Wallace Books

Wallace Shawn doesn't get produced much in America; in fact several of his earlier plays were never produced and are now impossible to find. This must be because they're so unnervingly original. They take on subjects other playwrights fear (such as whether writing a play is worthwhile), and they include monologues which any actor would drool over. They also radicalize form, enabling a much wider range of topics and possibilities within a single play than I've ever seen elsewhere. I'm very excited that this book has reprinted one of Shawn's long-lost early plays (too ugly for the NEA!) along with his newer, starker work. I also strongly recommend his newest play "The Designated Mourner".

I read Fever last night, and I thought it was great. It is concerned with trying to reconsile a middle class existance with the terror and suffering to the world's poor that that existance is predicated upon. Un-cliched, and unapologetically ideological, I found the play very moving and I look forward to getting the whole collection and reading the others. Wallace Shawn's work was reviewed this summer in the New York Review of Books.

A THOUGHT IN THREE PARTS- a brilliant trilogy of three plays where Shawn explores the consequences of minds laid bare. A very sexually charged no bull dialogue where thoughts are scattered and pieced together without inhibition to explore human thought. An amazing play that really draws you in.

MARIE AND BRUCE- Another blunt exploration of the human condition in which Shawn portrays a wife with no problem laying her thoughts and feelings out in the open against a socially and emotionally inhibited husband who easily bends to the strong, decisive will of his wife because of his lack of will and superficial feelings. It is much more complex than I could explain but an impressive contrast of characters.

AUNT DAN AND LEMON- A very interesting tale of a girl and her friendship with an acquaintance of the family that leads her to explore truths that doesn't get discussed at cocktail parties. A good story that gets turned into great social commentary.

THE FEVER- An unbelieveable tale of a privelaged man recalling the tale of his growing up and sorting out the ideas of Communism but more so of social class. He goes through a mental journey of how he came to be in possession of the things he has and the history behind political movements. The best piece of social and political literature I've ever read. There's a lot of truth in this play and I would recommend this over any works of Marx.

Overall a collection of four great plays. No weak link. Wallace Shawn is truly one of the greatest playwrights of our time. I'm sure we'll all look back and realize this.

There is not, and to my knowledge has never been, a playwright like Wallace Shawn. His plays are not the least bit entertaining, nor were they intended to be. They are the intellectual equivalent of dining on razor blades.

This collection is a nice balance of his early, sexually and emotionally explicit plays -- imagine "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" meets "Oh, Calcutta" -- along with his two great works of political and moral philosophy, "Aunt Dan and Lemon" and "The Fever".

It's hard to describe the latter works, hard to convey their brilliance, difficulty, and, finally, their tremendous ability to disturb. "The Fever" is a monologue and "Aunt Dan and Lemon" relies as much on monologue as dialogue, so neither has ever been much of a hit with audiences used to soundbites and smash cuts. Both could also be said to be assaults on the audience, for you cannot sit through productions of them or read them without having some fundamental beliefs questioned and, if you've really paid attention, upset. At their heart, these works seek to undermine a simple belief which most of us take for granted: that we live a relatively moral, decent life and that we are, at heart, a good person.

There are very few writers who I think are truly necessary, writers without whose voices I would feel absolutely bereft, even less human. Wallace Shawn is one of those writers.

Wally Shawn is truly a genius, unsung, who has influenced a number of important playwrights and writers. Peremptorily odd plays and not for everyone, but artful, articulate, risky and amazing...he'll be appreciated postmortem, but read him now, and pray that he gets produced more often in the US.

GIleskirk and Greyfriars in the title are the names of two houses of worship in Scotland's capital. They refer to the Cathedral Church of Edinburgh and to a suburban pre-Reformation Franciscan church. Gileskirk's pulpit is associated with the 16th Century leader of the Reformation, John Knox. At Greyfriars in 1638 the National Covenant was signed, a landmark in asserting church independence of royal control.

This second volume begins with the birth, life and execution of Queen Mary Stuart. It moves through the reigns of her son James and grandson Charles and their increasingly autorcratic misrule of Scotland, England and Ireland. The volume ends in 1658 with all powerful Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell, about to die. His brief rule did much violence to both Scotland and Ireland and trampled on old traditions. It abolished monarchy itself, bishops, the House of Lords and brought back the Jews after several hundred years and gave England its first and only written constitution.

