Carnegie Mellon University Books

The book showed up in a timely fashion and was brand new, just like it said online.

Terrance Hayes is a name you will see again. I promise you.

An earlier edition of this book came into my hands shortly after I worked with this wonderful poet at a seminar for younger poets. A wonderful first collection. So human it hurts. Get it now that it's back in print!

I just had the pleasure of seeing and hearing Terrance Hayes read at the University of Idaho. He was nervous, I think, and the room was big and strange, but this young man can write. He can really write. The new book--HIP LOGIC--is going to be terrific, and I'll bet each book that comes after will be better yet. A really splendid new talent.

I first became familiar with Mr. Hayes' work, when i saw his poem "Blackbird" in a 1995 double issue of ObsidianII: Black Literature In Review. It appeared opposite a poem I publshed in the journal. Every poem in Muscular Music, is a snapshot about African American life, and sings a song of america: "Late," "Goliath," "Something For Marvin," "Blackbird," "The Yummy Suite," " What I am..." The Black experience is all in here... I was laughing my ass off at " I want to be fat" and I'm a big guy.Expect Terrence Hayes to be a major poet in the literary canon.

Terrance Hayes has written a book where the poems have bite. These poems are hard-hitting, honest, sincere and yet suffused with "tenderness." "Yummy Suite" is one of the most powerful sequence of poems I have read anywhere that confront what is going on in our urban neighbourhoods today. I also loved "Late," "Goliath" and too many more to name. Here is a writer well worth getting to know. If I may riff on the Reuben Jackson quote that serves as an epilogue, Terrance Hayes' Muscular Music is a book that also "reveals itself" one splendid "black note at a time." Buy this book -- read it aloud and share it with a friend!

Diane Goodman's The Genius of Hunger gives readers ten memorable characters through ten short stories that deftly incorporate food and grocery stores to show just how much deeper our hunger can be than just for food. The women who give life to these stories are so human and memorable that they will stay with you long after putting the book down. The subtly that Goodman uses in creating these rich characters is impressive as is the range of voice that she is able to create as she brings each of these women to life on the page. These characters will bring to the verge of tears and they will make you laugh. Through these characters readers will be reminded of the frailty of human psychology and how difficult it can be to try to deal with a range of issues; these women are overweight, have a hard time relating to their children, have a hard time comprehending the loss of husbands and children, or the inability of other women to stand up for themselves, and these strive to be comfortable with themselves in the world. While these characters are all women, their struggles and stories are universal because have all hungered for something more than just nourishment through food in our lives. One of the stories does feel a bit big for its britches as it attempts to incorporate three women into the umbrella of one character, but nonetheless, this is a fantastic debut from a fine writer. It is a shame that Carnegie Mellon could not have found a better copy editor for such a fine writer, as the text is rife with typographical errors.

Diane Goodman's "The Genius of Hunger" is an easy and insightful read comprised of ten short fiction stories. This book chronicles the lives of very different yet equally intriguing women. Each woman is symbolically hungry for something more in her life. Many of these characters are hungry for a greater voice in their world, whether it is in their workplace, their romantic relationships, or their family lives. Joan is a woman who is disrespected by, yet still adores her only son. She works hard to provide for him, yet is only hurt in return. Spirit tries to rebuild her life: ending a significant relationship and relocating to Miami. These characters are so vividly realistic that we may know our own "Spirit's" or "Joan's". Goodman is a powerful writer who places details about each character so seamlessly and flawlessly that by the end of each story we feel we know every character personally. This is done effortlessly; one does not even realize how quickly we are being lead into another's life. These are everyday women with authentic actions. Goodman subtly introduces private details about each character allowing the reader to feel close to them. The only flaw in this book is that there are a surprising number of typos throughout. These mistakes may get annoying, as you may have to stop to reread a sentence for it to make sense. Other than that, I would recommend this book to anyone, especially a woman.

Goodman does an excellent job of capturing her reader's attention within the first few sentences of each story. She allows the reader into the minds of her characters, leaving us feeling as if we're going through the motions with them. Goodman's writing is character driven and extremely emotional. I believe because of this women identify with Goodman's short stories more than men, so in my opinion this book is definitely a chick book, although I do believe men could find it to be quite an enjoyable read. All the characters are women; women that possess a hunger for acceptance. This hunger takes place in a supermarket, where food is utilized as a parallel to each storyline. I say that this book is a chick book because stereotypically women fulfill their absent desires with food and although Goodman doesn't wear the reader out with this analogy, it is still evident. Goodman ropes the reader in by each character's individual hardship that they are experiencing in life. Not only does Goodman's unique style of writing intrigue the reader to know more, but it also allows us to experience each woman's trials and tribulations as if we were standing right next to them. The wide variety of women Goodman portrays alongside with the very many different occupations each holds permitted me to experience the story even more because then there would be at least one woman that I was able to identify with. The realism is magnificent! I believe this to be the best part of this collection of short stories.

