Authors Books

I first met Betty McDonald when I read The Egg and I, back in high school in the Pacific Northwest in the late 1960s, and I was completely enthralled. First of all: she writes extremely well. Her sentences are terse and well-formed, and she has a knack for shaping quips of all kinds: the quick laugh, the sudden surprise laugh line, and the careful set-up gag. Most of all, though, I find myself laughing aloud (she's one of the few authors who makes me laugh aloud while reading) at the perfection of a sentence which is at the same time witty, perfectly balanced, completely appropriate, and completely unexpected.

You will find all this - in spades - in Onions in the Stew. It is a mellower book than the others, for many reasons; she was older when she wrote it - and, I think, happier in her second marriage; also, her already considerable skill at writing had grown. Her descriptions of Vashon Island in the 1940s are utterly perfect: beautiful, clever, and bittersweet all at once. Her descriptions of her husband and daughters - and others in her family - are full of warmth, and are at the same time completely clear-eyed and unsentimental.

Frankly, comparing Betty to Erma Bombeck is like comparing Julia Child to Rachael Ray. They can both cook - but, oh boy, I know whose house I'd like to visit for lunch . . .

I first read Onions in the Stew almost thirty years ago, in a Reader's Digest Condensed Books version, and I never forgot it. What a JOY to receive the complete version as a gift years later, along with The Plague and I, and Anybody Can Do Anything, when they were reissued by The Common Reader. I absolutely devoured them, passed them around among my friends & loved ones (keeping track of who had them, very uncharacteristic but they're the kind of books you never want to lose!!!!) and agree with every five-star reviewer here, especially "pony-express," that Betty is the best friend you never met. Also enjoyed the comment about how much fun heaven will be, to drink strong coffee & yak with Betty MacDonald. She is still as witty today as when she wrote her books, utterly classic and fresh, laugh-out-loud and tremendously endearing without EVER being cloying. Such a cut above. Her other books are equally wonderful, and I just wish more people were exposed to her; she's a tonic for stress, an antidote to depression. So glad there are others out there who love her as I do!

I've just finished the fourth Betty MacDonald memoir. Thank you Amazon for the access to all these out of print books!
I now know what's going to be fun in Heaven - chatting with Betty over strong cups of coffee.
These books were like discovering a new best friend. I've never been so entertained by reading. What a gal!

Having finished my previous book and waiting for Amazon's free shipping promo to buy more, I picked up this book collecting dust in my book closet. I was pleasantly surprised.

It is smart and funny and so down-to-earth that you have to instantly like Betty as your best friend. Althouhg I am not a big fan of women titles (those seems to dominate the New York Times bestsellers list these days), I laughed out loud on a plane from Washington DC to Houston on a business trip. Who knew that everyday domestic issues can be so light and funny?

Anyway, just try it. You will find it more enjoyable than you want to admit.

"The Egg and I." As I said in my review of the earlier book, although I found parts of "Egg" charming, the chapter on Indians made my part-Cherokee blood boil, and that other parts seemed rather mean-spirited as well.

There is none of the mean-spiritedness in "Onions", probably because, in spite of the various toils and tribulations of life on the island, Betty was basically happy there, as opposed to "Egg" where she was mostly miserable.

I loved the part about the small woman who loved to curl up on soft, comfy places like sofas, armchairs, and other women's husbands' laps. I wondered, though, why Betty didn't just ask her to step out into the garden and then drop-kick her across the straight to Seattle? I'm sure she could have gotten some of the other women in their circle of friends to help.

Many of the events she tells of show us that teenage girls have always been a handful, whatever they say. However, in spite of all the complaining and whining, the girls were willing to pich in; how many girls their age nowadays would have something like stuffed pork chops waiting when their parents came home from work?

While "Egg" left me wondering why anyone in their right mind would want to run a chicken farm in the middle of a howling wilderness, "Onions" made me wonder if living on an island might not be fun.

Presently you won't see Chris Offutt's name on any bestseller's list, but please don't let that discourage you from reading his wonderful work. In "Out of the Woods," Offutt follows the lives of ex-cons, alcoholics, gamblers, and drifters as they struggle to find direction and purpose.

Offutt's characters share one common thread, they were all born and raised in Appalachian communities in Kentucky. Reared in a culture in and of itself, these Kentuckians face harsh realities as they try to carve out a path for themselves in mainstream America. Most grapple with a strong desire to get out and see the world yet simultaneously they fight the urge to return to the comfort and security of home. In "Moscow, Idaho," a young prisoner on grave digging duty aims to turn over a new leaf and wonders if he will ever find a woman, a good job, and a town to settle in. "Two-Eleven All Around" is the story of a man who is so desperate for attention from his girlfriend, that he stages his own arrest in hope that she will hear about it while listening to her radio. These tales combine perseverance and heartbreak into poetic prose.

There have been comparisons of Offutt's writing to that of Raymond Carver's. Only in my opinion, Offutt is better. Carver's characters tend to present with a flat affect, but Offutt is able to take the reader subtly and deeply into his characters minds. Chris Offutt excels at what he writes about because he lived the life of his characters. He grew up in a small Appalachian community and at the age of nineteen he meandered across the country where he went through more than fifty jobs before returning to home and raising a family. Chris Offutt has come full circle and there is no doubt that he will find himself a place in the world of literature.