Scott's TALES OF A GRANDFATHER should be read in parallel with his many historical novels and narrative poems. They bring Scotland and England to life as do few other books. -OOO-

Walter Scott's History of Scotland written for his young grandson, with better editing and presentation, should be the perfect companion piece to many of Sir Walter's poems and novels. This Cumberland House 4-volume edition has large enough print and contains a helpful list of the Kings of Scotland and a good index. Lacking are much needed maps. Nonetheless, this is a truly great but simple introduction to the long history of Scotland in the "great man" genre of historical writing.

Fans of Mel Gibson's movie BRAVEHEART will be enchanted by the treatment of England's King Edward I, Longshanks -- corrupter of Robert the Bruce and conqueror in the end of Sir William Wallace. These and other great men and women as well as the Stuart Kings all strut across Walter Scott's well-lighted stage.

This first in a four volume edition covers the years 1033 - 1542. We see Scotland as a nation never conquered by Normans and intent on national independence but increasingly coveted and invaded by the Normanized English. We begin with MacBeth. We conclude with the struggle between England's Henry VIII and Scotland's James V, closing the Roman Catholic centuries of Scotland with the death of James just after the birth of his unhappy daughter Mary, "the Queen of Scots."

Let Chapter XVII, "Robert III" (1390 - 1406) serve as one of several examples of how determined readers of Walter Scott can easily and pleasantly flesh out the fiction of "the Wizard of the North." Readers of Scott's novel THE FAIR MAID OF PERTH will find here a brief but memorable description of events behind that bloody novel.

All in all, FROM BANNOCKBURN TO FLODDEN is a book well worth the time of anyone just beginning to read into the history of Scotland

This this the third of four volumes written by Sir Walter Scott as a history of Scotland for children, very intelligent children be it said! It covers the years 1658 (death of Oliver Cromwell) to 1714 (death year of the last de facto Stuart Monarch, Queen Anne).

What sense is the obscure volume title, "FROM GLENCOE TO STIRLING" meant to evoke? No problem with GLENCOE: at that starkly beautiful MacDonalds' site in the western highlands, 38 men, women and children were massacred by Scottish troops in the dead of winter 1792. 150 more men, along with women and children succeeded in fleeing through the snow to shelter 12 miles away. The treacherous order to slaughter every man, woman and child below 70 years old was approved by King William III. Scotland to this day has not forgiven that otherwise enlightened monarch. Why Stirling appears in the title I am not sure.

Volume three of TALES OF A SCOTTISH GRANDFATHER is close to indispensable companion reading for six Walter Scott novels set in the years 1658 - 1714: WOODSTOCK, THE TALE OF OLD MORTALITY, PEVERIL OF THE PEAK, THE PIRATE, THE BRIDE OF LAMMERMOOR and THE BLACK DWARF. Some of these romances are more political than others, but the dynastic struggles form the backdrop for all.

The most biting part of Scott's narrative describes the formation of the United Kingdom in 1707. At a time when two actions of King William III (the massacre at Glencoe and his opposition to Scottish colonization of the Isthmus of Panama) had inflamed Scotland against England, English commercial interests were forced to decide between resumption of unending centuries of war with Scotland or assuring permanent peace by absorbing their smaller northern neighbor, more or less willingly. Which alternative would cost England less money? At a time when probably 95% of Scots were passionately against the Union, it was nonetheless negotiated in late 1706 and finally agreed to by the Scottish parliament. The United Kingdom opened shop in May 1707 -- on very unequal terms for Scotland. Bribes and payoffs to the Scottish negotiators and members of Parliament produced the needed votes.

According to Walter Scott, the very unfair terms of the treaty of union, combined with popular detestation of all those bribed to sell Scotland's ancient national independence, gave Scotland sixty more years of avoidable turmoil and humiliation. Then at last, with the coming of King George III, the Union began to give Scotland those commercial benefits that had been promised.

