Wallace Books

I recently finished reading "Ben-Hur" and I must comment that I'm glad I took the time to read it. The only reason I gave the work four stars instead of five is because Wallace's vivid details make the book somewhat tedious at times. The plot is very well conceived and Wallace created some memorable characters although I felt the characterization was not quite as good as in another famous nineteenth century Roman Epic "Quo Vadis". The way in which Wallace weaved the story together with the life of Christ and the political situation in Judea was effective. Despite being famous for the chariot race in Antioch, I believe the most powerful scenes were involving Ben-Hur's leprous mother and sister as well as Christ's crucifixtion. The ending is generally positive though somewhat of a cliff hanger if one thinks about it. I recommend the 1959 movie version as well as the book.

When I was 12 years old I first read this book, and have declared to my friends over the years that it is one of two best stories ever! The nativity story is the best account of the holy family. Sadly, the movie did not do justice to the book. I highly reccomend this to all ages of readers.

I read this for a book report and I had a hard time figuring out some of the words, especially the ones not found in the dictionary. Nevertheless, it's AWESOME!!!! I absolutely loved it! It's not a story that's predictable and full of cliches. It's fresh for the modern reader and gives an awesome perspective on the life of Christ from the view of a first century Jew. Great book!!!

General Lew Wallace deserves his own movie, so interesting was his life, and so great was his achievement with this mammoth novel. What is so magnificent to me here is that Ben Hur is about Jews as well as Christians. It's a story of Christ that unites us, rather than divides us. The hero is a Jew, and the novel is a story of a great Jewish family; and yet it is truly a story of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His entrance into history. How many other great Christian novels can interest our Jewish brothers and sisters the way this one can? Too much of our later Christian writing and films is marred by needless anti-Semitism. Not this monumental book! And don't believe that it is dated or unreadable. It is worth the plunge, worth the patience, worth the experience of surrendering to Wallace and his immense gift as a storyteller and a poet. There is so much in this story I can't begin to describe it. ---- The great motion picture versions of the book are vital and transforming today as they were when they were created. --- I hope the novel inspires Christian writers by its absence of bias against the Jewish people, the people who are Our Lord's people. I recommend you buy the new paperback version, of course, but also treat yourself to some of the old venerable hard covers still available; and if you cannot read the book word for word, then move to those parts which draw you in and move on from them. There are times when the writing can put you in a trance with its beauty and its pace. Again, Lew Wallace deserves his own filmed biography. He was a remarkable man. He made history with this book, putting it into the hands of millions of Americans who never read novels at all, and drawing people to Christ with his rich and unforgettable story. He gave Jews and Christians alike a classic that is now an American legend.

A previous reviewer praised the book, but said it was for students and scholars. I disagree with this assessment. I am neither a student, nor a scholar. I have long enjoyed the movie Ben-Hur, so I decided to pick up the book, since I have always found novels to be far better than the movies that they inspire. I was slightly worried after reading some reviews that made it sound like a dull history book. After reading Ben-Hur, I was very pleasantly surprised. It does contain historical information, and is rich with detail, but it is also action packed. I found myself not wanting to put it down until I was finished.

This is a book to be read and enjoyed by everyone. Whether you are an English major, or a business grad (like me), this book is for you.

The author suggests a lot of very good ideas on how to deal not only with police officers and with the court but everything you need to know. Including things as important as being polite/considerate to the police officer. There are good suggestions and options in which you can take to limit the negative and focus on the positive.

I recently received a speeding violation in the state of CT and decided that I would look into the possibility of challenging it. I started to browse the many selections available on Amazon having to do with the subject and decided to purchase An Educated Guide. Although lacking in some of the detail one would like to find, everything you need to know is listed, and quite frankly more information might be confusing. This book lays out what you need to know about handling stops, informational requests, methods used to capture the evil speeder, etc... Honestly, if you take the time to do some of the simplest things in this book you should have very little difficulty eliminating the ticket altogether or at the very least get it reduced to a less damaging violation. Speeding tickets stink, but you have absolutely nothing to lose by challenging it.
I also wanted to mention something that I read in another review, the person mentioned that they called the author and spoke with him. Frankly I wasn't sure if they were kidding or what, but I actually called Mr. Wallace on my way to traffic court and he gave me some great advice. All I can say about that is Incredible! By the way, THANK YOU FOR THE GREAT ADVICE!

