Authors Books

I thoroughly enjoyed Redstripe and shared it with other Dachshund friends. I giggled through the antics of the little hounds in this book. The characters are amazingly realistic to the breed and the book is very enjoyable fast reading.
I have a background in dog grooming and dog breeding and have read numerous dog books throughout my the years so I would like to compliment Mr. Magestro on his amusing compilation of stories so accurate to this strong willed little hound breed.

I totally enjoyed "Redstripe and Other Dachshund Tales". In fact, I sat down one evening and read it from cover to cover and wished there was more. It was very entertaining and made me realize that my Heidi isn't as unique as I had thought. It was fun and lighthearted. I recommend it to anyone who owns a dachshund or is thinking about getting one. My one objection (the reason for 4 stars and not 5) is that I had hoped it would be as entertaining for my grandchildren, but I don't think it is necessarily a book for young children.

I was a bit sad that the book was soo short, but I really enjoyed it. I am currently reading "Another Redstripe, Please!", and so far it is what I expected! I'll keep you posted!

This book is a real love story about the pure affection and enthusiasm that dogs, particularly our "hotdogs" (I have two), generate. And, it does so with humor and optimism in the spirit of Herriot.

I particularly liked the Christmas story which celebrated the unique gifts given to us by this breed, while humanizing-- but still respecting-- the manger scene.

Good work, Jack!

Redstripe And Other Dachshund Tales by retired educator Jack Magestro is a humorous and merry collection of five short stories about the exploits of dachshunds - a beloved breed of pet also colloquially known as "weiner dogs." Jack Magestro is a proud dachshund owner, and Redstripe And Other Dachshund Tales is a delightful and witty treat sure to resonate with people everywhere who have their own canine companions as part of "the family".

Millions of people want to get a book published. Yet they are unsure where to take their first steps and how to sort through the available possibilities. Do you take the traditional route or self-publish or use print-on-demand (POD)? Experienced author Helen Gallagher gives step-by-step advice and in the opening pages includes a large quote which says, "Attract a publisher if you can, but if not, don't wait your life away...Publish your book yourself."

Yet to many self-publishing is a scary proposition. How do you sell your book into the market and avoid a garage full of books (which don't help anyone--especially you the author)? Gallagher guides the reader to handle these questions with solid counsel. Then she covers the business of writing your book and marketing it to keep it alive and active in the marketplace.

Whether you have never been published or you are a seasoned author, you can learn some new tricks in Gallagher's book. I've read dozens of how-to-write books yet I often highlighted different pages in RELEASE YOUR WRITING. I plan to check out the websites and follow up on her suggestions. I recommend you do the same thing with the contents of this book. Don't just buy it and stick it on your shelf but study the pages.

A professional freelance writer and the author of "Computer Ease", Helen Gallagher draws upon her many years of experience and expertise in "Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way!" to provide an informative instruction manual that demystifies the publishing process, addresses the technological issues associated with publishing, and provides a profusion of effective, practical, immediately applicable marketing strategies to insure a book's commercial viability. Effectively organized into three major sections, 'Getting Published' covers contemporary changes in the publishing industry, the self-publishing option, Publish On Demand (POD) companies; and eBooks. 'You, The Word Processor' includes The Time to Write; The Writer's Toolbox; and 'Computer Power Tools'. The third section is devoted to the 'Business of Being a Writer' by focusing on book marketing and promotion, and keeping a book in print and available to the reading public. It should be noted that Helen Gallagher's writing style is conversational and engaging -- making it an ideal format for presenting her observations, ideas, and advice. Enhanced with an appendix listing writing resources, a glossary, and an index, "Release Your Writing" will prove invaluable and instructive reading for aspiring writers who have become published -- either on their own or through an independent publisher.

I admit it--although I have six books in print, I didn't know much about print on demand (POD) publishing, or what its benefits are. Gallagher's book includes everything you need to know to decide whether POD is right for you, and provides a wealth of information about how to choose the right POD publisher (love the side-by-side comparison chart of the top 10 POD firms) as well as tips on writing and marketing the book.

