Authors Books

Many insights to bring you a turn around in a small business. Written in an engaging fiction-style, many insights are taught to help you recognise the valuable resource you have in your small business and make the most out of it, and bring it to its potential for profit and success without going more deeply into debt or pouring money into forms of advertising that don't work. It gives great hope to business owners who have been discouraged by heavy adversity.

As I have said elsewhere, I think Steve Chandler is among the wittiest and most intelligent guys around. His writing is a lovely combination of autobiography, insight, humor and analysis. His "self-help" books are among the finest I've read.

I'm guessing I've read a few more novels than the folks who poured out the 5 star reviews. Because this is a very bad novel, revealing the flaws of those who think that fiction writing is easy and who have access to a publisher. Any editor would have prevented this dog from being published as is.

Here's one sentence emblematic of the many things wrong with this book:

Jonathan looked around for a while before seating himself at a quiet table by the window and waited until a large, overweight gentleman who looked to be anywhere between 50 and 70 came to the table with a menu and a pitcher of water.

If you like that, you might enjoy this book. If you find it a bit of a run-on, with sloppy redundancies, irrelevant detail, an endless parade of prepositional phrases (a guaranteed murderer of snappy prose) and poorly chosen modifiers, as I did, then you will stop now.

As another reviewer suggests, read their non-fiction. It works. This doesn't. Well, at least it was brief.

I stumbled across Steve Chandler's writings as I was meandering one day through the local bookstore. I was frustrated and disillusioned by my small business and wondering if I should continue it. I accidentally (if you believe in accidents) found his book, "9 Lies That are Holding Your Business Back...", co-authored by Sam Beckford. The first chapter deeply offended me; so I knew that I needed to buy it. These guys knew way more than I did about business and I wanted to learn every bit.

This discovery led me to other Steve Chandler treasures and I promptly purchased this book, The Small Business Millionaire. First of all, we meet our hero, Jonathan. I was shocked to discover his obsession with the hit show Magnum P.I., because I currently am watching the entire series via DVD with my husband.

Jonathan's character obviously has a 'wealth mentality' and he assists his friends, Jennifer and her father Frank in their restaurant business. Anyone who has ever owned a business will see their thoughts mirrored in Frank's comments throughout the book. Anyone who hasn't lost hope in their business will eat up every word uttered by Jonathan. Jonathan obviously has a good heart with an excellent business mind; the challenge for us is not only to listen, but to be brave enough to follow his advice.

My small business has improved dramatically in the short timespan that I have read this book. I'd like to see where I am in a year from now, as I apply these techniques to my everyday life. This book is worth every penny, along with "9 Lies" and "Reinventing Yourself". Thanks Steve:)

Annie Bathgate

Yesterday was a long day. Up at 4:30AM for a flight down to LA. A day of meetings then back on a plane to get home by 10:30PM. Too wired to sleep and nothing on TV but people talking about Michael Vick. Time to grab a book.

I figured that I would read a couple of chapters then off to bed. A couple of hours later and the book was finished. It is not a surprise that it only took a couple of hours, the book is barely over 120 pages. The surprise is I finished it before going to bed. I was that tired and it was that good.

This is an easy book to read, and it is a good story, but at 120 pages, I do not think it will teach you how to run a business. It does make you think about the business side of business.

There are two really good things in this book, you have to love business nearly as much as you love the business you are in and don't waste money on advertising.

The author's depiction of advertising sales people is classic. "Of course this Ad will help your business, you just have to keep advertising until people recognize your name." Right, but do you guarantee this will bring in customers? "We can't do that, of course. How do we know why someone came in? But, just keep running the ad and I'm sure it will work." I have been there often.

The danger after reading it is that you may conclude that you should never advertise. Not true. Advertising may or may not be great for your business. Maybe the kind of advertising you are doing is not right.

I ran a business where we were spending $15,000 a month on ads. How did we know what ads worked? We asked. We kept track of which ads worked and which didn't. We changed what the ads said. We changed where they ran. We changed when they ran. And, we asked customers how they found us and noted how much they spent. All of this data helped show that the $5000 we were spending a month in yellow page ads was wasting lots of money and the $3000 a month we spent in Val Pak coupons was bringing in 50% of our business. The other 50% came from repeat, word of mouth, and the rest of the $15000 we spent on other types of ads.