These short stories give you a glimpse into the lives of such interesting people that all I can say is ... when will Diane Goodman give us a novel? You'll find these stories stay with you and the women will not only haunt you, you'll start seeing them around you!

These short stories give you a glimpse into the lives of such interesting people that all I can say is ... when will Diane Goodman give us a novel? You'll find these stories stay with you and the women will not only haunt you, you'll start seeing them around you!

One of the most provocative first collections I've ever read. This book has it all--a father who slaughters a horse because his son is killed, a young Amish boy who becomes English, and jumps the fence to do so. These stories are about hope and salvation, about dysfunction and survival. Read it. It's good. I heard this author is coming out with a collection of essays, and I can't wait to read them. I believe it will be published by Warner Books, so keep your eyes open, because I know it's going to be good.

I took creative writing with this woman and can tell you she is not only a great teacher, she's also a very talented writer. Diana Joseph's stories are humorous and sad and tell it like it is. Take her classes and read this book!!!

"The septic system man likes Leslie. He found her needy and vulnerable and sweet.
"He would mistake this for love."

So writes Diana Joseph from her story "Windows and Words," one of the many resonant stories from her debut short story collection Happy or Otherwise. With a rhythmic voice, like some surreptitious siren, each story draws you in- anyone who reads a Diana Joseph story will not mistake the magic of her sentient spells.

Happy or Otherwise is a collection of short stories, the kind that know how to open certain locked doors of emotion inside you. And when one of those doors is opened, the well of truth flowing from these stories cannot be dammed. You find yourself chanting the voice of each narrator in your head, and question certain illusions about happiness and what it means to love.

As editor of The Pathfinder Magazine, I've had the pleasure of reading and editing many short stories. Never have I read an author as funny or truthful as Diana Joseph. She has the biting humor of Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and the emotional truthfulness of Tim O'Brien.

In "Bloodlines," Tabbitha tells the story of her dead brother and of how her grief-stricken father reconciles his son's tragic death in an unthinkable way. The story sears into your mind with passages like this: "We found him sitting on a hickory stump under his deer stand, his elbows were resting on his thighs, his hands were covering his ears, he was looking at the space between his feet, and I have seen men sitting this way since-in airports and bus stops and train stations, at this very moment on the edge of my bed; men broken by bankruptcy and faithless wives and their children's hate . . ."

"Naming Stories" is about the narrator's sense of identity, something everyone questions in their lives. One day, in school, the narrator learns about genetics . . . her parents both have blue eyes, as do her brothers-she has brown eyes. "Two years pass before I mention this to my parents. It's Report Card Day, and I've failed math. I need a way to distract them. And it works."

Happy or Otherwise is a work of art. Creative writing at its finest, funniest, most gut-wrenching and truest. This collection of short stories fulfills the reader's imagination and heart. You will not be disappointed and you will find yourself re-reading these stories, Diana Joseph's unique and rhythmic voice chanting through your mind the whole time.

-John Steele
Managing Editor

Pathfinder Magazine

Diana Joseph writes with heart, wit and intelligence. Each story in this collection reads wonderfully on its own--"Schandorsky's Mother" is my favorite--and builds toward a unique collective vision of motherhood. This should be required reading for every parent. Diana finds a rare blend of metaphors to access those painful struggles and exhilarating joys that make child rearing such a punch drunk experience. This is so good in so many ways.

This is a beautiful book of stories, each of which made my heart ache. Diana Joseph writes as if she's in love with each of her characters, even the not-so-nice ones; her sentences are soft and true. There wasn't a story in this collection that I didn't like, but my favorite is "Sick Child," if only because it has no business being a story: it's about a single mom with a sick son, and nothing really happens, except the kid coughs and the mother thinks. But it's lovely, and completely authentic.

It begins, "She'll remember this as a friendlier time: he's coughing, but only because he can't not cough. His cough is a barking seal; it's a clogged drain. It's her name in the middle of the night. As tempting as it may be to ignore him, to put a pillow over her head, to pull the comforter over her face, to close her eyes and count to ten in every language she knows--English, Japanese, Pig Latin--he'll still cough; she'll still hear him."

As the story continues, she remembers other times when her son was sick or injured, and times when she was, as a girl. She remembers an incident when her son was outside and came in with a wound near his eye that required stitches. She remembers the reactions other people in her life--the doctor, her parents, her ex-husband (the boy's father), her lover--had to this injury, and in their reactions we perceive their characters and their influence on her. She remembers, and looks out the window, and smokes, and her son continues to cough and call out her name. She is a woman who is keeping it together, but not well, not neatly, and not to her own satisfaction. She both loves her son and is sick of hearing him cough.

