Williams Books

The South Carolina Coast is one of the best places. It's the south at it's best & hasn't surcumb to the Northern nonsense.

I picked this book up again yesterday having read it several years ago. I just finished a few moments ago and felt compelled to leave this review.

This book is a true delight. To those of us who have the low country in our blood, this book captures it all. I loved it even more the second time around. And even knowing about the tragedies that Mrs. Peterkin has endured I still cried. She is such a fine example of the indomitable southern woman or I guess I should say "Lady". I truly hope that one day I will have the distinct pleasure of meeting her.

My only regret is the book just ends too soon and too fast. I wish there were a sequel, I would love to know what she has been up to. And I would so dearly love a print of the watercolor that is on the front of the book.

I was not going to read this book, figuring it was yet another trivial book by a local person with famous connections (Julia Peterkin, a novelist who won a Pulitzer, was the author's mother-in-law). Was I wrong! This is one of the most riveting books I have ever read. Peterkin is a gifted storyteller with amazing stories to tell, stories that are right up there with the best fiction. I want to compare her to Flannery O'Connor, to Nabokov, to Kipling, to Dickens, to any fiction writer whose stories linger with us for the rest of our lives. Yet these powerful stories are true and open a window into recent times. Some of her stories prove that truth is stranger than fiction. They are in turns hilarious, outrageous, tragic, moving and illuminating.

Please, get this book. I don't know Peterkin but I wish I did. I picked up the book by accident and never put it down till I finished. Beg, borrow or steal it, whatever it takes to get it in your hands.

I have heard many of these stories through the years but was thrilled when I heard she was going to compile them in chronological order. I loved the way Genevieve told her life stories in a way that not only did I learn about the wonderful people in her life but the history of the area she loves so much. One of the many things I admire about Genevieve is that she lives her life and does not sit on the sidelines and continues to do so today. She has touched many hearts, mine included.

When I read Heaven Is A Beautiful Place, I felt that I was sitting on Genevieve's front porch overlooking Murrells Inlet and listening to her tell the stories. I have heard the Peterkins and Chandlers tell wonderful stories most of my life and this book truly captures their collective spirit. I finished the book at 35,000 feet over the Atlantic, but it seemed to me she was there relating the story of the loss of three of those closest to her. In spite of many adversities she has always worked to make the world a beter place.

The wartime adventures of William Rasmussen amazed me. His unflagging spirit in the face of so much adversity is inspiring.

As the ball turret gunner of Hell's Belle, a B-17, he was in the most dangerous and exposed part of the plane, a plexiglass bubble underneath the midsection. When the plane is shot down over Germany, he manages to escape from the tight space of the turret with only moments to spare.

Captured by the Germans, he, along with other members of the flight crew of the Hell's Belle, spend a month in an interrogation center and federal prison suffering hunger, the cold of winter, and deprivation. His captors want information and, though they have a begrudging respect for the fact they are American fliers, they put Rasmussen and the others through a variety of intimidating tactics and punishing activities in order to get information; no one cracks.

They are moved to Stalag B-17 and spend 15 months in squalor and under scrutiny. Rasmussen's descriptions of prison life are genuine and straightforward. He spares no details and sugar coats nothing. A forced march through Austria follows.

Two anecdotes resound for me especially. When Rasmussen is forced by his captors to withstand the cold without proper clothing or blankets, as a means of getting him to give them information, Rasmussen notes, the cold has no effect on him as he is from Cedar, Michigan, and he's used to the cold. It's a classic Man vs Nature scenario and Nature does not beat Rasmussen.

At one point, after the prisoners have dealt with a German informant, Rasmussen starts a rumor about an escape. The inmates know it is a ruse. Rasmussen starts the rumor, knowing the guards will learn of it, just to make the guards work harder and longer. His plan was a brilliantly executed nuisance for the guards.

Through the entire recounting, the courage, determination, intellect and humor of William Rasmussen, just an ordinary guy from the upper Midwest, never fail. Hell's Belle is the kind of book I did not want to put down, and yet, when I finished it, I wished there was more.

This book is very well written. While following the experiences of Bill Rasmussen, the reader comes to appreciate the courage it took to be a crew member on a B17 flying missions out of England during the war. It was a time when the equipment wasn't so high-tech and the planes flew on guts, teamwork and willpower. Surviving Stalag 17B required the same strengths. You wonder if you could be as strong in these situations. This story will make a good movie.

Hell's Belle is a captivating and extraordinary account of William Rasmussen's experience as an American flyer and POW in Nazi Germany during WWII. Dr. Randall Rasmussen has translated his father's memoirs in a way that effectively conveys to the reader the tremendous courage and spirit of these young men who endured severe hardships while serving our country. What a fine and honorable dedication to William Rasmussen. I highly recommend this book.

Hell's Belle is a captivating and extraordinary account of William Rasmussen's experience as an American flyer and POW in Nazi Germany during WWII. Dr. Randall Rasmussen has translated his father's memoirs in a way that effectively conveys to the reader the tremendous courage and spirit of these young men who endured severe hardships while serving our country. What a fine and honorable dedication to William Rasmussen. I highly recommend this book.

This is a great read. The authenticity of this story comes through on every page. At one level, it is a story of just one man, but really is a tribute to all the soldiers of WWII, and the people at home behind the war effort. The absence of spite or anger for his captors makes the story all the more powerful. I will have my teenage daughters read this book as a reminder of the sacrifices have gone into the making of America.