Because we asked, we started running much smaller ads in Yellow Pages and moving that money to send out more Val Pak ads. Sales increased. We then set aside some of the budget to experiment with. We used it to try all kinds of things. Those that worked earned the right to continue, those that didn't, well let's just say Edison had a lot of failures too.

There are many good books on advertising out there, Much thicker than this wonderful novel. I like Dan Kennedy's stuff for how to test and write copy. The guerrilla marketing series is also very good.

So why 5 stars? Because this book does a great job at what it does. It is not trying to be a complete business book. It does a great job in showing you that there is a difference between having a hobby that you are good at and turning it into a business. The difference is you have to spend as much or more time doing the business stuff, as you spend on the fun stuff. And if you do not excel at the business side, there will be a lot of pain.

Reviewed by Stephanie Rollins for Reader Views (1/07)

"The Small Business Millionaire" is about a mysterious patron of a failing restaurant who aids the owners in restoring their business. The cook/owner of the restaurant, Frank, just wants to cook. He really does not want to run the business. His daughter Jennifer was just a college student who worked in the restaurant. She then, inspired by the annoyingly mysterious coach, Jonathan, quits college and starts managing the restaurant. She sees it as means to saving the restaurant and increasing her practical business knowledge. This brazen move worries her father. Is Jennifer making a foolish decision?

There are only 121 pages in "The Small Business Millionaire." I thought it would be concise and to the point. This is not the case.

When I began to read "The Small Business Millionaire," I was surprised to see that it was a novel, not a textbook-like guide to getting rich quickly. I read through the first half of the book, hoping that the degrading preaching would end, and the exciting novel would begin. No such luck.

I felt hostage in one of those get-rich-quick seminars. It was as if the doors were locked or the television could not be turned off. The coach in the book would not answer a question in a straight-forward manner. Everything had to be in riddle form.

I am sure that there were many great lessons to learn from "The Small Business Millionaire," but I could not get past the fact that the book was written for the lowest common denominator. Why insult your readers by dumbing down the material?

Regardless of how poorly written, "The Small Business Millionaire," Chandler and Beckford are superb coaches. To learn from Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford, skip reading "The Small Business Millionaire." Read "9 Lies that are Holding Your Business Back." You will learn so much more. I also recommend visiting their website.

Ray Bradbury is one of the great short story writers. Very few can pack as much emotional punch into so few pages as he can: just read "The Lake" or the haunting "Rocket Man" (which inspired the Elton John song of the same name!) to understand the power of his writing. And while I think most of his novels are mediocre at best (I've never liked "Something Wicked This Way Comes," as much as I admire it for the obvious influence it had on genre writers), I insist that Bradbury should never be forgotten, if simply based on the merit of his short fiction. And this book especially, which collects 100 of his best, should be celebrated.

If you buy this book with the newer Bradbury collection, you will have a fairly comprehensive collection of short stories by the master. This collection is not the best. It has it's share of mediocre stories, but even so the great stories are wonderful. "The Veldt", "The Fog Horn", and "The Jar" are my absolute favorites, but there are more gems scattered about the book.


As others have pointed out, it is a tad bit dated. (One of the stories talks about the year 2003). So if you want more up to date stories the newer volume is better. All in all, some interesting stories, but not essential reading.

It is hard to categorize Ray Bradbury as a writer. To many he is known as a science fiction writer, largely due to "The Martian Chronicles." However, he is much more versatile than that, his stories cover many different themes of life, death and strange things in between.
When I was in high school, my favorite story was "The Veldt", where a couple purchase a high quality virtual reality room for their children. However, rather than experience normal children's playrooms, they prefer constant scenes of an African veldt, complete with lions who hunt and kill their prey. The parents try to put a stop to it, but their children whine until they get to keep the veldt. However, the parents finally decide to stand firm and are going to shut the room off. At this time, the room comes alive and the lions kill and devour their parents. I considered this story so good that I must have read it at least twenty times during afternoon study hall. The imagery that the story conjures up is almost visual, which I find is a characteristic of so many of Bradbury's stories.
He is the best writer I have encountered in putting down words in a simple style that still manages to generate tremendous virtual images in your mind. This book is a collection of his short stories and I have read this book at least three times and most of the stories in it in other collections at least twice. Even after all these readings, they are still wonderful, as the images are different each time. Most stories by other writers keep my attention when I first read them, but I find them boring if I try to read them again. It does not seem that that will ever happen with Bradbury stories, which is why I strongly recommend this book.