At the end of the story, she remembers a trip to the bank, when her son was two; as they were waiting in line at the drive-through window, he abruptly vomited in the back seat; she couldn't decide whether to continue to make her deposit, or go home to take care of her son:
"He emitted another deep belch, then he turned his face from her. He hiccupped, he was frowning, he was trembling. She knew he wanted to cry, and if he did, it would be explosive, loud and insistent. It would fill the car.
Relax, baby, she said. You'll be okay, I promise.
He wouldn't look at her. Instead, he looked out the window. As she soothed him, he continued to stare sadly out the window, and in his profile--his forehead wrinkled, his brow furrowed, his bottom lip quivering--she could see what he'd become, how he'd be when he was a man with troubles beyond his control."

This passage illustrates what I love about Joseph's writing: the small details, the honesty, the eloquent and gentle sentences. She writes like a poet--with evocative imagery, efficacy of language, and as much attention to how words sound as to what they are conveying. I can't wait to read her next book.

"The Secret Names of Women" is a pure joy -- really. I've already recommended it to all four of my English classes. It's the best collection of stories I've read since Robert Olen Butler's "Tabloid Dreams." That's a hefty compliment from me. Don't let the title fool you. "Secret Names..." could and would appeal to anybody -- male or female -- who appreciates good, honest, solid, funny, smart stories. If you like to curl up with Alice Munro, Andre Dubus, and William Trevor, do yourself a favor and buy this book TODAY. You'll be glad you did.

Without a doubt, one of the best collections of short stories I've ever read. Barrett proves herself to be a virtuoso talent. Whether she's uncovering the true source of Marilyn Monroe's voice, following a team of Elvis impersonators on the road, or chronicling the personal lives of tweenage girl-band members, every word has the glint of truth -- it's as if the author has actually done all these things.

I think anyone who aspires to write short stories should read this book to learn how to construct a story in such a way its seams will be invisible. The stories are polished and perfect. Barrett is skilled at her craft, and this book leaves me wanting more.

I was really impressed by the range and depth of Ms. Barrett's stories. From a purely technical view, each story could be used as a model for writing certain kinds of stories. Aside from that, though, are the strong, interesting characters that lead the reader through the pieces.

Stories that stood out for me were Elvis Lives and Hush Money. In Elvis Lives, we follow three Elvis impersonators that signed a contract they can't get out of. I won't say anymore so as not to ruin the story, but I will say that this story won the Edgar Award for best mystery short story. Hush Money involves Marilyn Monroe and how she "found" her voice, the one that "sounds like she just finished having sex."

There are stories in this collection for all tastes, and all told with such clear mastery of the craft that we all should admire.

"The Secret Names of Women" is a pure joy -- really. I've already recommended it to all four of my English classes. It's the best collection of stories I've read since Robert Olen Butler's "Tabloid Dreams." That's a hefty compliment from me. Don't let the title fool you. "Secret Names..." could and would appeal to anybody -- male or female -- who appreciates good, honest, solid, funny, smart stories. If you like to curl up with Alice Munro, Andre Dubus, and William Trevor, do yourself a favor and buy this book TODAY. You'll be glad you did.

The beginnings of each of Lynne Barrett's stories in this collection grabbed me in the gut, my place of excitement, the place where I know my truths reside. I couldn't wait to complete the stories.

As I read each piece, my feelings rose out of my guts, twirled around in my head, and then descended, much like the trajectory of the fireworks that are part of the July 4th celebration in the background of "Macy Is The Other Woman." I experienced delight, surprise, and then dismay at losing the characters when the stories ended.

Rationing the stories (no more than one per day as I commuted to and from work) helped a lot, stretching out the experience. I read slowly, savoring each piece. The women in this collection reminded me of women I have known, women I have wanted to know, and women I have been nervous to get to know. I'm glad for the opportunity to have visited with them all through this collection.