Meanwhile there was the Old Pretender's rising of 1707-08 and the political uncertainty who would succeed Queen Anne as she approached death in 1714. -OOO-

Sir Scott really knew how to bring history back alive!! The writing is very visual and very heartfelt. Thank you Sir Walter Scot !!

Although I am a Spanish speaking reader, I found this book most lovely and interesting from the first page. It is written in a clear style that makes it easy to understand and attractive to read. Writing History is a hard task, not suitable for everybody. Sir Walter Scott is certainly one of the greatest British poets and here he combines all his virtues in this matter with a great skill to narrate past events which almost turns this book into a "Romantic History" . It is wonderfuly adecquate for kids as it was originally intended even to those learning English as a second language.

Great customer to deal with. Shipped promptly. Would buy from again! Thank you!

I rank this book five stars as I did for the author's companion volume mainly for the photographs. It is interesting to take note of the way fans dressed at ball games (suits, ties, and bowler hats). I also found it interesting to see photographs of players not in uniform from my initial decade of baseball interest, the 1950s. I would like to point out three dates (the method in which the pages are listed). June 14th shows three fans, two of which are a young girl and boy with pop bottles about seven years of age expressing their displeasure at an umpire's call. October 27th shows Leo Durocher's son giving The Lip a kiss. Author Joe Wallace states "no one since Babe Ruth left a bigger mark on baseball than Durocher." Wallace obviously forgot about Jackie Robinson. November 27th shows a group of Little Leaguers at a tryout camp in Scarsdale, New York in 1959. Somewhat below the center of the photo is a boy wearing a catcher's chest protector with a bent elbow extending his middle finger on his right hand. The book provides a good mixture of photographs from each decade from the beginning of the 20th century through the 1950s. A few of them I have seen in other books, but for the most part, the photographs are new to me. This is a very worth while photographic book on baseball history.

In putting together GRAND OLD GAME, I got to spend weeks rooting through the photo archives of the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library in Cooperstown. I loved it! It was a true treasure hunt, allowing me to find hundreds of photos that hadn't been seen in decades--if ever--and put them in this book. Even the biggest fan of baseball history won't ever have seen most of these photos before. I know I hadn't.

There was just one downside: many of the old images had incomplete or inaccurate captions, or even no captions at all. I chose to use these photos anyway, because they deserved to be seen. Then both I and a team of professional baseball researchers (who checked every caption) worked very hard to correct mistakes and identify mystery players. In many cases, we did--but sometimes, clearly, we didn't. (I wish I'd had M. Fimoff there, since he/she is clearly so knowledgeable!)

Recognizing the possibility of mistakes, I included a paragraph in the book's foreword, asking anyone with further information about the images to please email me through my website. That offer is still open, of course. (You can find the URL in the book.) The information will go into the collection of the Hall of Fame and into future editions of GRAND OLD GAME, and you'll have the pleasure of knowing you've added to baseball's rich history. Thanks--J.W.

Tired of all the steroid controversy and wondering what to do until Opening Day arrives? Well, do yourself a favor and add this heavy little baseball tome to your baseball library. It is chock full of b&w photos from a bygone era. As hinted at in the title, this book contains 365 pictures (and paragraphs) from the archives of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Granted, baseball has had it's share of scandals over the years (some of which are covered here) but open the book and lose yourself in a simpler time when baseball truely was "the grand old game". Combining on and off the field shots that show HoFers, superstars, and unknown players alike, this book does an excellent job of capturing the spirit of baseball. Buy it now and enjoy the game one day at a time or just devour it in one sitting like I did. Be sure to check out my favorite - the photo of Lou Gehrig with the Marx Brothers from 1933 (5/16 - each picture and accompanying paragraph are indexed by a date). Play ball.

This is one of the most entertaining and clever books I've come across.

The idea of presenting rare baseball pictures in a photo album format with short-paragraph captions is brilliant.

And rare these photos are! I own many books of baseball photography, and there's not one picture in this book that I've seen before.

These photos take you back in time and give you an excellent look at what baseball was like throughout the early decades of the 20th century.

The most amazing and provocative photos are the ones depicting people standing outside a newspaper office or on some main street watching a mechanical scoreboard that's re-creating what's happening in some far-off baseball game. There are many of them from different decades (1910s, 1920s).