I liked the book because I am a history major but some parts are hard to get through. It is a classic however and is a great stepping stone to use when reviewing ancient history

Cornelius Tacitus knows perfectly what the cardinal human characteristic is: `From time immemorial, man has had an instinctive love of power.' And, `the reward for virtue was inevitable death.'
His book is a mighty illustration of the ruthless fight for the top spot: emperor. The ambitious and the wealthy fight one another without mercy. `The truth is that revolution and strife put tremendous power into the hands of evil men.' The vanquished are brutally slain.
For Tacitus, the most important factors in the power struggle are money (`money was the sinews of civil war') and control of the military (`the lesson that an army can create an emperor'). If you could `reward` your soldiers, you could win. However, the legions were not interested in war itself only in looting, plundering, raping and enslaving. `The men wanted campaign and set battles, as the prizes here were more attractive than their normal pay.' The victims were innocent peasants, women and children.
Overall, `Italy found it hard to put up with such hordes of infantry and cavalry, and with violence, financial loss and acts of lawlessness.'

While the `Annals' contain more human touch, the `Histories' are nearly completely centered on military, diplomatic and tactical manoeuvres, followed by terrifying and merciless violence after the battles (`the fury of the soldiers').

This for mankind severe and pessimistic book is a must read for all those interested in the lessons of history and for lovers of great classical literature.

Most people don't need a review of Tacitus's work. Most people want to know if a particular translation is any good. With that in mind, I recommend this Penguin edition of Kenneth Wellesley's translation. The translation itself is highly readable, and Wellesley indicates the rare instances where he emends the Latin text in footnotes. Wellesley also uses the footnotes to help the reader keep track of some of the less prominent characters in the work, a feature which is a big help for the non-specialist. Probably the best aspect of this edition is the map section at the end. The book contains 11 maps that include maps of large areas, maps of cities, and diagrams of important battles. Wellesley also refers the reader to the appropriate map through the footnotes. This review makes it sound like the book contains a lot of footnotes, but really there are usually just one or two a page. The one minor defect of the book is that the index only contains personal names. A general index would have made this user friendly book even better. But like I said, this is a great English copy of the Histories.

Every now and then a pivotal moment in history is witnessed and recorded by a master communicator. The mid-first century of Rome was such a time and Tacitus was such a communicator. The Histories will forever be a benchmark of good history with its observations on human nature and behaviour along with their impact on history. The historian will do well to read Tacitus not just for the historical lessons but for his approach to history as a record of human activity. While observing and commenting on the human element in history, Tacitus avoids making moral judgements and remains as objective as possible in the midst of turmoil, wars, and rumors of wars. His beloved nation and people were suffering under the barbarity of fratricidal war yet he remains above the madness and records the events with passion tempered with objectivity. His example is one that has remained difficult for others to follow.

A word on this translation in particular - I found Mr. Wellesley's translation very readable and poetic. He seems to have captured the literature value of the text as well as the content. Well done.

Reading Tacitus' Annals I oft remembered Thucydides' account of the Peleponnesian wars. An important theme of the latter work was the corrupting effects of prolonged war on the morals and intellect of the Athenian people, who were ultimately degraded so much that they voted the destruction of the people of a small island just because they had chosen to remain neutral. Tacitus, on the other hand, seems to have dedicated himself in this work to examining the corrupting effects of absolutism on the Roman people after the fall of the Republic. He shows how absolute power brought out the worst traits in the character of rulers like Tiberius and Nero, who grew more and more tyrannical with every year on the throne, and how members of the illustruous Roman senate and other sections of the Roman political society turned into a horde of spineless sycophants, informers and debauches. There were still a few honourable individuals, but as Tacitus shows in an endless series of judicial and non-judicial murders, most of these paid the price of sticking to the ancient traditions of liberty and honour with their lives. Tacitus also deals at length with the relations of the Romans with the subject peo-ples. I may be wrong here, but it seems to me that in such passages Tacitus draws a parallels between the fate of these enslaved peoples and that of the enslaved Roman people -the first a slave to the Romans, the second a slave to the emperor and his bureaucracy made up of ex-slaves. Many subject peoples rebelled and some like the Cherusci under Arminius (towards whom he does not seem averse at all) could successfully preserve their liberty against the in-trusion of the Romans. Those Romans who dared defy the tyrant on the other hand, and especially those who could wisely remain independent and yet stay alive, were far fewer, Tacitus seems to imply. Insofar as it demonstrates how closely liberty (including liberty of thought) and morals are intertwined, this work is still relevant today as a central work of liberal humanism.

I'd collected two novels and this collection of Wm. Gay's
before I got far enough down in my stack of books-to-read for
his work to come to the top. I Hate
to See That Evening Sun Goes Down is a marvelous collection.
All the stories are at least good, most are excellent.
I've read "The Paperhanger" three times:
once for story and twice more to learn from it.
--a fellow short story writer

I don't usually read short stories and picked this on accident but it was such a pleasent surprise! The characters are really intersting and you could really relate to them. When I read the stories, I felt like I was in their lives as opposed to just viewing them from the outside. He gives you just enough information so you can turn it in to what you want it to be. He just tells the stories without judgement. It was just a good book. You can take it at face value or really think about the stories and get your mind around the symbolism. The only thing I didn't like was that the author did not use quotation marks but other than that it was excellent.

I doubt anyone will read this review, since I noticed the last written reviews of this book were submitted several years ago -- a testament to how little this beautiful collection of short stories has been read. That is truly unfortunate, since these stories are each painfully beautiful. The Tennessee counstyside is William Gay's locale of choice and in each story it plays a role, its woods always present, mysterious, sometimes frightening. Gay sets the scene to match the tone of each tale, and it is usually grim at best. However, the stories and their characters have a rough-edged beauty all their own. Ironic and often sublimely tragic, these stories bare the dark underside of human nature. The title story, "I Hate to See the Evening Sun Go Down," has darkly comic elements and is the only story that made me laugh, even while its protagonist stubbornly continues to fight in the face of inevitable defeat. In other stories, like "A Death in the Woods" and "The Paperhanger," life deals tragic blows to the characters who manage to survive in ways that are not always admirable, but survive they do, nonetheless. And often, as with the protagonist in "The Man Who Knew Dylan," they simply drive away, often leaving behind, with their problems, their responsibilities as well -- responsibilities often for heinous acts. Gay's language is clean and crisp, befitting the starkness of the themes of the stories. A lovely collection, even if it is tough to take, at times.