The variety of worlds and realities written about in contemporary fiction are often exciting, extraordinary, and out of this world. Pages in today's fiction share a common theme, portraying and spurring on characters that are larger than life, characters that are out of this world. As readers we follow the story from chapter to chapter with the anticipation and realization of how every instance of drama is continued or concluded. We gnaw our own knuckles hoping true love is created, or dispersed. Sometimes it's true evil we watch out for, sometimes goodness or wholesomeness. Often it seems like it is the writer's job and duty to create super-real scenarios that the writer's audience can munch on. Readers often begin to represent hyenas munching on the flesh and bone of a prey-like book. We eat words rarely understanding our addiction to action and drama that is blown out of proportion to everyday life. Yet this is not so with Ted Delaney's The Drowning and Other Stories.
In this collection of short stories, Delaney reminds us of the real world. The real world is the world that is slower, quieter, humbler, and grimmer. The real world is most often about day-by-day existence where the smallest, most taken-for granted things are often the most important. Delaney is able to present the life inside his stories with an alternative, far less glamorous style. Delaney fortunately does not appear to be pushing buttons in response to mainstream literature, nor is he trying to be boring or dull. He is instead attempting to present the style of the ultimate realist writer by portraying life through an objective lens. The lens hovering above the people in Delaney's stories is a lens that bellows like a fog horn. It is a call to the reader, heralding desensitization. Delaney's work, however, comes with the cost of dragging the reader excitedly into his work.
Objectification should not come as a surprise when regarding Delaney's work. Having written for innumerous newspapers and magazines, Delaney carries the true spirit of the journalist. Some journalists focus on sensationalism, but Delaney carries a stern, matter-of-fact voice. Delaney's voice cuts deep into the fleshy substance that makes up reality. He has taken his background as a journalist and transferred it, philosophically and artistically, into his stories of fiction.
Unlike the boxed-in assignments of the reporter, Delaney is contrastingly able to choose the characters and environments in his stories. At first glance it is easy to call the freedom of choice in Delaney's stories merely a form of idealization; however, Delaney never lets his journalist guard down. The world or worlds his characters live in are not filled with explosions or first kisses. Delaney keeps his characters confined. Each foot of each character is masterfully restricted and forced to follow the rules and regulations--the narrative laws--of the world in which they live. Often this technique results in stories that are dark and anti-climactic. Often Delaney's stories are not capable of producing the typical form of enjoyment that most fiction is able to evoke from within the reader.
In "A Visit to My Uncle," the protagonist Mark struggles to try and find himself as part of an immediate, as well as extended, family that is both economically poor and socially disconnected. Mark wants to go to medical school and his parents cannot afford to send him, so Mark ends up visiting his rich lawyer uncle, who the family has not had contact with for some time, in an attempt to ask for help. The uncle does not agree to give Mark money on the grounds that Mark will not study law. The story results in disappointment that is hardly satisfying for the reader, yet all the while the story does not overhype the hard instances of reality.
But Delaney is not only about being a naturalistic or deterministic writer. "Notes Toward My Absolution" is a dark yet humorous look at the life of a man who is not morally capable of robbing convenience stores with guns that have bullets in them, and so his life as a criminal becomes a quirky roam through the life of the mediocre outsider. Delaney fascinatingly incorporates the theme of the comic social deviant throughout the story collection. The story "Conspiracy Blues" brings to the forefront Lyle, a man who enjoys a serious obsession with conspiracy theories, yet is unable to get over his own paranoia. "The Anchor and Me" is told from the point of view of an up-and-coming news anchor's significant other. The anchor tries desperately to be the best in her position, yet by holding herself up to the pedestal, she is unable to notice her own hubris lingering below, and fails in a fashion miserable and hysterical.
The pinnacle point in Delaney's book of stories is "Travels With Mr. Slush." This story is perhaps the most original and outstanding of all the stories, but at the same time it is also the most absurd. The protagonist only goes by "Mr. Slush," a young man who is on parole and has to work as a truck vendor travelling from street to street, neighborhood to neighborhood, selling ice slushy drinks. Even after the story's conflict and impending climax, the protagonist remains where he began: a truck vendor selling ice slushy drinks.
The cyclic monotony of everyday human existence is believable in Delaney's stories, but it is often overbearingly off-putting. While Delaney writes beautiful prose that describes environments and inhabitants accurately, he does not highlight, emphasize or blow up any aspect of each story. Many readers will find Delaney's style difficult to get a grip on or take a bit out of. But for those who are looking to read and experience the objective point of view on life that is relatable, believable, and seeable, the stories in this collection will succeed.

Received this book from a friend who loved it and thought I would also. She was absolutely right. The weird added bonus was that I soon realized that Mr. Delaney was my college creative writing professor over 12 years ago!

This is a review to look at:

From Publisher's Weekly - Publishers Weekly The credible, plainspeaking characters in Delaney's sure-footed first collection of nine stories--priests, drunks, conspiracy theorists, criminals--have taken wrong turns in the past that lend their present lives a sad irony. In "Travels with Mr. Slush," an ex-felon who drives a truck that sells crushed, flavored ice through urban neighborhoods suddenly finds himself the victim of crime when youths steal his car battery on the hottest day of the summer, melting his entire load. Yet the tale closes with a surprising, cautious optimism. In "O Beauty! O Truth!" a boy who ridicules his strict teachers foreshadows his shooting death years later by police officers as he leaves a crime scene. Characters usually find crucial life decisions made for them by forces beyond their control. The 17-year-old narrator of "A Visit to My Uncle" travels to New York to ask his rich, estranged relative for money for medical school; he is nonplused when his uncle (a lawyer) offers to pay his way, but only under manipulative conditions. The standout title story tells of a tormented former priest who suddenly emigrates in middle age from Ireland to America. His new life includes a new vocation as hod carrier and a new name, an act born of panicked necessity after he disposes of the dead body of a possible traitor, a constable in the RIC, in a lake. In the less dramatic pieces, Delaney wisely lets a poignant situation tell its own story. In "The Anchor and Me," a mild-tempered husband is unable to say whether he feels jealous or proud of his anchorwoman spouse's driven, successful life and career; the antihero of "Notes Toward My Absolution" robs convenience stores with an unloaded gun. Delaney's measured pace imparts a grace to his tales, which at their best are reminiscent of Cheever or Updike's grittiest efforts. Few words are wasted in this quietly triumphant collection. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Some of our best writers honed their craft in the belly of newspapers. Ted Delaney numbers among those. I have followed the work of Mr. Delaney since his days as a reporter for the Denver Post and then as a columnist for the newspaper in Colorado Springs. In 1990, he left daily journalism to teach college journalism near his hometown of Fall River, Mass. In the ensuing years, he has had great success in placing his fiction in famous magazines and in small literary quarterlies. Finally, we have them all in one place. One of the things I like most about Mr. Delaney is that his fiction is never about some angst-ridden writer looking for success or meaning. If you were to guess his occupation from his writing, you might guess he was a blue-collar narrator. That's because Mr. Delaney has lived life beyond his belly button, contemplating what it means to be a person, to really live. The son of a medical doctor, Mr. Delaney once dreamed of anthropology as a profession. As a writer, he has become that. He shows us what makes us work; in his work, we see ourselves or someone we know. We have been the places, emotionally, at least, his characters have been. His title story, The Drowning, which was an O'Henry award winner as well as Best Short Story winner, is worth the price of the book. Mr. Delaney is only beginning. Watch for more of this talented writer's work. Read him now so that you can say you knew of him before everyone else. It'll be a boast you'll love to make at your reading club.

These stories really touched a chord... quiet but very moving

Oh, I loved this collection. This guy's the real deal. Beautifully crafted characters rendered with lots of heart and dry, wry humor.

One of the finest collections of stories I've read in years. Whlie I admired the finely wrought point of view and the terse dialogue, what remains with me most from these stories is their sense of place, interior and exterior, whether it's a cave where two vietnam veterans encounter each other or the inside of a jail cell or a hillside with someone sledding down it.

These are character-driven stories and their quiet epiphanies and endings are compelling, but Nichols is good at opening sentences, too:

"I was stupid for a long time, I admit it."

"One fall Paul Waterman found that he could tramp the woods again. . ." (You'll have to read the story to see just how good an opening sentence that is.)

Wonderful work. I look forward to his next collection.

Mr. Nichols has produced a uniformly accomplished collection of stories here, my personal favorites among them being: "Jon-Clod," a family piece that is somehow related to the Winter Olympics; and "C'est La Vie," featuring a quarterback with a blown-out knee.

Attention all readers: Nichols is the real deal and Esquire and Zeotrope etc have known it all along.

This is a short story writer up there with the best of them. His work is classic. Sharp, tough, nuanced, delicate, heartbreaking, each story is, to me, the best of what short fiction can be.

If you care about short fiction, please, treat yourself to this book.

Be aware: you'll find no action heroes or epic conflicts in Slow Monkeys, a first collection from award-winning short story writer Jim Nichols. You won't come across any wily detectives or inscrutable medical examiners, any CIA agents or conniving society mavens. In short, you'll discover few of the suspects who inhabit the larger part of modern commercial fiction. Instead, Nichols levels his casual but penetrating scope on the less trodden world of trailer parks and migrant fruit workers, of bent marriages and blue-collar disillusion. But in this thrill-a-minute, Nike/Playstation/Tommy Hilfiger world, who wants to read about the troubles of ordinary Joes and Janes? Right?

Wrong. You want to read this book. Nichols voice comes clean and eerie as a loon call on a simple lake of autumn, thrusting even the most bored and ironic reader into that most epiphanic of environs-the real world. While this reviewer could hardly be described as a fan of relative minimalism, Nichols has a subtlety and style that can't help but win your appreciation. His language flows with assurance, firmly in the familiar but seldom stooping to dialect or the outright colloquial. His Hemingwayesque simplicity of phrase belies a deep interest in the rhythm and interaction of line and phrase. As a result of strong characterization and story, this sense of scansion is hardly noticeable on a first run-through, but upon subsequent or close examination, the lines emit a nearly poetic feel, like a concentricity of ripples on one of Nichols's Maine ponds, each expanding and accentuating the one before. This deep attention to craft is also evident in his controlled use of symbol. An ancient outboard motor, coins of ambiguous luck, dead fish, a stolen football: all these symbols could come across as contrived or labored in the hands of a less accomplished artisan but Nichols employs them with a light yet resolute touch, making the narrative resonate with aptness, substance and power.

