Stewart Books

Shadows in the mist is my favorite book! Its a great cliff hanger, and has wonderful description. As you read through the book you relize how well the tital fits with the book. I like the poems at the beggining of each chapter, you have to give them some deep thought but once you do (and after you read that chapter) you see that the poem is kinda revealing something in that chapter! This is anouther book you just cant put down! My faimley has only had it for a couple months and i have already read at least 5 times. She describes stuff so good you feel like you are there. At the end of the book you relize how much thought she really put into it. The beggining and middle are deciving. Its going to be a very tough mystery to crack. But it has a GREAT ending!!!! If i could i would SO rate this mystery 100 points. -Jenna b.

If you like your heros with a cigarette in one hand and a whiskey in the other, then this book is for you. I thought it was tedious and at least a decade out of date--maybe two decades--or more.

A friend recommended this book to me, and I'm SO glad she did! I simply could not put it down, it kept me turning pages way past midnight. Something for everyone -- mystery, romance, and a ghostly undercurrent that keeps the reader guessing. Beautifully written with an amazing cast of characters, it was one of those books that I wanted to go on and on. Ms. McMahon, if you're listening, PLEASE write a sequel!

I found Shadows in the Mist to be a wonderfully textured romantic suspense. There are twists and turns to keep the reader guessing, interesting characters to keep the reader caring, and an atmosphere so real and enveloping you may feel the mist rising up around your armchair as you read it. I look forward to reading more by this excellent new author.

I loved the books of Mary Stewart, especially The Moonspinners, Airs above the grounds etc. But now I have found an author with the same style (although more modern ofcourse). I started reading and could not stop! From the first chapter I was hooked. Suzanna goes home after her father has been found in his pool - drowned. He has left a will stipulating Suzanna marry his adopted son Grant, who leads the family company. Suzanna suspects her father has been murdered, and when strange things start to happen she does not know who she can trust. It is a marvellous story with gothic elements. Reads fast. Wow, really loved it. I will certainly buy her next book.

If you're like me, you love color, but sometimes have trouble deciding which colors to put together to make a really spectacular quilt. This book not only gives formulas based on a color wheel, but shows how to make your own color wheel and shows many examples of different color combinations. It is a wonderful resource for any quilter's library.

This is an excellent book that I recommend for beginner to advanced quilters. It is easy to read with short chapters. Color concepts are demonstrated with quilts.

If you are looking for a logical formula to make your quilts pop every time this is the book for you. I was not disappointed. I found it one of the most useful of quilting books I have ever purchased outside of the ones that actually teach you how to quilt. Every serious quilter should have this book in their personal library.

Found this book very helpful and have used it several times when choosing colour schemes. Several friends have since bought the book.

I studied color theory in college, traditional (kinda boring) way. It was quite complicated to use.
This book brought me a new way to see color theory. It has many visual reference, wonderful tips, inspiring ideas, cutesy illustrations and even brings projects, it will be useful for years! And make soooo easier to use the theory... Loved it!

I highly recommend this rarity of a book! My favorite part was the 8 page interview with Bill Mumy who played in three episodes of THE TWILIGHT ZONE "Long Distance Call," "It's a Good Life" and "In Praise of Pip." - Three of my favorites. I really enjoyed the never before scene pictures of him as well. Also, another perk for me was the pic of Terry Burnham who starred in the episode "Nightmare as a Child" which would have to be one of the scariest episodes as well. I got a kick out of Bill and Terry both being in THE TWILIGHT ZONE since they both starred in one of my favorite childhood movies FOR THE LOVE OF WILLADEAN. All and all, this book is a must to THE TWILIGHT ZONE fan! It's chocked full of everything you could ever want to know about the episodes, behind the scenes and more! I just love this book and found out information on so many of my other favorite episodes. This was one of the best shows ever created for television and this book does it justice. Rod Serling would be proud of it, indeed! It's beyond another dimension!

This is a great book of the behind the scenes with many photos and insights from those around Rod Serling during the creation of the series and effects on the world because of it.

This was a program I had grew up on and I say thanks for the behind the scene cover stories and pictures.

Back in 1983 I received a type-written catalogue in the mail that advertised sets of proof sheets from the Viacom archives...namely the "Twilight Zone"! - Hundreds of rare, behind-the-scenes photos from the 1st three seasons of the show were being offered for sale! Unfortunately, I was "between jobs" at the time and was unable to purchase any of the photos. Some of the sets from the more popular episodes were already marked "SOLD" in the catalogue, and I have always assumed that the remaining ones were snatched up quickly by collectors.