What can I say about this collection, except that is essential reading for anyone serious about Science Fiction or Fantasy as a form of literature (that's right I said it-the dreaded "l" word) Bradbury has piled up enough superlatives in his life that I don't think I need to go into them.

Anyway, this is a book of Ray Bradbury's greatest stories, which means that these are some of the best stories that imaginative literature has to offer. Why not make it a two-fer and get the "Bradbury Stories" collection with it? Both are worthy, think of "The Stories of Ray Bradbury" is the top shelf A-list stuff, and "Bradbury Stories" is the Solid B list collection. Still great, and best of all, no repeat stories in the two collections! The man was so prolific that he could probably fill up a third volume with no repeats as well...

This collection of stories affected my writing. At least one story I've written has been professionally compared to Ray Bradbury's style. While I never sought to mimic him, I believe I was drawn to his stories because of my writing style and childhood daydreams. This collection is a prime example of Bradbury's work. It's inspiring, startling, spooky, and just plain hypnotic.

Even though I first borrowed this collection from my local library, (and having read some of these stories in others collections), I tracked down a used copy to own just so I could pull it down and revisit my favorite people and places.

A must have for any Bradbury fan... novice or cult-like follower.

Ianthe is the daughter of Richard Brautigan, although this book is more her personal story of overcoming her father's suicide than a biography of him. I would have preferred the latter. Still, you get a good, if incomplete portrait of Richard Brautigan through the eyes of the person closest to him. You get to know his multi-faceted personality, including his tragic drinking habit, but never understand his life or what drove him to suicide (nobody, including his daughter, knows). Some great stories about the last of the beats. I think my favorite was when he sat with a friend in his Montana cabin and shot out the hours on the clock, each hour on the hour, with his handgun.

Your favorite artistic hero from college days no longer rings a bell for many if not most. Richard Brautigan was one of the most innovative, creative, and "counter-culture" (as we used to say) poets of his day. His poetry was utterly refreshing and blew (literally) all the stuffy poetry elevated to a plane beyond God out of the room. As to this truly grand memoir by his daughter, Ianthe Brautigan, as much as a fan as I was - I did not know that her father's poetry revolutionized the genre and sold millions world-wide. Most profound of all, is Ms. Brautigan's literary gifts so evident in this book. For the price of a cup of good coffee, it is surely worth your time.

This memoir was written with sensitivity and emotion but never seemed maudlin. I was sorry when the book ended. I wanted more.

A lot of this memoir, written by Richard Brautigan's daughter, though charming in tone, is pretty much skimmable. What's interesting, however, are the descriptions of her father's writing room, particularly in San Francisco in the 1960s-70s on Geary Street and the surrounding vicinity. There are wonderful descriptions of the writing room with its typewriter and art hanging on the walls, such as the pencil drawing of a bus with real Lincoln penny heads as passengers and a picture of an ancient Colt pistol. And who can forget the small Buddhist shrine, the oak table with the stained rings of coffee cups, and the the back porch with those stacked piles of the San Francisco Chronicle. Like any good writer, Brautigan couldn't throw away a day's newspaper without going through it completely. This memoir also has some nice depictions of cabin life in Montana, and there as some interesting old black-white photos of Brautigan. Check out page 71 with it's picture of the ranch house kitchen and the bullet holes on the wall in the shape of a clock.--Alex Sydorenko, Chicago, 2001.

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Ianthe Brautigan stays on target throughout her memoir -- as the daughter of Richard Brautigan, and the daughter of a father who killed himself. Brautigan turns out to be an articulate author, and she expresses her feelings very openly. I feel callous saying that this is an enlightening read for R. Brautigan fans, because much of I. Brautigan's drive derives from her troubled feelings about him. But the book is also a biography of her father, the ways he lived (as well as the way he died, which is vividly described). While reading, I felt it was a reliable biography, from the POV of someone very close to him, who understood him, and had her own experiences with respect to growing up his daughter; it was a reliable/subjective biography, which turned out to have merits of its own that an outsider can't match -- for better or worse. What it loses in objectivity, it more than overcomes.