I'd give eleven of these thirteen short stories an A+, the remaining two, a B+. This is a good a collection of short stories as you'll find. It's no wonder that the critics have nothing but praise for Mr. Gay. Many of the characters are similar. Alhough they are told in the third-person, the stories belong to the menfolks. They are tough, quiet, often angry and capable of violence at the slightest provocation. (In "Crossroads Blues," the character Borum, in describing how he shot his wife and his brother when he found them in bed together says, "You need to know what a man's capable of.") Sometimes they are the victims of their own inaction until it is too late to extricate themselves from the dilemmas they find themselves, and they do something horrific. They often have difficulties with women, ever seeking the elusive female in their lives. In some stories there is conflict between children and older parents. There are murders, accidental killings, suicides, accidental deaths-- and divorces, infidelities, teenage pregnancies and abortions, cancer and Alzheimer's. These characters inhabit, at least some of them, a place called Ackerman Field, somewhere near Nashville, Tenneseee where there is still a "high sheriff." They listen to George Jones, the Carter Family and Jimmie Rogers. But these characters certainly are not freaks and are ultimately very sympathetic. I have known some of these men; they are strong as oak trees.

According to biographical information on Mr. Gay, he is largely self-taught and is a voracious reader. A seventh grade teacher gave him a copy of Thomas Wolfe's LOOK HOMEWARD ANGEL; and the rest is, as they say, history. Like Wolfe, sometimes Mr. Gay's prose gets a little too ornate; for the most part, however, he's a joy to read. Mr. Gay is a great lover of similes and metaphors; they often work beautifully. Windows are "stoned by double-dared boys." A man views his naked, sleeping wife "in the filigreed moonlight at once real yet as remote and lost as a dusty nude study stacked in a museum's forgotten corner." A room in a funeral home is "a cozy paneled vestibule just one door removed from eternity."

This is probably sparrows screeching at eagles but I believe the term is "jerry-rigged" (p. 120) rather than "jury-rigged." But then, even Homer nodded.

These are quite fantastic stories.

Particular favorites are the title story, "Sugarbaby", "Closure and Roadkill on the Life's Highway" and "The Paperhanger". But after a while the variations on the "violent men and their bad women" or the occassional "violent woman and her bad man" can become a bit repetitive. Like Cormac McCarthy, William Gay seems to have a sense of fatality about life, where people are inexorably drawn down their paths by something within their natures and violence is always threatening under the surface. Also like Mr. McCarthy, Gay seems to share an aversion to quotation marks being used to denote speech. Must be a southerner thing. While some archetypes do keep popping up over and over again, (Proud men whose pride leads them to violence, whether defying the divorce courts,the federal government, or their own greedy children, over and over again) the oddballs really do stand out and are vibrant characters, like the Pakistani couple in "The Paperhanger", or the jaded musician in "The Man who knew Dylan" Or the aging bootlegger who can't find his hidden stash of money in "Closure and Roadkill"

Overall an impressive debut short story collection, but I'm deducting a star for repetition of theme or character type in a few too many stories.

This is a fascinating story of a travel undertaken by seven children in order to save their native Teletsia. A journey of epic proportions in which even the youngest of the seven discover hidden heroic - and humane - qualities they did not know they possessed. It is an inspiring story which stays with you months and years after you've finished it. Hard to put aside, when finishing reading it, one has the feeling of loss usually associated with having to leave trusted and loved friends. The adventures of the seven kids somehow engulf every day reality, lending it a deeper meaning and even a sense of enjoyment despite adversities. Linda Williams' book resembles Gregoire de Kalbermatten's "The Legend of Dagad Trikon" in that they both feature a revival of heroic tales (not unlike J.K.Rowlings's Harry Potter Series), and center around a collective hero - in which the virtues of feminine intuition and wisdom play a significant part.

Inside this great book I found a wonderful love story. Of the higher love. And I love love stories ! :-)
First you have to find love inside yourself. Love has to flood your heart, so that all other emotions are swept out. If your love is conquering (isn't that a contradiction?) all your fears only then you'll be able to love someone else. And the love has to flood the heart of your beloved, to remove all fears inside. So, the best you can achieve in your life is freedom of your heart!
And it's such a thriller! And I love thrillers! it's breathtaking, and made me part of the adventure, and I felt a teenager again!
if your heart is pure you can even ride a tiger and will succeed against all obstacles in the chaos of your daily life. The inncocent tigers have a subtler instinct to avoid dangers, but the STORY offers a chance of training for the readers to achieve these instincts of innocence.
the text is only black and white, as are the drawings, but the narrator upgrades everything into true colours, believe me!
Read it, you'll love it! And it's also a perfect gift!
much love, toni, austria

I enjoyed The Keys of Wisdom. The story flows smoothly and the characters are easy to relate to. A wonderful story for children and the child in all of us.

I just finished readind this book one, and it gave me such a joy, swinging with the incredible beautiful lands described among breathless adventures. I just felt as a younger again. And finally a story that teaches people of all ages the principles of the truth in such an amusing way that no one can feel bored. And if you know the reality as the Lady the book is dedicated to teaches, you'll find that this story is rather about reality than about fantasy.
Just don't miss it! And just don't miss the experience of you own Tree of Life as the author suggests!

