Authors Books

I am in the process of answering a questionnaire asking, if I could recommend one book to someone to read, what book would it be?

I came on this site to check the spelling of the full name of this book.

I love this book.

"Swimming Lessons", a short story collection, may be Mistry's earliest published work. He of course wrote the awesome "A Fine Balance", a panoramic look at life in India circa 1975. "Lessons" is set in about the same time period and chronicles the life experiences of middle-class Indians from a particular apartment complex. Major characters in one story show up as minor characters in other stories, giving the book a novelistic feel. Emigration, experienced directly by Mistry in his early 20's as he moved to Canada, is a major theme of the book. The story "Squatters", contains a "story inside the story" that affect your thinking about the trials of emigration (as it relates to bodily functions) for a long time. Those who know Mistry will enjoy this look at his early writing. Newcomers to Mistry might enjoy the short story form as an intro before tackling the epic "A Fine Balance."

A collection of interwoven tales told from the perspective of the different residents of Ferozsha Baag, an apartment building in Bombay. All the stories are good; some are outstanding. In particular, the story of the son who emigrates to Canada to become a writer has a uniquely autobiographical feel to it. =)

I read A Fine Balance about a year ago and loved it. I just finished Swimming Lessons and I'm going out to buy Family Matters right now. He writes so beautifully and descriptively that you feel that you lived alongside the characters in his books.He's my favorite author right now.

And I thought that "A Fine Balance" was Rohinton's best! Yet again, I find myself speechless in my admiration for his astute command of language. His precise and inventive prose never quits until he has portrayed an image in sentences. Images that I grew up with myself but never quite would have thought of expressing in the grippingly sensitive way he can.

Swimming Lessons is a collection of such reminiscences from the author's childhood in a Parsi neighborhood in suburban middle-class Bombay. The setting itself may be confined to a particular community, but his compassionate brush carves such a wide sweep of the minutest of human emotions that the sheer force of this book is not in its plot or setting, but in its recognition of the universal bounty of life.

Our quirky residents of 'Firozsha Baag' have every reason to be disconcerted and baffled with their difficult lives. The walls of their building complex are coming apart. Washroom flushes don't work. One family has the refrigerator that's shared by the entire colony, and another has the common telephone. Their lives are marred by simple everyday things, innocent infatuations, unconfessed fantasies, fatal jealousies, neighborhood bullies, petty thefts, memory lapses, shared newspapers, cultural/generational clashes, etc etc.

Yet, beneath this veneer of this seeming hardships glimmers a subtle undercurrent of hope and happiness, of a bond that does not need expressing in the common social forms.

The high praise that Mistry has garnered is not exaggerated. The man has a disarming sense of humor and a lingering sense of what makes literature great. I laughed, I cried, I sat back and pondered. I was especially stirred by the moving story "Of White Hairs and Cricket", and the cover story, which is saved for the last, "Swimming Pools."

Couldn't recommend this brilliant compilation highly enough. It hardly reads like a debut.

Inspirational. I gave it to friends who had suffered hardships of various kinds and they found it helpful.

Mary Fahy's book "The Tree That Survived The Winter" is quite simply amazing and wonderful at the same time. Here in the allegorical story of a tree one can find strength and courage to face personal tragedy and loss. In the process, a person will grow and learn to find happiness and joy in their own world. The happiness and joy that come from living, loving and growing as a person and taking pleasure in the everything around them.

This is one of the best books you can find for dealing with grieving for a loss. It is especially well suited for someone mourning a death, but it will also have meaning for those coping with divorce or any other of life's losses. It can be read in one sitting and is a perfect blend of text and illustration.

I first received this book 10 years ago when my husband passed away. Since then, I given numerous copies to those who have lossed loved ones. It is simple, but helps the healing process.

This book is an allegory about life in general. How we all must face tough times before we can truly appreciate the good times. In this story, a tree begins to come to life after the dreary time of winter. The ground was frozen, the air was cold and there was very little warmth in the sun. This caused the tree to move inward as the elements threatened to damage it. However, with the arrival of spring, the sun is now warm, the roots are growing deeper and stronger and her leaves are budding.
However, this newfound joy soon turns to sadness and hostility against the sun, as she wants to know why the sun abandoned her. The response is to point out how the adverse conditions of winter have strengthened her into a much stronger tree, capable of surviving against much harsher weather. She then learns that it is not the good times that make us stronger, in many ways, they make us weaker. Only by being exposed to the difficult times can we be made to understand and appreciate the good times and also be better able to survive even more difficult times. Without that experience, the truly difficult times may lead to our downfall.