WRONG! Most of them are IN THIS AMAZING BOOK! Author Stewart Stanyard's
introduction explains how he happened to acquire this fabulous collection,
and even though Stanyard's writing is merely passable(he's not a professional author), the PHOTOS are INCREDIBLE! And there are LOTS of them, too!

I have always been fascinated by behind-the-scenes stuff, and as I paged through this book, I could not believe my eyes. I have now spent hours staring at full-page, elevated shots with cast, crew and sets from episodes such as "Death's-head Revisited", "The Purple Testament", "Static", etc....and an unbelievable shot of the dual break-away set of "A World of Difference"; great stuff!

And even though the quality of the writing is only so-so, the author at least arranges and presents his material in an intersting format. But in
the chapter entitled "Themes of the Zone", he goes a bit too far trying to
shoe-horn TZ's plots into neat and tidy categories. For instance, I was
baffled by Stanyard's assertion that bookworm Henry Bemis (of "Time Enough at Last") is a "social misfit" who gets what he deserves when he breaks his glasses, since he spent most of his life shunning the company
of his wife, co-workers, etc. Astounding! That's just NOT RIGHT!
Henry Bemis is the quintessential "Everyman", the little-guy who is hounded and misunderstood by the world, who finds comfort and solitude in reading because the real world is a harsh and uncaring place. Doesn't he try to interest his customer in the opening scene in "David Copperfield?" Doesn't he attempt to share his love of poetry with his thug-like wife, who cruelly feigns interest only to shatter her hapless spouse when he discovers that she has defaced his beloved volume of poems?
NO---Bemis' story is an example of the most cosmic sort of tragedy--- the
little guy who is crushed by the most cruel and ironic hand of fate.

Anyway, Mr. Stanyard also mixes up the two actors who play the 2-headed
Martian in "Mr Dingle the Strong"; Douglas Spencer is the guy on the RIGHT (remember him as "Scotty" in the 1951 "Thing from Another World?...the guy who says "Keep Watching the Skies" at the end?)

Also...I realize comedy is a very subjective thing.....but the author
praises "Mr Dingle", "Mind and the Matter" and the ridiculously over-padded "The Bard" as stand-out comedies, while dismissing the truly
funny "ShowDown with Rance McGrew" as merely silly. I think "McGrew" is a comic gem, with marvelously controlled performances by Blyden, Cornthwaite and Johnson in roles that could have easily veered into
total caricature. And Jesse James' arrival at the end as McGrew's agent and the subsequent change in the script cracks me up every time.

BUT WHO CARES ABOUT THE TEXT?!! It's the Photos that allow us to step back in time and peek in on the production of the legendary "Twilight Zone"! SEE Joseph Schildkraut reading his off-camera lines for "Death's Head".....SEE Brian Aherne and Pippa Scott rehearsing their night club encounter in "The Trouble with Templeton"....SEE numerous shots of Fritz Weaver being assualted in the final scene of "Obsolete Man"....SEE Ivan Dixon as boxer Bolie Jackson being photographed from UNDERNEATH the
boxing ring in "The Big, Tall Wish".....the list goes on!

GET THE BOOK!

PS. There is also a nice selection of interviews with actors, writers and technicians who worked on the series, plus a very cool reminiscence by Charles Beaumont's son Christopher.

Any book about The Twilight Zone has big shoes to fill. Marc Scott Zicree's The Twilight Zone Companion is the bible of The Twilight Zone and, moreover, one of the great books about a television show--any television show. Still, give Mr. Stanyard his due, this is a pretty good book.

Wisely, Mr. Stanyard has followed a different path that Zicree. After a few early chapters on history and analysis of the show, the bulk of the book is taken up by interviews. Over 150 pages of interviews with nearly 40 people involved in the show on various levels, from relatives like Carol and Robert Serling, to writers (Matheson, Hamner, etc.), actors, producers and directors. The last pages are a series of "appreciation essays" written by various people who feel their lives have been impacted by the show as well as speculations by people who knew him of what Rod Serling might have achieved had he lived longer.

Mr. Stanyard has also included a number of interesting photos and a few documents like letters and contracts. Most of the photos are backstage photos from the author's own (inherited) collection. This actually poses a bit of problem. Since the photos Stanyard received cover only a fraction of the episodes, there is a lot of repetition from certain episodes and a whole slew of some very great episodes that have no pictures.