Because I love short stories and Southern writers, I discovered Chris Offutt. Out of the Woods was his first book I read. It won't be the last. His fiction is serious, his characters haunting. Haunting because of the writer's honesty. Offutt turns on the overhead light and throws off the sheet. His protagonist in "Two-Eleven All Around" sums up all of his characters when he ponders, "Sometimes I don't think I've done anything to leave my mark in this world. I'm the kind of person the world leaves a mark on." Offutt has left his mark.

Ain't no such thing as a perfect story no matter how masterful the crafter is. That's what art is, I guess. It's the "imperfections" - maybe the particularities, the quirks and indiosicracies - which strick you in that very personal way like the writer is writing for you and you want to shake the hand which wrote that tale, which made your life a little better just now and you really want to say - thanks! After awhile, if the work is good, you don't feel like you're reading some book. This guy, Offut, is actually a very ordinary proser. It seems. Seemingly, not that much extraordinary stuff is going on. No sense of immediate beauty or anything like that. He writes as if he's one with the tale being told. There's this intimacy here, OUT OF THE WOODS, like you don't get in many places. He honors - people, life, words, and the putting together of. That's what I think. Some phrases jump at you with a real live human voice. ("I'm going with Jack," she said. "I'm sorry." - in TOUGH PEOPLE) ("What the f--- do you want?" - in TWO-ELEVEN ALL AROUND) I've been keeping these sentences in me for awhile and as corny as this sounds, they make me want to be a better person.

There's only a few writers that I hold as examples of what the art should be, and Chris is one of 'em.

This book of stories rivals Denis johnson's Jesus' Son as oneof the most compelling books of stories written in the last decade.Economically written and darkly funny, not one word is wasted. And the landscapes are etched with a painter's flare for light and form. I've read Mr. Offut's novel and memoir and they are very good. But this book is truly original, an example of how much promise the short story as a significant art form in 2000 and beyond.

Hmm, how do you make a kicking Science Fiction series novel?

Take Area 51...
Add in alien sex,
an APC/Jeep war,
an underground battle,
an ... whupping in an elevator,
samurai,
ninjas,
"injuns" with M-16's,
rumors of dinosaurs,
the alleged death of a main character,
a mysterious being who can rejuvenate the ancient and crippled,
a hot tub sex scene,
and mix it ALL together with a little Viva Las Vegas...

I think you can come close to perfection with this one. Most people talk about the middle book of a trilogy being slow or weak? This was the exception to that rule. The first book was much less full than this one, and this one had a lot of energy to it, despite all the plot points, or maybe even BECAUSE of all the vibrant energy plugged into it.

Just awesome.

I've been reading Outlanders since the first book and there's been plenty of surprsies along the way, none of shocked me like Tigers of Heaven!

This is one of the best books in the series, if not THE best. It's exciting, action-packed, full of unexpected twists and turns. There's plenty of shooting in this book, but it's not a simple shoot-em-up.

I don't want to give away the plot, but it seems like the world of Kane, Brigid, Grant and the rest of the gang at Cerberus are in for some major changes...none of them good. I really can't recommend this book highly enough.

Tigers of Heaven

This novel is one of the best Mark has written to date. It begins where Doom Dynasty left off, with Kane in the Clutches of Baron Cobalt in Area 51. I will not go into the details of what was happening to him, as it would spoil it for the reader.

Suffice to say, the reader is treated a rare glimpse into the mind and society of the Hybrid race, how they react, their views on humanity and each other, emotions, etc.

While Kane is held captive, Grant, Brigid as well as a small team of natives leave the Darks in the Titano (the name the War Wag was Christened), on a desperate rescue mission.

Along the way they encounter a group of Magistrates led by none other than Baron Sharpe himself, and an uneasy alliance is formed between both parties, as their final destination, AREA 51, remains the same. Even though their collective reasons for hitting the mythical base are different.

The novel is action packed, as you would expect, but it also gives a long overdue insight into the Albino Domi's mind, and the how's and whys she reacts the way she does. It also fleshes out this character even more so.

To add icing to the cake, several new characters are introduced in the novel, well some really re-introduced, that could prove to be great friends, or deadly foes. These characters range from several Hybrids, to Magistrates as well as the Tigers of Heaven (introduced for the first time in Outer Darkness).

Even though the Tigers play only a small role in the novel, the events that take place on their island off the western coast will play significantly in upcoming novels. We're talking some very high tech, very unusual occurrences.

Also, there is something that happens in the novel that will shock any long time reader. Well two things, if you count what happens to Grant.

Enjoy, it is well worth the read, and I personally can't wait to get my hand on Purgatory Road. Which incidentally, has Kane, Brigid and Grant prominently displayed on the cover.

Chris

This book was very well paced, the continued shifting in perceptions of the main characters towards Who Is The Enemy is always a welcome treatment, lending as it does a more intricate layer to the overly simplified plotline. The protagonists' morphing into semi-allies is also well done, I'll have to admit.

Hey Kids: This series has become more important than Deathlands because it handles a wider range of mythologies, if you can dig it. The series, though, is now more vulnerable than ever for devolving into stream of consciousness drivel from main characters. Let us hope it does not fall into that bottomless chasm as it threatened to do when the characters were spiritually transported to parallel universes.