An excellent grouping of poems. They each reflect real life circumstances in today's busy world. I am pleased to be an integral part of my grandchildren's lives. As such, this book is quite relevant to circumstances that they could face as they grow up and out into a more independent world. Thanks Vickie for having the heart to tell it like it is. Your sensitivity and talent certainly shines through your work. You help us face and address so many of the current social ills!

Vickie,I will start off by saying your words,language and poetry are simply clear,down to earth and truly has a message.The only reason that I gave you 5 STARS is because there was no 10 on the board! My review may be quite different from your other wnderful reviews and that is because the reason that I said Divinely Awesome is because I do not understand God's Ways or Timing.I now know that He says that all things work together for His Good and purpose.I pray that every child,teenager,parent and also anyone that would like to have hope and press on and accomplish their purpose,would get your book and read it often.I really wish that I had mentors or someone when I was a hurting and confused child and teenager,to guide and direct me.I became a very angry and violent young woman that every poem in your short but very powerful book described with such clarity and humor.My prayer is that many more doors are open for you to help young people,which are our future to know that they will submit to someone for the rest of their lives,that they must develope character and that their gifts can take them but their character must KEEP them.They also will always have choices,there will always be consequences,they can continue to play the BLAME GAME and that they can choose to be BITTER OR BETTER BUT THEY CAN'T BE BOTH.Your words in each poem touched my soul and gave me hope in a way that you will never know on this side.I was the destructive child that grew up in a very violent home;chose all the negatives that lead to many addictions.I am now 52 yrs old,and the author of 'All Cracked Up" and at this stage i began to feel like giving up on my purpose to continue my triology of my books to help the youth,battered men and women,unhealthy relationship addicts,sex addicts,rageaholics,sucidal tendencies and eventually crack addicts.Why? because I became all of the above and more; I didn't have someone like you who cared enough to talk,write or show me the WAY and some how THE DIVINELY AWESOME GOD THAT CREATED ME and knew me before I was in my mother's womb;through all the rain,storms,fire ,trials and tragedies, He directed and kept me to tell my story from experiences to help someone.Now with all the mentors He has provided for me I am proud He added Vickie as a road model and mentor in this 52 year old woman's life.When the road gets hard as it has, I can read "The Trouble I See" and know to hold on,some more Help is on the way.Keep up the Awesome call and purpose on your life Vickie Lynn Wright Wilson!!! Again thank you with all my heart!

I really enjoyed this book and feel it can make an impact on the yougth of today. It is easy to read and in a language they can understand. The book projects prospectives of parents/adults and those of teenagers. The poems demonstrate deep feelings of concern, desires for sucess, christian principles, and provide situations of caution. The book should be promoted for parents and their children. The author has found a tool to make an impact on our society!.

A wonderful book of poetry!!! Ms. Wilson's concern for the well being of all children and her experience as a parent and teacher shine through in each poem. Congratulations on your debut. I look forward to reading your next piece of work.

Reminds us that it is still possible, at a time when irony and
cynicism are so much the fashion, to pay tribute to our greatest
asset 'our young teens', in teaching them to recognize 'failings
and failures', while being properly appreciative of virtues and
victories. If you need to read a single book to help save our
teens, 'THE TROUBLE I SEE' is it.

Reviewed by Elizabeth E. Gibson-Evans for RebeccasReads (5/08)

The theme of this book, "Trust in the Lord," by Deen Kemsley, is the journey to know Christ; it is the journey to know the deepest, best element of ourselves. If we embrace this divine element within us by genuinely believing in Christ, we experience the wonder of being born of God, and we discover that Christ's power to heal is deeper than our deepest pain.

As Christ transforms us, He instills in us the genuine concern for others and the desire to serve and sacrifice without regard for worldly praise or reward. If Christ were merely an effective teacher, He couldn't evoke such enduring praise -- this is a witness of the literal Son of God.