No doubt I. Brautigan has had many other life experiences too, but very impressively she keeps to her misssion to tell the story of her father, his life, his death, her relationship to and evolving feelings about it. I did not expect it to be as well-done as it is. Kudos, as well as my sympathy to the author who indeed had an unfortunate and difficult time due to his suicide. Regarding R. Brautigan, fans will appreciate her anectodes and stories, despite their coming from the place they do -- of having to learn that she can not "catch death."

This lovely book of poems came into my life just as I am committing myself to spending the next twenty years as intelligence officer to the poor. We are going to create a global free public grid for early warning and decision support and free multilingual education "one cell call at a time," with a prioritization of needs able to influence three trillion dollars a year: the trillion that foundations give out willy-nilly; the trillion in corporate services that can profit from going green; and the trillion now spent on war that we can over time, through public education, redirect toward waging peace.

This volume is especially valuable to me not just for its open and peaceful thoughts, but because it was written in English, translated into French, and the facing pages offer the poem in French to the left and English to the right. I can think of no finer way to begin my long road back to mastery of the language of diplomacy, than by ensuring I read one poem a night, in both languages, for a very long time to come.

El Recuerdo (the Memory) is already a favorite within this volume.

See also the volume by Philip Levine that I have carried with me all these years that will now be joined by The Astonished Universe:
7 years from somewhere: Poems

If human emotions are the vibrations of the brain, then they will exhibit a resonance when encountering the words in this book.

If human thought is a river, it will seep over its banks when encountering the words in this book.

If reading poetry can bring momentary solace, it will find a restful equilibrium when encountering the words in this book.

If memory is fleeting it will absorb as a sponge when encountering the words in this book.

If the universe could feel astonishment, it would do so when encountering the words in this book.

Hélène Cardona's poems transport us to the realm of myth and spirit, where nothing is tangible yet everything is essential. In French or English, her words speak to our soul.

I LOVED this gem of a book! I especially liked the chapter Life in Suspension as I identified with the fleeting and random memories from my own childhood that came floating up as I was reading...
there is a unique 'sound' to each poem - clear and strong, but with a delicate, fragile echo.

This is a remarkable book of poetry. I am absolutely delighted and I highly recommend this magical read.

Since reading (and forcing many boyfriends to read it to me) the Crying Heart Tattoo, I have looked at my writing and that of many authors all in the shadow of David Martin's unique storytelling style and imagery. His wonderful technique of alternating narrative and storytelling between every other chapter and keeping all of it in harmony is impressive; the details and photographic memory akin to no one. I especially love the honest dialog between Sonny and Felicity as well as their crazy, sexual and forbidden adventures. I never seem to go a year without pulling out my hardback copy of "the Crying Heart Tattoo" to revist such colorful characters!

One of my favorite books EVER, this is a tale of true love, seen in all its ugliness, honesty, and wonder. I keep it close to my heart. Give it a try, it could make how you see life and love much more rich.

I first read about this book in the paper a few years back, it sounded interresting, so I gave it a look. It was the very first book I had read cover to cover, I was 17 years old and very impatient with books. I am 19 years old now and I am on my 5th revisit to this brilliant life changing work. I cannot express how much this book means to me. I need only to read the first page and my eyes begin to tear. Read this book.

When I read this book and reviewed it shortly afterward, I don't think I gave it fair due. As time goes on and I think back to this book I love it more and more.

This is the story of Felicity and Sonny.....life-long lovers with a turbulent and sometimes downright heartbreaking relationship. Felicity, 20 years Sonny's senior, is brazen and even loopy at times. She lends a great deal of humor to the story as well as veiled sadness.

Sonny, on the other hand is a huge jerk throughout most of the story as he becomes more and more bitter and jaded. Felicity seems to be the only spark left in his life...a spark which he almost puts out.

Running parallel to the story of Sonny and Felicity is the tale of Gravelda and Genipur. They are two rather primitive tribal people who are hauntingly similar to their modern-day counterparts. It's a story that Felicity tells to Sonny in chunks over the years as their meetings become fewer and farther between. The story allows Felicity to quietly vent her feelings about her relationship with Sonny.

This is a book that, even if you become a little dazed about in the process of reading, will stick to you long after you've read the last page. Far be it from me to withold credit where credit is due....and I must admit, this book is a jewel.