This book actually changed the way I think about POD--I now realize it's a great option not just for new authors, but for published authors who have out-of-print books they want to get back into the marketplace as well. Whether you're new to book publishing in general, or simply know little about POD, this is the book for you. It's a quick read, but I already have a number of pages dog-eared for future reference.

Kelly James-Enger, author, Six-Figure Freelancing: The Writer's Guide to Making More Money (Random House, 2005)

If you're a writer who's looking for practical advice on how to write, publish, market, promote your book, and keep it alive once it's out there, Helen Gallagher's Release Your Writing: Book Publishing, Your Way! is the book for you. My yellow highlighter was flying off its 200 pages while I noted valuable tips on how to move forward with the publishing process. In fact, by the time I was finished reading this gem, nearly the entire book was highlighted. Furthermore, the book is written in such a down-to-earth tone that you'd better set an extra place because you'll feel as if Gallagher is sitting across from you at your kitchen table. So whether you're in the preliminary outline stage, in the midst of writing your manuscript, or giving it a final edit, read Gallagher's book before you launch yours. You'll be grateful you did.

Francine Pappadis Friedman
author of
MatchDotBomb: A Midlife Journey through Internet Dating

The information in this "action-packed" volume is tremendously helpful. My own book, Waltzing Australia, had been published before I found Helen's book, but I have still found it immensely valuable for the wealth of marketing ideas. I also appreciate the tips on using the computer more efficiently. This is a wonderful resource for any writer, traditionally published or self-published, because we can always use more tools -- and more market exposure.

I was going to wait to write my reveiw after my children read it but I could not wait. I absolutely love The Replacements! The book taught great lessons of loving your neighbor, being grateful, and being a good example without beating the reader over the head. I would love to see more of Malachi and Daniel, Momma D, Red and even Max. I am wondering what other lessons will they learn and how will it effect the other characters. Excellent!!!

Here is my 9 year olds review.

"IT WAS ABOUT A BOY WHO WANTED A CHANGE AND ONCE HE GOT IT IT WAS QUITE A NIGHTMARE. AND I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO TELL THE AUTHOR THAT i WOULD GIVE HER 5 STARS AND THE BEST BOOK OF THE CENTURY AWARD IF THERE WAS THAT KIND OF AWARD."

This was a very good book the only bad part about this book was that it wasn't long enough. I like how the author made this book very detailed you were able to see everything that was going on in this home without even being there. And the life lesson in this book was just beautiful. God always show you that just when you thought you got it bad things could always be alot worse. So count your blessings and be greatful for what you have.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The author's style made it possible for me to be in each moment as it was happening. When Momma was cooking, I could smell the wonderful aroma of the food. I could feel each character's emotions throughout the story. And, I like the way the author was able to include valuable life's lessons that are a good reminder to everyone.

Although listed as a children's book for ages 9 thru young adult, it is my belief anyone of any age could benefit from it.

Demetria Keys has shown up to be a clever writer with a mission to serve the Lord with her gifts. "The Replacements" makes the reader consider what he has been given and think about the consequences of his/her own possiblenever ending desires for more. A very thoughtful book!

Twelve year-old Daniel's life is anything but extraordinary: his little brother, Malachi, is a constant nuisance, his mother is a sedate stay-at-home-mom, his father is a modest bread-winner, and he's subject to the daily idiosyncrasies of Max, his chain-smoking bus driver whose lips release a perpetual stream of smoke interlaced with sarcasm. Add to that the fact that he's fallen hard for his teacher, Mrs. Fillmore - who barely even notices him - and you've got all the makings of a pre-teen drama lived daily with no happy ending in sight.

