Books and Authors Books

This book is awesome. The stories are engrossing and the characters engaging. Unexpected connections and twists make this an intellectual minefield. I highly recommend this book and any work that follows to anyone who enjoys a complex, richly written story!

Wow I love these stories!!! I can't wait for the next volume!

This book is just amazing, I couldn't put it down. I tend to read a lot of the same types of books and don't go outside that very often and I'm very glad I did with this one. I'm eagerly awaiting the other books in the series.

I could not put Everything In It's Right Place down once I began to read it.
I devoured this book within a day, and suddenly I feel that I need to read it all over again just to absorb it more fully.

I cannot wait for the other two books, I hope that the author never stops writing he is a fabulous author. It is very rare to find a book that completely draws a reader into the stories. Especially when one reads the book and can almost visualize the scenes as one is reading them. Stephen has a fantastic way of allowing the reader to imagine it in their own way, while still allowing how he might see it to come through.

I have not been sucked into a fictional universe like this in a very long time, and this is just Volume 1! The characters are believeable and the stories are very engrossing. I'm amazed at how things are seamlessly and subtly interwoven. I constantly found myself turning back and flipping forward again to make connections. The details are obviously very carefully thought out and planned so as not to contradict themselves. I am anxiously awaiting further volumes. :)

Beautifully written stories that explore relationships; the difficulty of maintaining them and the quagmires created with a breakup. To some extent we are all messed up and we have all made bad decisions and questionable choices. We've all felt stuck. Ms. Ehrhardt doesn't ask us to pity her characters, most of whom are cheating on their husbands or thinking about cheating, but to understand the complexities of the human heart.

As a prelude to her stories, Pia Ehrhardt quotes Robert Lowell, saying, "Yet why not say what happened?" The implication, of course, is that saying what happened is what we avoid. Not so Ehrhardt, whose stories take an unflinching look at heartbreaking moments, situations, relationships and choices that life dishes out. From "A Man," where a maimed rape victim tries to find consolation in her rescuer, to the provocative adolescent sexuality of "Famous Fathers," Ehrhardt refuses to back down. This is what life is like, her stories say. Deal with it. Even better is the way Ehrhardt says 'what happened.' Her sentences are taut and elegant. Her observations are both funny and judicious. Her characters don bear suits, and trespass to climb water towers--broaching intimacies at dizzying heights. This is a debut that not only faces down life, it entertains, so we can face it, too. Read it.

FAMOUS FATHERS by Pia Z. Ehrhardt. Wow! Winner of the Narrative Prize, Pia Z. Ehrhardt creates landscapes of the physical world and the heart that are equally vivid, lush and invigorating. As adept with universal human understanding as she is with the wild, uncontrolled, and brilliant nature of the feminine, Ehrhardt's authorial light infuses her stories and sends readers into the space of the forbidden, a liminal encounter with secrecy, intimacy, loyalty, and power. With stories in McSweeney's, Narrative Magazine, Mississippi Review, Pindeldyboz, and Wild Strawberries, her work evokes the pursuit of self and other in a contemporary fusion of that which is at once female and daunting. This is a marvelous story collection by a proven writer with precise and luminous prose. Go buy it right now!