Knowing that the most universal conflicts have little to do with political machinations or jewel heists, Nichols forces us to gaze upon the complexity of the human drama, where the simple wonder of a child keeps a lost man from the abyss; where in the shattered knee of a former high school football star we tease out the true marrow and eventuality of American dreams; where among tip-ups and ice shanties, closeted tendencies are not discussed openly but grunted at-or better yet, ignored-over a cold beer; where, everyday, families and individual souls bend, break, and are made whole again by the subtle heroism of diminished pride or lowered expectation. These commonplace heroes don't save the globe or perform superhuman feats, but they do save those around them from utter despair and ruin with tight-lipped compassion or a simple determination to persevere. Slow Monkeys is crammed with distinctly American characters, and with his perfect apprehension and appreciation of human frailty, Jim Nichols comes across as nothing less than the broad authentic voice of America.

When I first read this book, I didn't have much experience in life and had a very short memory. As I grew in experience I realized that many of the positive changes in my thinking were seeded by ideas I gained reading this when I was relatively barren emotionally and intellectually. The person I was when I first read this book is now but a memory. But the amount and the kind of guidance I got along the way or continue to get from various sources is regulated by my own readiness to understand and eventually accept. I credit this work for giving me a place to start.

I read this book back when I was 18 and besides all its other values, I was completely cured of procrastination after reading it!

I recommend this book on finding your identity and strengthening it. Very interesting the chapter about healthy separateness in marriage!The Art of Loving

Read this book as it has the ability to allow you to transform your life.

I first read M. Scott Peck's 'The Road Less Travelled' over 20 years ago, but it is a text to which I return again and again, as Peck's insights and observations remain a constant source of inspiration and guidance in my life. It still finds a ready home in the hands of therapists, counselors, ministers, teachers, career planners, and others as part of their resources, and is not out of place in the home of anyone who cares about the directions of her or his life.

Peck was a clinical psychiatrist - the material for this book came largely from his experiences with clients and others, seeing what worked and what didn't, what was missing and what was mis-understood. Often cases involved psychotherapy (talk therapy), but the processes here are not confined to therapists' offices. The same kinds of problem solving, processing and relationship building that takes place in psychotherapy can be used as life-long tools.

Peck resists labels such as Freudian and Jungian; he doesn't look for, nor does he offer, quick fixes or the psychotherapeutic variety of the get-rich-quick schemes. This book is not a therapy manual, but rather a guide to spiritual growth that incorporates therapeutic and psychological principles. Peck echoes the sentiments of many spiritual directors and leaders through the millennia that spiritual and personal growth are long journeys, not short leaps. It involves dedication and intention, and a willingness to accept risk and change.

Perhaps it is ironic that, given this, the first topic Peck focuses upon is Discipline. However, without discipline, change can go unchecked and uncharted, growth can become problematic, and the human soul becomes susceptible to a host of difficulties. Dedication and application to problem-solving and long-term building (whether it be of retirement funds or of one's own spirit) requires a disciplined approach that recognises that life is difficulty (the first of Buddha's Four Noble Truths, cited by Peck), gratification sometimes needs to be delayed for greater goods, and reality needs to be approached and dealt with responsibly.

Peck calls here for a life to be totally dedicated to the truth. This is hard, because we as human beings are so accustomed to rationalisation and reinterpretation. This kind of dedication also requires a balance in life, and an ability to be flexible as the truths of our lives change - few of us are in possession of timeless and eternal truths governing every aspect of our lives, and often those who feel they are end up disappointed in the end. The continuing creativity of God in our lives requires flexibility, but this is best achieved in a disciplined and balanced context.

Peck then turns to love, a mysterious thing even in the best of times. He identifies some of the myths of `falling in love' and romantic love that our culture through various means idealises, leading to great dissatisfaction when we do not achieve the desired feelings or situations. Peck makes the assertion that love is not really a feeling, but rather an action or activity, that involves a lot of risk-taking (Peck talks about risks of independence, of commitment, of confrontation, and of loss). True love requires discipline and recognition of the needs of the self and others.

The final two sections of the text deal with aspects of religion on the spiritual and psychological development of persons. The first section looks at religion and growth processes. He does a short survey of some attitudes toward religions and denominations, as well as a look at how the modern scientific mindset colours the worldview of modern people, particularly with ideas of verification and skepticism. Some psychologists and theorists have wondered if religion were mass delusions, mass psychosis, or some other kind of sickness. Peck uses interesting extended case studies here to examine the role of various aspects of religion in the developmental lives of several people. Peck asks the question, `Is belief in God a psychopathology?' In some aspects, and for some people, the way they approach and `use' religion, the answer may well be yes. However, Peck also takes the psychotherapeutic community to task for often being too narrow or too dismissive of the value of religious sentiment and institutions in the lives of their charges.

The final section looks at the role of grace in the spiritual growth process. Grace is another mysterious force, like love, that is difficult to pin down and explain. It is also something uncontrollable. Why do some with artistic talent end up being successful and celebrated, and others not? Why do some use their talent, when others don't? In cases of ultimate despair, Peck makes the observation that while it is often clear why some people commit suicide, it is not often clear why others in the same situations don't. Some of this has to do with the unconscious mind that guides us, and some of it has to do with the miracle of serendipity, as Peck describes it.