What I find fascinating about them is if you look at the mechanical scoreboard--which consists basically of a diamond, wooden players that move around the bases, the teams' lineups, and a linescore--it resembles exactly what baseball fans see on their computer screens today when they click on any of the Game Tracker apps to follow a ballgame over the Internet.

To me, these pictures represent the fact that you can make the delivery system more high-tech and faster, but, in the end, baseball is still the game it was 80 or 90 years ago.

This is the most comprehensive and useful reference book I own. Every engineer and technical person should own one!

But be warned, if you're not already an technical person/engineer and/or genius, it may be a little hard to follow (very involved calculus topics are covered in just a few pages, for instance). If you're looking for something to use as a quick reference for all the subjects you took long ago, this is it - if you're looking to learn something new in great detail, buy a subject-specific textbook first.

The essential book to own if you are serious about engineering. Everything you need to know. It is amazing how much Eshback packed into one volume. Tapley has continued the tradition. Everything you learned in school and need to recall, plus everything you should have learned.

If you purchase only a single engineering reference work this year, purchase this one. It contains the essentials you need to design nearly anything.

This is the essential engineering reference book. It's all here, in one place and well-organized. You will never need more than a small fraction of it your entire design career. But the for that fraction that you do need you will find it indispensible.

I found this handbook a good information sourcebook in my undergraduate and graduate engineering education. It worked best once I'd seen the material in my class textbook. On the job, I find this handbook invaluable for most engineering disciplines involving physical system analysis. It is one of my favorite books. The next edition (4th) is larger, heavier, and somehow, not as interesting. The magic is in this 3rd edition.

Although it does not address routing protocals,it covers everything else.

Was able to locate the answers for all 31 questions presented on Cisco's web site for the CIT 4.0 exam. Exam4.0 is required when preparing for the CCNP. Written clear, concise and to the point. (no fluff included)

I am currently studying for my last CCNP exam : support.

I find this book a great complement of CIT.

There is an error in book description : it is 1025 pages (not 714, which should be the size of the paperback edition), so it is much more complete than the online version on CCO.

I reccomend it in addition to CIT for passing support.

Note : I passed the 3 previous ccnp exams first try by using cisco ccnp course books.

The step-by-step presentation approach to this book is a very effective way to help the technician isolate Cisco related network problems. It also provides valuable information about specific protocols and topologies.

While this may not TEACH you how to troubleshoot a network (get Cisco Internetwork Troubleshooting for that), this book is good since it provides details relating to error messages etc and also in-depth explanation of numerous messages that you are likely to encounter in yr Cisco powered Network. Use it as a handy reference

The detailed review by Robin Friedman (below) gives a fair and ample account of this book's content and quality. I'm afraid Thomas Jefferson does not escape with his reputation intact, but I doubt that AFC Wallace intended to besmirch or belittle him for any political agenda. Jefferson was my hero in high school, but almost nothing I've learned about him since then has polished his image. John Quincy Adams, who knew him well, slowly came to regard him as hypocritical, cunning, self-absorbed, given to magnifying his own exploits... what today might be called "narcissistic". Wahington detested him in his later years and cut off communication. Obviously, Jefferson can't be blamed for the uses later generations have made of him to justify secession, states-rights conservatism, racist forms of populism, etc, but history does provide a lens for interpreting his ideologies and for finding that aside from the noble rhetoric of the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson's legacy is mostly pernicious.
This is, however, a very well-written and readable book, superbly researched, and not at all tendentious. Don't read it alone! (Of course, if you read it at all, you've probably read other books on Jefferson and on the 18th C). Take a look at FORCED FOUNDERS as a counterweight.