I also would like to see more technological doodads flitting about in forthcoming novels. I certainly liked the volume that talked about the Aurora craft and its capabilities. I also hope that perhaps this series can nestle more snuggly into more UFO paranoia and Area 51 mythos. As I find that world fun to immerse myself in for a time, and apparently other readers do as well, judging from the "Area 51" novels from Tom Dougherty. And as Dean Koontz has aptly demonstrated in his Wyvern Base series, there's a lot of paranoidal mythos-spinning yarn concerning abandoned high-tech military bases. Perhaps a half-buried Crystal Palace R&D facility would be appropos in one of the future installments maybe?

As usual this latest outlanders installment has soured far beyond my wildest expectations. This wild rollcoaster ride of unexpected plot twists and shifting perceptions of both the barons and the main characters, carries this novel well beyond the sterotypical adventure/sci fi novel. With a War brewing among the barons and a strange imperator with power beyond that of even Balam, the author takes the reader on a journey of revealations and sudden unexpected events that leave the reader shocked and breathless. Who will survive? Just when you think you have things figured out and you know where each character stands things shift and a whole new prespective is revealed. In this second novel in the imperator wars trilogy the author dangles some answers to questions left unanswered in Doom Dynasty while not really given the reader what they really want. With so many questions left unanswered as this second novel ends it will leave you salivating for more.

I own this book as well and in reading it to my grandaugther it brought memories of when I was young as well as seeing the excitement in her eyes. You have to read this aloud and it was truly a great experience for her. She always want to hear a story. I do believe we have to keep the stories alive in our children, the tones, the simplicity of life....a history.

I first heard of this book when I was in 5th grade (about 10-11 yrs. old)...I'm 28 now. My African-American teacher would read us stories from it. I remember enjoying the stories so much that I bought this book for my son about 2 yrs. ago. My son is almost 3 now & while he can't read yet, I know he will enjoy the stories as much as I have. This book comes with a CD & is narrated by the author & James Earl Jones...the narration was well done. I listened to the CD & I felt as if I had gone back in time. The narrators are so vivid & they really get your attention. The CD is definitely a plus & the book was well written. I really like that the stories have morals & life lessons that we can learn from. I recommend buying this version of the book because it comes with the CD. I also recommend this book for children 9 & up. This book would be a great addition to anyone's book collection. I hope my review is helpful.

I read this book when I was in elementary school and fell in love with it. Virginia Hamilton really captures the essence of West African story telling and transfers that essence into American form. As an educator and historian, the lessons in this book has stayed with me for well over 18 yrs and I suspect the lessons will remain with me forever. I recommend that this book is on the shelves of every African American family.

As a storyteller and folklorist/historian, it saddens me that so few children today know anything about the joys of hearing a good tale from a wise elder. In Black America in particular, generations of children (including my father, thank God) had the wonderful tales of Brer Rabbit, Little 8 John, Raw head & Bloody Bones, Wiley & The Hairy Man, and the People Who Could Fly (title story) told to them as today's children are familiar with Kim Possible and the Proud Family.

I bought this for my beloved niece when she was eight and pretty soon, she began entertaining the children of the neighborhood with these tales just as I did after listening to my dad and I still do during storytelling gigs today.

Virginia Hamilton (RIP) did a masterful work in leaving this beautiful legacy to a generation where it is fast disappearing. She does a good job in interpreting the likes of Wiley the Hairy man, Raw Head and Bloody Bones (the PC crowd occasionally complains about this being too scary for kids as well as Brer Rabbit-let these crybaby fools go ahead with that sickening Barney the Dinosaur and the care bears). The edition that I bought for my neice was before the CD with Miss Hamilton and voicemaster James Earl Jones came out, but I have younger neices and nephews (and hopefully my own children in the future) that I will certainly look out for this for.

Another reason why this collection is in such need is that often, African-American parents (rightfully) complain about the lack of wholesome entertainment for their children in particular. Unfortunately, most parents of today were not exposed to these stories as I was and this often leads to well-intentioned but foolish recent activities such as the NAACP here in Charleston (SC) complaining about the lack of Black Santa Clauses in the local malls. As Miss Hamilton and those of us raised in the folklore tradition know, we have enough good things of our own culture to pass down to children than to worry of the color of Santa Claus.

Buy this, reconnect with your children, and enjoy.

This book is a trifecta:

1. You get to hear the author read her own writing. If you want to hear Virginia Hamilton and James Earl Jones adding their own special lyrical beauty to the reading of these stories, then purchase this version. Considering that Ms. Hamilton died in 2002, this CD is a must have.

I think it is important for children to hear the author reading their own work. So if you can't get to a book reading by the author, this is the next best thing. And you get to hear it over and over again.

2. The illustrations are magical, delicate, and powerful. Every child (but especially black and white) in this nation should hear the stories in this book. Before they know color issues, they should get to know the beauty and dignity of brown skin. To hear the dignity, power, and humanity of their own heritage or that of someone elses, before a world of anger taints them.

3. At the end of each story is a brief history of the story: it's origin, and variations, and other facts that help the story to become more real and personal, especially for a child who wants to know more about their heritage. This will inspire them to ask questions and (if they're older) do research as it cause me to do.