Increasingly dissatisfied with his life as is, one night Daniel says a prayer before going to bed, wishing that his life would change...well, as the old saying goes, be careful what you wish for...Daniel awakens the next morning, apparently having gotten his wish - and then some. Suddenly, he finds himself struggling to cope with an alternative reality, a seemingly inverted mirror image of his old life, and he soon realizes that the things we ask for are often the very things we are least prepared to receive.

The Replacements is a clever commentary on the trappings of contemporary society, most especially our constant striving to gain more than what we already have. Through the eyes of a child, Demetria Keys does a convincing job of relating the fact that the best blessings we could ever receive lie squarely within the scope of our everyday lives. An effective dramatization of the old "grass is always greener" adage, Keys's tale extols the value of the benefits readily available to us. By ignoring them, we run the risk of creating a reality for ourselves that leaves even less to be desired.

Keys most effectively conveys this lesson in Daniel's epiphany regarding his parents' love. Unhappy with his father's role as a stern, exacting disciplinarian, he quietly longs for his mother to be more assertive in challenging his father's authority; however, when he awakens to his desired reality, he finds that his new life in his parents' eyes makes his old one sparkle in comparison. The contrast helps him realize that regardless of how they choose to show it, he can never take for granted the fact that his parents love him without question.

The Replacements is an encouraging morality tale of learning to embrace the real treasures of life. If you're unhappy with the way things are going in yours, read this book before you consider making any changes...

This is my second Rodriguez book, following Always Running, and I think I'm hooked on him, now. Each short story is impossible to turn away from, and each represents a different sub culture of East LA's Chicano and Mexican cultures. Most importantly, however, each represents a different character and personality, within each of these subcultures. Modern American entertainment tends to lump all minority characters into one revolving cyborg, as if they're all connected to the same brain. Rodriguez's answer to that is introducing us to the real people of East Los Angeles and their real feelings, not only toward America, but toward each other. About as far as mainstream American folkore goes with the latter is the drive by gang war. Rodriguez doesn't leave that out either. But he gives us a different look, one from the "locas", or the women. The issues they face, ranging from violent to romantic to family neglect, will not give you the time to wonder, "what do they see in these guys, anyway?". And to think, we're distracted from this question just reading the book; imagine being in their shoes...

It's this kind of writing that makes people like Rodriguez so important to America today, as unfortunately, stories of culture in places like East Los Angeles die on a vine before reaching the American mainstream household or entertainment venue, which leaves the role of messenger to Hollywood film producers and book publishers, who more often than not give us their own version. What else could explain most mainstream productions of Latino, black, or Asian culture?

I really didn't know what to expect from the book when I got it. I was going on a guess that I would like it having already read the author's previous book Always Running. But the characters are so real and one can see them so clearly and draw on their experiences. I am not from East L.A. so the culture is different from my own in many ways, yet Rodriguez has allowed the reader to empathize with the characters so easily. My favorite story was "Finger Dance," which is about a father called Chi Cho who put his whole soul into his metal work and artistry and "who was feared, respected, and to be honest, just plain ornery," but somehow missed making an important connection with his children (77). As the father's health declines due to dementia and cancer, his son Arturo finds a way of connecting to his father in a way that is very moving. No one can read this story (as well as the other stories), and somehow not come away moved and very impressed.

The Republic of East L.A. is incredible because it talks about the truths of East L.A. Some stories are hard to believe because it is so gruesome and tragic. For example, on page 63, a sixteen-year-old girl named Noemi got raped by some vatos. Furthermore, on page 229, there were women who sold themselves for sex in order to obtain money. However, there are parts of the story that are just funny. For example, on page 64, a freshman girl named Olivia fought over a seat and got suspended. We would recommend The Republic of East L.A because it has an exciting mixture of settings, emotions, and characters. We recommend this book because it talks about betrayal, love, and tragedy. Overall, this book is worth reading.