A character in one of these short stories expresses herself by quoting famous people, and as I neared the end of this outstanding collection, I thought of General Sherman's observation, "It is well that war is so terrible--or men would love it too much." These stories seem to say "It is just as well that adultery is so terrible, or men and women would love it too much." Except for the very first one, these stories are beautiful and true. The most attractive and characteristic element of Pia Ehrhardt's writing is her unique voice and narrative persona, which is simultaneously energetic, observant, sensitive, sensuous as well as sensual, and honest, but also cold, ruthless, matter-of-fact, skittering along the edge of deception and self-deception (but almost always saved by the authorial consciousness floating above), and deeply funny. Being funny requires a writer to maintain perspective, and an often painfully honest perspective also generates the honesty in the voice and narrative persona of these stories. Nietzsche couldn't resist cheap shots, and he wrote things he knew to be untrue just because they were witty, but in the imaginative world of FAMOUS FATHERS, humour is always true, always honest, always cleansing--even if having alcohol poured over an open wound hurts like hell. The short story, FAMOUS FATHERS makes me realise, is the perfect form for depicting adultery--a drama of concentrated choice, a fateful act, the fulfillment of a doomed wish. There is no future to adultery, because if there is, it becomes something else. Is it a coincidence that some of the greatest works of literature have adultery as the mainspring of their plots--THE ILIAD, the AGAMEMNON of Aeschylus, the story of David and Bathsheba (and poor Uriah the Hittite), MADAME BOVARY, and ANNA KARENINA? These works all go on to explore other aspects of life, but Ehrhardt stays intensely focused on adultery itself, and her fascination, her attraction to it, and her honesty make these stories extremely compelling. The range and depth of Ehrhardt's treatment of the subject can be seen in excerpts from two stories. The story "Stop" closes with a beautifully seductive image of the momentary freedom and joy that adultery offers: "Try to forget that jumping-on-a-tramopoline feeling, when life is the top of the bounce, and the view up there is scary and crazy and sweet. The two of you with your hair flying, his unbuttoned shirt caping behind him, and eight feet of air under your feet." But these, and other passages describing the attractions of adultery are balanced by the deeper truth revealed in the story "How it Floods", in the context of a character's child: "I pray that he falls in love the way other people fall in love, where it's just a gift offered by a man and a woman at about the same time, where their hearts are flying toward one another, sure and scared." Unlike the primitive and emotionally stunted content of "Adult" entertainment fare, these stories really are for adults, for those willing to humbly, honestly, and observantly read about, and reflect on, the inexplicable, and finally unknowable, desires of the human heart.

Pia Z. Ehrhardt's stories are a pleasure to read, even when the people (and they feel like people, not characters) are suffering. She understands the mistakes we make, and the sometimes clumsy gestures we offer, afterwards. Her stories, mostly set in New Orleans, are lush and atmospheric, but the focus is always on the heart. Ehrhardt is too honest to offer easy solutions--she understands that love is a serious, messy business--but she honors the effort. Each story arrives fully bloomed--the shorter stories work as glimpes, broken snapshots--but her longer stories, like Alice Munro's, carry the emotional weight of novels. Forgiveness is everything. My favorites are "Driveway" and "The Longest Part of the Day," but every story here, every sentence, is a hard-won gift.

The history is very imformative and gives insight to Scottish struggles for independence. The love story helps to break up the history - and it is continued in another book, The Banks of Boyne. High schoolers and up will love it.

This is the first book of it's size I've managed to read through in over 20 years. Having recently visited some of the places in the book, such as Iona, I was captivated by the book.
It's well written, easy reading, accurate in most of it's facts, absolutely inspiring.
My only negative comment is about a pro-catholic bias of some characters such as Columcile, who was portayed as catholic while he was not, and the glowing account of Queen Margaret who in fact did enormous harm to the Celtic church.
Still worth reading!

I found out more about Scotland's history in this book than I ever have in history classes. It was captivating and I was deeply engrossed in the history as I read. The only reason I don't give this a 5 star rating is because I could have done without the modern day portions of the book.

Being of Scottish descent, I was thrilled to find a novel which provided the meat of historical fact in such a palatable format. Anyone who saw Braveheart and wants to know more about the endless struggle for Scottish independence from England will be rewarded with total understanding by reading this book. Don't be put off by its length... it is very easy reading. Crow makes the characters come alive, and you find yourself engrossed and involved in their lives as history unfolds before you. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in exploring their ancestry and the heritage of faithful Scots.