While I found the book, on the whole, to be an interesting entry in a historical space that is lightly populated; meaning that few books are written about the Indian culture during Colonial times and the impact of expansionism on their culture, I felt there were aspects of the book that adversely affected its quality:

1. The detail surrounding the land, colonial speculation (including Jefferson's holdings) and the treaties to expand the colonies' territory to be excessive and ineffective in their attempt to connect Jefferson's said holdings with an overall strategic conspiracy.
2. The book's focus on Jefferson's interest and approach to the American Indian, while interesting and keeping with the title, limited the potential of the book which, I believe, would have been better served if the premise focused more on the colonies' overall perspective and dealings with the Indians. This would have included a more extensive overview of the interaction of the specific tribes, the impact of the six nations and how this interaction diluted or enhanced the Indian culture.
3. I don't believe that it is contradictory for a man of science (based on Jefferson's interest in language and culture correlations and origin), to suggest that certain tribes represented a real threat to the safety of citizens that were, technically, the responsibility of Virginia and,eventually,the United States. Decisions to support eradication of "bad" elements versus those tribes that were cooperative seems logical given the reports that were received and magnitude of the violence that was observed.

Having said that, the chapters regarding the tracking of language patterns, formulating questions that would uncover additional information about tribal history and Jefferson's desire and passion to explore the role of the Native American and determine whether there were connections with the Welsch were fascinating and were great reading.

Overall, while I enjoyed the book, I sensed too much intent to discredit Jefferson and too little effort to suggest the overall importance of Jefferson's desire and approach to collecting and preserving data on the American Indian.

Many works on early United States history tend to give Indian affairs less attention than it deserves. There are two recent books with which I am familiar that help correct this situation. The first is Robert Remini's study of Jacksonian American, "Andrew Jackson and his Indian Wars". The second is Professor Wallace's book on Jefferson's relationship to the Indians, which I am discussing here.

Remini's and Wallace's book can be read together because both tell parts of the same sad story. Expansionist pressures from settlers and the fear of the United States of Indian attacks, particularly when incited by hostile European nations led to a policy of land cessions, wars, and forced removal westward of the Indian tribes. The process culminated with Andrew Jackson's Indian wars and presidency, the subject of Remini's book, but it was effectively put in place by Thomas Jefferson, as shown by Wallace.

Jefferson and his Indian policy, however, seem to me to present a more complex case than Jackson. As Wallace's book shows, Jefferson was indeed a polymath, a scholar and intellectual as well as a, paradoxically, man of power and position. Jefferson took a genuine interest in Indian archaeology, culture and language and made himself or encouraged others to make, scholarly and enthnological contributions that are still important towards understanding the Indians.

Jefferson, even on Professor Wallace's account, had compassion for the Indian tribes and an interest in their well-being, even if this interest was overshadowed, as it was, by his desire to obtain Indian land for the new nation and even though his view of Indian interests was misguided and partial.

Wallace's book traces Jefferson's early relationship with Indians beginning before the revolution when Jefferson was a land speculator in the then Western United States. He explores in detail Jefferson's writing on Indians, particularly his writing on the Indian chief Logan in his "Notes on the State of Virginia." Jefferson's partial reading of the fate of this "Noble Savage", according to Wallace, shows the ambivalent character of Jefferson's approach to the Indians.

Wallace describes in detail Jefferson the politician approaching Indian affairs in the original United States territory and in the Louisiana purchase, which doubled the size of the United States. The announced goals of the policy were peace, land cessions and civilization for the Indians. Too often, these policies became simply the means for tribal destruction and deprivation and for the removal policy, for both the southern and the northern tribes, that culminated in the administration of Andrew Jackson. (again, see the Remini book.)

There are some fascinating quotations in the book that illustrate Wallace's points that are set aside and emphasized in blocked-type and quotes. It is a good way of gaining focus. The book has a wealth of documentation and is not simply a political history. As I indicated Jefferson was a complex individual and this book shows him, focusing on Indian affairs, in all his personal and political variety.

Wallace has a clear feeling for the tragedy of the American Indian. Yet his book is balanced in tone and does not degenerate into ideological or special pleading. His opinions are stated clearly and eloquently in his introduction and conclusion and in his discussions of the events described in the text. The book has the measure of a scholar and encourages the reader to reflect for him or herself on the record.

There are those who are skeptical of the public's recent interest in American History, as shown by the success of McCollough's John Adams as well as other popular historical works, on grounds that it is a new attempt to promote American exceptionalism and to avoid considering the tragedies of our past. I disagree. I think, this interest in history shows a renewed love and interest in our country with no desire to minimize its failings. Wallace's book to me shows both love of our country and a sense of one of its major tragedies.