Luis J. Rodriguez once again has painted a vibrant and complex picture of those who work, live, love and die in "The Republic of East L.A." Rodriguez's prose is straight-forward yet poetic as he tells us about the varied struggles of cholos/as, a budding journalist, a limousine driver, immigrants, working people, all sorts of gente. My favorite story is "Sometimes You Dance with a Watermelon," where forty-year-old Rosalba (an immigrant living in poverty and already a grandmother) needs to escape her crowded home to get a momentary bit of joy. She rouses her favorite granddaughter, Chila, and they drive to Grand Central Market where they buy a watermelon. Rosalba balances it on her head and starts to walk swaying "back and forth to a salsa beat thundering out of an appliance store." She and Chila get caught up in this joyous dance:

"Rosalba had not looked that happy in a long time as she danced along the bustling streets of the central city in her loose-fitting skirt and sandals. She danced in the shadow of a multi-storied Victorian -- dancing for one contemptuous husband and for another who was dead. She danced for a daughter who didn't love herself enough to truly have the love of another man. She danced for her grandchildren, especially that fireball Chila. She danced for her people, wherever they were scattered, and for this country she would never quite comprehend. She danced, her hair matted with sweat, while remembering a simpler life on an even simpler rancho in Nayarit."

This is a powerful, beautiful collection.

NOTE: This review refers to the paperback edition.

It's rare to find new literature about Chicanos in Los Angeles. Most I've found is set in the years from 1920 to 1970. This was a breath of fresh air.

I must admit that I hadn't heard of Luis J. Rodriguez before I read the books. What first attracted me to the book was the pretty girl on the cover. While the stories were compelling to me as a Chicano, I think the true beauty of the author's work is a truth that transcends racial and socio-economic background and most importantly, age.

Highly recommended.

rutkowski is hard edged and deeply moving, simultaneously. it's imposssible not to identify with the troubled young man he creates. He's also riotously funny.

I've known Thaddeus Rutkowski since he was bringing in early chapters of this novel to a writing workshop. They were powerful then, and put together as a novel, they make a short, sharp shock of a book.

The voice is especially strong, at first seeming like an expressionless monotone,the pressure builds through the arc of the book, until the tragedy and hilarity of the narrator's family takes on huge dimensions.

Also...if you ever get a chance to hear him read his own work, DEFINITELY go. He's a marvelous reader/speaker.

There are many bruises here, pain and little healing. At first I was curious about why this book obsessed with the darker side of family relationships, but I realized that this dark side was what the protagonist was forced to see in the light--grief is apparent, not concealed. These sound bytes of reality are like snippets of information, or severed knowledge. How true to life. Overall a challenging and difficult read, because of its subject matter. But rewarding.

"A man's home is his castle." Taken to heart--the wrong heart--the notion can lead to the most grotesque kind of tinpot tyranny, like the one dispassionately described in this brilliant novel of black humor. The narrator's father is a fascinatingly twisted s.o.b. who abuses his family in a myriad of ways. Depicting an apparently semirural lower middle class existence, the book thrives on bizarre convolutions: one of them is that Dad is an Artist. Another: Mom is Chinese. Dad is also a drunken gun-nut who torments his sons and molests his young daughter. The narrator grows up to be an artist, too, or at least an art student. He acts out his own compulsions in what by contrast seems like the much saner and socially acceptable outlet of mutually-consented s & m. A darkly comic masterpiece!

Rutkowski fondly recollects his boyhood days as a moving target for his father's tortured artist angst. In his past he uncovers horrors but also discovers a curious kind of redemption. This may well turn out to be a classic study of the birth of a conceptual artist.

We can all only hope to live our lives with kind of heartfelt passion that this author chronicles. Truly inspired and inspiring!

The only problem was that as I read it from cover to cover, I kept crying - it was the darndest thing. But my tears fell continuously.

I thought I will write her after I have finished reading it. I can't finish it! Every time I start, I have to begin again at the beginning. I never get very far.