A haunting, beautiful love story, with one of the most heart-wrenching last paragraphs I've ever read in a book. there is a genuine magic in this tale. sonny has much to learn from felicity, but he's stubborn, clueless, and thinks he has all the answers, like many of us when we're young, and the lessons he learns from her take years to absorb. and in any tale of love and regret he really learns them too late. felicity's parable is a delight, but lost on sonny. sometimes we don't realize how good we have it, until it's gone. sentimental, but not overly so. this is a book to be treasured, and read again and again. I can hear "as time goes by" playing as I read this book. it seems so appropriate.

Beautiful story about how a family deals with the loss of someone they love. Excellent writing and character development, I was sucked in from the first chapter and was crying by the end of the book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that has lost someone close to them.

Thank you for this wonderful, wonderful book. I wanted to stop reading it because I was afraid I'd be too sad but I couldn't stop once I'd started.

Dear Readers --- If you want to spend a few days curled up with a book that may change your life, then "Dear Zoe" is, hands down, the paramount choice. Have a full box of Kleenex nearby, though; I became a human waterfall while reading this book, empathizing with this young girl and her pain. I saw so much of my ownself in her, even though it has been decades since I was that age. Yet, I too went through the soul-shifting lifechange that was 9/11. I know my worldview will never again be the same after that day. I can distinctly recall thinking that was the beginning of the end of the world, and I spent the whole day on the phone gathering my husband and girls to come home so we could die together. God, how quickly we forget! I/we lost an innocence, a groundedness that day. We took so much for granted. This book reminded me, however, that one terrible occurrence, such as the death of a loved one, can shift one's world in much the same way. Additionally, my husband and I have raised three daughters, and I saw so much of each of my own girls in these three. A note for the author: Mr. Beard, you somehow managed to insert yourself into the psyche of a 15-year-old girl and you were right-on with frightening precision. I felt my own past exposed and I don't know how you did it, but seeing you do it was redeeming. Kudos to you and yours for tapping into and laying bare for us, the readers, the angst of a teenage girl! Lastly, I do not often buy books to keep; I usually read from the library. However, this is one book I will buy to keep on my shelf and to loan out to loved ones, with the only request being that it come back to me so that the cycle can continue.

"Maybe 'Z' is the shape of everyone's life," writes Philip Beard. "You're going along in what feels like a straight line, headed for one horizon, the only one as far as you know, and then something happens..."

But my zigs and zags were few in Philip Beard's slim novel, "Dear Zoe." On this level of writing, it's smooth sailing. Beard is a skilled writer, and his style is seamless enough that he accomplishes the very difficult writer's task - not only of crossing genders in this first person narrative by a female, but with the voice of a very young female - all of 15 years old. And he does it convincingly.

So convincingly, in fact, that I felt myself as reader engage as I should, that is, to lose awareness of self and surroundings, soon immersed completely into the storyline and characters. "Dear Zoe" is a letter, written across time, from one sister to another. Zoe, however, will never read this letter. Zoe is gone, killed in a car accident, and this letter is, perhaps, how older sister Tess copes with her loss, her grief, even her guilt.

This extended letter is about Tess but also about her extended family. It is family like any: not without its dysfunctions, not without its baggage and broken places, with elaborate wounds and still healing scars. When a member of a family unexpectedly dies, everyone grieves, each in his or her own way and own pace, and it can at times meld a family together, at others rip apart. Beard portrays all of this messy and zigzagging process, but without any melodrama, always sensing when to draw the appropriate line.

Then comes the true test. Nearing end, the storyline veers into an event in American history that is almost impossible to mention without imploding into melodrama. When I realized the backdrop this author was setting up for his story, I nearly winced, but, wait, what's this? Oh, my. Beard makes it work. Work so well, in fact, that he accomplishes the individualizing of something nationally, even internationally shared, and brings it down to one heart, one life, one experience, felt by one person at a time. This personal tragedy is of a size, immense and miniscule at once, that each reader will be able to absorb and comprehend, and through comprehending the miniscule, the immense suddenly gains full impact. Just as numbers that trail off into endless zero's at some point become incomprehensible, so perhaps we as human beings cannot truly comprehend tragedy unless it happens one soul at a time, passed gently on from one hand into the next.

Having accomplished this feat, the author, and "Dear Zoe," has earned my highest recommendation.