We may not always receive specific answers to the questions we pose, but if we listen carefully we will receive a deeper answer -- Christ is in the Eternity overhead; Christ is in the eyes and faces of our young children; Christ is in the tears and joy of these whom He transforms; and Christ is deep within our hearts. "God is there, He hears our prayers, and He loves us."

Often it's in the common bond of Christ that we most clearly perceive our common eternal inheritance. "As we step out of the mire and temptations of this world and begin to ascend the mount of the Lord unto the tabernacle of Eternity that is within our hearts, we will find the true Holy of Holies -- Jesus Christ Himself. No matter how far we may have strayed from Him over time. We will learn He has always been there on the look out waiting for us to return.

"Trust in the Lord" takes you through a true spiritual journey of what it means to truly depend on the Lord our Savior as He Himself trusted in His own Holy Father during His walk as one of us. You learn the way to handle loneliness. Discover answers to the many tough questions we all have or have had. But, most importantly you learn true faith and that no matter what "He hears us and He loves us!"

One of the first things I noticed about Deen Kemsley's Trust in the Lord is that I had initially misread the subtitle. Having mistakenly misread it as "Reflections on Jesus Christ", I was startled to find it actually read "Reflections of Jesus Christ". The distinction is not a minor one. In Kemsley's own spiritual sojourn, Christ is not just an abstract idea to be reflected upon but an active force in our lives that is reflected in the wonder of everyday things. The beauty of nature, the laugh of a child, the kind act of a stranger, all in some way reflect the love of Christ to a fallen world and give light to lead us back to Him.

Meditating upon the joys and disappointments of his own life, Kemsley points to the subtle ways in which God moves in all our lives that are often only noticed in retrospect. While there may not be an empirical demonstration of God's existence that would satisfy the doubts of skeptics, this is less a reason to abandon God than a reason to understand the limitations of our methodologies. God may not answer prayer in a loud roar nor the way we want but He does hear and He does answer. Moreover, He does love us.

The meditations cotained in Trust in the Lord are rich and one may find wisdon in reapeated readings that did not seem apparent at first glance. In this beautifully written and faith-filled little book we do indeed see the love of Christ reflected.

Deen Kemsley's writing resonates with uplifting encouragement, inspiring challenge, and amazing insight in is new book "Trust in the Lord." He captures the heart of Christ's own thoughts as he reflects and shares intimate experiences of his own spiritual journey.

Kemsley invites the reader to recognize the Savior at the cross to receive a fresh vision of who Jesus is. He draws from his own experiences and those of others as he speaks about the underlying foundation of the Christian faith as the undeserved, limitless miracle of the love of God demonstrated on the Cross of Calvary. He shows how this love produces joy in circumstances of tribulation, suffering, and persecution. These poignant illustrations draw the reader into an eager search for a fresh encounter with the Lord Jesus.

I experienced a personal call to revival, to recognize my own helplessness without the hope redemption provided through the cross. I am eager to sense the enrichment of God's presence in my life as he works to produce wholeness.

"Trust in the Lord" is for those hungry to contemplate and reflect on the sacrifice of Jesus and His great love, to see fullness replace emptiness and harmony replace loneliness. The book offers the readers freshness in purity as motivation for their actions in their search to fulfill their deepest, truest potential.

If you have even small doubts about the reality of a living Savior that knows you, loves you, and is aware of you, this book was written for you. It's a book that will most likely change your life. I am half way through my second reading and I feel like a new person. The book doesn't tell me how to run my life, but because of this book I can feel my Savior's direction. He really does care about me and my life. Thank you, Deen Kemsley, for sharing this important message. This is a book for everyone.
-Ardent Reader

Professor Kemsley's personal stories bring to life eternal truths in this book. I found that I could relate to several of his stories making it much more enjoyable. This book truly brings one closer to Christ.