"A Scrapbook for Sandy" was sent to me by a dear friend who lives far away, who I don't see very often but with whom I shall always have a very close bond. I received the book after a long days' journey, too full of too many different airplanes and airports. Just as I was thinking how exhausted I was to be back in New York, I saw this large package on my desk, awaiting my return. Upon opening it, I sat for at least two hours reading and laughing, smiling and thinking, completely unaware of tasks in front of me and the exhausting trip behind me. What warmth and inspiration! What a passion for loving and living the book contains! For any of those most dear, I recommend sending a copy of Cecile Mactaggart's "A Scrapbook for Sandy" right away! They will cherish it for years to come and they will return to it often for sustenance, solace and delight!

"A Scrapbook for Sandy" is a marvelous love poem. Its author has worked her pictures and text together so that both, reinforcing each other, present a large and moving serenade.

There are several editions of this book published. They have been thoroughly reviewed, so I will just review this edition, not the material itself.

As you can see by the photograph, it has a red cover and black spine. On the front cover and the title page there is a picture of a shirtless horned man. This book contains black and white photographs, by Robert Mapplethorpe, placed just about at the beginning of every section. I do not like them and I think they are a distraction from the text.

This is a very well constructed book. The pages are made out of a high grade thick paper. On the left side of the book is the original text in French. On the right side is the translation in English, which is done by Paul Schmidt. Since I can not read French, I completely enjoyed the English version.

In the collection of prose poems and verse fragments that make up the short book A Season in Hell, begun in April 1873 in an outbuilding at Rimbaud's family farm at the village of Roche and completed by the end of August, he looks back in despair over his life as a poet. In one of the fragments, titled "Ravings number two" he talks about "the history of one of my follies. I invented the colors of the vowels!" he claims, and goes on: "I flattered myself that I had created a poetic language accessible...to all the senses...I expressed the inexpressible. I defined vertigos...I ended up regarding my mental disorder as sacred."

Rimbaud draws a picture of his affair with Verlaine in cynical terms, painting Verlaine as a weak and foolish virgin and himself as an "infernal bridegroom," a monster of cruelty. It wasn't far from the truth.

The last chapter of A Season in Hell is titled "Farewell." It has an air of exhaustion and relief about it. "I have tried to invent new flowers, new stars, new flesh, new tongues. I believed I had acquired supernatural powers. Well! I must bury my imagination and my memories. A fine fame as an artist and story-teller swept away! I! I who called myself magus or angel, exempt from all morality, I am given back to the earth, with a task to pursue, and wrinkled reality to embrace. A peasant!" A Season In Hell was finished in August 1873. Rimbaud somehow persuaded his thrifty mother to pay to have the book printed in Belgium. He sent his six author's copies to his friends and to men of letters in Paris. Many people see this manuscript as his farewell to literature. It certainly reads like that, although Enid Starkie believes that it was Rimbaud's farewell to a certain kind of literature--visionary, mystical, growing out of the selfish and hallucinatory lifestyle that had crashed to a halt only a few months before with his shooting and the jailing of Verlaine--and a commitment to something more humble and realistic. "Well, now I shall ask forgiveness for having fed on lies," Rimbaud wrote. He hoped that the French literary world would offer him the forgiveness that he was now prepared to seek, and give his book favorable reviews. He the proceeded to Paris to see how his book had fared.

Favorable reviews? He must have been mad. To those literary men, the dilettantes Rimbaud had mocked and despised a year or two earlier, Rimbaud was the insolent catamite who had destroyed their old friend Verlaine: sponged off him, wrecked his marriage, corrupted his soul and ruined his life, and then, when he had used him up, had turned him in to the police to face hard labour in a Belgian jail.