I want to go to Scotland! The Fields of Bannockburn was totally engrossing. I was caught up in the book, by its history and its geography. I just had to know where all these places were! I'd read for a while, and then a placename would send me to the Scotland sections of Nicholson's Guide to Great Britain. The storyteller, Hamish, as the vehicle for the history of Scotland, was very believable as were the other characters. I had no trouble relating to Mary's quandry between her fiance back home in the States and Gareth in Scotland; it could have been me. Were I still teaching Language Arts in junior high school, I would and could recommend this book to that grade level. It would be a great adjunct to history, reading, and creative writing. What discussions one could have! What dreams of travel it could inspire: it would make one want to see the historic sites. My travel plans definitely will be guided by this book. Give it a try-you might want to go to Scotland, too.

Harold Brodky was one of the great writers of the last half of the twentieth century. This book is the proof.

Overall the book is ok. But, there are five or six stories that are so unbelievably good they more than make up for the mediocre ones and make this one of my favorite books of all time. Really, a phenomenal read.

He writes like nobody else. His stories contain moments that are so beautifully personal and intimate that they left me amazed and full of admiration. He captures youthful shame, compassion and indifference in a more direct an honest way than any writer I have read. His work is uneven, and there are parts that are an effort to get through, but when he gets it right he reminds me why I love literature, and how thrilling it is to be shown a person's truthful, inner life.

This book is just wonderful. The stories are told with finesse and rare magical writing and are told in layers and layers of emotional complexity. This is a fine example of the writing of a brilliant man who was lost to AIDS in the mid-80's. A highly recommended read.

This book of short stories provides a rare glimpse and unique cultural viewpoint of growing up in a mid-western working class environment in the late 1940s and early 1950s. ESsentially, the family lived an affluent lifestyle until his father made a few bad business decisions, lost their home, and later died from a lingering illness. The observations and insights Brodkey provides are priceless. He contrasts his position to that of a wealthy friend, whom he met at an Ivy League school and whose viewpoint and values reflect a totally different approach to life. He describes his mother's aspirations for his sister, whose *only* chances for a "better life", i.e., achieving social and economic advantages, was by dating the right class of boyfriend, as she was expected to marry into a higher social class. The "Quarrel" is a story about his visit to France with a very wealthy friend and their adventures and "fall out", when their social, cultural and viewpoints about life clash, resulting in a quarrel with wounded feelings that can never be repaired.

One of my favorite stories is "Sentimental Education" where a male student sees a pretty young lady at the college he attends and longs to meet and date her. He occasionally sees her at different locations but is too shy to speak to her. He daydreams about meeting her as he falls head over heels in love. He discovers she signed up for a Medieval poetry class, so he changes his choice and signs up for the same class. Eventually they meet and discuss literature. The heart of this story is the strong physical and emotional needs that accompnay this "first love' experience. Brodkey is a tremendously gifted author who provides keen and sensitive insights into life as it was lived in the 1950s. He provides an interesting contrast of the viewpoints of working people and those who possess privilege, money, and therefore more power. This is a book rich with detailed observations about social distinctions and the human behavior that accompanies different positions in society. It provides a greater understanding of r life as it was lived within a particular cultural era. This book receives my highest recommendations. Erika Borsos (erikab93)

Altough that novel describing the South, as it was portrayed so superbly by Clark Gable and Vivian Leigh. Author James Elders novel is a memoir that bring the reader to a time, when life was lived gently in the South of his youth. In an elegant but often funny prose, he recalls his life,that surely could not have been easy, being raised (in the absence of his parents) by a gentle but firm and old fashionned grandmother. But in his unique no non-sense style... you only feel his loneliness if you know how to read betwen the lines. The author's picture in the front page of his novel, tells us a lot by his look of sweet innocence, as he stood on the road in front of his beloved Flatwoods; And although it has been said that "You can't go home again" I for one would not mind returning there in the authors next book.

Pierrette L.Camps-Komarek

James Elders use of imagery clearly allows the reader to feel and live among the characters in his sweet novel. The reader feels akin to young Jimmy and definitely gets caught up in the day to day living of his beautiful south. A wonderful book for young teenage readers, it definitely will show them a life was before tv, videos and dvd's! A must read. Kudos!