This is a beautiful novel about a small town and the lives of its inhabitants. Murr lets us into the deep inner workings of his characters' minds, contrasting their outward, seemingly happy and normal existence with the conflict and, at times, profound misery of their true thoughts and feelings. The novel revolves around the arrival of Raj, by way of London and India, to the rural town of Pisgah, Missouri, and the impact his presence has on Pisgah's various residents. Though Raj remains a central, if not the central, figure in Murr's novel, Murr chooses to tell the story from the points of view of Pisgah's residents, leaving us to interpret Raj's true feelings from the responses, expressions, and actions the other characters see. As Murr brings us deeper into the minds of each character, we are exposed to a terribly dysfunctional society in which people are repressed to the point of suffocation, in which characters struggle in desperation to find an escape from their miserable existence, yet without any real solution in sight. While Raj provides hope and change to the lives of many characters, his presence also leads to a great many complications and conflict in the lives of others. Murr brings his characters to life so expertly that the reader becomes a member of Pisgah's society and lives and breathes with its inhabitants. Alternating between the present day and glimpses from the past, Murr's narrative enfolds the reader completely in the life, history, and tragedies of his town and characters. This is a touching, heart-breaking, and masterfully written novel; one of the best I have read and an experience not to be missed.

I knew nothing of the book nor had I ever heard of the author. I picked up and read this book based solely on the title. Being fairly frequently reminded that I am not a perfect man, and that I have a long way to go to get there, I was curious to find what this unknown author might have to say about "the perfect man." Alas, I didn't find the answer to perfection, but I did find a wonderful story.

As I jumped into this one, the story came alive with great characters, beginning in post-war London and moving quickly to, of all places, 1950s very small-town America, Pisgah, Missouri, which lies essentially near the center of the state, deep in America's heartland, and along the banks of the Missouri River; certainly neither a place nor a time that would willingly accept a dark-skinned foreigner with a name like "Rajiv". It made for a great story, for sure worthy of a strong four-star rating. However, at the very end of the book, I found the final chapter to be so strong, so engaging and so optimistic that this strong four-star story was pushed over the brink to a five-star gem of a story.

I think the story of Raj, the Indian-born boy who ends up in Missouri by way of London, is a story of many, many levels - levels that deserve to be given an in-depth analysis by people much more capable of such analysis than I. However, I do opine that Murr is outstanding at creating the atmosphere of this small town, displaying to the reader the town's eccentricities and prejudices, the dark secrets of its families and social cliques, the love that bound its young characters, and the love-turned-to-hate, spite and despair that embroiled many of the adults and decayed marital, familial and community relationships. Murr intertwines and juxtaposes not only love and hate through the characters and the small community, but also vanity and humility, selfishness and charity, fidelity and infidelity, trust and distrust, hope and despair, bravery and cowardice. As I read deeper into the story, and the secrets of the community continually unfolded - sometimes shockingly - I was totally engaged.

A final aspect I found particularly of interest in this book were the sections after the final chapter: a conversation with the author, who had himself spent some portion of his life living in Columbia, Missouri, and the "Questions and Topics for Discussion" section. Reading the author's perspectives and occasionally reviewing the questions/topics section helped me keep in mind some of the objectives of the story and recognize different levels and focal points of the story's characters, plot and subplots.

The only warning I can give is that the story does not unfold chronologically. Each chapter begins with a year, and the reader should pay attention to which year is about to be exposed, else you might find yourself temporarily confused as to where in the chronology of the story the events are unfolding.

In summary, I really enjoyed this book; found it very engrossing and would recommend it to anyone who desires good depth to a story and great characters.

This book was a mixed bag for me. On the one hand the coming-of-age narrative of a close group of young beautiful people was one I followed with interest, compassion, humour. The very imperfect grown-up world they inhabit was presented harshly. At times this world was funny and entertaining, but mostly I found it a confusing and threatening world, with exception of Ruth. For me it was just that bit too gritty, too ugly and threatening. Particularly the chilling descriptions of the crimes committed by Magnus and the other men were uncomfortable to say the least. Do we as flawed adults really become so self-obsessed and make such a mess of our worlds and those of our young people? Or is this no allegory, just a story aboout one place, one time and one group of people and their lives? Was this a story of hope? A criticism on human nature, or a reaffirmation? Or all of the above? The story left me with many more questions at the end than I had before reading.
The story flicked backward and forward a bit, which really worked well. It gave events in the novel a gradual revelation, building up suspense in the novel just nicely.
Some of the characters were worked out really convincingly, but I found myself unsatisfied about some of the characters. Probably because Murr hints at certain thngs about certain characters, but then does not allow the reader to get to know them better. That's mean! Similarly with the storyline, there were certain tangents the story hinted at, that were just not worked out any further.
I loved Raj, Annie and Ruth. I loved their integrity, although I wanted to know so much more about Ruth and Raj's relationhip and how they touched each other's lives. I found them amazing, their strength and stability, their sense of right and wrong, even though neither of them had any reason to be like that. Their goodness and character an integral quality, rather than a consequence of nurture, it seems to me. It's the natural way we all want to be good.
Murr is incontestably Wise, uses images and ideas which in turn refresh, shock, entertain and endear.
Throughout this story he portrays indeed the perfect man' "Brutally powerful, morbidly sensitve",which suggests that such a man would have power but be cautious about its use, would value how loved he was. Would know that "it is never sufficient to love; you must have faith in those who love you too."
Like Dickens, Murr recognises the shaping influences a particular place and its people can have. This place, Pisgah, connects the people in the novel, through a collection of experiences, memories and its very landscape, so that the characters are inseparable on some level for the rest of their lives. Even many miles away and years later, Raj's life is still moulded and affected by that small town he came to by some kind of bizarre act of providence years before. This was recognisable to me too. We all have experiences of places in our lives which shape us forever, and try as we may, we can never walk away from experiences, people and the living we have done there.
The recognition by Raj of knowing what he wants out of life, having made his choices, but still sometimes struggling with these choices, "...he had remained silent just long enough", was very real too. I found it encouraging that in an era where adultery and dishonesty are glorified, Murr keeps him faithful and him and Annie together as a family.

As a high school Librarian I read a lot of books. One of our English teacher's recommended this and I was blown away. It is a very rich story of an ensemble of different types of people.

(4.5 stars) Rajiv Travers, the son of Gerard Travers and an Indian woman whom Gerard claims to have bought for twenty pounds, finds himself "orphaned" and uprooted at the age of five, when he is sent from India to London to live with his father, a man he does not know. By the age of twelve he has been abandoned several more times, both physically and emotionally, and has been sent to Pisgah, Missouri, to live with Ruth Winters, the romance-writing mistress of one of his uncles. A "black" child living in a white world, Rajiv becomes close friends with Annie and Lew, who often include Alvin and Nora in their activities. Each child, suffering from some personal trauma, is trying to make sense of the past and the often tumultuous and threatening present.

Pisgah, Missouri, provides a Southern Gothic setting in which author Naeem Murr explores the essence of selfhood. The sense of isolation, the difficulties (or, sometimes, impossibilities) of communication, the role of sex, and issues of power and control, perennial problems for teenagers, are also problems for the adults in Pisgah as well. Everyone has secrets, some of them secrets which are guaranteed to be kept because they include evil activities in which an entire group has participated.

Murr, who has previously focused on dark psychological aberrations in his novel The Boy, creates a cauldron of activity here in which the adolescents try to survive the perils they face on a daily basis. The characters, while darker and, in many cases, more damaged than what we usually call "normal," come to life as their individual backgrounds and the backgrounds of their families are revealed. Rajiv, the main character, has no past in Pisgah, and his reactions to what he is seeing, hearing, feeling, and guessing guide the reader to an understanding of Murr's themes.

As the narrative switches back and forth in time, horrors unfold and mysteries get solved. Pisgah reveals itself to be a microcosm of life's trials, almost on a par with Dante's nine circles of hell. Filled with mystery and the traumas of adolescence, the book has a broader focus than a mere coming-of-age. In a sense, all of humanity is on trial in Pisgah. Remarkably, some of the teenagers manage to put their lives in order and triumph, despite having faced seemingly insuperable odds, and the book is ultimately a celebration of the human spirit. n Mary Whipple

The Genius of the Sea : A Novel
Boy, The

Doug Crandell has written a poignant memoir that cannot fail to touch your heart and mind. Doug must have been a complete mystery to his family as a child. He was so sensitive, so intelligent, and so different from the rest of the family. The unconditional love and acceptance from all in the Crandell family shine as a steady beacon in his well written book. I became so caught up in the family story, and Doug's individual story, that I was almost holding my breath hoping that all would turn out for the best.

Mr. Crandell's memoir made me want to hold a piglet too- preferably a runt! I learned a lot about pig farming on a small farm from his story. I don't think I'll ever want to eat a ham sandwich again! His descriptive powers were so great that I could almost see the piglets long eyelashes and hear their contented breaths in the little pen.

I do wish that I knew if Doug was ever able to use his hand in any way. I kept thinking, "if only you could have seen a hand surgeon when this happened". But alas, there was never enough money and everyone did the very best they could without a lot of medical help, or really any kind of outside help.

You will love this book.

I grew up in neighboring Illinois not far from `Pig Boy'. So, in reading this lovely memoir I found myself transported back into my own childhood memories of growing up. I was tired of reading at the time and therefore hesitant to give this memoir a chance. When I finished, I found that the author had reignited my passion for reading. This memoir will make you want to read again...to write again. The author truly captured the very humorous and.... yes poignant business of growing up, families and the unique value that every person brings to this world. Get this book, you will be glad you did.

First of all, I really enjoyed this book. I was skeptical going in, thinking it was just another outbreak in the rash of memoirs that has erupted on the best seller lists. This one is different. On the surface, it's a coming of age story, a story about self worth, self awareness, and the impact of family (the family in question being "the seven D's" - all of Doug Crandell's brothers, sisters, and even his parents have names that start with D.) But it turns out that what the story is really about is the three D's: disability, disfigurement, and just being different.

Two of the author's fingers are essentially severed in a childhood farming accident, leaving the boy disabled, disfigured and different. This leads to an awareness and an appreciation of those three D's -- that turn out to be everywhere in young Crandell's world: his mother who is "no longer a woman" due to a hysterectomy, a man with cerebral palsy who connects with the author, the runt pigs destined to be destroyed but saved by Crandell, a grandmother with a humped back, a sister with scoliosis, even the oldest brother is left changed by a never fully explained abduction reminiscent of Mystic River. (Most everyone in the book is marked in some critical, defining, and not always obvious way. Some, like the landlord's son, are, to quote John Lennon, crippled inside.)

Sherwood Anderson and his collection of grotesqueries, Winesburg, Ohio is the influence pointed out by Doug Crandell for helping him sort out his confused world of being marked different as well as leading him on the path to becoming a writer. What I noticed were the influences of William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor, and in particular Carson McCullers. For a story of the Midwest, Pig Boy's Wicked Bird has a distinct Southern Gothic feel. (One person's physical characteristics are described as "crooked," "twisted," and "warped" in the space of a single paragraph). Like The Member of the Wedding, or even Truman Capote's Other Voices, Other Rooms, these disabled, disfigured, and different people will live with you forever.

There is a distinct nostalgia in Pig Boy's Wicked Bird. The peculiar power in this depiction of an American family is relevant to anytime, place, or condition. The author uses beautiful language and rhythmical sentences to creat a compact telling of this humorous and poignant memoir. The business of living can be lonely. The reader can make profitable use of the insights illuminated throughout this story.

Doug Crandall, former little Pig Boy of the Heartland, brings us a heart-rendering, oftentimes snorting food-out-the-nose-from-laughing memoir of friendship with farm animals and dealing with life's tragedys. Poetically written by the now grown up Mr. Crandall, even city girls like me can appreciate his love of family, roots and Jimmy Carter. If you love crusty old men, goofy dogs and little piglets, you'll love this story as I did.

I'm a budding short story writer, myself; and no course, no workshop, no amount of instruction can subsitute for the lessons one learns leafing through and ingesting these exquisite paragraphs of John Updike. I find myself, in this volume, more than other Updike works, reading and re-reading the prose, even emailing sections to friends. Like a fine restaurant I want to tell people about, like a band that plays exceptionally well live which you get to catch on a great night, Updike, here, is "on"; he is at the absolute peak of his craft. I only wish there were more collections of short stories written as well as these.

This is an incredible book, which features many of Updike's earlier stories. The title story is amazing in its meaning and moral complexity. FIVE STARS!!!

Good short stories from thr great Updike. Each one uniqely different.

There is little, if anything, one is able to say that can possibly capture the beauty or majesty of a great Updike story. The gentle yet exact measure of his sentences, the bewilderingly complex yet infinitely fluid (and eventually near-epiphanic) weaving of narratives, his control of internal characterization--few are masters in the manner that John Updike is a master.

And this volume contains his greatest story--possibly what I feel to be the greatest piece of literature in all of latter-half 20th century American literature (and we're including it all here, not just short stories). The last story of the volume: Packed Dirt, Churchgoing, A Dying Car, A Traded Car.

Enough with the theoretics and generalities here. This story can change your life. Or, at the very least, it can alter the way in which you interact with literature--what you can expect out of literature.

One piece of advice, though: read it in one sitting.
Seriously.
Don't get up, even just for a little while to fix something to eat. Don't read it bit by bit (it's long, so you may be tempted). And, whatever you do, don't look at the last page before it's time.

It may seem disjointed. It may seem an odd accumulation of narratives. Don't stop reading.

Two years, and a hundred readings later, I still haven't gotten over that first experience. What I wouldn't give to have it again...

If there is, you have my attention. Maybe Isaac Babel's Collected Stories or Fitzgerald's Selected Stories. I've been writing for 27 years; I may have written three sentences that compare with the average in an Updike story. In "Flight" he captures in several sentences more about family than I've discovered through an entire life. Sorry for being self-referential; it's a measure of my awe. Updike's magic is that he can tell a story in a single sentence. If you only know Updike through his novels, you're in for a treat. By my lights, this is the greatest living story writer and this is the book that made that clear.

Be prepared to laugh, cry, learn and be inspired. This author's writing style will keep you engaged to the point where you will get nothing done until you are done ~LOL ~ I read this one and the sequel in a weekend ~ they are amazing, the spiritual aspects are so uplifting and inspiring ~ you wont be sorry if you get them. I HOPE she writes more of their story ~

she is also L.A.Banks and if you like series books you will LOVE these as well. (......)

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There is nothing more I can say that Ann from Rawsistaz and Gayle Sloan's reviews didn't say, except I, realllllly enjoyed this book. It's definitely a reality check.

Esdaile is an excellent writer and I look forward to reading the sequel.

Jerome and Antoinette having both suffered through marriages gone bad have found each other again. This is a refreshing story of love that lasted 20 years and was obviously meant to last. Esdaile has a well written story that builds to the expected outcome, but getting there is well worth the read.

Antoinette (Toni) has found that going back home after her divorce, has brought on many changes. The life she wants had with family and friends is all different now. Her girlfriends are all tripping because of assumptions. Her Step mother is trying too hard to be a mother figure. She never thought that she would be in this place, a single mother. She always dreamed that her marriage would be like her parents, but here she is back in Philadelphia with a daughter and no job. Jerome (Jay) was Toni's first love, but now he is married with 3 children and a wife who comes from a high society family. Now that Toni is back home and many years have passed, Will the feelings you have of your first love effect your relationships with friends, family, spouses?? This story is well rounded and all the characters have a specific role, you feel like you are part of the story as you are reading. Ms. Esdaile has really brought this full circle. The relationships between parent and child is brought to a test in this story also, Jay grew up with his mother and father, but now that he is married, he wonders about his parents marriage and he wants morale support from his dad, but can't get it. Toni's parents were happily married and now that her father is remarried, she doesn't see the same spark in him that she did when her mother was alive. You see in this story how the grass always looks greener on the other side, but when you cross the street and stand in front, you see the weeds and brown patches. Rivers of the Soul is written with such depth that you find the pages turning for you on there own. Can't wait to read the sequel to this "Still waters run deep." Great work Ms. Esdaile

Antoinette Wellington and Jerome Henderson and their friends have learned the reality of adulthood and real life circumstances. They fully understand and are learning from each other that the grass always looks greener across the street, but the reality is once you cross the street, you see all the brown ruined spots and all the weeds. Antoinette's dream life has not turned out like she has fantasized, and neither has Jeromes or any of her friends or her sister. This story is a reality check as far as marriage and children and jobs are concerned. Antoinette's heart has always been some place else. Jeromes heart has always been some place else, But everyone is caught up in a situation that they feel they are stuck in. Antoinette has taken the first real step towards happiness but she doesn't really realize it, her decision affects everyone around her, directly and indirectly. Jerome has made a step in the right direction and he knows it... but being the man he is, he didn't want it that way... Karen started a fire that she couldn't put out and it burned down her house. The girls club is disbanding and it is really foolish on their part, because as adults, you don't allow the decisions of your other friends to influence what happens in your house hold. People we are not in high school any longer... look around "kids, jobs, responsibilities" any way what you are holding on to is not even worth it. This story shows all the facets of adult responsibilities and situations that Your mother and father hadn't warned you about. You thought your parents stayed together just because they were so in love, you thought there were no tension and no problems or worrries, that marriage was a real life fantasy. Oh, now you know better... Toni and Jay realize that regardless of how you tread water day to day (going through the motions...doing what is expected... allowing years to pass)... The rivers of the soul keep flowing and no matter what you do... you can't control that. Leslie Esdaile has written a book that is flowing with such "in your face" reality that the pages of this book automatically turn for you... so you keep on reading... Excellent writing.

A well-written real life of a Brittany and its owner in the field over the years. Very authentic, very moving.

I dislike books about dogs as a general rule, but The Rufus Chronicle was an unexpected treasure. Gusewelle speaks with a solid yet familiar voice about the joys and the learning curve of raising a dog from a pup with the intent for it to be a hunting dog. I haven't hunted or had a dog for many years, but with every turn of the page I was transported back to a time when my greatest pleasure was taking to the field with my canine companion. This book has the rare quality of speaking to the reader on a basic human level, causing you to not only remember scenes from your past, but also sounds, smells, and feelings. If you hunt, keep dogs, or are simply an animal lover with a big heart, then you must read this book.

This book catches your attention immediately. The author's style makes you want to curl up and read without putting this book down for even a second! I am a Brittany owner but dog owners of all breeds, especially gun dogs, will find themselves smiling, crying, laughing and more as they take an emotional journey with the author and his dog through the seasons of their collective lives! ....a wonderful, heartwarming experience, don't miss it!

This will warm the hearts of all dog lovers. Dog owners will reflect on their own experiences with dogs as they read about Rufus, his yard mate and his Master, Charles. Do not be surprised if you find yourself smiling, crying and even laughing out loud.

This memoir by columnist Gusewelle of the life of his dog Rufus is rich, funny and gives a thorough explication of what it meant to live with the Brittany Rufus. I was not partial to the passages on hunting, as I am not a hunter, but I was still engrossed in the book, because these incidents told a lot about Rufus, and after all, HE loved the hunt. It's a pleasant read, with a not unexpected end that while sad completes the story satisfactorily. If you know someone who loves to read, hunt and loves his dogs, this book is definitely the perfect gift.

What more can you say about a novel other than the characters stay with you after you have finished the last page. Growing up in the seventies, made the story even more poignant as it brought back the hazy Maui Wowie times. The "Ruins" grow on you and you want to hear more of their passage into adulthood/middle age.

Inez is very understandable and likeable. I enjoyed her character; especially that she didn't feel sorry for herself and grows through the years into a remarkable young lady who truly loves her half brother. I loved their relationship. All the characters in this book are very likeable even though flawed. But then again isn't that how we are in real life? I would highly recommend to anyone.

This is such a nice read. It takes you to all the best places in California...and Hawaii. It is one of those books you wish you could read again for the first time.

Inez Ruin is about six years old when her story begins. A bright and effusive young girl, Inez lives with Consuela, her blousy, former flamenco dancing mother, and Abuelita, her Peruvian grandmother in Van Dale, a working class suburb in the San Fernando Valley. Life for Inez is pretty ordinary, at least on the Latino side of the family; Consuela is a good mother to her, but she's often lost and loud, "with a mind like a sail, her face weird and dreamy," and her grandmother is never around, a life spent instilled with the work ethic, she spends most of her time working cleaning houses.

Her father, Paul lives in San Francisco and as the novel opens, Inez is being packed off to spend the summer with him. Paul is a college educated mathematical genius, he's also the archetype of the early seventies West Coast hippy chic. Groovy and play boyishly handsome, "with inky black hair, and always wearing crisp, starched white shirts," Paul drives an MG, loves flamenco dancing, and to the reticent Inez, he is the embodiment of all that is cool and elegant.

Inez spends most of her youth gliding from one zone of life to another, from the serenity and innocence suburban of Van Dale to the glamorous and cosmopolitan cafes of North Beach, "where she drinks dark espresso with three packets of sugar," but she often feels like a fish out of water, never really feeling at home in either culture, her father living so separately from her, and in such different circumstances of climate and culture.

Paul's life is a "foggy universe of beautiful people and rich hippies," where Inez often feels out of place, where her clothes are wrong, and where she never knows what to say. She's often overwhelmed by her father's whirlwind round of dinner parties, film screenings, museum openings, and Haight-Ashbury happenings. He organizes flamenco festivals, and throws" juergas" - flamenco parties, and shares an attitude, a sensibility, and a groovy wavelength, with his "in" crowd.

Whilst Consuela busies herself selling real estate, attending personal improvement classes, and hooking up with an eighth grade school teacher, Paul woos his daughter with heavy doses of charm and love. Just when she had decided he was a rat and a fink, it would dawn on her that he was a god and she loved him more than anybody; its as though her father makes her - and also her half brother Whitman - uncertain and off kilter, "you wanted more of him, but you weren't sure either."

Inez is constantly caught off guard by the parade of girlfriends that steadily marches through Paul's life, the stream of beauties, each one more accomplished than the last, who give him hope and make him feel alive and young and desired: there's the sweet hippy Marisa, who charms Inez by giving her trinkets from Cracker Jack boxes; there's Justine, an astonishing beauty "with a strange and unearthly elegance," who has a knowledge of Eastern religion and has a silken tent that she erects in her living room with candles inside; she totally beguiles Inez with her lovely patchouli smell and her expensive designer outfits.

Author Martha Sherrill beautifully charts Inez's growth from a wide-eyed and precocious innocent into a young woman, who sees the world as a place of enormous possibility, yet is also aware this world can be fraught with danger and indecision. As Inez matures and changes, so does the image of her father. Paul is a gloomy, difficult, sweet insightful and honest man, adoration like a drug to him; but he's also a man quick to criticize, and instruct, and at the same time lenient, constantly coddling his daughter with flattery and indulgences.

Regardless of his faults, over the years Inez grows to unconditionally love her father; part of her growth is the realization that the Ruin family are a complicated and often self-indulgent lot, who beg for attention and analysis. They're also romantics - always finding ways to feel special about themselves and better than other people; they're theatrical, and outrageous, and even provocative.

Full of ironic and fragile judgments about life, love, and the human condition, The Ruins of California is also about the legacy of familiaral love. The characters are beautifully drawn and are utterly fascinating. Paul is most memorable, because he is a complex mix of good intentions and human flaws; he's obviously a product of his free-wheeling, permissive time, but he's also a man who just doesn't want to grow up, constantly trapped in a netherworld of adolescent angst, frozen by his unremitting vanity and self-absorption.

It is obvious that Paul dearly loves Inez and Whitman, and that he will do anything that he can to help them - he encourages them to go to college, and constantly promotes the benefits of hard work - but the irony is that, when the crunch finally comes, and a terrible family crisis threatens to fracture them, it is the world-wise and newly mature Inez who provides the navigating force, and who ultimately liberates her father. Mike Leonard February 06.

Before I read The Ruins of California, my understanding of those who reached middle age in the 1970s was framed by John Cheever. Their mid-life crises involved late night drinking-and-dialing to old college pals and lovers. Getting soused and crashing your neighbors' suburban swimming pools.

With elegant writing and fine dialogue, Ms. Sherrill has produced a novel which expands my thinking about this liberating--and debauched--time in my parents' generation. The book covers familiar ground--a girl's coming of age, a daughter-father relationship--in a refreshing and highly-entertaining way.

Inez Ruin splits time between her divorced parents' lives. She lives with her est-fulfilled mother and grandmother in a house in Van Dale, a Southern California suburb, where her bedroom is pink and all her friends go to church. To visit her gorgeous, brilliant and promiscuous--and egocentric, and self-indulgent, and wealthy--father, Inez regularly flies north to San Francisco, land of afros and patchouli, "passing from mother to father, a baton of a girl flying in the distance between hands."

I lost count of Inez' father's girlfriends, as Paul Ruin pursues the intoxication of new love, over and over, all the while over-indulging his two children with expensive gifts and exhortations to lead free lives, to not sell out. When his son skips college, Paul declines to intervene, justifying his inaction with the thinking of the day: "'He's got to come to all big decisions on his own,' my father said. 'Or else he'll just blame me, or blame his mother, or, worse, he'll never learn how to make a big decision at all.'" The devastating consequences of this way of thinking are made starkly apparent by the story's end.

As the author guides us through Inez' teen years, she recreates the thrills of girlhood crushes, breaking rules, that first car, and getting high. She also relates the unlikeable selfishness of teendom, without making us permanently hate Inez.

I've read all three of Ms. Sherrill's books, and in my view this latest effort is her finest. I especially loved all the mentions of what made the 70s the 70s to a girl growing up then; bamboo back scratchers, Get Smart, Necco wafers, Corvairs, those pink, round vinyl Samsonite suitcases. What makes this book memorable is the ultimately gladdening portrait of a complex daughter-father relationship, a relationship which reaches a satisfying coda along with the decade: everybody eventually has to grow up.