This group of people, they have these strange adventures, but it is not something very unlikely to happen to one living in our world. There are many who will see their own portrait (or the next door's neighbour's somewhere in this book). And the basic journey the young people undertake happens to all of us. But what will happen after ? What can happen after Sasrar ?

LTC Carle Dunn has written the most comprehensive book on what the whole Vietnam War was really about. His book is a study in history with the causes and effects of policy and conflicts. "The Last Hookers" is very scholarly written but reads like a novel. I learned things about our history that I never knew happened--like how we almost got ourselves into a nuclear war over Vietnam when the French were losing the battle for Dien Bien Phu. His book gives inside information on the CIA operations that took place in Asia and we get an inside look at how policy and war are what shapes future wars and battles.

If you only could get your hands on one book about the history of the Vietnam War, this would be a good book to start with. You certainly get your money worth of information in 658 pages. The author shows his skills at putting together facts and data and connecting the dots to see the results on how it all fueled the fire for the decade's long problems in Asia.

This book is a history classic already; make sure that you get to read it.

As a Flight Engineer with the 362Avn.Co. and having served under Col. Dunn I could not be more proud. After reading The Last Hookers I can honestly say I felt pride for the job we did in Vietnam. If anyone wants to know what Vietnam was like this is the book to read.

The Last Hookers provides us with a compelling inside look into the historical facts that shaped the Vietnam War (going all the way back to the earliest events in Europe and WW II). Colonel Dunn has truly authored a comprehensive, well written and definitive war story. The story details not only the politics involved behind the scenes, but how families from all sides were affected and coped with the strain and tragedy of the war.

While this is a work of fiction the historical facts woven throughout the story really bring the characters to life. This realistic book was a thoroughly enjoyable read that gave me insights into the events leading up to and including the war itself that I had not even considered before.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is even remotely interested in the Vietnam War! You will come away with a much deeper understanding of the conflict and respect for those individuals and their families who were directly involved. Great stuff!

This is a high tech book Tom Clancy would admire. It takes the reader from battle torn Europe of WW2 to the end of America's involvement in the war in Viet Nam. Told from the French,American,and Vietnamese points of view, the reader will have insights of the war from several perspectives.Any student of history, aviation buff, or avid reader will not be able to put this one down!

Carle E. Dunn has done the hookers and anyone who is interested in what really happened in Vietnam a great service in pointing out the good and the bad, the brave and not so brave, the strife and the glory. Having "been there, done that", the book brings out the history, the fights, the family of yesteryear long buried. It should not, for our brave who have given their all should not be forgotten. This book brings it well into the fore-front.

Carle clearly separates a bad war from the good warriors who faught it. The Last Hookers suggest a much more positive view of not just the outcome of the war, but also of American morale, competence, and performance. A must read.

Ex Hooker, (Recovery)

I've been coaching Little League for five years now, and loved reading this account of Little League from about 20 years ago. The stereotypical depictions of coaches that Geist uses are still dead-on accurate, as are his descriptions of how bad the catching equipment is, and how to hide a bad ballplayer that you have to play in the infield. This is a priceless look at Little League ball that anyone who has ever coached should enjoy.

There are lots of laughs to be had, and you'll find yourself sharing parts with other coaches you know.

I am sure the book is great-the book was purchased for a gift.

I do a ton of reading and just went back and re-read this book. This is probably my favorite all-time book. This book has to be the funniest one I've ever read. Geist is not only a gifted writer, he tweaks all the right people and no irony goes unnoticed.

The humorist columnist Bill Geist had many years of experience coaching his son's little league baseball and kids basketball and his daughter's softball team. He relates his experiences with his usual wit, sarcasm and humor. The book focuses on a particular season of little league baseball where he was able to work with his son Willie's team and actually win the league championship by upsetting Knavery's team in the final game of the season. The tale tells how he bends the rules (though not as much as some other) in a way that still allows the weak players to have fun and yet stay competitive. There is a large degree of truth to the various caricatures of players, coaches and parents that he presents in this tale. But some of the stories are so incredible and it seems like fiction is mixed with reality but clearly it is based on real experience. I relate to many of the issues he brings out. ...
In the epologue Geist confesses that he want his son Willie to be a star player but was satisfied that he made the high school varisty teams. In the end no matter how good or bad they are in little league they all eventually stop playing to do other things that interest them more or they find to have more success and rewards.

To illustrate the humor in the final game losing 12-4 Geist gives the kids sugar treats to pick up their energy. A rally starts but thinking ahead with the worst hitter Monique likely to come up with two outs, Geist gets a 40 ounce drink and gets her to leave on a bathroom break. ... This book has short easy to read chapters and integrates Geist's softball and basketball experiences in the theme of the little league season whereas Dunow had long chapters going back and forth from little league with his son to his childhood experiences with his father. Both books are good in their own way. But this one is much easier to read and more light hearted.

At least, I'm half of Mean Gene Huffman. Gene Ret and I were conglomerated into one large, gawky intimidating Little Leaguer. Who was the more large, gawky, and intimidating is one of the great debates of our time.

Great story. I never knew my drunken high school antics were witnessed by Bill Geist until I got to the end of the book. Geist saw me crash through his bushes and play some sloppy basketball with his son and friends for a few minutes while reminiscing about the old Little League days. And, he parlayed my mishap into a convenient parable on lost youth to wrap up his story.

Well, he's just lucky they were playing basketball that night and I wasn't trying to unload my ferocious fastball or swing a bat. Stay young, eat flax, and long live the glory days of Little League.