In fact, if I were going to nail down one weakness in the book, it's repetition. Besides the pictures, the interviews also end up being somewhat repetitive as many of the people interviewed have very similar words of praise and descriptions of the show. We're all fans of the show but, with rare exception, the interviews are variations on a theme with not as much enlightenment as I was hoping for.

Still, for a fan of The Twilight Zone this is a difficult book to pass by. There are enough pleasures here to make spending time with this volume worthwhile. For newcomers to the series, I would suggest Zicree's book first.

As a child, my favorite movie was THE WIZARD OF OZ. For Chirstmas ,I received this wonderful book that is all about the famous "pet-actress" named "Toto". (Yes, Toto was actually a little female dog named Terry,not a male , as most people would think).

Anyhow, this book is all about the tiny Cairn Terrier "Toto" (Terry) and how she came about becoming one of the principal characters in the movie.

The photos are just amazing also. My favorite photos are the behind-the-scene photos showing Toto "acting" in the actual movie, just as the trainer was in the background giving Toto her directions. Sooo cute!

If you are a dog fan, or a Cairn Terrier fan, or a Wizard of Oz fan, you'll love this book.

I, Toto is a delightfully well written book by Willard Carroll about the life of Terry, a Cairn Terrier who became famous in movies. The book is based on a scrapbook Willard Carroll found that documented the life and movie career of this well trained dog; and the book is primarily set up to look just like a book typed on an old typewriter--written, of course, by the dog itself.

The book starts with the story of how Terry was born, adopted and eventually given up by her owners because of her troubles with housetraining; and we learn how Carl Spitz professionally trained dogs to perform in movies. Spitz, an excellent trainer who worked with many dogs, wound up training Terry professionally. Spitz used both kindness and discipline to train his dogs, including Terry, very well; his talents are obvious when we consider that Terry (aka Toto) appeared in at least fourteen major motion pictures including The Wizard Of Oz.

Carroll cleverly writes the memoirs of Terry, or Toto, in the first person as if the dog herself had written the book. This provides the reader with an extra slice of humor when Carroll writes about things that happened on the sets of pictures or in Carl Spitz's training camp for dogs. Carroll does an excellent job of getting readers to be charmed out of their trees by Terry who eventually becomes renamed Toto for the sake of her career. A movie star dog has to consider Hollywood politics, after all!

The book is filled with wonderful reproductions of ads for the movies Terry was in; and we see numerous publicity shots from movies including Bright Eyes with Shirley Temple and Terry as Rags the dog. Of course, we get plenty of stills from The Wizard Of Oz and there are very nicely done "hand written" asides to the reader that also appear to be written by Terry. The result is a charming look back at the life of Terry, the dog who became Toto and enjoyed great movie fame--and treats along the way!

Overall, classic movie buffs will enjoy this book; and people who love The Wizard Of Oz will appreciate this book very much since so little was known about Terry before Willard Carroll wrote this book. The book is well written and a real page turner; it grabs your attention and never lets it go.

Great job, Willard Carroll!

A must read for any Oz fan as well as dog lovers of all kinds. I never knew how many movies Toto was in, and the Oz trivia was really fun, too. It was very cleverly written from Toto's point of view. I actually laughed out loud at some parts. Don't pass by picture captions and comments on the sides of the pages. It's all worth reading! Not bad for a dog no one wanted!

Since my all-time favorite dog star is Toto, this book was easy for me to love. However, once I began to read, I found it to be something extra special. I, Toto is a mood lifter as well as an interesting piece of Hollywood history. Beautifully written in the first person, I, Toto will captivate the heart and mind of any dog lover.

I was looking at silver-screen bio's in the library when I came across this clever little volume. Author Willard Carroll knows a lot about Oz, and he also understands a lot about animals and the people who love them. Whether you are a fan of the Wonderful Land of Oz, a dog-lover, or both, you are going to get such a kick out of this book. If you're like me, you're going to breeze through it, and then go back and read it again, preferably with someone nearby to whom you can read the funniest, most touching or trivia-friendly bits. Toto, who began as Terry, a little dog abandoned by her owners, has a very good friend indeed in Mr. Carroll.

This is a story about Toto, but it is also the story of Carl Spitz, who had been training dogs since 1919. When he came to Hollywood in 1927, he opened a training school which combined kindness and discipline, an innovation which most at the time considered "nonsense." Mr. Spitz and his dogs broke into silent movies; he developed a series of silent commands when talkies came along. His dogs appeared with the stars: Prince the Great Dane and Lawrence Olivier in Wuthering Heights; Buck the Saint Bernard and Clarke Gable in The Call of the Wild. The English mastiff and the Scottish terrier were in major productions, too.