Though Roald Dahl's reputation comes mostly from his children's books, these stories, though mostly aimed at adults, are worth reading. This book is full of short stories with somewhat bizarre twists to them, though they are enjoyable all the same. My favorites are Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat, The Butler, The Landlady, Parson's Pleasure, The Umbrella Man, Vengeance is Mine Inc., and Taste.
In Vengeance is Mine Inc., Two brothers named George and Claude move to New York with only four hundred and fifty dollars. When they run out of money, they become desperate. Then, Claude gets an idea. The brothers start a company called Vengeance is Mine Inc., which sends out letters to rich people who have been insulted in the newspapers, offering to punch the offensive columnist them in the nose, black their eye, put a rattlesnake (with venom extracted) in their car, or kidnap them, take off their clothes (except for underwear), and dump them on fifth street at rush hour.
After just two days of sending out letters, they already have to punch someone in the nose, put a rattlesnake in someone's car, and kidnap someone (with the above specifics). Do you want to know if they succeed? If you do, you'll have to read the book.
However, if you do decide to read the book, you will end up reading a lot of other great stories in addition to this one. The endings are just as varied as the topics of the stories. Several are slightly gruesome, others are very interesting, and one of them is very sad. Generally, though, they turn your expectations inside out and upside down, with witty (though sometimes outdated) humor and clever plot lines. If you enjoy this kind of thing, I highly recommend that you read this book.

It has taken me nearly ten years to complete my collection of Roald dahl books in hard back and this was worth the wait.

Simply an amazing book. Roald Dahl does have quite the reputation for creating children's books, but this is no child's book. Each story is so brilliant that you would think there were several decades of planning put into each one. A few will leave you frightened, some will leave you gasping, some might leave you roaring with laughter, and others will have you feeling sad.
But I assure you, no matter what feeling these stories leave you with, each and every one will be accompanied by satisfaction.
Roald Dahl was a saint when it came to children's books, but if you haven't read any of his Young-Adult (I like to call them) classics, then you have no idea what true literature is. I also recommend some of his other non-children's books, such as, one of my favourites: Going Solo.

I am a huge Roald Dahl fan, so naturally I am a bit biased. I love this compilation of short stories, and I constantly reread my favorites, which include Mrs. Bixby and the Colonel's Coat, The Butler, Man from the South, The Landlady, The Umbrella Man, The Way Up to Heaven, Royal Jelly, Taste, and Neck. If you like Roald Dahl's stories as much as I do, I recommend Dahl's Omnibus, which compiles most, if not all of his short works.

Thirteen tales of horror and hilarity from master storyteller: Roald Dahl. How much will you pay for revenge? Would you stake a bet on your little finger or on your only daughter's hand in marriage? Each of the thirteen stories collected here will grab your attention and keep you riveted till the very last words. By turns shocking,ironic,humorous and touching, these tales are filled with bizarre twists and unexpected delights. This collection proves Roald Dahl's standing as one of the world's finest storytellers. My favourites in this book are The Umbralla Man, Mrs Bixby and the Colonel's Coat,Parson's Pleasure and Taste.

I stumbled across this book, and immediately bought it, along with several copies for my friends as well. Taking it to a nearby coffee shop, I laughed so hard other patrons were staring, and somebody actually came up and asked me what was so funny. They seemed to think I was crazy for deliberately buying a book of bad poetry. Finally, I began laughing so hard I was crying, and had to leave to coffee shop to save some sense of dignity! With such gems as "Ode to a Ditch," and "Elegy for a Dissected Puppy," this book proves more interesting and entertaining than I expected, and is also a testament to the indomitable human spirit, which warbles the strangest of verses.

Great poets have their weak moments, but they tend to produce only the occasional bad line - say, for example, when William Wordsworth, one of England's greatest poets, wrote the unintentionally bawdy "Give me your tool, to him I said."

Very bad poets, however, "are perpetrators of a unique and fascinating kind of writing. Unlike the plainly bad or the merely mediocre, very bad poetry is powerful stuff. Like great literature, it moves us emotionally, but, of course, it often does so in ways the writer never intended: usually we laugh."

This book is dedicated to those writers, mostly from the 19th century, who excelled at very bad poetry with astonishing consistency. Those who were blessed, if that is the word, for their entire career with "a wooden ear for words, a penchant for sinking into a mire of sentimentality, a bullheaded inclination to stuff too many syllables or words into a line or a phrase, and an enviable confidence" that allowed them to write despite absolute appalling incompetence.

Here we find the awful metaphor ("the dew on my heart is undried and unshaken") and the tortured rhyme ("Gooing babies, helpless pygmies,/ Who shall solve your Fate's enigmas?") next to one of the most unappetizing titles for a love poem ever ("I Saw Her in Cabbage Time").