This book starts off with a good idea, but ventures into foolish if not reckless advice.

The book explains some basic ideas that are helpful to
the inexperienced defendant of a speeding ticket. Many people may
not know that you can fight a speeding ticket. Whether you
can "beat" a ticket is another story, but each person must assess
the opportunity to fight the ticket before deciding to pay the
fine. The book is short on the details necessary to put together a
defense. Granted no book will provide the answers to everyone's
particular speeding ticket. The book looks poorly put together.
There are spelling and gramatical errors. The illustrative cartoons
are juvenile and poorly drawn. The book looks like it was self
published.

Some of the book's advice is really bad, if not dangerous.
One advice is to carry a small recording device so you can record
the police officer's conversation with you during the issuing of the
ticket. Good luck trying to pull out your mini recorder to place
it near you and the officer without the officer getting suspicious
and concerned about the possibility that you are hiding or grabbing
a weapon. Car stops are one of the most unpredictable encounters
between police and citizens. Officers are very concerned about the
possibility of a driver carrying and wielding a weapon. You dont
want an armed police officer misinterpretting your behavior. And
then there is the simple legality of secretly recording the police
officer. Different states have different rules on this. Many
states require everyone in the conversation to consent to being
recorded.

There is a whole section on advising the driver on how to get
away with speeding. It's wrong, to encourage the reader to break the law. Most of the "tips" here are pretty obvious if not a little
silly: "Tip #16: You should also be careful to avoid speeding right
in front of the police station."

More seriously dangerous is this book's advice: "If you were issued a speeding ticket by a memeber of law enforcement, and you are very upset about it, this tip or tactic may interest you. Find out who
the officer was that cited you, when he works and where. You will
then follow that officer home from work in your own vehicle, and if
possible, film or video tape this officer speeding as he heads
home." (Page 75) If you are looking for trouble, one way to find it
is to follow an officer home. You can be charged with harassment or
stalking. You never want to make a matter personal with a police
officer, they have too much power to make it an even battle. You
dont want to make an armed officer feel personally threatened by
following him or her home. It is this bit of advice that convinced
me that the book offers reckless advice and should be ignored. Furthermore there is nothing to be gained. The defense of your speeding ticket has nothing to do with whether the police officer speeds.

In summary, I do not recommend that anyone should buy or read
this book.

Terrific, empowering book. I just got back from court (where I won, of course, following the author's recommendations). And yes he really CALLS YOU BACK if he doesn't pick up the phone himself! Not only did I win, but I had FUN doing it! If you can, go to the court before your court date and just observe -- it cuts the butterflies and gives you confidence. (You likely will be assigned the court and judge way ahead of time so that's where you go.) The best trick -- the one the $500 attorneys always use and it works 99% of the time -- is to request Discovery (evidence you are entitled to). Why? Because it is almost never returned. Case dismissed. The author tells you how to do it. Have fun beating the system!

Here is a book you can refer to forever. Good stuff to know.

The writer has been on the Jay Thomas Radio Show (Sirius Satellite) many times, and he's very helpful! He gives a tollfree number in the book, so that if you ever get a ticket you can call him up and ask questions about your specific situation and he'll help you FREE!! All for just the cost of this book!

My 8 year old daughter read this for AR. She said it was a great book even though there were sad parts. Bill Wallace is a good author and has other great books for children. The book had some funny parts - whenever they call "Kitty Kitty" and the cats come to eat their food the dog Kitty would come up and pounce on the cats. I think you will enjoy this book.

My nine-year old daughter was thrilled to select this book to read for a school project. She happily began reading it on her own, and I with her before bed. When I picked her up from school today she was in tears, telling me she had read ahead in the book and the beloved dog, after finally being united with the boy, dies suddenly near the end of the book. She was so upset she did not want to finish the book nor use it for her project. She is an avid reader and I have never had this experience before. If your child is tenderhearted or has a special love for animals, please read this book for yourself before sharing it with them. You become so attached to the dog that it is just gut-wrenching to have him die at the end (kind of like a downer movie you wish you hadn't paid to see). Had I known the ending of this book, I would never have let her take it home.

My 9 year old daughter had to read this book for school. She and I spent the day actually reading it to each other. I helped her with the words she didn't understand. We were both so completely taken with the book that we actually read it all in one day. Unfortunately the graphic nature of the wild dog attack was a bit much for her to handle and to understand. I tried my best to explain what the book was describing. The worst thing was Kitty's death toward the end. We had spent the entire day getting so close to this dog that we loved him like our own. I feel that for the age group the content was a little harsh toward reality. Perhaps that is the fault of the school for making them read it. But I can't help but feel a little disturbed by the graphic nature in the descriptions displayed within the book.

All in all it was a great book but if you have a child that is in the least bit sensitive, don't let them read this. I spent hours dealing with a crying child who couldn't understand the death of Kitty and why it had to end that way.

It is a lovely book. However the dog meets a tragic end. It is not for young or sensitive children.

This book is way to violent and sad. In the beginning, I noticed a lot of violent phrases, and I started to think that this book might not be the best. Then the part comes where the boy finds a dog. The boy uses very inappropriate phrases towards the dog. (I could understand that the boy does not like dogs because he was once severely attacked.) The story went on, and it was pretty fun to read, and the boy decided to finally keep the dog. Then suddenly in chapter 10 there was something so sad and irrevelant to the main point of the story, that I HAD TO SKIP A FEW PAGES. I COULD NOT STAND THAT PART. That part was so terrible that I started to dislike this book. Later in it, the boy and his dog get badly attacked by savage dogs. Far to violent. Then, they both get better, which is nice, but later, in the next chapter after the fight- the boy's dog gets killed by heavy machinery. This book is so sad that it's depressing. Later, the boy finds a new dog, but that doesn't really make the story much better. Adding to that, the book is like a copy of the classic- Old Yeller. In both stories, the boys find stray dogs and don't want them. Later at the end they love them so much. Both books have animal fights. In both, the boys' dogs die.
I would NOT recommend this book. I would especially not recommend it to sensitive people, and people who love animals, and people who do not like violence.

The book went by far too fast and that is usually a good indication that the book was good. I laughed out loud more times than I thought the book would make me (although the reviews said i would laugh-you can't always trust them). The truth in the book is so appealing and hilarious that you can't help but enjoy it. I read it on vacation and had the other people that were along with me read it too. While we were sitting in a quiet room one of them would start laighing for no reason. I would ask them what line in the book they were at. And they would tell me.

This book is for anyone who wants a good light hearted read. This book will undoubtedly make you laugh.

Danny had the idea to start his own cult/religion. Like everything else he does, the results are hilarious.

This book, first and foremost, shows how disillusioned people need something, anything, to believe in. This fact is evinced by how many people are willing to blindly join Danny and follow him. They do not question the direction of the organization until it becomes clear to many of them that there isn't one. Even though the book was hilarious, I found this to be a sad commentary on faith and belief today.

Don't let the above paragraph fool you. The reader is treated to a hilarious account of Danny asking people to join an entity with no purpose, and then scrambling to find a purpose when there is grumbling in the ranks. His neurotic side is in full force, as shown by his imaginary war against an overeager Joinee. His interactions with his increasingly suspicious girlfriend also make this worth the price of admission.

Since this book was published, the Join Me movement has swelled in size to several thousand members. It is heartwarming to see that such a good organization has so many followers.

This is a great book that makes the reader laugh out loud and think about faith at the same time. Highly recommended.

How could I help but buy this book following up reading Wallace's "Yes Man?" Wallace's instincts are never suspect (for me at least). He seems so innocently interested in the outcome of his little experiments, unmindful of the influence he inevitably creates almost in spite of himself. Here he puts an ad in a local newspaper that simply says, "Join me," asked for a photograph and gave his address. What happened next is told with humor and wow, gee whiz astonishment.

A trickle of people joined Danny. For what? You might ask? So did they. And he had no idea. Yet, a movement grew. Yes, that's right, a movement! Ultimately, (after what seems an inordinate amount of time to string people along even though they willingly "joined"), Wallace evolves his movement into one of doing good -random acts of kindness.

This tale is fascinating on two levels. One, it shows how easily people can be convinced to join something just for the sake of joining (scary really). Another is the way in which someone who has absolutely no idea what he is doing, can create a worldwide "organization."

Luckily in this case, Join Me is a cult for good.

The new Jesus? No.
But a nice guy, nevertheless, who has a mission.
What is it?
Well, even Danny wasn't certain when he placed an ad in a local paper saying "JOIN ME", complete with a request for your passport photo, and an address you could respond to--but then whoever starts off in life knowing exactly what they are doing?

The end result is a movement of do-gooders, affectionally referred to as "The Karma Army", who are moved to practice random acts of kindness on fridays, up to and including buying an old man a cup of tea, paying someone's bus fare, washing your neighbor's car when they aren't looking, and just generally putting goodness back into an increasingly bitter world.

If you are turning on the news and are just too saddened by it, go grab this book and you'll immediately perk up.

And then, just maybe you'll join the Karma Army too---and try to make the world a better place.

Join Him!
I did. (:

Join Me is a fascinating and entertaining read that will inspire you as well as have you laughing and laughing especially Danny's first experience at ordering a drink in Paris. This is a sensational read that you won't be able to put down until the last page. I especially like the couple of summary lines of each chapter written like biblical verses.

Danny Wallace decides to put a small advertisement in Loot with simply the words JOIN ME Send one passport sized photo to .... just for the fun of seeing what would happen. He is ecstatic to receive a photograph from Christian Jones meets up with him and discovers he has no answers to his perfectly reasonable questions of what he is joining up to. The photos and new joinees continue to go on and Wallace must decide what his collective is about since he is being told by his friends that one of the joinees is acting like he's going to make a hostile takeover of his people. He must choose between a good and evil. Once this decision is made the flood gates open and his original goal of three people to beat his Swiss relative's achievements of starting a community is retargeted to 1000. Getting 1000 joinees becomes an obsession and his girlfriend is blissfully unaware having instructed him not to play any more stupid boy projects or they would be over.

When I finished reading this book, I missed the characters. I had become friends with them.

I imagine that's an indication of a good book!

I don't usually go in for what I consider chick books, but something about the cover of this book made me think it might be interesting, I'm always happy when I find a gem like this book and thats what it is, the characters live on in my memory as very real. Every character in this story is interesting, but its really about finding love where you least exspect it and with someone you weren't exspecting. Penelope is a tall 6 foot awkward upper class 18 year old who lives in a crumbling mansion they can no longer aford with her goregous mother and younger brother and she's in love with the singer Johnnie Ray like millions of other girls in 1950's England.

One day while standing at a bus stop she strikes up and unsual friendship with a girl named Charlotte Faris and goes to tea with her on a whim and meets her cousin Harry and her Aunt Clare. Penelope's life is transformed with this encounter but the best thing about this is the growing and unlikey romance she developes with Harry who has one blue eye an one brown and who is very short.

I loved this book and was so sad when it ended I wanted to know more about what happened with Harry and Penelope and Charlotte!

This book is absolutely charming. I was so excited anytime I had the chance to read it and continued to smile while I read. Ms. Rice brilliantly gives life to the characters and makes me feel as if I was in England in 1954. It was very bittersweet when the book ended, I was excited for the characters, but I was sad to let them go. I highly recommend this book!!

I absolutely adored this book. The story was one to get lost in, the characters were appealing and the setting was delightful -- I didn't want it to end. It's the perfect book for long winter evenings or lazy summer afternoons.

I was intrigued by the story of Charlotte and Penelope. I enjoyed the narration and the unfolding of the story greatly. It was not a book that I just couldn't put down but a good book all the same. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good summer read!

Ben and his three friends have been a solid group since middle school. They started out wrestling together when they were that young, and their dream was always to wrestle for the high school team and perhaps lead their team to state championships in four different weight classes. Wrestling is a huge sport--the only sport that matters--in the town of Sturbridge, though, and many other boys have had the same dream. Ben and his friends think that they have the drive to make it, though.

Suddenly it is senior year, and they seem to be living the dream. Well, all except Ben. The previous year it had seemed like he and his friends would rule four consecutive weight classes. Then one of his friends gained weight and moved up into Ben's class, and Ben can't seem to beat him. He can't gain enough weight in muscle to move up beyond his friends, and he can't lose enough weight to drop a class without being too weak to wrestle at all. It is beginning to look to Ben like he may not wrestle this season--unless he is able to beat his friend in a match for the slot on the team. Will Ben have the drive and the ability to earn a varsity position? When his focus is drawn to a new girlfriend, will wrestling even matter to him anymore?

I liked the relationship between Ben and his father, and especially the odd gift Ben's father gives him at the end of the book. I also liked the description of Sturbridge; it was very well set up in this book. I liked the way each chapter started with lists of things that were important to know about Ben, and I especially liked the unpredictable ending.

I didn't really understand the relationship between Ben and Kim. It seemed that all of a sudden they were dating pretty seriously with no real lead-in or explanation.

Rich Wallace's WRESTLING STURBRIDGE is the best young adult novel you are likely to read...and a darn good novel period (regardless of age demarcations). I think I've given away at least 10 copies of this book to nieces and nephews over the years and every one of them loved it. Along with STONEWALL'S GOLD, WRESTLING STURBRIDGE proves that the YA genre is no longer the domain of hacks and scribes who have failed at other genres. There is some terrific fiction out there for discriminating teens and tweeners and I would put STURBRIDGE at the very top of the pile.

Here comes a team of lean mean wrestling machines! They are going to Sturbridge for a wrestling match. Who will win? Will Benny the main character or his friend al win? You'll see who wins in the book Wrestling Sturbridge by Rich Wallace. Benny is an athletic teenager that cant beat his friend Al, or will that change.
He has 2 more friends on his wrestling team Digit and Hatcher. They are good wrestlers but not good enough to beat Benny or Al. They hooked up as a wrestling team ever since they started. Who will win you'll see in this fabulous book Wrestling Sturbridge. This exciting book is very good so you should read it.
This wrestling team was friends or will that change when benny an al have to wrestle each other and become enemies wrestling for king of the mat. So get to reading the best wrestling book around.

A boy named Ben who wants to be the best Wrestler. But to get there he has to beat out his friend Al. Al is also the best in State. As his senior year comes to an end, will he beat out Al at wrestle offs or watch his dream wash away as he sits the bench?
I really liked this book because it shows a typical teenager trying to be the best. I liked how it showed Ben trying to get Kim the girl he liked to be his girlfriend. It also has a lot about wrestling in the book. I liked the parts of the book that are realistic like when Ben is cutting weight. The only thing I didn't like was that the ending wasn't how I pictured it.
A person who would probably like this book is a person who likes wrestling. Other people that might like this book are people that like shorter books.

This is a sad, tragic tale that is all too common for many U.S. high school wrestlers - a kid with the potential to become a state champion and win a free ride to college, but who blows it all because his hormones are raging and he can't stay focused on his goal. Wallace attempts to highlight the impediments to individual success within the young wrestler's cultural milieu, thereby producing a useful social commentary.

The plot is whether the wrestler will make his school's varsity squad by knocking off his fellow state-seeded team mate. The subplot, heavily intertwined with the plot, is whether the wrestler can keep his mind off girls so he can wrestle. Unfortunately, much of the subplot is inappropriate for school-aged readers - "I can taste Kim's mouth and her skin" (p132). Adult readers will sense the author has no daughters of his own.

As a retired wrestling coach, I found the subplot unhelpful to the main character. A lesser character, another member of the team, could have been shown to fail at wrestling because of his lack of focus rather than the main character. The author could have shown the rewards for a wrestler that come from perserverance and persistance rather than setting his sights on the mistakes of a loser who is content that he got the girl - "Life is good. I have Kim" (133). The main character hasn't graduated school yet, failed to make varsity when he is good enough to be offered a college scholarship for wrestling, has no plans beyond the moment, and believes "life is good". In short, this is a short manual on what NOT TO DO to be a winner at wrestling.

I found the book to be negative and in some circumstances, over-exaggerated. There are frequent uses of "many", and "most", and this book generally paints depressives as being difficult, demanding and fault finding. People can have ongoing problems with depression and not be selfish monsters. I think this book drives people apart and looks for blame. I even get the feeling that the author has a deep seated hostility for people suffering from depression. There are much better books on the subject that are much more constructive and STILL focus on the needs of those who are dealing with depressed loved ones.

This book can be a great help. If you are around someone who is suffering from depression, the load of everyday life can be terribly heavy. It helps so much to understand what is going on with your depressed loved one, but also to know that other people go through this too. The realization that you are not doing everything wrong, though the other makes you feel this way often, is very liberating. It can give you the strength you need to put more time and effort into helping the other conquer or understand their own inner tormentor. It can help you objectify the problem and your role in it, and protect yourself by keeping the necessary distance so that you don't get swallowed up by it - and sometimes even to walk away from it altogether if it threatens to destroy you. And if you can get the other to read it, too, then they can read a more objective - and less accusing - report on what life has been (or is) like for you, making it easier for them to understand what you have been going through, reducing the risk of an unproductive me-you discussion.
Though I tend to want to be self-reliant and think I don't need outside help, I don't honestly know if we (my then-boyfriend and I) would have been able to process, and leave behind us (and move on), the terrible period we had together had it not been for this book.

This book deals with depression from the inside out. It is very informative and insightful and a book I would highly recommend for anyone who lives with a depressed person or is depressed.

It is so helpful to know that I can name what I am experiencing, and that I am not alone. The advice and coping strategies in this book have changed my life immeasurably for the better.

I cannot praise this book enough. I have been dealing with my Husbands depression for the past ten years. I had been pulled down in to the black hole with him, believing it was all my fault how unhappy he was.This book has made me realise that it's not me, and its not him, its this awful illness he has. On bad days when everything seemed so hopeless I could read another chapter of this book and feel uplifted. It was like someone had written this book about us! It offers no end of helpful suggestions for yourself and the one you love. It has helped me bring it to my husbands attention and encourage him to get help.Fantastic!!

What I probably enjoyed most about this novel was the way Thurman wrote it almost solely from the narrator's point of view. For it to be written from that perspective it had a lot of ambition and held the reader's attention for lengthy periods of time. Of course the portrayl of the topic of race relations and class inside of the black community of the 1920's is phenomenal. Overall, I'd say that Thurman was one of the better yet more serious writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

This is a very good read. I stumbled across this book at the library back in 1970 when I was a freshman in college at the UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA. Just the title of the book caught my eye. I read the first few pages and was hooked. I checked the book out of the library, took it back to my dorm room and finished it in one day.

I highly recommend this book.

The Blacker the Berry was assigned to me years ago at Rutgers University for a Harlem Renaissance class. I have to say that it had a tremendous impact because I remember it so well more than the other books or reading assignments given to us. The Blacker the Berry is the story of an African American woman who is considered too dark by her own race and community. It's one thing when you face prejudice from another race but to get mistreated by your own like being abused by a member of the family. Wallace Thurman is still relatively obscure regarding writers whether African American or American. This book is surely a forgotten masterpiece of the Harlem Renaissance. It packs a punch when you read it and like me, it's hard to forget that impression.

Wallace Thurman, one of the writers of the Harlem Renaissance, has created in Emma Lou Brown a character that you will remember long after you finish this short novel. Born in Boise, Idaho to a very light-skinned mother and dark father, she is the victim of what Thurman calls "intra-racial color prejudice." Emma leaves home after her high school graduation-- she is the only black student in her class-- goes to California to college, back home again, back to California again and then to Harlem in her quest to be accepted for who she is. This sad but very bright young woman's tragedy is that she constantly seeks out those persons whose skin color is lighter than hers while simultaneously is crushed when she is rejected by these same or other persons of a lighter hue. The "coffee-colored" Fats, for instance, says so cruelly of Emma, "Man you know I don't haul no coal." As Part 5 of the book indicates, what victory this young woman, who eats arsenic wafers and bleaches her face with peroxide in an effort to lighten her skin, achieves is pyrrhic.

One of Thurman's characters, rightly so, points out that "'in an environment where there are so many color-prejudiced whites, there are bound to be a number of color-prejudiced blacks. . . as you know prejudices are always caused by differences, and the majority group sets the standard.'" The lesson to be learned from this novel is obvious: it is difficult to believe in youself if from your earliest childhood, your parents-- in this instance Emma's mother-- have told you that you are ugly because of your color and therefore unworthy. Unfortunately this phenomenon does not affect just African-Americans but other racial and ethnic groups as well as Hollywood casting as well. It is no accident, for example, that Marilyn Monroe's stock soared after she became a blonde.

Mr. Thurman's novel would have been better if he had showed the reader more often than told him what is going on. Nevertheless, THE BLACKER THE BERRY, based, according to the author, on a "Negro folk saying," is well worth reading and would make a fine movie.

Having grown up a dark-skinned male in the color-conscious city of Charleston SC (the book itself mentions this fact in passing) in the 1980s when Prince and El Debarge was what was happening for the ladies, I could truly relate to the tale of Emma Lou.

What I found particularly interesting in this saga of self-hate is how little it has changed since the best attemtps of Stokely Carmicheal and Malcolm X. One interesting scene in particular shows Emma Lou with a male friend at an Apollo Theater-type cabaret while the black comedians are making foul jokes about dark-skinned women while the pretty girls are idealized as light skinned. Emma Lou is rightly insulted. Compare this to modern comedians on Booty Entertainment television (BET) with gags like "Yo mama so black she spent all day in night school!" and the idealization of lighter women in videos.

The cruel remarks from adults that surround Emma Lou in her native Utah (also the home of author Wallace Thurman) can be heard today among ignorant parents toward the black children of various complexions today. Although in Emma Lou's case, one must also consider the age old feelings of mothers toward children who physically resemble and remind them of wayward fathers.

Sadly, things like this still go on and the book shows the tragedy of emotional cruelty toward children. Read it and watch how you talk to children in the future.

i highly enjoyed the author's spirit of positive thinking
especially when he says yes when it's a big no situation
he gets himself in strange and hilarious situations,
goes to places and meets people he would never had met
and that's the power of YES
it is a very funny book and YES i recommend it alot

If you don't laugh while reading this book, you probably don't have a pulse. It's that simple. 'Yes Man' is Danny Wallace's journey through the pitfalls of forcing himself -for a short while- to say yes to every single opportunity that presented itself. The book is a description of his personal experiences during this undertaking, and it could not be more scary, inspiring, and downright funny.

Think for two seconds about what your life would be like if you answered every single question asked of you with a Yes! and acted upon it. That will give you an idea of what the experience of this book is about. An absolutely brilliant must read!

I really enjoyed this book. It was extremely funny and I often found myself laughing out loud in the middle of airports waiting for delayed planes, or when we I read the book out loud to my friend we were both sneakering to the point where I would need a minute to compose myself before I was able to go on reading.

Danny Wallace is an excellent storyteller not only did I laugh but his experience made me want to actually say yes more even if I didn't win large sums of money or got a promotion.

i've read some funny stuff in my day. i'd heard a lot about this book; a friend of mine wouldn't stop talking about how great it was and i was like, "yeah sure." it was a hundred times better than even i thought it would be. get this book. not only will you not be able to put it down, but you won't stop laughing the entire time.

I can't believe this book got all the hype it's gotten so far. I can put this book and I did in fact put the book down many times. I didn't want to go on because I wasn't enjoying the experience.

Right now I keep picking the book up hoping that it will get better. It won't or rather, I hope it will because I want it to. I like the idea of the book but this guy makes me want to puke. It's too sugary. It's like eating three pounds of gummy bears. You think it feel so good but when it's sitting your stomach you know it's gotta come out somewhere, somehow, someway.

This guy is too nice and too all about himself. Many times in the story he makes a claim and doesn't live up to it. There are way too many parts of the story that don't belong, or rather I don't care about. There's no real character to him. Who can just say he won't go into work today because he's saying Yes to things? Doesn't that seem a little... well hypocritical? Shouldn't he continue to go to work and say YES to work? Oh he's a radio producer so he can get away with this? I wish I were a radio producer so I won't have to have to go to work. I'm not. I'm a real person with a real job that I can say yes to.