The book "Molly's Pilgrim" by Barbara Cohen is about a girl named Molly. It is her first Thanksgiving and she founds out that she really doesn't have anything to be thankful for. Her classmates really make fun of her because of her unfamiliarity with American ways.
Then when it comes to doing a project Molly gets embarassed because her mom helps with the project. She helps by making a little doll that looked more like a Russian girl than a pilgrim. But she explains thatthe doll her mom did was because she tried to explain that her mom is a pilgrim because she came for freedom to worshiip god as her own way.

Barbara Cohen understands ESL students like no other author ever has! In "Molly's Pilgrim" she describes the pain of a Russian Jewish immigrant in her American school in Winter Hill. Molly is mocked and ridiculed by the most popular girl in Miss Stickley's class, and Molly's "limitations" are made even more evident because Molly and her mother don't understand Thanksgiving from the viewpoint of American culture. The assignment is to design a clothespin doll to look like a pilgrim woman, but Molly's mother designs the doll to look like a Russian immigrant girl. In the process, the class learns that pilgrims did not stop coming to America for religious freedom in the 1600s. Molly's family are pilgrims too!

Equally important to my ESL classes is Barbara Cohen's sequel: "Make a Wish, Molly", when Molly's Jewish culture conflicts with that of her classmates. Molly's parents are excited because in America they are finally free to celebrate Passover for the first time. Then Molly is invited to her first American birthday party during Passover week. That luscious pink birthday cake contains leaven! Should Molly keep the Passover, or should she enjoy her first American birthday party? The painful conflict between first and second cultures is one which every ESL student can understand. I recommend both books highly to ESL classes everywhere!

I really enjoyed reading Molly's Pilgrim. It was just the right reading level for me. It was not too hard and not too long, but it was interesting. It is about a girl who comes to a new school and is different from everyone else. It is hard for her to adjust. One of the parts that made an impression is when the teacher likes Molly's pilgrim doll best and appreciated it. I would recommend this book to girls who might get discouraged with books that are long, because even though it is not a hard book, it's really interesting. By HG.

Molly is a young, Jewish immigrant from Russia, who moves to Winter Hill where she is a black sheep among the rest of her classmates. They tease her, and call her names, making fun of her voice, and her eyes, and anything else that they could possibly think of to make fun of her. When Miss Stickley, Molly's third-grade teacher, begins teaching the class about Thanksgiving, Molly is lost. That is, until she finds that Thanksgiving is an American holiday where everyone is grateful for what they have. The problem? Molly doesn't feel thankful. In fact, the only thing that would make her thankful is if her family could move back to New York City, and that won't be happening anytime soon. When Miss Stickley informs the class that they must make pilgrim dolls, Molly is excited to do the project. But when she finds that her mother has made the doll look more like a Russian immigrant, rather than a pilgrim, Molly knows that her troubles at school are about to get worse. But maybe...just maybe, the little Pilgrim is exactly what Molly needs...

It is rare that a book as short as Barbara Cohen's MOLLY'S PILGRIM could bring out such strong emotions in the reader, but that is exactly what it did. The character of Molly is sweet, and kind, and the way she is treated at school could bring tears to anyone's eyes, even if you aren't a crier by nature. The awful songs that Molly's classmates sing about her will choke everyone up, but, at the same time, let the reader feel exactly how people who are "different" are treated. This is a wonderful story that will warm everyone's heart, and teach the whole family about the first Thanksgiving.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Molly's Pilgrim is the best book! Molly is a little Jewish girl from Russia. She doesn't like to go to school because the girls are teasing her. There are no other Jewish girls at Winter Hill and they think she looks and talks different. She wishes she could go back to Russia or even New York City. Molly had an assignment to make a clothespin Pilgrim doll. Her mom made it to look like herself-because mama sees herself as a Pilgrim from Russia. Molly thinks the doll is beautiful but is also ashamed of the doll because she doesn't think it is a real Pilgrim. She brings it to school and hides it in her desk. When Elizabeth and her friends see it, they make fun of it. Molly explains to Miss Stickly that her mother made the doll to look like her because she came from Russia for freedom just like the Pilgrims. Miss Stickly praises it and puts it in a special place on her desk. This makes Molly proud. We loved this book!!
By Mrs. Lee's 1st and 2nd Grade Red Group at Nike Elementary!

A guest at the hotel where I work part time left this book in their room. They called the front desk where I work to inquire if we found the book. We did and I told her we would send her book out to her the next day. In the meantime, since it was a slow night at the hotel, I thought I would skim through the book. Well, what I found was a priceless little gem of a book! I read the whole book in a little over an hour. Having had four chickens as pets in the past, I was interested in the subject matter. What a treat to read this book. William Grimes takes a mundane appearance of a lowly chicken in his backyard and creates a story of such interest that I couldn't put it down. I enjoyed reading about the different personalities of his cats and the interaction all of the critters had in his back yard. An unexpected but big plus was his brief history of the different varieties of chickens. As a former pet chicken owner, I know each chicken has its own personality. Mr. Grimes confirmed that fact in his book. This is just a pleasant little book about an interlude in Mr. Grimes's life. I'm buying several and passing them out to friends. I know they will enjoy this book as much as I did.

In 85 charming pages William Grimes weaves an entertaining, soul-touching and witty chicken story. It all starts when Mr. Grimes found a little black chicken in his tiny backyard in the middle of Queens. He has no idea where "The Chicken" came from. The Chicken ends up hanging out and eating with the stray cats that Mr. Grimes feeds. The Chicken ends up being a very tough girl. She survives ice, snow, low flying police helicoptors and roosting in a pine tree.