Mr. Carroll captures Toto's "voice" so perfectly, even using a font that looks like my mother's old portable Underwood typewriter for the star's narrative. Toto also comments on the dozens of photos, movie stills and other memorabilia of a busy career with red pen.

Toto hobnobs with the stars and has some once-in-a-lifetime moments, such as when Mr. Gable came to visit the kennel owned by Carl Spitz, the trainer who adopted and worked with Toto and many other canine performers. (Don't want to tell you what happened, but it made Mr. Gable smile. Eventually.) She works with Spencer Tracy in Fury and Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes. (Of the latter, Toto reports, "Shirley had her hair cut and recurred and had endless wardrobe fittings and makeup tests. I had a flea bath, a toenail trim, and an enema.")

And then there was Oz. Toto is miffed when a studio official gushed, "She's the one! Looks just like the dog on the cover," for she considers said beast "a genetic mutation of terrifying proportions," but the role is hers and she revels in it, for she soon realizes that the story "IS ALL ABOUT ME!!! ... I'M IN ALMOST EVERY SCENE IN THE BLESSED PICTURE!!!" Toto includes a page from the shooting script with all six of her lines circled, as proof positive of her importance to the film.

Of course, it isn't all green grass and marrow bones. There are those scary wind machines and the shock of seeing that nice Maggie dressed up in black, with her face painted green and the biggest nose since Durante, cackling away. Oh, and the Winkie guard that stepped on her paw by accident. Ouch! And the creepy flying monkeys. But Mr. Spitz' training paid off; Toto found herself able to rebound from such situations and perform like the trooper that she was.

I, Toto is now one of my favourite movie books. Cute but never mawkish, sentimental but never saccharine, informative but never overwhelming, this little story of a little dog is a big winner.

When I sent away for this book I had no idea that it would be so beautifully illustrated in full colour. It is a real little treasure of cat stories told in a way that only James Herriott can. I loved it.

We loved this book so much, we named our two cats Olly and Ginny. 'Nuff said.

Goes quickly, but he writes well and if you're a cat owner, you'll really develop a rapport with the cat stories in here. Not just for "cat ladies" - my husband picked it up and couldn't put it down.

Look you haven't heard a story read until you've heard it read by Christopher Timothy!!!! This guy could make a phone book interesting to hear read! These stories are great! They'll have you laughing and crying! So becareful if you listen in your car ;0) I was driving my 18 wheeler down a rural road in Luisiana getting all teary eyed! Scary thought, right?

James Herriot writes of his veterinary experiences as no one else could. Full of humor,sometimes sadness but always spellbinding and interesting. I could not put this book down.

I would like to thank you for your great service! I got my products in great shape! I have friends who also own this wonderful product, and they have great comments about this book. The recipes are very authentic and true to what the Philippines would serve. It is great that the recipes are also translated where Filipino-Americans would be able to understand the English equivalent of certain ingredients. This book is also great for portraying the origins of most every Filipino dishes. All I can is...this book is very much worth to own! Buy it!

Simply one of the best books about Filipino cuisine out there. I love the concept of showcasing each region as well as the painstaking research that went into this.

The headnotes in each chapter provide so much color and context to the recipes that follow them. If you ask me, they outshine the recipes themselves.

As someone who grew up in the Philippines and now resides in the US, this 'cookbook' made me so nostalgic for the food that I grew up with, especially the ones I will never find here in the US.

This cookbook, like the restaurant that the authors own in NYC, is amazing. Not only is there beautiful narrative flowing from page to page, but some of the recipes of the best dishes that Cendrillon has to offer, like chicken adobo and black rice paella. My husband and I got married at this restaurant and bought each of our guests a copy of this book as a gift - everyone has raved about how marvelous it is! If you are interested in cooking, Asian cuisine, or Pinoy culture, this is a sure-fire hit!

I'm an Australian Filipino, born in the Phillipines but raised in Australia. Therefore, my knowledge in Filipino food is minimal & somewhat 'westernised'. This book has helped me relearn the essences of filipino cuisine. The authors have their own restaurant Cendrillion in New York, I have been admiring there work from their website [...] since I can't visit just yet.