I felt that this was an excellent book on Thomas Jefferson's views toward the native people of North America. It illuminated many parts of his feelings toward native people and their place in the "American Republic." I felt that it also raised many questions about his participation in early land speculation with Henry, Washington, and Franklin as well as his role in the eventual displacement of native people. Anyone interested in early colonial policy toward natives will surely love this book.

Part of the Jeffersonian fascination involves the many facets, ambiguities and paradoxes he presents: the libertarian who owned slaves; the budget-slashing, small-government advocate who was a personal spendthrift, perpetually teetering at the brink of financial ruin; the shy and ineffective public speaker who was one of the most ruthless and scheming of backroom political operatives; the reclusive scholar and intellectual who spent two hours a day on horseback, and apparently indulged surreptitious passions in the slave quarters. Professor Wallace gives us a little known side of Jefferson: the student of Native American culture, history and language, who took quite deliberate measures to destroy them. Jefferson, who apparently was sincerely fascinated with the Indians, and sympathetic to their plight as they vanished under the burdens of disease, debt, whiskey and the murderous encroachments of frontiersmen, did little to protect them and their way of life, which was incompatible with Jefferson's expansionist, egalitarian vision of a nation of white protestant yeoman farmers. At best, Jefferson hoped that the Indians could be assimilated into white society, as were the Cherokee before Jefferson's successors allowed them to be dispossessed. A fascinating book with some great sidelights (for example, I had no idea that Siouxian tribes at one time lived in Virginia).

Little Bean wants daddy to read her a book. However, daddy is busy preparing for, and going on, a trip for work. Little Bean is determined to stay busy while daddy is gone. While they are apart, they cannot help but think about each other. And after daddy gets home, they get busy together reading. - I think this book helps children understand that though dad may go to work, he doesn't stop thinking about or loving them. It is a very simply written story and does not take long to read.

My mother-in-law bought this book for my older daughter when she was three because my husband travels frequently for work and she was struggling with his absence. Years later, my younger daughter who is two and having trouble with his travelling asks to read it over and over again. What a great story to empower children to be "busy" when daddy is!

Little Bean is going to be a gift to my 5-year old cousin, Colleen, whose nickname since birth has been "Bean". She is just as busy, as is her dad, as the characters in the story and I know this book will have a special place in their reading time when they do find a few minutes together. Anyone who has children, whether a working parent or not, will find themselves in the "not always available" father role sometimes. This book captures that feeling superbly.

Little Bean books have charmed the socks off of me and my two-year old daughter who identifies with Bean. Bean does many of the same things my daughter does daily and her Daddy works on the computer and reads her books. The book's pictures are lovely but simple. The story is complicated enough to move my daughter up from the pictures-only books but still keep her interest from cover to cover. Only two wishes: more Little Bean books and, please, show her mom too!

My almost 2 yr old daughter simply loves Little Bean. I checked out the Little Bean & friend, and the Little Bean's Holiday from the library. She has asked for the books every night before bedtime. I have extended the library books 2x already and decided it's time to buy them.

thanks for the great books, Mr. Wallace

Poorly prepared, two friends, and their half-indian manservant "George", decide to travel deep in to the interior of Labrador. The hardship they endure and the hard choices they make are a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit. This book gives great insight into what life was like in eastern Canada at the turn of this century.

A deeply moving misadventure. In getting lost, these three men discovered the soul of Labrador as well as the true meaning of friendship and survival. This book is a classic.

I have read this book several times, and would recomend it to anyone that enjoys an adventure story. I enjoy it even more than most as Leonidas Hubbard was my grandfathers first cousin.This book has been almost required reading in our family,(Hubbard).I hope the publisher will reprint it as we have many family members looking for a copy of the book.

I have read a lot of teen adventure books. I recently read this one while I was on a rugged boys canoe camp trip. We went on a 7 week trip with 12 men to labrador. I purchased this book because it was nonfiction and it was saying how these 3 brave, adventurous men took a trip similar to the area i'll be going to. It talked about how mothernature just (threre's really no word for it but...)Destroys these people and they fight back with courage and hope in succeeding this raw adventure. The three in progress of there adventure take care of eachother and keep eachother alive nad in this doing they become better than great friends almost brothers. I really don't want to ruin the book for you, but i suggest so strongly that you get a copy of this book, and oh yea the beginning of the book really is boring because it tells you of how they got to labrador in 1902 (they didn't have cars).