It doesn't take long for the author to become a chicken fan. Mr. Grimes is soon on a mission to learn as much as he can about his new chicken. He fixes The Chicken a make shift roost and nest box where The Chicken rewards him with delicious fresh eggs. The Chicken also provides entertainment as she chases one of the cats daily for fun. Then as quickly as The chicken appears, he disappears.

This book has a charming cover and very cute illustrations throughout. Any one who loves birds, has chickens or is considering getting them would love this great book. Another thing I love is that this book doesn't have any cursing or foul language. It would be a good gift for a preteen up to an adult. "My Fine Feathered Friend" is one that I will keep in my library for years to come.

My Fine Feathered Friend
By William Grimes
North Point Press 2002
$15 USA, $24.95 Canada
85 pages, illustrations
ISBN: 0-86547-632-2

Reviewed by Karen Davis, PhD, President of United Poultry Concerns

"I looked at the Chicken endlessly, and I wondered. What lay behind the veil of animal secrecy?"

My Fine Feathered Friend is a bittersweet tale that leaves you aching after you put the book away. In part this is because the main character, a large handsome black hen who appears mysteriously one winter day in the writer's yard in Queens, disappears as mysteriously as she arrived. This is a true story. The author, William Grimes, a restaurant critic for The New York Times, is intrigued, fascinated, and finally haunted, by this hen. He perceives her as a kind of Earth Goddess, as solid as a tree trunk, rugged, compact, able and enduring, yet elusive, vulnerable, and, ultimately, as ephemeral as a fairy princess. She vanishes when he comes to love her. He calls the hen, simply and archetypally, the Chicken.

When I first started reading My Feathered Friend, I was put off by the tone. Grimes refers to the hen for a number of pages as "it," while referring to his and his wife's cats as "hes" and "shes." His style is pat with similes and cultivated assurance. I thought, okay, Grimes wants to make sure that no one, including himself, gets emotionally involved with this chicken. He's keeping the lines drawn. But I was wrong. The story reflects his growing tenderness for the Chicken, moving through levity and wonderment to love, sorrow and loss.

The Chicken has an aura of the "familiar" in folklore, an enigmatic being regarded as both a homely acquaintance and a supernatural spirit embodied in an animal that links that animal to a particular person while retaining an inviolable otherness. Grimes's Chicken is like a visitor from another planet (exotic and ineffable) who probably escaped from the local poultry market in Queens (squalid and local). She is a hero and a survivor -- "a brave little refugee"-- who flouts false stereotypes about chickens. "I'd look out back and see a cat chasing the Chicken across the yard," Grimes writes. "Ten minutes later I'd see the Chicken chasing a cat." She is at once endearingly personal and profoundly impersonal. She has her own projects. She is self-possessed. She projects an arch authority, like the author himself. She dominates Grimes's yard, his cats, and his consciousness. She is, he confesses protectively, "a hard read."

The Chicken tracks through the universe by way of a residential patch of earth -- a "pocket paradise" reclaimed from a "wasteland of weeds" in New York City. She captures the eye of a beholder who becomes a Witness driven to Inscribe Her Being. Grimes attempts to fit what he "knows" about chickens (he eats them and makes his living writing about them as food; otherwise he says "the humble chicken was foreign to me") with his deepening perception of, identification with, and ultimate yearning and mourning over this particular hen. She moves him. He is affected by her "air of mystery," her "appetite for play," her "brilliant evasive maneuvers," her "genuine courage," her "character," her "willful high-spirit," her evocation of what the poet William Wordsworth inestimably versed as "something ever more about to be."

Grimes reads up on chickens, passing on to us pieces of information (some accurate, some not) about Gallus domesticus in folklore, history, and poultry manuals, as a backdrop to, an explanation of, the Chicken, a creature so definite, and infinite, so solid and numinous, she eludes classification. He muses:

"Was it pure coincidence that she liked to sneak up on Yowzer, the cat most likely to develop a nervous twitch when caught unawares? Time after time I saw the Chicken trot up delicately when Yowzer had his back turned, squawk a couple of times, and then watch as the cat leaped a couple of vertical feet. The Chicken, after a successful ambush, would run off jauntily, with a cackle that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle."

At other times, "I'd see Bruiser and Crusher snoozing in the basket, Yowzer draped along a nearby wooden bench, and the dark, shapeless form of Midnight filling out the sagging seat of an old sea grass chair we had bought for a couple of dollars at a yard sale. And in the midst of the group, perfectly content, sat the Chicken. It was a heartwarming sight."

One night a police helicopter hovers over the yard, causing the pine tree in which the Chicken is roosting to sway violently under a wind of hurricane force. "Somewhere, deep in the branches," Grimes writes, "the Chicken was holding on for dear life. I couldn't begin to imagine what was going through her tiny mind. By now, I figured, she had either suffered a fatal heart attack or had been dashed to the ground. But no. The next morning, amid wreckage out of Apocalypse Now, the Chicken reappeared, brimful of vim and vigor."

But one spring day, the Chicken is gone. She does not return. Grimes and his wife Nancy look everywhere. They wrack their brains trying to remember if there were any behavioral signs they failed to notice. "The previous afternoon I had watched her resting comfortably in her nest beneath the pine tree," Grimes writes. "I searched for signs of violence but did not find any. The only trace of the Chicken was a single black feather near the back door. The Chicken was definitely, profoundly missing."

It is hard reading the final pages of this book. The depression Grimes describes is not roguish but real, though he tries to make light. "We had grown to love the Chicken," he says. We believe him: so had we. "She really was a big presence in the backyard," Nancy sighs. You go back to the book cover and study the jet black sweet bird face with its rosy comb and pert expression, framed in an oval mirror. If you know chickens, you know the look of that bright round eye, so attentive yet pensive.