This is a wonderful book that takes it's reader back to a slower time in the south. As James Elders shares his boyhood memories of life on his beloved "Pines", he also reveals how and why things changed in the south. This is a perfect book for every school library because young readers will learn about hunting, snakes, fishing, making cane syrup, and so much more. This is truly a great book.

Having spent a little time among the swamps and pine forests of Georgia, I found FLATWOODS AND LIGHTERKNOTS by James Elders a fascinating account of a boy growing up in that country. Nurtured by a loving family, young Jimmy couldn't imagine that life anywhere other than his home in a remote area west of Savannah could be as good or as interesting for a boy. It's a land of big and dangerous snakes, nasty spiders, chiggers, ticks and other forms of life that many people would find forbidding. Not so young Jimmy. His grandfather, Mr. Jim, taught him to carry a snake stick and his father, a former cavalry officer called Mr. Fet, taught him about horses and a number of other lessons of value to any youngster. His Aunt Augusta taught him many things, some of which he felt cramped the style of a growing boy, and a few uncles and unusual characters from the neighborhood imparted valuable information about life that was important in the flatwood country of Georgia or just about anywhere else. Jim Elders expresses a number of heartfelt convictions that make interesting reading. He comments, too, on the evolving face of the countryside as the freeways were built and the bulldozers changed the landscape from a habitat for wildlife to an area of housing developments and shopping centers. That's a story that has been repeated in much of the country, a sad story told very well by Jim Elders. Any serious reader should find this an interesting as well as an informative book.

Some books are meant to be devoured others to be savored. This one is the type to savor like a cool breeze on a lazy Southern evening. Jimmy's memories are like a cool mint julep something to be sipped slowly and enjoyed at a leisurely pace. It maybe stories about his dog, or the adventures he had astride his mighty steeds. This is a simpler time, when life was slower and lessons came from life and family instead of television. It is a book to reread again and again on those days when you just want to take a walk through the Flatwoods of coastal Georgia, and savor life one sip at a time.

And wonderfully well written!

This novel has a lovely romance in it but the book is really focused on a young woman's commitment to her family, Renee Parker's family means everything to her. Keeping them together and raising them happy and healthy. Fighting against prejudice and a government worker who is determined to split the family apart because it meets her criteria of what the younger Parker children 'need'. How Renee comes to find her own happiness and achieve her vision for her family make this a soul satisfying novel.

Total bonus seeing Jean and Shayna my two favorite people from the Author's novel Mirrors.

Don't miss the other novels from this author:

Love in the Balance
Mirrors
Legacy of Love
Never Ending
Dance in the Key of Love
Dawn of the Dance
Under the Witness Tree

FOR NOW, FOR ALWAYS is not only a beautiful story, but beautifully told. With delightful dialogue and a perfect balance of angst and humor, Ms Martin expertly places her reader in the midst of her imaginary family's life. Renee and her brothers and sisters are so real that I began caring about them from the first page. Renee's fear and dedication was so well depicted that I lost sight that this family was imaginary and I found myself searching for answers for them and wanting, above all, for them to stay together.

Ms Martin's characters and settings are vividly drawn. I can still see Rachael's pouty little face and I could almost feel the moisture in the air at the Falls. One measure of a good book for me is for the characters to stay with me long after I've finished reading the book, and these have. The realism and dimension of the characters drive this story and make the issues they deal with feel personal. The issues are important ones that too many families unfortunately do endure, but there is no preaching and no trashing of the systems that we all know aren't perfect.

In short, this is a very enjoyable and moving story, told with a masterful hand. And it is a story that should not be limited to the lesbian community. Don't miss this one.

For Now, For Always pulled me in and engaged me to the end. It's a story about a young lesbian, Renee, who gets custody of her four young siblings after their mother goes to prison, and then has her custody threatened by a homophobic social worker. All the characters are well-drawn; the heroine, her mother, her four siblings, and her new lover. Even the infuriating social worker becomes human in the author's skillful portrayal. The plot flows naturally and the message about the destructiveness of an intolerant legal system is not forced or heavy-handed, which makes it all the more effective. The ending is dramatic but feels inevitable; it left me totally satisfied.