On September 11th, 2001, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in numerous acts of terrorism against the United States. Even now, five years later, people still ask the question, "Where were you on 9/11?" I remember watching, on that fateful day, news coverage that left me horrified, aghast, and haunted. Where was I on 9/11? At work, on a day that started out like any other and quickly turned into one that no one will ever forget.

If you asked Tess DeNunzio, the fifteen-year-old girl at the center of DEAR ZOE, where she was on 9/11, she'll be quick to tell you that she was at home with her younger half-sister, Zoe, waiting for the school bus like any other day. Except for that one moment, when she let her gaze wander elsewhere, and Zoe ran into the street, into the path of an oncoming car. For Tess and her family, 9/11 is a day they'll never forget.

DEAR ZOE is Tess's letter to Zoe, her way of healing from her sister's death and coming to terms with the changes that have taken place in her extended family. This isn't a story about September 11th, 2001, in the ways that most of us have come to view that day. As Tess puts it, "...just like all the people who go to New York and cry over the rubble. I want to tell them all to go home. I want to tell them to go home and hold their children or their lovers or their parents. I want to tell them that they are using that place as an excuse to be sad and afraid when there will be reason enough for that in their own lives if they just wait."

According to recent facts, nearly 150,000 people die every day. That's about 1.8 people every second. And yet no one seems to remember the other 147,000 people that died on 9/11. That includes myself. Until reading DEAR ZOE, I had never stopped to consider that there were other people around the world who were grieving for lost loved ones who had
nothing to do with an act of terror.

Thanks to Mr. Beard, I now have a new way of looking at that day in history. I also have the story of Tess and Zoe, which will stay with me for much longer than it took for me to read the book. Love, loss, regret, and forgiveness mingle within the pages of DEAR ZOE to form a story that, quite possibly, you'll remember even five years later.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

Robust account of one of the seminal figures of early America, one attempting the creation of an indigenous culture cast in a more universal mode than that of the provincial Christianity of his roots. The courage to give up his secure life as a minister for the uncertainties of exploration and creative renewal marks Emerson's trail through a pioneer's psychological American wilderntess, to touch on and integrate everything from the post-Kantians, to the Buddhists/Hindus to the Persians and Sufis. That Emerson evolved into a near firebrand abolitionist is an aspect of his life unsufficiently told, and this part of his later career runs clear in this book. All in all, a first rate pioneer story of another kind.

This is the only biography of Emerson that truly matters. Richardson locks in on the essentials - the development of a seeking mind is search of the ground of being and the nature of reality. Emerson is our Founding Thinker and to do him justice, a biographer has to grapple with the how and why a mind grows, changes, struggles and reaches new heights. Even if you haven't read much Emerson, this biography sheds light on what Emerson meant when he said, "Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind."

In the past, my experience in reading Emerson has been similar to reading the Tao Te Ching; interesting, non-mainstream in its point of view, puzzling to understand what exactly it means. So I would pick up the Tao and read it at different times of the day and different frames of mind, hoping that it would resonate with me, but it never did. Maybe it was the cultural difference, or the language, or not being able to easily identify with Lao Tzu. Such had been my experience with Emerson. I wanted to understand him better because what little I did understand made me want to learn more, but I just couldn't get there.

This biographer, Richardson, really did his homework and any who want to understand Emerson better should appreciate this work. Emerson kept exhaustive journals and collections of his thoughts for many years. He read widely and deeply, kept detailed notes, and thoroughly indexed the notes. What perfect material to access for writing a biography! Apparently Richardson went back and studied much of the source material that Emerson references in his journals and brings into this biography an understanding of who Emerson was reading and what it meant to Emerson, so we receive the pleasure of following along on a journey in the development of a powerful mind. Then Richardson is able to write about this development so that it is easily readable to us moderns. It's quite a remarkable achievement.

"Mind on Fire" shows me that Richardson is certain that studying Emerson and his message is worthwhile. So much consideration has gone into this biography that when I laid it down after almost non-stop reading for several days over the holidays, I felt like I really understood Emerson for the first time, and now have much better insight. I plan to let this book simmer in my mind a few more months, then pick it up and read it again.