We have an eyewitness account of Rimbaud on the day when the last door in Paris had been slammed in his face, at the moment when he realized that the literary career he'd embraced so passionately was over. It was the evening of the first of November, 1873, a holiday, and the cafés and restaurants were crowded. The poet Poussin had joined some writer friends at the Café Tabourey. He noticed a young man alone in a corner, staring into space. It was Rimbaud. Poussin went over and offered to buy him a drink. "Rimbaud was pale and even more silent than usual," he later recalled. "His face, indeed his whole bearing, expressed a powerful and fearsome bitterness." For the rest of his life Poussin "retained from that meeting a memory of dread."

When the café closed, Rimbaud--who hadn't spoken to anyone all evening--set out to walk home through the late autumn countryside. It took him about a week. When he got to Charleville he built a bonfire and burned all his manuscripts. He didn't bother to collect the remaining five hundred copies of his book from the printer--they moldered there until they were discovered by a Belgian lawyer in 1901. That should have been the end of it. But Rimbaud couldn't quite let go. The following year in London he carefully copied out his prose poems, gathered together under the title, Illuminations. The year after that he tried to get them published. For the anguished but brilliant Rimbaud, giving up poetry must have been akin to weaning himself from a potent drug.

These are the brilliant and mystical hallucinations of the original "enfant terrible" and his visionary raptures about poetry, innocence and guilt. Verbal deliriums suffused with pain and hatred, remorse and desperation, but also with a parodic, pathetic and fatalistic megalomania. The "mystical rage" transformed into pyromaniac wording. Poems in prose, of very high quality, which reflect the fury of the love-hate relationship of Rimbaud with life and Universe.

In the collection of prose poems and verse fragments that make up the short book A Season in Hell, begun in April 1873 in an outbuilding at Rimbaud's family farm at the village of Roche and completed by the end of August, he looks back in despair over his life as a poet. In one of the fragments, titled "Ravings number two" he talks about "the history of one of my follies." "I invented the colors of the vowels!" he claims, and goes on: "I flattered myself that I had created a poetic language accessible...to all the senses...I expressed the inexpressible. I defined vertigos...I ended up regarding my mental disorder as sacred."

Rimbaud draws a picture of his affair with Verlaine in cynical terms, painting Verlaine as a weak and foolish virgin and himself as an "infernal bridegroom," a monster of cruelty. It wasn't far from the truth.

The last chapter of A Season in Hell is titled "Farewell." It has an air of exhaustion and relief about it. "I have tried to invent new flowers, new stars, new flesh, new tongues. I believed I had acquired supernatural powers. Well! I must bury my imagination and my memories. A fine fame as an artist and story-teller swept away! I! I who called myself magus or angel, exempt from all morality, I am given back to the earth, with a task to pursue, and wrinkled reality to embrace. A peasant!" A Season In Hell was finished in August 1873. Rimbaud somehow persuaded his thrifty mother to pay to have the book printed in Belgium. He sent his six author's copies to his friends and to men of letters in Paris. Many people see this manuscript as his farewell to literature. It certainly reads like that, although Enid Starkie believes that it was Rimbaud's farewell to a certain kind of literature--visionary, mystical, growing out of the selfish and hallucinatory lifestyle that had crashed to a halt only a few months before with his shooting and the jailing of Verlaine--and a commitment to something more humble and realistic. "Well, now I shall ask forgiveness for having fed on lies," Rimbaud wrote. He hoped that the French literary world would offer him the forgiveness that he was now prepared to seek, and give his book favorable reviews. He the proceeded to Paris to see how his book had fared.

Favorable reviews? He must have been mad. To those literary men, the dilettantes Rimbaud had mocked and despised a year or two earlier, Rimbaud was the insolent catamite who had destroyed their old friend Verlaine: sponged off him, wrecked his marriage, corrupted his soul and ruined his life, and then, when he had used him up, had turned him in to the police to face hard labor in a Belgian jail.