This book includes many beautiful photographs, more than most cook books I've seen. There are small photos demonstrating the steps in the more complex recipes, photos of filipino food & culture - markets, typical filipino kitchens, methods of cooking, there is also many photographs & indepth stories of the authors family & ancestors through out the book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in the Filipino way of cooking & living. Whether or not you are filipino, this book will certainly stay with you forever, and if your're like me - filipino born but raised elsewhere, everytime you pick this book up it will definately bring back 'memories'.

I bought two books from Amazon MEMORIES OF PHILIPPINE KITCHENS as gifts for my friends in the the Philippines. One day before my trip, your two books arrived with the top partially opened (only one piece of tape) and the Paper covers on both books totally wrinkled. Since I was leaving that evening, I just gave my friends the books without covers. I will think twice before using Amaon again. Book is excellent.

Roland Prijoles

Sam is a very cool cat and a great detective! I'm a mystery buff and this YA book is as well written as any of the mysteries for adults that I've read. Sam and his feline cohorts are wonderful and memorable characters, the language is witty and sharp, and the problem-solving and clue-deciphering are top notch. A most enjoyable read!

He walked into my life like a... well, cat. And what a cat! Grey suit, grey shoes, mind like a mouse trap. Sam's the name, Sam the Cat. And Sam's on the case of the burglarized jade necklace. And a lot of other stolen stuff, too, the work of a cat burglar, which is a person who steals stuff and is almost as agile as a cat.

This is such a fun book. Technically, I'm a little older than its target demographic, but I enjoyed every word. (I especially liked the words, "airless like the inside of a cow." That just gets me giggling whenever I think of it.) I've read a few adult hardboiled detective books, and this author gets the tone just right, only for a slightly younger crowd.

If you're an adult (notice I didn't say "grown up") reading this for yourself, you'll whip through this book in just a few hours, if that. I suspect this would be a good book to read aloud to children, but I can't prove it since I don't have any. I would have enjoyed this as a ten year old, though. The author doesn't talk down to her audience, though occasionally she has Sam explain certain terms, like "cat burglar" to other cats just in case the younger readers get confused. It's subtly done, though.

I really like this book and can't wait to read the other two

1. There is a cat named Sam. He is a great cat detective. He gets upset when things go wrong, for example, if someone gets robbed. He met his friends along his detective search. One of his friends name is Sugarly. Sugarly helped Sam do detective work and find things out a robbery. She helps Sam make sure that everything is O.K. Sam is a good friend to everyone. Sam is never testy to his friends. Sometimes his friends help him do detective work. His friends are good detectives too. At the end everything gets solved.
2.Sam is a good detective. He makes sure crimes get solved. When something goes wrong he does'nt like it.
3.Sam the cat detective is a book that I would recommend. It is funny. This is a ficton story because the cat talks. He is a great detective because he makes sure that everyone is safe. If you read this book, it will knock your socks off, that's why I would recommend it.

I was very lucky to get both Sam the Cat Mystery books. I wish there were more. I loved this easy to read larger print I wish all books would use. The storys are great fun. I mailed them both off to my nephew. Great fun reading for all ages.

And in my opinion, neither of them suffer for it. While this book is targeted to a young adult audience--and I highly recommend it--I would also suggest it to cat-loving mystery novel fans as well. Sam, the cat, has a wonderfully funny and unique voice that keeps you turning the pages. It's hard to keep your friends' paws off this book til you're done.

Scorpion is a sea going adventure story that takes place in the Caribbean. The Prime Minister of Trinidad has been targeted by a drug cartel because he has been trying to close down their operation in his country. The bad guy drug smugglers have hired the international assassin called the Scorpion to deal with the PM and the U.S. Government has sent DEA agent Bill Broxton to protect the PM. However, the PM doesn't want American assistance and to make matters even worse for Broxton, the assassin is the woman he wants to marry, only he doesn't know it. Fortunately for Broxton, another lady enters his life, so his heartbreak will be brief, but his actions will put her in jeopardy.

And that, my friends, is a very brief description of what goes on in the beginning of this action-adventure thriller. Sailboats, smugglers, an evil woman assassin, a guy too good for his own good and more. This is just a super book and I really liked it.

SCORPION is a stay up all night thriller that moves from Trinidad in the Southern Caribbean to South Texas, to Venezuela and back to Trinidad and you can feel the heat and humidity of those places as you read. Mr. Stewart puts you right into the action as you move through the pages, so when you join DEA agent Bill Broxton as he tries to stop an assassin, be prepared for some serious escape time.