My Feathered Friend is like an exquisite blade sliced across your bowels in the midst of a light-hearted romp that won't heal. The book ends with unappeased longing and unsettled questions (unhappy questions on many levels), not "closure," nor should it. Though Grimes says the story is "at an end, at least for us," still, he wonders and hopes, maybe the Chicken will come back. Maybe she's on a journey. He bought things for her. He and Nancy wait for her. They keep a light in the window. Maybe he'll wake up one morning, look out the window, and see "a large feathered form bustling around the patio, scattering cat food and clucking."

But for now, as Alice Walker said about a horse named Blue, in her excruciating essay, "Am I Blue,"* let us not let the animals whom we piercingly perceive become for us merely "images" of what they once so beautifully expressed and are. The Chicken is every chicken. One like no other. Take the next step.


*In Living By the Word: Selected Writings 1973-1987. This book of Walker's essays also includes "Why Did the Balinese Chicken Cross the Road?" ("[T]o try to get both of us to the other side.")
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Karen Davis, PhD, is the founder and President of United Poultry Concerns, a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl (www.upc-online.org). She is the author of Prisoned Chickens, Poisoned Eggs: An Inside Look at the Modern Poultry Industry; A Home for Henny; Instead of Chicken, Instead of Turkey: A Poultryless "Poultry" Potpourri"; More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality (Lantern Books, 2001); and The Holocaust and the Henmaid's Tale: A Case for Comparing Atrocities (Lantern Books, 2005).

I ran across this book at the library looking for substantive books on chickens--the cute cover caught my eye. This is a very entertaining and enjoyable read!

I'd recommend this book as one you'll finish quickly, share with a friend or two, and want to read again yourself one day.

A poignantly told memoir of a season spent in the company of a somewhat bohemian chicken. I gave a copy of this book to my vet after we tried for several months to save the life of one of my pet chickens. She hadn't much experience with chickens, more so with the fanicier hookbills often found in one's the parlor, so I wanted her to know what it was like to know a chicken on a more personal level. The author accomplishes this very well, sharing valuable chicken lore with his affectionate and often respectful look at the life of a chicken and life from The Chicken's point of view.

Thorough. Amazingly thorough, really. That was what I came away thinking after I'd finished the final page of Riki Ott's Not One Drop. But it was also more than that.

I'd learned a lot during the course of the book. Ott is an enthusiastic teacher, and an educated one, and brings the reader step-by-step through the ecosystem of the Prince William Sound, then through the actual mechanics of the oil spill, with its effects both short and long-term. But then Ott goes further and begins addressing the human cost of the spill, and how it devastated a community as well as an ecosystem.

Ott presents the legal battle against Exxon, the political cronyism that took place, and given all that she witnessed I would've expected her to be a lot grimmer. But ultimately Ott gained hope from the way that the community pulled together. This was a great piece of non-fiction - educational, timely, and deeply important.

Interesting and informative info that conjures up this great book. Mostly those who are into environmental issue will swing to this. Not to be over looked.

Review of "Not One Drop"

Survivors of catastrophe share a common experience. After a sympathetic glance, sincere expression of condolences, and attempts to help, the world moves on, as it must, but those who have suffered stay on, confronted daily with their loss, their lives disrupted and forever changed. Victims of 9/11, Katrina, Chernobyl, Bhopal, the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the myriads of smaller, more personal tragedies they spawned, do not achieve "closure" as pop psychology terms it. They live out their lives as best they can amid the remnants of disaster.

Riki Ott's Not One Drop reminds us of the story of the Exxon-Valdez oil spill of 1989 and the devastating effects it wrought. She is uniquely and superbly qualified to tell this story: she holds a Ph.D. in marine pollution, ran a fishing boat in Alaska with her husband, is a long-time environmental activist, took a significant role in the aftermath of the spill, and writes lovingly of the beauties of Alaska.

The title of this book by a "fisherma'm" comes from a promise made to Senator Ted Stevens by oil companies that not one drop of oil would ever pollute Alaskan waters--a promise hollowed out and all but abandoned long before the famous spill. Even now the enormity of the damage done by the inebriated, Captain Hazelwood, who ran his tanker aground, is hard to fully comprehend, but even harder to accept is the duplicity of oil company scientists and corporate executives and government officials in substituting public relations efforts for an honest effort to clean up the spill and repair the damage. The final insult to the citizens of Cordova, Alaska and all the fishermen who suffered from the spill was the Supreme Court decision of June 25, 2008, reducing Exxon's punitive damages to $507 million--about half a week's profit for Exxon-Mobil in the last quarter.

The significance of this excellent, well-documented, and thought provoking study goes beyond the damage to the Alaskan environment and its fishing industry to the undermining of our very form of government. Riki Ott poses a question near the end of her book that drives right to the heart of American democracy: "How had corporations grown so big that they could no longer be held accountable to the people?"

That question has new resonance as the American public is saddled with the bailout of AIG and other financial corporations "too big to fail." Not only are large corporations not accountable to the people for the damage they do, now the people are held accountable to the culpable corporations.

An important and timely book. Don't miss it.