I loved Marianne K.Martin's latest book. Her strong lesbian women are a pleasure to meet. All the characters are developed nicely. The story they tell is current, heart warmarming and very believable.

What would you give up to save your family? Would you give up college and a career? Would you give up a chance at a decent job and live on public assistance? Would you give up love?

Renee Parker never stopped to think about her choices. She was seventeen, her stepfather had committed suicide because he couldn't take care of the family and her mother was sent to prison for embezzlement. Someone had to take care of her four younger sisters and brothers and she was obviously that person. She's been handling the responsibilities and it hasn't been easy. Renee is trying to provide stability in the children's lives, go to school and work a job. Then there's the social worker assigned to their case, Millie Gordon. Gordon's years of experience tell her that Renee can't do the job and her personal prejudice against Renee's lesbianism confirms that the young woman shouldn't be given the chance to influence the children's lives. Fortunately, through numerous hearings, the skill of Renee's lawyer has kept the family intact, but each case gets harder. The youngest, Rory, has developed epilepsy and his attacks are becoming more frequent. One of these attacks brings nurse Olivia Dumont into their lives. Olivia's love for children draws her into the family where she discovers a different kind of love for Renee. Finally, Renee has found someone who can and wants to help her with the many responsibilities she has, but not if Millie Gordon has her way. When everything else fails, Gordon will use the women's relationship as an attack on the family and Renee has to make some serious decisions. She has always promised the children she would be with them "for now, for always," but she may have to break the law to do it and leave Olivia behind as a consequence.

Marianne Martin is one of the true wordsmiths of lesbian literature. She uses rich vocabulary to paint the images in her stories, both characters and settings. For Now, For Always is another of her books that gives the reader much to think about. This is the type of story that makes you want to take up a sword and sign petitions. Another well told, engrossing, intricate story told by an author who isn't afraid to step outside of the constraints of traditional formulas. This is definitely a book to be placed in your "to be read" pile.

No, Francine! You can't leave us waiting several months for the third one! The ending knocked me down and left me hanging - upside down!
Keeping Mr Right is somehow different from The Secret Keeping and it took me while this time to get into it, once I did, it was like drowning. I don't understand how this writer achieves it but her writing, and her thinking, is just so captivating and enthralling. Time after time I found myself gasping at her use of language. It's funny, it's fast, it's clever, it's sad, it's beautiful, it's . . . And I'm in love with Lydia Beaumont! I can't really explain it but I've never read anything like it before. How long do I have to wait?

WARNING: If you are accustomed to reading lesbian romance novels, reading this book may cause extreme bouts of euphoria.

If you have read THE SECRET KEEPING, (which you'll want to do before you read its sequel), then it won't surprise you to discover that FORTUNE IS A WOMAN is not your ordinary romance novel. In fact, there is nothing even remotely ordinary about this book, and thank goodness for that! Francine Saint Marie's second novel is a rich, absorbing, and powerfully evocative tale of love, sex and (more than two) modern women. This book will sweep you off your feet, take you on a wild and unexpected ride, and leave you dangling precariously off a giant precipice. Fortunately, though, you won't have to wait several months like I did to be rescued, as the third book in the trilogy, THE STOLEN KISS, has finally been released.

FORTUNE IS A WOMAN is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read, and this is no doubt due to the fact that its style is every bit as engaging as its substance. The language is exceptionally fluent overall, the prose vivid, tight and polished, and the dialogue so eloquent and sharp-witted it begs to be read over and over again. The author possesses, in addition to her golden tongue, unfettered imagination, and keen intellect, a special gift for developing larger-than-life characters, and allowing the reader access to their very depths. It is easy to get lost inside these women.

Francine Saint Marie's books are the crème de la crème of this genre, and FORTUNE IS A WOMAN is a bold and ingenious work of art, a masterpiece of lesbian fiction that will stir your sensibilities and warm your blood. It is a book to be devoured, and savored, at once. So what are you waiting for? Treat yourself!

I bought this book because I found the first in the series, "The secret keeping", an absolute masterpiece. I started this one kind of carefully, not wanting to have high expectations, as they're a sure path to disappointment. Well, I could have rested easy with this book!!

Mamma mia, can this writer write! The same as with the first book in the series, I found "Keeping Mr. Right" extremely original, I can't think of anything remotely similar to this --especially in lesbian fiction, with this mix of intelligence, literary fluency, and complete regard and trust for the readership's mind. What an awsome treat!

Hats off to you, Francine Saint Marie. Gotta say I hate you a bit for the ending, though :-) You better hurry up with the third book in the trilogy!

Remember the first time you fell in love with a book? How you couldn't put it down? Remember sneaking it under the covers at night and reading by flashlight until morning? That aching for more when you finally finished it, and those wonderful butterflies?

We give five stars to Saint Marie's masterfully written sequel to "The Secret Keeping." Be you straight, bi or gay, this is a fascinating love story. Told with a golden tongue.

While my review may be a short one, thank goodness "Keeping Mr. Right" wasn't ....!

Risky and risqué. Bawdy and eloquent. This is a courageous and beautifully written novel. And, very, very sexy!

I can hardly wait to read more of Ms. Saint Marie's offerings!

Dear Joan
Another Dear Joan

Jean Genet wrote masterpieces...this autobiography is a masterpiece too !!!

Jean Genet wrote masterpieces,this autobiography is a masterpiece in itself !

This is the most detailed study of Genet ever written - and it deffinately sheds some light on his character both in writing and in life. I refer to it constantly when I am reading his books. I wish there were biographies like this of some of my other favorite authors - without a doubt I am excited to read White's book about Proust.

Edmund White is perhaps best known as a novelist but this biography of Jean Genet may well be his magnum opus. (And I find it astonishing that it seems to be out of print as of May 2007, since there is no other decent English biography of Genet available.) It's a monster of a book, but it's one of the more readable literary biographies that I've come across--not least because "literary" in Genet's case also means social and political and scandalous. Readers who have never read a word of Genet may question the need for perusing this book, but it was my introduction to the work and, as I work my way through Genet's prose, I appreciate difficult or seemingly unfathomable passages all the more because of White's memorable explication (although I can't share White's enthusiasm for the plays).

Genet's "rebellious" worldview--which often comes across as much a stage-managed affectation as a genuine philosophy--may be unattractive to those of a more traditional ethic (and I include myself among that group), but it's never boring. Much of Genet's writing depicts, glorifies, and justifies his careers as a thief, as an outsider, as an anarchist; he was also a notorious freeloader who forsook the attractions of materialism yet siphoned the wealth of others--and who sapped the remarkably patient generosity of his publishers).

Genet idealizes his years at Mettray (a colony for adolescent delinquents), his life as a thief (which ended in 1944, after he had completed two books and earned the approbation and support of Cocteau), and "the erotic charm of prison" (his many convictions for petty theft earned him sentences totaled nearly four years). And it's a good thing his writing is so remarkable: as White never tires of pointing out, Genet was a famously bad thief who spent so much time in prison because he was most adept at getting caught.

White covers far more than Genet's own life and work and lovers, however; this biography is also a decent introduction to the Parisian literary set that included such luminaries as Cocteau, Beauvoir, Duras, Giacometti, and Sartre. Since I was more interested in the literature, I had feared that the appeal of the biography would flag once I reached Genet's later years, after he had stopped writing and spent his time supporting various political causes (Algerian independence, pro-Palestinian movement, Black Panthers). But these chapters, too, were riveting and essential for an understanding both of his life's ethic and of his posthumously published "Prisoner of Love."

Overall, White makes a convincing case for Genet's importance, arguing "Genet and Celine are the most discussed twentieth-century French writers after Proust." I'm not sure I would go that far (Camus? Sartre? Beauvoir? Ionesco? Beckett? Gide?), although I suppose it depends on who's doing the "discussing." Nevertheless, White has certainly presented a solid case that Genet belongs in the top tier.

Following the rags to riches life of Jean Genet is an interesting reliving of French literature and history. Edmund White is certainly capable of empathy and psychological understanding for Genet, unlike in his biographies if William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. Though White makes the mistake of trying to incorporate some Michel Foucault, the homoseuxal philosopher, into his own penal insights into Jean Genet, the works and the man. Other than that fact, this handsome book is one long guitar solo at the altar of Genet.

Most of Genet's life is well-known, and partly used as the subjects for his novels. Genet was an orphan, had foster parents, and went to reform school. He had a bunch of early gay relationships, and he stole a lot of books. In prison Genet wrote Our Lady of The Flowers, and later shows it to Jean Cocteau, who is pissed off because he didn't write a similiar work first.

Genet wrote five novels and a few plays around and during World War II. They books are originally published anonymously. The books become an overnight sensation. As Genet becomes old and bald, and when the flamboyant Cocteau becomes bored with him, heterosexual Sartre and multisexual Simone de Beauvoir, both sort of yuppies of their time, become enamoured with the idea of hanging out and slumming it with Genet, a real thief.

Sartre saw him as a good example of his existential philosophy, and wrote Saint Genet. This book of his life came out when Genet was in his mid-forties. Genet doesn't write very much during the last years of his life. He does become involved with the Black Panthers and Palestinians.

Genet lived in Tangiers with his young Kiki. He wrote a final book that was banned before his death in 1986.

Genet's life was one long homosexual rollercoster ride. Genet's long life is an achievement which White gives a literary form in this tribute and gentle biography. As far as literary biographies go, this one is up there with the biographies of Oscar Wilde, Sade, and Frank O'Hara.

Being a strong advocate of poetry and what it gives to this world, and being a poet myself, I found The Ghosts of Anne and Sylvia to be a very intimate, powerful, and inspirational book. I first read the book on a road trip from Boise to Moscow, Idaho. This trip is five hours long, and reading this book aloud to my friend while driving dissapated 45 minutes worth the the scenic ride, without either of our acknowledgement. While reading the book, it was quiet apparent that I couldn't help but stop and constantly comment on the word use, the strong metephors, or my relation to the poetry. When I returned to Moscow I had my own anthology of poetry to put together for my english class, I refered back to the last poem of this book, using it as inspiration for the title. I applaud both of these women for bringing such an powerful piece of mind and soul back to the table of the world of literature, and would recomend this book to anyone who enjoys poetry, and the pieces of our own lives that can be put together through its words.

-Mollie M.

The poems in The Ghosts of Anne & Sylvia are accessible, yet intelligent - a unique combination in a book of poetry. The poems themselves touch on recognizable themes and are filled with striking imagery - all crafted in a way that any adult or even teen reader could relate to. The book makes poetry relevant and exciting again.

i haven't read poetry since i was forced to in college, but after thumbing through this collection on a friend's coffee table, i was moved to buy my own copy. i kind of get it now. reading these poems is a visceral experience. while i know nothing of neither anne nor sylvia - this collection has ignited an interest in poetry within myself that will extend beyond watching Def Poetry Jam.

I just received your book! Your poetry is beautiful and full of honesty. I love it, and look forward to reading more. Thanks

The Ghosts of Anne and Sylvia deftly fills your senses with ardent prose. Wickedly stylish poetry woven between two authors and two historic women. It takes you on a journey of discovery thats fresh and richly honest. It was an absolutely superb read, and I look forward to much more from these authors!

Not quite as good as The Innkeeper's Song -- read that first, if you haven't yet -- but still a delightful return to that world.