Peck describes in some detail his concept of what grace is and how it works, in very general terms that relate to no denomination or religion in particular, but has wide applicability. He talks both about resistance to grace and the welcoming of grace. Grace is not easy, and often comes with responsibilities (Bonhoeffer talks about cheap grace; the requirements of grace are noted through scriptures of many religions). Welcoming grace welcomes often more than we bargained for, but also often more than we hoped.

In his afterword, Peck discusses the difficulties of writing in an organised and linear fashion about something so fundamentally disorganised as spiritual growth and therapeutic processes. He also talks about the need for finding competent help when required - ability is not measured by degrees, he states (something true in many professions). This is useful for those seeking a first therapeutic relationship, or needing a change.

Out of the many excellent books that Ted Kooser has written, for my money this is the best. Written while recovering from cancer its reflections of before sunrise walks are his most deeply personal. It is a book that should be shared with all those who struggle with cancer. Ted deserves to be held up as one of the greatest poets that America has ever produced.

Ted Kooser manages to eloquently describe the world around him without ever being puffed up, aluding to obscure classics or requiring PhD research. This volume is just a wonderful, accessable group of poetic morsels that go down smoothly and leave you hungering for more.

Ted Kooser is a meticulous observer of life. If you read his work thoughtfully, you can learn how to appreciate the world you live in.

Spanning from Nov 9 to the first day of spring, these short, direct poems all reflect a pre-dawn walk in Nebraska "beneath a billion indifferent stars". A short statement of the weather (for example, "two degrees and clear" on December 30) is followed by a short poem influenced by what he saw on his walk. ("Older this morning, the moon / hid most of her face / behind a round gray mirror").

The poems sometimes reflect different shades of darkness, from "a deer of gray vapor" to "a rutted black field". The poems are set within his recovery from cancer "Lucky I am to go off to my cancer appointment having been given a bluebird")

I read each of the poems on the same date they were written, which provided a personal contrast. As a postcard collector, I would love to receive one of these poems on a postcard.

This book, by our current Poet Laureate, is as fine a book of modern poetry as you can hope for. During his treatment for cancer, the author is given medication that makes his skin sun-sensitive. So, in order to maintain his daily habit of walking the country roads of Nebraska for exercise, he has to do it before the sun comes up. To allay the inherent loneliness, he decides to send a friend, Jim Harrison, a poem on a postcard everyday. So, in the company of one of his dogs, plenty of different birds, and a keenly inquisitive mind to which nothing is ordinary and everything informs on everything else, this book was born. I usually read such a book in less than a week, marking the more effective poems in the table for contents for when I return. I couldn't shake this one for three weeks, and I read and read each of them poems three and four times before moving on to the next. It's winter in New England; that may be part of it. And the grey dawn hand of mortality has overshadowed me for the last few months as well. But neither is real reason I kept this faithful book with me; fundamentally, it's just a good book. Look past that startlingly honest title and start reading. You won't regret it. C. S. Lewis quoted a student, who quoted his father, saying, "We read to know that we are not alone." If every a book does that, this does.

Ms. Rodburg's collection of short stories are carefully woven together to bring the reader back in time to a place that no longer exists, either physically or intelectually.She captures the weequahic neighborhood of Newark, New Jersey in the 60's from the view of a young girl and the allows the reader to look back in time through the grown woman's eyes at the changes to her neighborhood , her city and her family. It gives the reader a warmer view of Newark than Phillip Roth ever has done.

Maxine Rodburg has written a wonderful series of connected stories from the point of view Debbie Tarlow, who we get to know from pre-adolescence to pre-middle age. She's a Jewish girl in a family which Rodburg magically transforms into a metaphor for the upward movement of this middle class group -- and ultimately all groups which traveled the road from the city to suburbia in the United States. This path starts in Newark, goes to Short Hills New Jersey, and winds up in Florida.

In this case the trip covers a great deal of chronological ground too; with an early Debbie inventing her own version of the Pocahantas legend for a school report, and the later Debbie, a grown woman with children of her own visiting her mother in Florida.

Rodburg has a wickedly precise ear, and recall of the details of family, school, and community life. She writes with warmth, sensitivity and humor. The stories deal honestly with white, Jewish attitudes towards race, religion, money, and each other during the period of the Newark riots and beyond. They provide an insightful perspective on family and community manners in a universal way which suggests why we all seem to have such difficulty embracing differences between each other.

This is a book which deserves wide recognition because it exists on so many planes at once; it tackles important sociological themes while retaining the deeply human warmth of personal stories well told.