If Richardson could also write something as lucid and detailed to help me understand the Tao Te Ching, I wouldn't have 10,000 questions about the 10,000 things. ;-)

Mr. Richardson's 'Thoreau A Life of the Mind' was not only the best biography I've read on Thoreau, but one of the most exhilerating and enlightening reading experiences of my life. So I decided to read his 'Emerson The Mind on Fire.' And it was every bit as intimate and intelligent.

There are times you feel that you're intruding upon Waldo and Henry on one of their walks. It was an endless stroll of two intellectuals and humanists on the path of being very human. Each of the one hundred chapters (both books) are kept short, which helps move the reader from topic to topic without ever feeling put upon (too much detail can drag what is otherwise very interesting.) Though, for me personally, I would love to savor every moment these two great men shared. I don't think I could ever get bored.

Emerson has many close friends with whom one gets to know intimately. His personal address book was a whose whose of literary and intellectual greats.

The relationship between Emerson and his second wife, Lidian, is of great interest. She was also intellectual and as much a partner in life as she was a wife. Her presence is everywhere in Emerson's life.

Emerson's essays are pure poetry. And the behind the scene snippets into how they became a part of his legacy was both insightful and relevant to the day to day interactions and causes he committed himself. His transformation from the unremarkable child into the neverending 'student' of self-education and commitment to social conscience throughout his entire adult life is one to be admired.

Mr. Richardson is one of the best biographers of nineteenth century literaries. He is truly one with his topic.

Robert Richardson's biography of Emerson is superb. Though, as Richardson reminds us, Emerson did not like superlative language when precise and adequate language would do, it is the case that at times the superlative, the precise and the adequate converge (as, in fact, they often did in Emerson's writings). Richardson's biography is indeed superb in its unfolding of Emerson's life -- the loves, the friendships, the losses, the intellectual and spiritual hunger, the religious quest, the writers in America, in Europe, in Persia and elsewhere to whom Emerson owed and acknowledged debts, the grasping at and for a world, the determination of a single, brilliant human being to find his way and to see his life, and all individual lives, as imbued with the divine and thus worth living.

The book is also superbly written. Each short chapter offers enough substantive insight to urge the reader into the next. It is a long book, but not long-winded. Richardson provides the reader with some morsel of insight in a few pages of narrative, and then offers a rest to digest what has been said. His placement of quotations from Emerson's journals, essays and other works is brilliant, offering the reader a useful sketch of Emerson's metaphysics and ethics. In my own case, this has allowed time to reach for other literature more fully descriptive of the events or scenes offered in a particular chapter, or to reread chunks of Emerson's writings while moving through the biography. The book is a useful tool not merely for a study of Emerson's life but for a study of Transcendentalism and of the interplay of ideas across the Atlantic that shaped American thought in so many ways. One sees more clearly where and how such writers as Nietzsche and Thoreau obtained the seeds of their own truths from Emerson's works and thoughts.

Richardson has set the standard for the writing of future biographies. Again, simply superb.

Am enjoying hearing about the adventure and waiting to turn the next page on the story . . .

Bravo for weaving actual experiences into a novel.

Someone please publish this so we can read the rest of it after getting hooked! Reminds me of three of my favorite books: The Quiet American, Saint Jack and The Year of Living Dangerously.

Publish this book! I want to read more.

Anna's narrative immediately transported me to Cambodia. She's observant, brash, nervous, compassionate, and occasionally naïve. I can believe her reactions to and sympathy for Cambodia and its people.

Jennifer Berman writes with a very authoritive and convincing verve. Berman has rendered Anna's voice so effectively, that one might think this book is autobiographical.

I immediately cared about Anna and what happens to her. Is she a fish-out-of-water, or a quick study who adapts to overcome and eventually contribute to Cambodia and its people?

A Fistful of Water is artful, witty, and timely. It is a real and vivid view of Cambodia, and other developing countries in SE Asia, from the perspective of a real American - slightly flawed, slightly spoiled, but ultimately sincere and generous.

This is an impressive first novel. I rate it "5 Stars."

We meet Anna just as she gets off her international flight, physically exhausted, emotionally fragile and so unprepared for her trek into the Third World that she has not even notified her employer that she is coming. Through Anna's culture-shocked senses, the author shows us Cambodia in riveting detail. This is excellent work and way cheaper than an airline ticket!