DEA agent Bill Broxton has been assigned to protect the Prime Minister of Trinidad from the Scorpion, an assassin hired by the Salizar drug cartel, because his girlfriend Dani, who he soon hopes to make his bride, is the daughter of the American Ambassador. It's because Broxton is so close to the ambassador that makes him perfect for the assignment, as the Prime Minister has refused American help, instead turning to his own Justice Minister for security.

So Broxton is supposed to use his connection with ambassador to get close to the PM, however Dani isn't as pure as the driven snow. Broxton may be carrying a torch in his heart and a ring in his pocket, but she's been carrying an assassin's guns and playing the field. She is the Scorpion who has been hired to take out Broxton's charge. And who is she working for? None other than the justice minister in charge of keeping the P.M. safe.

SCORPION has it all, foreign intrigue, deadly bad guys, a good guy in over his head, romance, terrific chase scenes and best of all, an ending you'll never see coming. I couldn't put this one down and I don't think you will be able to either.

Bill Broxton is a DEA agent who has been assingned to protect Prime Minister Ramsingh of Trinidad. His superiors want the man protected, because he has been co-operating in the war against drugs. They've learned that the drug barons from the Salazr Cartel want the prime minister dead, but Ramsingh complicates Broxton's life by refusing his protection, as he believes his own justice minister can do the job.

Meanwhile the drug lords have hired the international assassin called the Scorpion to assissananate Ramsingh and guess who is part of the cartel. You guessed it, none other than that justice minister who Ramsingh is counting on for protection. Now make the mix here a bit more interesting by making the Scorpion the girl Broxton wants to marry and you really have the makings of a good story. One I couldn't put down.

This book takes place in the Caribbean and Mr. Stewart uses quite a bit of sailing terms in the book, but he does it in such a way that it adds, rather than detracts from the story. It's easy to see he knows what he's talking about when he describes the scenes at sea. In addition to the convincing scene setting and description, Stewart has also painted people we care about and who seem real. I enjoyed this sea-going adventure story and I think you will too.

"Scorpion" is about DEA agent Bill Broxton. His assignment, protect the Prime Minister of Trinidad against evil drug smugglers who are using that country to transfer their drugs to the United States. However the international assassin called the Scorpion has been hired to kill the PM and unknown to Agent Broxton the Scorpion is none other than the woman he loves. Fortunately for him, another woman enters her life, unfortunately for him, she is married to one really bad cop named Earl. Earl and the Scorpion team up and now there is nothing between them and the PM except a determined Bill Broxton. Oh, did I forget to mention that the PM doesn't want Broxton's help? Well, he doesn't, but he's getting it anyway in this book that I couldn't quit. Just simply a fantastic, wild ride.

Scorpion is one of those stories where the characters (good and bad) are all interconnected and intermixed as to be improbable.

One of the book's tensions is between the a DEA analyst who is assigned to protect the PM of Trinidad, and the US Ambassador's daughter, who is a master assassin. They also happened to be best buds growing up together.

Then there is a Texas Sheriff, who is real crooked, leaves a string of dead bodies behind, flies to Trinidad to catch up to a wife he really doesn't like.

I think the book's basic idea is okay, but the characters and the pacing just didn't work for me.

This lovely book is a definate "must-read" for anyone starting out on the daunting task of a first garden or if you find yourself needing a reminder as to why you dug up all that ground in the first place! Tips and helpful info at the end of each chapter will give even the most experienced gardener a bit of a hand, and the writing style is at once elegant and funny.

I loved this book and felt as though I were reading about myself - the excitement of discovering the world of gardening, battling weeds, loving both birds and cats but realizing that the two don't mix and thinking about gardening while at work sitting in a boring business meeting! No matter what type of garden we have or where it is located, the author's experiences are universal. She writes about establishing her first garden in Santa Cruz with passion and humor and leaves you wanting more. I hope that she will write about her new garden in Eureka!

When I'm diving into a new field I know nothing about - Buddhism, photography, wine, wrestling, or gardening, to take a few recent examples - I'm always looking for a certain kind of writer: an opinionated, first-person guide to this confusing new world. My model for this kind of writing is Bill James, the great baseball analyst. I'm always on the lookout for "the Bill James of wine" or "the Bill James of wrestling."

The point isn't that I want an expert to tell me what to think. Rather, I want to hear about this new universe from a distinct, coherent point of view. From there, I can develop my own perspective. I don't want an authority so much as a critical sensibility. These new subjects always teem with boggling amounts of details - the eightfold path of Buddhism, the varieties of wrestling holds, the latin names for all those flowers. I'll never learn all this stuff by trying to memorize it, and that wouldn't be much fun, anyway. Rather, what I want is to absorb the perspective of a savvy participant, so that the field as a whole makes sense to me. Once I do that, the details can fall in place over time, if I decide to stick with it.