Having read quite a few books focusing on various disasters in this nation during the past century it certainly comes as no surprise to me that nearly two decades after the calamity in Prince William Sound the people of Cordova, Alaska have yet to be made whole. In my reading I consistantly found that the investigation of these events is more often than not perverted by corporate collusion, broken promises, curious judicial rulings and paid off politicians. It seems that the rich and powerful will resort to any means at their disposal to avoid taking responsibility for their greed, negligence and stupidity. "Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill" is the gut-wrenching story of lost livelihoods, broken families, shattered dreams and a spoiled environment. Author Riki Ott visited Cordova just a few short years before the spill, fell in love with the place and decided to make this town her permanent home. Riki had a PhD in marine biology and was a commerical fisherman to boot. As such, she is someone uniquely qualified to tell the sorry story of the Exxon Valdez tragedy. She knew the right questions to ask and was painfully aware of the likely consequences of the massive oil spill. What has happened to the people of Cordova and the surrounding area will more than likely anger and sadden you.
Oddly enough, as the Exxon Valdez set sail with a full load of crude on the evening of March 23, 1989, Riki Ott was addressing a group of Valdez residents on what would happen should a major spill ever occur. As a matter of fact, Riki put it this way to her audience "Gentlemen, it's not if, it's when." It was not more than an hour or two later that the environmental nightmare that would forever change Prince William Sound would begin. The evidence clearly indicates that Captain Joseph Hazelwood was legally intoxicated when the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef tearing a huge hole in the hull. Official estimates were that more than 11,000,000 gallons of crude leaked into the Sound that night though Riki Ott has reason to believe that the actual amount was closer to 38,000,000 gallons. Response to the disaster from the oil companies was painfully slow and inadequate further exacerbating an already monumental problem. Many of the tools that had been promised by the oil companies to help fight such spills were not available, the victim of reckless and ill-advised cost saving measures by these companies. And it goes without saying that had the Exxon Valdez been a double-hulled tanker the scope of this disaster would have been reduced considerably. The damage done to the environment and to all manner of wildlife was incalculable. Riki Ott saw it all firsthand. Her accounts of the response to this tragedy and the effects on her community are riveting.
In the immediate aftermath, Exxon promised the people of Cordova that they would be made whole. They lied. No one in Cordova could possibly have been prepared for the epic battle for justice that would occur over the next 20 years. Riki Ott was on the scene every step of the way and reports on the tactics employed by the oil companies, state and federal government, the courts and of course the victims. It quickly becomes apparent whose side most of our esteemed government officials are on. Riki Ott also spends a considerable amount of time driving home the point that the oil spill science funded by the oil companies is largely junk science and is not to be trusted. Perhaps one of the most salient points made in "Not One Drop" is that evidence amassed by trauma experts clearly indicates that disasters caused by so-called "acts of God" such as earthquakes, floods and tornadoes affect people much differently in the long run than such man-made disasters as dam failures, oil spills and nuclear accidents. My reading over the years would tend to confirm this. As Riki points out "natural disasters brought people together in crisis, while man-made disasters tore communities apart." Now nearly two decades later the people of Cordova struggle mightily to put their lives and their community back together again.
In my view "Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage In The Wake of the Exxon Valdez Spill" is an exceptionally well written and extremely important book. The author has been an eyewitness to all of these events over the years and as such brings a totally unique perspective in reporting on these enduring issues. The litigation goes on. Sadly, some 19 years later more than 6000 of the original litigants in the Exxon Valdez case have passed on. Contrary to what Exxon will tell you Prince William Sound still has not recovered. The herring have never returned. Events have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that procrastination and endless legal maneuvering by Exxon did pay off for them. I guess it was ever thus. If you ever wondered about the aftermath of the Exxon Valdez oil spill then "Not One Drop" is the book you want to read. And where did Riki Ott come up with the title for her book? Alaska Senator Ted Stevens once promised the concerned citizens of Cordova that "Not One Drop" of oil would ever pollute Prince William Sound. Nuff said? Highly recommended!

Corporations take the bottom-line and profits VERY seriously. But not much else. Not people, communities, livelihoods, responsibility, ecosystems, and certainly not the truth. Not is the sad tale that you are told in this book.

This is an undeniably powerful first hand account of the Exxon Valdez tragedy. The author, Dr. Ott is in many ways the spiritual and scientific successor to Rachel Carson. Before the Valdez tragedy, Exxon did everything in its power to weaken laws, weaken emergency response, and weaken protections in the way it ran its shipping operations. All in efforts to make a bit more profit. Following the spill, Exxon did everything in its power to mislead the public, publish intentionally scientifically flawed studies, and harass and intimidate people working for Alaskan communities like Dr. Ott. Exxon, I am sure, gambled, and as it turned out gambled correctly that doing little to prevent a spill while making more profits would add much more to the bottom-line then damages they would be forced to pay after a spill. It was more profitable to threaten and destroy an entire ecosystem and entire communities than act in even a minimum way as a corporate citizen.

The Supreme Court decision to take a $5 billion dollar settlement, which Exxon barely would have felt, to around $500 million dollars has left many families and communities that have lived through 20 years of hurt and pain and suffering without the resources to continue their struggle.

That is the story that is told. I am giving 4 stars because the book's prose drifts into way too many eddies and currents that do little to move it forward in the early and middle chapters and just bog the reader down with more names and studies and political maneuvering. It is also not until the end of the book that we get graphs and tables that tell a thousand words. These could have been used much earlier. And while Dr. Ott may be the spiritual and scientific successor of Aldo Leopold and Dr. Carson she is not nearly the writers they are. But few if any scientists are.

Dr. Ott's book and more importantly her life and work and those of her allies and the people of Cordova Alaska ultimately serve as hope for the future. They FOUGHT one of the most massive corporations in the world. They did get their story out, they did get their science out, they did not remain passive victims. Of course the shameful Supreme Court justices did take the money away that the communities deserved and needed but they did not take away the fight, they have not wiped away the lessons learned. We Americans must demand corporations start accounting for their environmental risks and spending money now to reduce them rather than making the calculation that they will never be forced to pay up after the fact. And maybe it is time that Supreme Court justices have a set term. Because the current system, is not in fact, doing anything to insulate the justices from politics. It is certainly doing nothing to serve justice.