Is this book fiction or non-fiction? I don't care because either way it's terrible. It's over written if it's indeed real. And if it's fiction then the characters are terribly plain.

It's so difficult to capture the spirit and beauty of the West, but this book does an outstanding job of doing so. Also loved the character development.

Fleeing an unhappy home life, young Boone Caudill heads west and meets up with Jim Deakins, an easy-going wanderer. In the company of seasoned trapper Dick Summers, they become mountain men, living a hard, cruel life that suits them because of their need for freedom and appreciation of nature's beauty. A.B. Guthrie, Jr. evokes the landscapes of the Old West so well that I could see them clearly as I read; he is equally skilled at evoking a sense of loss as we see this world disappearing before the pressure of the Westward Expansion.

But lest this description make the novel seem too romanticized, let me add that this is primarily the story of Boone's slide into savagery, a state in which he is unfit for human society. He emerges as a truly tragic figure, mourning his sins but prevented by his nature from acting in any other way.

Some of the terms in the book are not PC now, and a little hokey when he tries to write about "romance".
But I still remember how "un-Hollywood" Gutherie's writing was when I first read it in the 50,s. The film sort of sucks, Kirk Douglas was too old for the roll, but Arthur Lee Hunnicut the actor who tells the story just sounds like the salt of the earth, although I think he was trained on the east coast Then there is the black and white, the film crew goes on location in a great place and shoots in back & white.
If you go to upper Montana, along the Missouri, (where the tourists don't go), you'll find a little town with the original boat on display in the park. Read the book, then see the movie if you must.

If you like this kind of book you may be interested in "The Revenant" by Michael Punke, "based" on a true story.

I felt this novel could just as easily won the pulitzer.Guthrie has a way of knowing his characters deep down and portraying all that and more to the reader.

"...a heart beats wild in the Country..
and part of the wild, wild Country....am I.."

The story belongs to the mountain country and the early days of the fur trade - where men with many different reasons for leaving home left it anyway and made their way West, following instinct and the rivers. From the the Missouri that finds the Yellowstone and on through the caldera of the geysers where the birth of the Snake begins to wend it's way to the Tetons, it was the beaver that drew them, but it became something else that held them, something that is still there.

It's more than a gathering misfits, renegades and outlaws that make Guthrie's work such a splendid example of a novel based on history. It's a tale of wisdom born of necessity, where "nature favors no man" and a well-placed mistake may be the only one you get; and of surging youth and energy coming in behind it, everything unknown and everything larger than life. Primitive life, love, hate, friendship, jealousy mixing freely with no law to temper it, survival of each day being the only thing that mattered, and any thing that could be done during that day should be done, especially if it felt good.

The reader follows Boone Claudill as he leaves home with no where to go after an altercation with his abusive father, but he knows he has an Uncle who went out West and hopes to eventually find him, although he has no idea of the vastness of the undertaking; fate leads him to fall in with another man who will befriend him throughout his life, until unreasoning tragedy comes between them. We see him grow through several stages; from a hesitant, clumsy and starved teen runaway to a green but budding and capable mountain man trying his wings; and on into a life with a Blackfoot Indian girl he saw as a beguiling child and never forgot; but we also see his adoration move from hesitant infatuation while he is unsure of her, but later, she is merely another piece of his property, like his gun. We see other things happen to him too, the ravages of a mindset coming on that allows suspicion and jealousy to overwhelm him.

It's diverse character insights give the reader a glimpse into the soul of another of Boone's mentors, Dick Summers - a weathered, seasoned beaver-seeker coming to grips with the knowledge that he is no longer a young man, and he can see the times changing up ahead of him; no way to turn it back - he is filled with sadness at the approach of something he never thought would happen - the end of life as he had known it. If he is to go home at all, it must be now. His agony as he reflects on his earthy freedom in the wilderness while making the hardest decision of his life in deciding to leave it behind, is one of the highlights of the human emotion that is it's theme throughout.

For me, it was storytelling at it's finest and most honest; the blending of the love affair between a beautiful, unspoiled wilderness and it's first people; a way of life and a land that supported that life intertwined as one.