There's an interest cast of expatriates and Cambodians. Ominous foreshadowing hints of adventures to come. One senses by the end, Anna will have had to face past traumas and become more competent to deal with life. Usually, I'd like to see more of the plot unfold by now, but some mystery writers need more time to unpack their corpse. For writing like this, I'd be content to let the author develop her theme at her own pace.

A Fistful of Water promises to be entertaining and enlightening in equal parts. Author Jennifer Berman provides a window into a culture and experience most Americans will never know first-hand, through the effective medium of an engaging story. As Graham Greene and Eric Ambler were able to do with other settings and time periods, she vividly and realistically depicts life in Cambodia during the mid-1990s with both compassion and humor, while avoiding avoids the pitfalls of condescension or patronizing preachiness. By acknowledging how her protagonist Anna's genuine do-gooder idealism is intertwined with naivete and her own cultural baggage, Berman makes Anna a much fuller and more interesting character. The reader winces at some of Anna's missteps and fears, but these are winces of recognition and sympathy. Even in the short excerpt available here, Berman is able to show how identity, culture, and sometimes even morality are more local than they often appear, and that one's understanding of these concepts is constantly being adjusted through experience.
All in all, an exciting and appealing beginning that makes one eager to read more.

I just stumbled across this book in the Birmingham Museum of Art and what a delightful surprise! What a showcase of Alabama women's writing talents. From silly to serious, this book covers it all, from crib to cradle. It left me asking when's the next one coming out and where can I get it!

What an excellent display of the talents of Alabama writers! Alabama is often the brunt of "good ole boy" jokes, skipping over the intelligence and versatility of the abundance of talent found in Alabama. Anyone can relate to this book---from grandmothers and grandfathers and "hard times" which are displayed profusely. Hats off to the contributors to this book and for the editor for taking the time to introduce these poems to America!

Ordinary and Sacred as Blood makes me feel at home among writers--Alabama women writers who have shared their inmost thoughts from every cranny of the state. The variety of their experiences and the ways they have chosen to express them are appealing--poetry, memoir, essay, story. I'm still reading, and I've enjoyed every one--from our wonderful just-retired poet laureate Helen Blackshear to Helen Norris to Susan Murphy and Nabella Shunnarah, from Anne George to Natasha Tretheway to others whose voices are new to me. I look forward to the next chapter from this group.

Alabama authors have stepped forth to share short stories, poems and quips that will lift the heart of the reader. Ordinary & Sacred as Blood, authored by Alabama women, will trigger your every emotion. It truly promises and delivers something for everyone. You'll treasure this book forever. Delightful, thoughtful way to remember those on your gift list.

wonderful, folksy reading with home folks. Alabama Christmas by Charlotte Miller very sweet.Mamie was a Slave by Helen Blackshear gives insight into other days.

I was drawn in to this story, and couldn't put it down until it came to a conclusion. The author's style is natural and flowing. I loved the insights into a writer's methods. One side of my family is Italian so I could easily relate to the family relationships portrayed in this book. I plan to read "Painting the Invisible Man" again, for the courage to research a death in my own family history, a death that still has many unanswered questions around it.

Rita Schiano's Painting The Invisible Man tells the story of growing up in a family connected to the mafia. What is different about this story is the recollection as an adult the experiences of a childhood that was anything but normal. The book brings the main character to a depth of understanding about her father, showing a range of emotions that ultimately leads to forgiveness.
This book is both entertaining and thought provoking. Recommended to all, especially those of you who like mysteries.

This is a must read! I'm normally only a "mystery / who done it" type of reader, but I found this book to have it's own intrigue of mystery. It was hard for me to put it down. I would highly recommend this book.

Painting the Invisible Man by Rita Schiano is a story about the resilience of a young girl in dealing with her Italian family that is caught up in the world of organized crime. She repeatedly demonstrates flexibility and optimism in making the changes that she feels she must make to honor her commitment and bond to her parents and family. She is a master of dealing with adversity and bouncing back. As a young woman, the main character with courage shows us that it is never too late to go back and put closure on the past. The story is well written. The characters have depth. It is suspenseful and a page turner. I would enjoy seeing it used as a tool to teach these skills and attitudes
- Ron Breazeale Ph.D.
clinical psychologist and author of Reaching Home

Painting the Invisible Man is a must read! I found Rita Schiano's writing style creative, fun, poignant and the story line interesting and thought provoking. From the moment you pick up this book you are captured until it's end. I highly recommend this book!