Maxine Rodburg comes from Philip Roth country, both as a writer and a person. But she has added a new dimension to the the short story, and to the literature of place and time. Set in Jewish neighborhoods in an around neighborhood, this very powerfully written collection of short stories captures a rapidly changed world from the eyes of an equisitely sensitive young girl. This is the Newark, and the America, of the pre-60's, pre-riots era, captured at the precise moment that it changes forever. It's also a wonderful story about growing up, about the fragile place of religion, culture and family in a sometimes brutal and incomprehensible. If the publishing world were sane this would be on the NYTimes best-seller list intead of all the junk that's there. But we're lucky to be able to get and read it anyway. And nobody will ever regret experiencing this amazing and touching work. This is true literature.

Anyone who has ever moved away from home will enjoy and appreciate this collection of "linked stories" by Maxine Rodburg. It is a reminder that our past weaves the shirt we wear in the present. A reminder that we must never forget where we came from, because sometimes it's not so easy to go back.

Everything about these inter-related stories is beautifully done. The prose is rich and precisely rendered. The characters - Debbie, the young protagonist; Marlene, her rebellious older sister; Sherman, the bartender at the family's tavern in Newark; Lillian, Debbie's beautiful, resourceful mother, and Vic, her tough, self-made, cigar-smoking father; and all the rest of the charming but shady Tarlow clan - are original and distinctive without being the least bit cartoonish (this is one of the most quirky but believable Jewish families I've ever seen in fiction). The world of the story - Newark and its classier suburbs in the volatile Sixties - is vividly drawn, in all its many shades of shadow and light. And the stories' themes - what we know and don't know about our families, our homes, our times, the darkness and dangers and joys and comforts of life and how it's often difficult to tell one from another - give the book as a whole impressive intellectual depth and weight. And Rodburg is just plain funny! We've never seen this material before, especially not from a woman's point of view. I can't recommend this collection highly enough.

A New and Glorious Life is three novellas all about love and life, and contemporary relationships. The collection is a delicious feast leaving the reader wanting more more more... Each novella provokes the mind and stirs the heart; each is written superbly with depth and warmth, insight and humor. The characters and their stories come alive and stay with you long after the book is finished.

I can't believe it took me six years to find this book. I didn't "find" it, either; my next-door neighbor handed it to me, saying he thought it was the sort of thing I'd like. (Don't know what this says about me. Maybe he thought because I'm an actor, I'm a romantic sort.) In any case, this was the best book I've read in a long, long time. It's damn hard to find contemporary writing that plumbs the human heart the way the best writers of an earlier time did. Think of early Saul Bellow, or Bernard Malamud. Think, for that matter, of Henry James--but with more feeling. Think Chekhov. I've spent a lot of time with Chekhov, so I'm not just throwing his name around. Think: hearts and minds, not STUFF, like so many of today's writers write about. If you care more about how people think and what they feel, and how and why they love, than you do about the "stuff" they do--then you'll love this book, too.

Also recommended: Alice Munro's Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
Claire Messud's The Hunters and The Last Life
Tillie Olsen's Tell Me A Riddle
Lore Segal's Her Last American (alas, out of print!!! but maybe someone will reprint?)
and see all of the above, if you haven't read them before

Each of these three novellas is fascinating in itself; taken together they comprise a work of depth and resonance. The characters are depicted affectionately and humorously, yet with unrelenting clearsightedness. The most successful novella, in my opinion, is "Hope Among Men," which reads initially like light comedy, but offers the reader a loopily hopeful vision of modern romantic life that feels both true and profound.

This was a terrifically fun book to read. I was only sorry that there were not more tales included in it. The puzzle that faces Auslander in the first story is one that I have put to friends ever since I read it. This has produced some fascinating discussions! The other stories are just as interesting and the entire book is wonderful, insightful and intriguing. I have given several as gifts and I always get rave reviews from the recipients.

In A New and Glorious Life Michelle Herman responds in her own inimical way to the via negativa. Through three novellas she explores the ethical dilemmas of existence. When Auslander (the main character in the first) sees in her mind "the bundle of poems secured by a rubber band, surrounded by the accumulated clutter of years: stacks of letters; shoeboxes full of photographs, postcards, canceled checks; spiral-bound notebooks dating back to graduate school," she is considering the honor that must be paid to the poet whose work she is considering translating, to the testament the poet has left behind. Auslander (a stranger to the poet and her work) weighs her obligation to that testament of life and work. In "A New and Glorious Life," the central novella of the book, Herman explores the nature of creativity and sexuality, the integral tie between the two and the pull on each of our lives of Logos and Eros. In "Hope Among Men" Herman explores the relationship of love and hope with insights into the dark side of both.Herman does not assert that we will be successful in our attempts to counter the via negativa. But, oh, her characters seem to say, how we try, how we must. As she has said elsewhere, "I am interested in the conflicts that arise between responsibility to oneself and to those one loves."

Through the three novellas in this collection she explores the interior process that ultimately lies at the core of what matters. It is the way we wend our way through the actions of our lives with an awareness of the ethical dilemmas that life presents us. It is how we move toward understanding--and what more could we hope for as we move forward, one would hope, ultimately with wisdom. It is that wisdom that Herman offers.

--Mary L. Tabor