Some of the most hilarious effects are created by the attempt to dramatize the pedestrian, as in the "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese", aptly subtitled "Weighing over 7,000 pounds":

We have seen thee, queen of cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze,
Thy fair form no flies dare seize. (there are five more delicious stanzas)

Not quite as riotously funny, but interesting as a phenomenon of the 19th century, is the preoccupation of very bad poets with death. It produced tasteless marvels of what the editors labeled "tabloid verse" like:

Oh, Heaven! It was a frightful and pitiful sight to see
Seven bodies charred of the Jarvis family;
And Mrs. Jarvis was found with her child, and both carbonized,
And as the searchers gazed thereon they were surprised.

Another favorite of very bad poets is the use of bizarre words in blissful ignorance of their meaning or the common readers' associations. One of the most talented in this respect was one Amanda McKittrick Ros, "a writer with a gift for (as she puts it) 'disturbing the bowels.'" To her we owe the following lines written on the occasion of her visit of Westminster Abbey:

Holy Moses! Have a look!
Flesh decayed in every nook!
Some rare bits of brain lie here
Mortal loads of beef and beer
Some of whom are turned to dust, [only some?]
Every one bids lost to lust.

The editors' favorite worst poem ever written in the English language bears the title "A Tragedy" - which, indeed, it is. But I don't want to spoil the fun by quoting it here. My own favorite is an excerpt from "A Pindaresque on the Grunting of a Hog." Nothing describes the voice of a very bad poet better than the sounds this animal makes:

Harmonious Hog draw near!
No bloody Butchers here,
Thou need'st not fear.
Harmonious Hog draw near, and from thy beauteous Snowt,
Whilst we attend with Ear
Like thine prik't up devout,
To taste thy sugry Voice, which hear, and there,
With wanton Curls, Vibrates around the Circling Air,
Harmonious Hog! Warble some Anthem out!

Pindar, by the way, was the most famous lyric poet of ancient Greece. He lived in the 5th century BC and saw himself as a poet dedicated to preserving and interpreting great deeds and their divine values.

Another famous ancient Greek author ("Sing, o muse, the wrath of Achilles ...") inspired a very bad poet to what is perhaps the worst line of poetry ever written without satiric intent: "Now, Muse, let's sing of rats." In fact, the poet changed the last word from the original "mice" to "rats" because he found "rats" more dignified.

What sets this anthology apart from others on bad poetry is the quality and tone of the short editorial commentaries preceding each poet. These witty and elucidating notes enhance the enjoyment of the poetry. This anthology also seems to include the largest selection of what the editors of The Stuffed Owl anthology would call bad bad poets. Fred Emerson Brooks, for example, was noted for his partiality for writing in dialect, a crowd-pleasing late nineteenth century device. The Petras siblings include his "multicultural masterpiece" "Foreigners on Santa Claus" and his "particularly nauseating" baby talk poem "The New Baby." The latter qualifies for "The Worst Baby Talk Poem." Such stunningly awful examples of special bad poems are highlighted, labeled, and scattered throughout the text. Highly recommended even for serious readers!

Let's qualify this review with how much I love bad things. I spend most of my free time wondering incessantly about what the creator of such inconceivable nonsense had in mind. Why did you, Ms. Parrington, think it was okay to write a poem about a 'dissected dog'? Why, William McGonagall, do you think your "mastery" of poetic license should have no meter, no forward movement and incredibly bad rhyme schemes? And, what the heck do you say to "Ode on a Mammoth Cheese"??? All in all, the Petras did a magnificent job of putting this compendium of what-not-to-do-if-you-want-to-be-a-poet. And, don't we all want to be poets? Keep trying and maybe you will be in volume 2 of this excellent awfulness.

Bad poetry is one of life's greatest illicit joys, and there are some real gems here, along with much commentary by the editors who help explain why this stuff is so terrible in case you somehow can't figure it out. For my taste, there are too many little excepts here and not enough complete poems. For fans of this sort of thing, I also strongly recommend two other books. The first is "Pegasus Descending," an earlier collection of bad verse that was among the first of its kind. (I think it may come back into print in 2001?) Hilarious. The other is the catalog of "Moba," the Museum of Bad Art in Massachusetts. Lord, are those paintings funny.