I cannot say enough about the content and the form of this book. It beautifully informs the reader not only of the enthusiasm of two would-be wilderness pioneers, but also of the errors they did not know they had made along the way to a tragic end. I get the feeling that the author, who wrote the book (according to the introduction) as a tribute to his lost mate, never overlooks or overplays any of the events that took place in the then-unchartered terrain of eastern Laborador. The author also makes plain that the voyage ended his youthful naivete by teaching him the necessity of respecting the natural world and of remembering our loves who slowly but surely disappear from our lives.

In short, Lure Of the Laborador Wild, despite its drab title, is an engrossing work. It is quiet, clearly written and, in a matter-of-fact way, terrifying. It towers far above all other nonfiction adventure books I have read over the past ten years.

As other reviewers have pointed out, Marie Wallace is best known for her two years on the spooky soap opera Dark Shadows.But her career, and her life, encompass so much more.For decades, Marie Wallace was a working actress, appearing on television, and in scores of theatre productions, including eight stints on Broadway.Her credits are impressive, and she has worked with many theatre greats. In her new book, On Stage And In Shadows, she invites her readers to figuratively join her for a cup of coffee while she tells of her childhood in New York City, her early days as a model, and her wonderful adventures in show business.In sharing her memories, Marie Wallace not only regales us with stories about Ethel Merman, Jimmy Durante, Jackie Gleason, Bob Fosse, and her dear friend Ruth Buzzi, she educates us on the hard work it takes to succeed and do good work in the often cuthroat world of New York theatre.The book, like it's author, is a charming delight!On a personal note, I'd like to say that, after having met and talked to Marie Wallace at numerous Dark Shadows conventions, her charm is no act!Marie Wallace in person is every bit as warm and delightful as she is on the printed page.Bravo!!!!!!!

Many know Ms .Wallace from her time on the classic cult soap opera, Dark Shadows. While a fascinating and integral part of Wallace's career, Dark Shadows is simply a small thread in a very large and impressive tapestry of work and I might add, an enviable career on the stage and screen .

Those hoping to read about Ms. Wallace's days in the strange and supernatural world of Collinsport, Maine won't be disappointed. The actress offers up wonderful stories of her time on the spooky soap. Even more fascinating is a look back at her time on the Great White Way working opposite and along side luminaries such as Ethel Merman, Gwen Verdon and Bert Lahr.

More then anything else I love this book because it so purely conversational. Every moment is told so vividly and with such great detail, without ever once lagging or boring the reader. I honestly felt as though this lady had pulled up a chair next to me and was just shooting the breeze. The book also chronicles a Manhattan and a Broadway we'll never see again . I found one very important sentiment Marie makes through out her personal story . Something anyone in any profession or walk of life should keep in mind: take chances, keep moving on, don't be afraid to venture down a new path!

Marie Wallace: Actress, Photographer, Raconteur!

Theater and TV lovers will enjoy this career memoir of actress and photographer Marie Wallace even if unfamiliar with her work. I happen to be familiar with her stage and TV career so I loved the book all the more. Ms. Wallace has worked with many performers and directors, some of the better known performers being Jackie Gleason, Ruth Buzzi, Ethel Merman, Gwen Vernon just to name a few and her insights into the business itself is as interesting to read as her recollections of the cast and productions.

As an actor and acting teacher, I recommend this book for those new to the business as Ms. Wallace offers advice and opinions about how things were done when she first started out and how they work now. Ms. Wallace's memoir is a fascinating read for anyone who loves the business and fun of showbusiness.

This book was a delightful read. Written in an easy-going and friendly style, Marie keeps the reader hooked with her career progression throughout the years. She shows how a positive outlook and energetic approach to life have benefitted her both her life and career.

In addition, her stories about each of the shows she was in are engaging and fun to read about, from her descriptions of other actors, some well-known, some known well only in theatre, to her take on each of the characters she played. It was good to see how much she has enjoyed her career as an actor and later as a photographer.