I appear to be in the minority in this preference - most people seem to prefer the bland-to-cutesy textbook style of the Dummies guides. Guide series do have their places - I'm a big fan of the " . . . for Beginners" series of cartoon guides. When they're done right, as in the classic Marx for Beginners by Rius, those are a great way to get your bearings on a subject. The newer "Introducing . . ." cartoon series is also great. And Oxford University Press has a nifty ongoing series of "Very Short Introduction to . . . " books. The Jung books from both of the latter series have been great entry points into a massive body of work.

All this brings me to From the Ground Up, my entry point into the daunting world of gardening. I've picked up a half a dozen gardening reference books over the last few years, but all of them succeeded only in dazing me with a boggling array of disconnected tips, warnings, and factoids. What I needed was a theory of gardening that made sense to me. So I switched over from Borders's "Gardening Reference" section to the "Gardening Writing" section. I was wary, because I find nature writing often unbearably twee and smug in that Year in Provence mode. I was wary of this book too, given its sweet but very Provencial impressionistic cover painting of a front yard garden. I browsed the book over several Borders visits, each time wavering, then finally took the plunge.

It was a good call. I devoured the book over just a couple of days, and now I feel a new sense of comprehension of all this gardening stuff. Stewart writes about her first year of building a garden from scratch, as an enthusiastic but inexperienced amateur. Her tastes, reassuringly, are for wildness over rigid structure, and a few weeds and bugs over pesticidal warface. She strongly prefers organic methods, but isn't a compost Nazi when chemicals seem to be the only way to go. I don't really like her taste in vegetables - I can't stand tomatoes or zucchini - but I think I'd really enjoy hanging out in her garden.

This isn't one of those books where the putative subject becomes a metaphor for the writer's life. Sure, we learn about her husband, her beloved great-grandmother, and her two amazing cats. But the focus is always on the garden for its own sake, and that's plenty. We learn a lot about the virtues of compost, the overratedness of roses, and, in a great chapter, the lives of earthworms. (The latter subject must have really inspired her - she followed this book up with a whole book on worms.)

Stewart did have an inspired location for her garden: a rental house in Santa Cruz, across the street from an amusement park and just a block away from the beach. Gardening so close to the ocean - and to druken tourists - has its own specific challenges. And this microclimate has its own specific charms. One thing I'm learning is that gardening is always local. You can browse all these giant coffee-table books full of fantasy gardens, but what really matters is what will grow in your soil, under your sky. (That's why my next step is to start reading books specifically about gardening in the South - Tough Plants for Southern Gardens looks particularly promising.)

I'm still not sure I'll end up planting much more than my current batch of containers. Or maybe I'll just grow a huge row of something simple and useful, like mint - I really like mint. But even if I punt on this whole gardening project, I understand the gardener's worldview a little better now, thanks to Stewart.

I read Amy Stewart's fine book, From the Ground Up, last week on a very long plane ride home to California from Indianapolis, Indiana. I'd been to Indianapolis to speak to the Indiana Arborists' Association convention, as I am a garden writer myself (Allergy-free Gardening, Safe Sex in the Garden, etc.). My flight was delayed due to a snowstorm in Detroit but the extra long trip was made more than okay because I had this delightful book to read.
I'd received From the Ground Up as a present from my Mom. It is the story of one lady's first attempt at gardening, and as one who taught horticulture for 20 years, and who has gardened for almost 50 years, it was remarkable fun for me to see all the little mistakes she made, the discoveries she uncovered, the personal disasters and achievements that accompanied her quest to create a wonderful garden.
Really great gardens don't just happen, not at all. They are created with huge effort, smarts, learning, help and advice from other gardeners, with tips from garden books, and most of all by the vision of the gardener in charge.
There exists within the wide range of garden writing a host of some rather fabulously good writing. These are the books that combine solid garden advice with a large dose of very personal observance and experience. Although From the Ground Up is a first book, it reads as though written by someone who had been writing for many years, someone who had honed and polished her writing so that every line sparkled. I would expect that this book would appeal most to those who love to garden, but because the level of writing is so unusually excellent, I'd guess almost anyone who appreciates literate writing would enjoy it.
If you're one who is new to gardening you'll find a wealth of useful tips here, interspersed with some darn good recipes too for making gourmet meals of all that extra fresh produce you'll eventually have. I really can't say enough about this marvelous book. Reading it was pure pleasure.

This is a quick, enjoyable read for anyone who can still remember the joys and tribulations of their first garden. Amy Stewart makes many of the mistakes we all made concerning bed preparation, the inappropriate flowers and vegetables planted with such hope, the unexpected hordes of four- and six-legged diners---no wonder 'paradise' is a common theme in most religions. Most of us have tried to create our version of the perfect garden in our own backyard, but this author is one of the few who have tried to tell the tale.

And a very sprightly job she does of it, too. She doesn't make the mistake of overloading her prose with too many adjectives (a common fault among gardening writers) and the short sentences keep us reading briskly onward. Each chapter is followed by a series of hints in bold type on subjects such as "Sheet Composting" and "Tomato Trouble." The author actually found a product that chases gophers out of her garden (usually) which I'm going to have to try on our moles.

Even though Amy Stewart's small backyard garden luxuriates in the sun (and shade) of Santa Cruz, California, she still has much to share with us gardeners in less fortunate climates. She's still got to do battle with snails, aphids, and gophers. The plants that looked great in the gardening center succumb to all kinds of nasty diseases and acts of Nature. Tomatoes seem especially prone to yellowing, drooping, curling up, and getting spots. The author refused the heartless advice of the gardening books to "destroy all infected plants" and nursed her tomatoes with her "crude and ineffectual remedies, feeling like a Civil War doctor who has nothing but snake oil and dirty bandages to offer the wounded."

Doesn't that sound like something you did or might do with your first tomato plants? As my husband is prone to say, 'enjoy your hundred dollar tomatoes,' and take a trip through the mishaps and discoveries of this honest, sometimes hilarious first-time gardener.

One of the best books about Vietnam I have read! It reminds me of a kinder gentler version of Caputo's Rumor of War. It has the feel of what it was like for an average soldier to be there without the blood and vulgarity of Caputo. If you like blood and guts memoirs then look elsewhere but if you are looking for a coming of age story about a young man who goes off to War, then you will love The Ghosts of Vietnam.

This is an excellent book, a poignant, sometimes funny, realistic, and down to earth honest look at growing up in rural America, and going to war.

Jim gives us a rare look at the Vietnam war from a different point of view, with insights that will engage a broad spectrum of readers, especially those of us who were there!

Thanks Jim for the memories!

First-time author Jim Stewart has written a raw and powerful memoir of his years in Vietnam and his life. Unlike many of the current Vietnam-era memoirs, Stewart's uncommonly poignant and well-written story details his four years in the `Nam without the blood, gore, or trauma so popular today. This is the story of a young man's coming of age and maturing as a human being while simultaneously dealing with a war, a callous family `back in the world', and his first real love and long-term relationship.

Stewart takes us back to his childhood, where he grew up in a poor but loving household, and how he tried re-create it with his young Vietnamese girlfriend, Mai. In the midst of the Tet Offensive and the later collapse of the country, Stewart and Mai strive for normalcy in the insanity of Vietnam towards the end of the war. His relaxed yet detailed writing style allows the reader to begin to understand what it was like to live and work in Saigon, both for a Vietnamese and an American; even such insignificant events as shopping and taking a taxi turn must be pre-planned, and Stewart draws the reader directly into the traffic with him.

While the author was an MP instead of an infantryman and therefore believes himself possibly fortunate not seen any actual combat, his book is not really about the fighting in Vietnam; it's a story of the author, his dad, Per, Mai, and Phuong - and it's a story well worth reading. Highly recommended !!

Jim Stewart's remarkable memoir "The Ghost of Viet Nam" is a gut wrenching true story about a boy's rights-of-passage to manhood. Stewart's descriptions of life and love in Viet Nam breathe life into the story of Military Police action across the war torn country. The excellent narrative rings with truth and humor as Stewart relays his four years in country and the devastating effect on his personal life. I recommend "The Ghost of Viet Nam" as a well written and authoritative. It provides a unique perspective on the effects of a long forgotten war.

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I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it. I like how the author described his childhood and took us with him on a realistic account of his life in Vietnam. Few authors have been able to do this without getting political. I felt for his loss of his daughter and how these past ghosts stayed with him for so many years. A lessor man would have forgotten all about his girlfired in Vietnam and went on with his life. Jim carried with him his past and he did something about it. It was a great read and I highly recommend it. I too served in combat in Vietnam and know what he wrote about to be true and unusuallly frank. LT. Charles E. Gibb, Ph.D. USN Ret.