hearted as a child. Her hair she always carefully brushed, and yet sometimes she wore outfits so outlandish, she was mistaken for a tramp. (that's hobo, not slut). She was a sensitive and imaginative author who touched many hearts with her unsentimental writings about human longing.

Reading this book has been a strange ride. As impartial as the text is, it is next-to-impossible to avoid getting emotional as the reader, as I will explain in a moment.

The biographer has done a fantastic job of getting those who knew Carson to come forward with their various memories. It is very well-written, with family trees, thorough footnotes, many voices, interesting photos, an appendix consisting of summarized events in McCullers' life, and an excellent index. A generally well-edited and constructed biography, I find no fault with the biographer. It's the life of Carson McCullers that is so twisted and sour. That said, there are fun stories about living with Gypsy Rose Lee and of staying at Yaddo, the famous writers' retreat. But Carson's life was not easy. Tales of her drinking and near-delusional imagination, of her horrendous fights with husband Reeves McCullers, of lingering ill health, and of her leeching on friends has made reading this quite impartial book a considerably saddening adventure. Nestled in the text is the rather interesting nugget stating that, soon after McCullers hit the literary big time with her The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, she was told during a psychiatric Rorschach evaluation that if her neuroses were to be cured, she would lose her ability to write so sensitively. (!)

Increasingly, McCullers lived her life with a disturbing mix of exaggerated suffering, of need and meanness, along with what the biographer saw as an irresistible love of love itself. But this reviewer is sure that some of her friends must have felt like flies caught in a puddle of spilt honey.

It has been interesting to read about how McCullers worked, and how she drew inspiration from real life events, acquaintances and their own tales. This haunting biography could be of interest to other writers, if only as a kind of caveat. The thoroughness of Carr's work allows an observant reader to glean lessons about the power of the human spirit and the destructiveness of the attitude that insanity fuels talent.

Somehow, despite a realistic story about hard-bitten people, this first novel is also sweet, moving, and not depressing. Maybe it's because the characters, despite their faults, have character. It's on a par with the best novels about life in the United States (in this case a small town in Pennsylvania) that I've ever read. It passes an ultimate test: I'd readily lend it to anyone. My father liked it, too.

If everyone knew and loved the Mammals of Noth America like Sean Baird, this world would be a better place. It is obvious that Sean is a mammal fanatic. His thorough understanding of the North American ecosystem and how it reelates to the wonders of the mammalian world is absolutely breathtaking.

A note to the author, Sean Baird:

Sean, this book has changed my life and made me a better person. Thank you Sean, thank you.

This is the most logical book on reincarnation I ever read! It gets into the why and the how. Not a lot of imagination BUT just the facts.

i cannot express my review in only a thousand word

Melvin Smallman: A Tale from the Forest Floor is a chapter book written to entertain young adult and adult readers, about a small band of mice who must work together to survive in the forest. A handful of simple, sketchy black-and- white illustrations add a touch of charm to the mice's efforts to avoid predators, find food and shelter, and above all, keep hope alive. A heartwarming anthropomorphic novel in the spirit of Watership Down and The Secret of NIMH.

I have both the book and the CD and love to listen to the CD in my car. It has excellent tips and sections of how my memory functions. Good sections on medications and nutrition. Very well done

This is a beautiful sample of the Messages (...the Spoken Word) that so many of us have enoyed over some of the last seventy five years. The accompanying CD brings back warm memories of these priceless messages.