A warm and charming person herself, Marie Wallace earned with hard work the accolades she received in her shows and still receives when she encounters her fans. What a treat to get to read about her life and career.

"On Stage and in Shadows" is a joy from cover to cover, an invigorating experience that hits every note beautifully. If you're interested in how an actor/actress "makes it" against seemingly insurmountable odds, then Marie's book is for you. She candidly chronicles her truly remarkable life and career(s), from cradle to today--all the while pulling no punches and sparing no detail. I was particularly interested in "On Stage" because of my connection with "Dark Shadows," the infamous gothic soap opera that featured Marie as "Eve," "Crazy Jenny Collins," and "Megan Todd." Her fan club was the first one I joined, way back in 1969, and our eventual meeting at Hampton Playhouse on July 29th of that same year has remained a clear and nostalgic memory for me. She is both a fascinating individual and a strong-willed survivor, as you, too, will discover in "On Stage and in Shadows." Profusely illustrated, written in a personal, conversational tone, this book is one for the ages. Highest rating!

This is nature writing which deviates quietly and profoundly from the main American currents. In the 1940s, Sally Carrighar spent her summers in a cabin in Sequoia National Park. She distilled her observations into this exploration of the experiences of nine creature during a single day near the same granite cliff. The interlocking portraits are engaging and convincing. Carrighar keeps the inevitable anthropomorphization to a minimum. Her descriptions allow us to enter into the animals' sensations and impulses. A deer mouse "wanted the walls of the nook to press her all over, but however she crouched, one of her sides had no touch of shelter on it." A lizard is tempted by "a gamey, delicately tart green leafhopper." A chickaree giving an alarm call "jerked, as if he were a little bag filled to bursting with bright sound that piped out whenever the bag was jostled."

Unlike Thoreau and all his literary descendants, Carrighar does not focus on the spiritual reverberations of nature in the human soul, and she does not speak of herself. In his introduction to the California Legacy Book edition, David Rains Wallace highlights her "down-to-earth, impersonal" approach. Today's nature writers, perhaps influenced by postmodernism and multiculturalism's emphases on individual perspective, rarely attempt to enter the consciousness of other beings. Perhaps they avoid cuteness, projection, and presumption that way. They also miss a chance to help us realize that other creatures exist as hungrily as we do.

As a veteran reader of nature writing, I am embarrassed to say that I felt surprised when this book made me remember that the animals I glimpse and don't glimpse on the trail must have continuous, emotional and sensory lives. I felt like going outside to watch a bluejay for an hour. I felt that the jay wouldn't bore me and I might be able to figure out what the he was up to.

Carrighar didn't entice me with the promise of objective knowledge of a secret kingdom. Rather, she made me wonder if I could achieve a sense of home in that kingdom through intimate knowledge. Though she never describes her own process of observation, Carrighar offers herself as a teacher. With her clear, faithful gaze, she comes as close to joining the community of Beetle Rock as a human can.

I haven't finished reading this book because I don't want it to end. Each chapter takes you through the same day as the other chapters, only from the vantage point of a different animal. Most humans don't have a clue as to the life of any other species 24/7. The detail, the nuance, the empathy that Carrigher brings is stunning, without being anthropomorphic. I'm starting a book club based on this book.

Each chapter is about a day's adventure of one of the animals (Weasel, Sierra Grouse, Chickaree, Black Bear, Lizard, Coyote, Deer Mouse, Stellar Jay & Mule Deer) on the rock and surrounding forests and meadows. Sally Carrighar compresses her observations into one day and weaves a fine tale of the activities and imagined-thoughts of each animal.

This is one of my favorite books. Carrighar writes about the lives of nine animals during one day in Sequoia National Park, one chapter per animal. Each animal interacts with the world and fellow creatures in its own way, and each has its own problems and anxieties -- which creates dramatic interest. Carrighar anthropomorphizes her characters, but convincingly and unobtrusively -- how could you avoid it in a book of this type? The writing beautifully describes sounds, scents, the play of light on leaves, etc.

This book, written from the point of view of each of a series of animals living around Beetle Rock, follows the web of life and illustrates the beauty of the natural world. This is a book for anyone seeking to understand the natural world, and anyone who truly loves animals.