We have an eyewitness account of Rimbaud on the day when the last door in Paris had been slammed in his face, at the moment when he realized that the literary career he'd embraced so passionately was over. It was the evening of the first of November, 1873, a holiday, and the cafés and restaurants were crowded. The poet Poussin had joined some writer friends at the Café Tabourey. He noticed a young man alone in a corner, staring into space. It was Rimbaud. Poussin went over and offered to buy him a drink. "Rimbaud was pale and even more silent than usual," he later recalled. "His face, indeed his whole bearing, expressed a powerful and fearsome bitterness." For the rest of his life Poussin "retained from that meeting a memory of dread."

When the café closed, Rimbaud--who hadn't spoken to anyone all evening--set out to walk home through the late autumn countryside. It took him about a week. When he got to Charleville he built a bonfire and burned all his manuscripts. He didn't bother to collect the remaining five hundred copies of his book from the printer--they moldered there until they were discovered by a Belgian lawyer in 1901. That should have been the end of it. But Rimbaud couldn't quite let go. The following year in London he carefully copied out his prose poems, gathered under the title Illuminations. The year after that he tried to get them published. For the anguished but brilliant Rimbaud, giving up poetry must have been akin to weaning himself from a potent drug.

This is a brilliant encapsulation of the rage of the artist. He has a contempt for mankind, society, it's progress, and yet can't escape society. He can be a "..." as artists where called back then, refuse to live a middle class existence, live a life of drunken debauchery, and yet that is just another societal role.
His imagery is powerful, his language self-deprecating and insanely sincere. It draws you in with its suffering.
At the end he finds his life as an artist, his passion, empty. It all ended with the gunshot to the hand that ended his affair with Verlaine. In short, he equates his artistry and homosexual affairs with hell, and a return to society redemption. This explains how he became a materialist later on in his life, a trader, even considering trading slaves.
It is a sad fate for someone who had such a poetic gift.
I still enjoy reading A Season In Hell, even after having read it many times. Ultimately, the work is flawed; it has a little too much affected insanity, angst, the sign of an adolescent work, but it is also full of pure poetry and promise.

The finely crafted stories in Ronna Wineberg's Second Language illuminate how we mediate and translate love and its loss. In the title story "Second Language," the main character Lucy deals with the decline of her aging parents. The deceptively titled "The Encyclopedia" is a beautiful story that charts in a few pages the entire progression of an affair. My favorite story is "After We Went South" for its combination of humor and insight and also its great secondary characters including Honey Mae Leeland, a female private investigator. The characters in Second Language get themselves into binds, often funny, many times tragic, but Ms. Wineberg always treats them with compassion and insight. It's a lovel collection!

I cannot say enough about Ronna Wineberg's book of short stories. Her use of images is so delicate that I often found myself effortlessly slipping into an interesting story about someone so believable they may as well live next door to me, only to find myself in a rich thicket of metaphor. It made me think about how "signs" are all around us, signs that show us clearly where we're going, yet we feel blind and hapless all the same. I like Ms. Wineberg's stories for her gentle reminder that life is full of turnings, and I absolutely love the way she leaves each her characters at story's end with both loss and possibility. Looking forward to further stories!

These stories are populated by real people, not completely good, not completely bad. Rather, the characters--Laura, Patrice, Doris, Cora, Helen, Shiela, etc--act as they must to get through each day. Their lives, full and complicated, include indiscretions, disappointments, and necessary lies as they search for their elusive anchors and struggle against themselves, alone.

Ronna Wineberg expertly uses words to paint the thoughts of her characters and the worlds they inhabit. The melancholy tones of the stories harmonize well with the isolation of the characters, people who are sometimes lost, sometimes desperate, always yearning, always searching. Rich internal dialogue offers long, raw glimpses into their interiors. Strong details, masterfully placed, evoke the color of their lives.

It's a lovely book that leaves the reader genuinely satisfied, all the while nodding, "Yes, this is the way real life often unfolds."

Wineberg's beautifully written narrative clearly depicts complex characters as they navigate their way through life's unpredictable journey. The reader is easily immersed into each poignant story, and can truly feel each protagonist's emotional struggles. These stories are truly a splendid work of fiction.