This selection of Romero's sermons should be read by every Christian. Romero preached and lived the Gospel better than any modern man or woman. If one can get a hold of the DVD of the movie "Romero" and read these sermons, it will be a most loving, powerful spiritual experience. As Jesus spoke for the oppressed and poor, Archbishop Romero carries this message to our times.

Oscar Romero was the archbishop of San Salvador, assassinated while saying Mass in 1980 by death squads, tacitly backed by the United Sates under the Reagan administration. These ideological political forces that executed him were challenged by his public voice against poverty, social injustice, political killings, and torture in El Salvador. Romero was an incredibly eloquent speaker and writer. Here is an excerpt from one of his sermons that appears in "The Violence of Love":

"There is no dichotomy between man and God's image.
Whoever tortures a human being,
whoever abuses a human being,
whoever outrages a human being,
abuses God's image."

Here is another excerpt:

"A preaching that does not point out sin is not the preaching of the gospel A preaching that makes sinners feel good, so that they are secured in their sinful state, betrays the gospel's call. A preaching that does not discomfit sinners but lulls them in their sin leaves Zebulun and Naphtali in the shadow of death.

A preaching that awakens, a preaching that enlightens as when a light turned on awakens and, of course, annoys, the sleeper that is the preaching of Christ, calling "Wake up... Be converted!..." Naturally, such preaching must meet conflict, must spoil what is called prestige, must disturb, must be persecuted. It cannot get along with the powers of darkness and sin..."

Oscar Romero, martyr, spoke the words in this second excerpt Jan. 22, 1978 - roughly 2 months before his assassination.

It is probably worth noting that I am not a Catholic. However, I do consider Oscar Romero to have been a brother in Christ and a fine example for religious people everyewhere. This book, "The Violence of Love", has been invaluable to me in my own studies and spiritual walk. The sermons Romero preached those decades ago ring every bit as true and pertinent in today's world of war, hatred and violence as they did when he spoke them. They are timeless. As an "American Indian" and Christian I found the liberation theology that Romero so eloquently articulates to be a theology that is imperative for the salvation of my people and/or anyone that wishes to explore more deeply the true message of the Gospels. This book has my highest reccomendation.

The words of Bishop Romero are very inspirational. This book contains a collection of short quotes from homilies given by Romero to people in need of liberation. The topics of the quotes vary and are applicable to all walks of life. I would recommend reading a biography of Romero or the history of El Salvador before reading this book to give his words a better historical context. I would recommend this book to anyone seeking direction in life or anyone seeking the inspiration of a hero for humanity.

On this day a near quarter century ago Archbishop Oscar A. Romero got shot during the Offertory of the Mass in his small but beautiful Teminal Hospital Chapel in San Salvador. I visited there a few years later, seeing where the military shooter crouched as the Archbishop raised the chalice and Host in offering, offering his own body and life to the ultimate sacrifice of martyrdom, having spent years preaching and striving courageously and prophetically for Peace and Justice in Jesus Christ, for the most vulnerable and impoverished people amongst us, and the Gospel "preferential option for the Poor" declared in Medellin by the CELAM.

This book, published in reprint a few years back by the great Catholic publishing house Orbis Books, presents for our strengthening and meditation golden spiritual ore mined from the sermons of Archbishop Romero, mainly from the late seventies, collected acording to theme by the Jesuit scholar, journalist and priest, the late Rev. James Brockman, SJ, editor of the well-known and long published Catholic magazine America.

The themes around which Fr. Brockman gathers these fairly brief citations from Archbishop Romero's sermons include: Pilgrim Church, History of Salvation, Idol of Self, God's Justice, Bright Light of Christ, Option for the Poor and Good News to the Poor, etc. As a great editor, Fr. Brockman leaves us what is most permanent and prophetic from the Archbishop's sermons, in sizes we can easily meditate and digest, as well as more lengthy selections.

The introduction by the great theologian and writer Father Henri Nouwen beautifully and brilliantly places these readings in the context of salvation history and prophetically as a call to conversion and to action for each one of us. Father Nouwen personalizes our dazzling encounter with the spirituality of this saintly martyr in a way that we are not overwhelmed nor confused but made able to receive his Words, based continually in the words of Our Lord Jesus Christ. For once an introduction truly serves to introduce us to the main body of a work, making us capable of comprehending and of conversion through the great homilies of the Archbishop.