This is a very unusual book, but none the worse for that. It contains a collection of six short stories from the author of The Inkeeper's Song, which, insidentally, I haven't read but am very anxious to.
Four of the stories are written in the first person. Usually I don't like this style of writing, as I often think the narator loses character, but Peter S. Beagle does manage not only to provide engaging narrations that keep the reader interested, but he also brings across the narator's characters really well: from the corse but likable heroine of The Last Song Of Serid Biar, to the rough tenderness of a father telling a bedtime story to his son.
The Two stories written in the third person are my favourites, but again, I think that's because I prefer that style of writing. One of the stories actually features two of the characters from The Inkeeper's Song, which makes it even more maddening that it's not on audio.
All the stories were powerful, and sometimes beautifully written. I don't think Peter S. Beagle would approve of this, but I thought they had the feel of fairy-tales, all be it for adults. No disrespect intended.
The author himself narrates the book, as I believe he does all his works, and he does a credible job. I only hope he narrates The Inkeeper's song very soon, since no one else seems inclined to record it.

As usual, Mr. Beagle proves what a master he is at world-creation and character-generation (and his prose is lovely, as usual). Also as usual, the resolutions of the story just never merit their fabulous build-up. (The last three stories are somewhat better in this department than the first three--esp. "Giant Bones" and "Choushi-Wai's Story", tho' you'd expect more spice from any story with Lal and Soukyan in it, even if they are in their 80s, right?) The most glaring example of this was the third story, "The Tragical Historie of the Jiril's Players"--which was really, really good (pretty funny, too)...until the ending! I mean, the build-up is great, but you're so amused and interested in the Players, you kinda wish they'd play a larger role in the outcome! Oh, well. Anyway, despite all this (and they do get better as they go along), it's rare I've read a collection of worth-while fantasy short stories...but this is a good one!

Since all the stories in "Giant Bones" are either framed by some kind of first-person narrative or directly recounted by a participant-with the exception of "Lal and Soukyan," thus giving that story a particular distinction-reading the book is like nothing so much as spending an evening with a rich and peculiar cast of characters. The narrators are as varied as the tales they tell: an old woman paying a scribe to set down the truth, an old man in an inn telling stories with his friends, a traveling player commiserating with a fellow actor, the professional storyteller Choushi-wai regaling an audience with her favorite tale, and an impatient father recounting the family legend to his son. Each story has its own particular scope, from a disaster of a theatrical production to the clash of a power-hungry queen and a back-country magician, told in vivid, sympathetic prose to which is added the particular pungency of each narrator. Nor does the third-person style of "Lal and Soukyan" do anything to diminish its power. It's not exactly a sequel to "The Innkeeper's Song," as it answers almost none of the questions that the book's ending leaves for the readers to ponder, but it is a welcome reappearance for two beloved characters. By its very ending it seems to preclude any further "sequels" but regardless of its place in any kind of story cycle it's a very good short story and stands quite well on its own. More, it and the other the other five stories flesh out the world which was sketched so vividly, if not explored in depth, in "The Innkeeper's Song." Either as a sequel-of-sorts or as a stand-alone collection, "Giant Bones" is very good. And what more do you want out a book, anyway?

Set in the world of his previous book, "The Innkeeper's Song," Beagle presents six stand-alone fairy tales in this charming collection. All but one from first person perspective (Lal and Soukyan's last hurrah), Beagle continues to weave strange twists on old forms: the girl who would rather marry a thief, the powerful magician who had no love for power, two old mercenary partners who find a need for reconciliation, and - my favourite - the actors who are privy to a most unusual theatrical performance! As delightful and lyrical as these tales are, however, Beagle's world is bleak, leaving all his characters to live in a catch-as-catch can world. Beagle also feels no need to shrink from or tidy-up the language of his characters, as the first story eminently proves. While this excellent ear for the "voices" of the five story-tellers in this wonderful collection is more than appropriate but necessary to each story, young children who loved "The Last Unicorn" would be advised to wait a few years before delving into this enjoyable anthology.