There is a single theme that runs through Second Language, stated poetically in the title. Love, married or unmarried, is a second way of expressing oneself, and sometimes of actually discovering another self. Certain lines and images are repeated to support this idea. Particularly moving and aesthetically pleasing is the way in which the coin collectors of the first and last stories make the entire group seem to hold hands in a sort of narrative circle.
These stories and the characters in them are seen against a backdrop of Jewish-American culture. The narrator of "The Lapse," for example, describes himself as "observant," which means a good deal more than paying attention in this case. He irritates his wife by refusing to ignore the Sabbath to attend a political meeting. In return, she considers having an affair. While these stories are not religious in any dogmatic sense, religion is taken very seriously, which has become a difficult thing to do in contemporary fiction. Instead, they are informed by an authentic sense of "chesed," a very special Jewish sense of kindness.
Ronna Wineberg is a very wise and generous writer, and Second Language is a cut above any other collection I have read recently. I hope we will be seeing more from this writer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I bought this book for the story by MaryJanice Davidson and thoroughly enjoyed it. I have not read the other stories yet. The sell was uncomplicated, with wonderful communication and tracking information. I come back again, as always!

"Secrets" anthologies are always good and filled with sexy, interesting and often funny stories and this one is no exception.

M.J. Davidson's story involves the hilarious Wyndham Werewolves. Jared thinks he needs to avenge his sisters death by killing Michael the head Werewolf. He runs into Moira (A very strong Werewolf who guards Michael)and proceeds to kidnap her to protect her from the evil werewolves not realizing she is one. I laughed and laughed over their silly adventures.

The other stories are also very good making this book well worth the price. One is about a a woman who inherits a brothel and a woman committed to an asylum in the Victorian repressed age in England.

I've never been a big cowboy fan but I want to read what happens to all the boys in Love, Nevada! This story was hot, hot, hot and fun, fun, fun!!!!!

I have read and loved several of these Secrets anthologies. Again, I skipped a few volumes because Mary Janice Davidson, one of my favorite new erotic romance authors, is featured in this one. She also wrote a novella on Volume 6, but I was unable to get a copy of that book. I loved her novella! It is full of Davidson's signature wit and crisp dialogue. Jared's Wolf is the follow-up to Love's Prisoner -- the novella featured on Volume 6. Jared Rocke wants to find and destroy the werewolf who murdered his sister. He hates werewolves and is determined to find Michael Wyndham, the leader of the pack. However, he stumbles upon Moira, a beautiful accountant who works for Wyndham -- or so he thinks. Moira decides to spend time with him and get information about his intentions. Intense attraction and mind-blowing sex ensue between the two. But how will Jared feel when he finds out that Moira is a she-wolf? He'll be shocked; after all, he thinks only men are werewolves...

Again, Mary Janice Davidson entertains the reader with the bantering between the characters. Her stories make me laugh all the time. This is the best novella in this anthology. I also like Alice Gaines's historical tour de force My Champion, My Love. I love the old New York setting and the wonderful erotic scenes. And Jeanie Cesarini's Western erotica Taming Kate is a wild ride! It has the no-holds-barred D/s elements that I love in erotic romance. I didn't like Liz Maverick's futuristic story Kiss or Kill. The story of a female soldier who falls for a robot that resembles a human being left me cold. All in all, Secrets Volume 8 is smoldering erotica at its best (save for Liz Maverick's story). I recommend it, if only for Ms. Davidson's novella.

I was drawn to this volume after becoming a new member of the legion of MaryJanice Davidson fans. I am happy to report I was not disappointed. This volume pays for itself each time I read it, and believe me, I read it often! As is her form, MaryJanice Davidson has written an erotic tale consistent with the quality I have come to expect of her. The other stories in this volume vary greatly in subject and writing style, but all of them are EXCELLENT. Folks, this is erotic fiction at its finest--do add this one to your library! You won't be disappointed!