If you have time for only one work regarding Archbishop Romero, whose canonization is in process in the Vatican, this is an excellent place to begin, and to dwell.

A voice of a martyr and prophet. Explains what it means to be a Christian.

Walk in the Light and Twenty Three Tales by Leo Tolstoy
Nicely done ebook. Easy to use. Good navigation. 1-click wireless delivery to my Kindle. Thank you!

I had read few stories by tolstoy as a teenager in school and liked. I decided to buy them again and I just dont think I am impressed anymore. Only very few stories are good to read but other than that this looks like a christian book to me with quotes from the Bible.

Moby Dick used to be my favorite book. What more is there to say? Tolstoy is a master storyteller. If you like good writing, this book is for you. If you like Christian writing, this book is even more for you. This one will make a great gift.

This book belonged to my father and he used to tell me stories from it when I was small. All parents should try to read this to their children - I remember being both mesmerised and confused by the stories : mesmerised because of their simplicity and flow, and confused because they led to deeper questions on society,humanity and God. Even if you are agnostic, you can read it for its human and literaray value.
After reading this you will have a hard time deciding whether Tolstoy is better as a novelist or a short story writer.

I read this book it was 20 years ago, it was a chinese version
and translated by a professor, now I have two children and one
of them is teenage, so I ordered thru amazon with English version,
I am so proud to tell you, I am so sure my dtr will learn something
from this book, thanks to God, mdy

Although they were different in many ways, The Wasp Eater reminded me a little of The Secret Life of Bees. If you liked that one, give this one a try. This is a wonderfully told story by a writer who knows how to describe certain the details of something in such a way you already perceive them but didn't realize you did until you read his description! Such talent! I hope to see future work from Mr. Lychack.

This is a thoughtful well-written book that explores many facets of family relationships. Although it is fiction it is likely to strike a familiar chord with anyone who has had a less than perfect relationship with their father.

Beyond a doubt, this is one of the best bits of writing I have come across in several years. I would hate to classify it as a novel, per se, as it is more akin to a short story, or short narrative. The author's use of language is wonderful, lyrical yet rather shocking. The author touches on so many emotions and does it so well, that this one is bound to stay with you for some time. Very highly recommend this one, and I promise you will not be sorry after reading it. Hope we get more of the same from Mr. Lychack.

I thought it was an ephemeral novelette with several thoughtful descriptions of characters. Very good read.

The Wasp Eater is one of the best novels I've read this year. The author's expertise with language and story is so complete that he draws you in from the start, and doesn't let go. It's a slender book; you'll read it quickly, and then you'll want to take your time when you read it again.

THis is a great inspirational book for anyone suffering from a major life changing injury.

The best compliment I can provide is I'm buying more copies to give to friends. The book is thought provoking as well as extraordinarily uplifting.

A very honest emotional description of experiences while dealing with a cancer, a surgery, radiation, learning how to live with pain as a companion, learning how to live as a "gimp"--word used by the author, and many other superbly described experiences. Just the right touch, just the right doze. Very subtle and lithe. Joy to read.

Should be mandatory reading of all Medical Students and Residents. Disease process as seen and documentd by a patient. The physical, emotional, and spiritual swings a patient goes through during a long protracted illness.

This is a book about severe illness and recovery. It is a true story of hope and healing told without self-pity. Price writes of being faced with a diagnosis of severe cancer of the spine. "Some vital impulse spared me needing to reiterate the world's most frequent and pointless question in the face of disaster - Why? Why me? I never asked it; the only answer is of course: Why not?"

In the same candid, sometimes funny, yet always affecting words, the popular and prolific author tells of his battle with disease. First struck down in 1984, he suffered through surgery, days of agonizing pain and was eventually confined to a wheelchair, unable to function professionally or personally.

He later sought treatment with a hypnotist at Duke University's psychiatric department with beneficial results. Throughout, Price gives credit to the power of prayer, which he calls "the first strong prop beneath my own collapse."

This is not only the story of an illness and recovery, it is the saga of resolve when confronted with a frightening enemy, and it is a tale of family and friendships, the human network that supports us.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke