African Books

Although Guy Saperstein probably wrote A CIVIL WARRIOR for a broad based audience, it is very worthwhile reading for attorneys, especially civil litigators. The book begins with a description of Guy Saperstein's childhood days in Southern California, continues with stories of his law school days and the beginnings of his public interest law career. Eventually, we learn of the historic employment discrimination cases he handled. The book is inspirational. Obviously, we are richer for the results Saperstein and and his colleagues obtained through the massive class action employment discrimination cases he launched. However, A CIVIL WARRIOR also gives encouragement and inspiration to the practicing attorney to go "the extra mile" for clients. Many practioners, I believe, would likely have settled much earlier in the various litigations in which Saperstein was involved. Saperstein's description of how his cases were screened, prepared and either tried or settled are completely engrossing.

It's a rare treat to read a book that challenges you to become a leader in your chosen craft while imparting specific useful information on its subject matter. If you enjoyed reading the Buffalo Creek Disaster, you'll love this book. Saperstein weaves a personal story within a narrative that you've already heard about in the news. This is the story that you haven't heard. Next time you hear people speak against class action attorneys, pull out your copy of this book and remember the great good that this one attorney has wrought through his craft.

It's an interesting window into the life of a slacker-turned-lawyer who got drafted into class action work at a time when it was a no-money business for legal aid organizations. Love or hate plaintiffs' lawyers, it's interesting to see how he latched onto State Farm and didn't let go until they made huge changes and paid him and the people he represented a whole lot of money.
The dates and case cites are spotty in here, so don't go into it looking to do historical or legal research. For that reason, it's easy to lose track of the cases' place in time, and alarming when you realize he's writing about companies were getting away with blatant discrimination in the '80s and even into the '90s.
For a lawyer, his writing's pretty clear and concise. And the stories about him growing up and skating through school and law school in the 1960s are kind of charming.
One really good point about it is that he waited a decade to write up his story, so there's a maturity and perspective in there that would've been missing had he decided to cash in by writing a book during his rock-star days.
It's not the most exciting or revealing memoir you'll ever read, but it is a nice little story of how one of this country's most famous trial lawyers made his way in the profession.

A must read for anyone facing a fork in the road of life...to travel the safe, well paved road society has laid for us or to venture out onto a path all you own? Guy Saperstein's "The Civil Warrior" tells the story of one attorney who blazed his own trail in social causes and made the journey for women and minorites a little easier.

Saperstein says lawyers work hard. I just finished this book and I am exhausted! It is amazing, and a credit to Saperstein, what one person can do when trained, unleashed and licensed to practice law. What we see is a young, intelligent, and questioning person, confronted with injustice, accept as seemingly his fate, personal responsibility to overcome it. And-- I recall an article about him some years ago in The California Lawyer, entitled "Rich Guy" Saperstein-- he is unapologetic that his work in the public interest has brought him wealth.

It gave me chills to read again of those days of the 60s and law students and lawyers like Guy. Some might suggest one of my characters in my novel. "The Lawyers: Class of '69" was based upon Guy Saperstein. No. I could not even begin to create in fiction the very real life Guy Saperstein has led, as a member of that class of 1969 at Boalt Hall, and one of the most influential lawyers in America. An excellent read.

Bravo and encore, Darren Reed!

Your 'poetic celebration' of women is a triumph and treasure for the Human family! Your clear and balanced writing style is pure simplicity and gives tremendous power to each poem, phrase and word! COCO WAYS is a keeper, definitely!

Darren Reed's poems visit our lives with memories that are past and of things to be. His first poem talking of the switch whippings reminded me of many a time I had to pick my own switch before the whipping. I can picture his characters clearly in my mind. This young man has a gift. I look forward to his future works. He will go far!

Coco Ways is an intimate glipse into the heart and soul of the author. It is refreshingly candid and honest. Its themes and subjects are not only readily transferable to any reader, be it male, female, black, hispanic or other, but they trandscend the personal experience and broach significant social issues . Even for the less than enthusiastic poetry reader, Coco Ways will evoke and validate our most primal sentiment- the love of our mothers.

I think that the book was very relative to me and how my history was and still is when I was growing up. I just love my favorite poem "Things Done Changed" because I think that it relates to me the most. I also think that the uncle poem intitled " Guess What" was really relative because that is very true. I can feel you on that one. Well gotta go. By the way my name is Franklin Dealno Roberson and I am your student. All I have to say is that your book is astonishing! Check you later. Peace, Stanklin

Mr. Reed brings the subtleties of the old school classics into being with new world soul. If I were to describe his style of writing it would have to be dubbed as hip-hop waltzing with elegance. This young man is destined to be recognized as a literary force in the future. The very near future! Langston has a son named Darren Reed.

I enjoyed Margaret Creighton's book. From far off Yarmouth, Maine, she has thrown her nets far and wide and hauled in a lot of historical flotsam and jetsam that might have escaped other scholars, in service of putting together another of her finely tuned historical studies of the underserved in American history. Here we find out more about the immigrant populations who comprised the Union Army, as well as the actual lives of the women of Gettysburg and the black citizens of the surrounding area. These are the shadow puppets of history, the folks who you might never have learned about by visiting the national park nor studying your social studies book.

You probably heard more about Mamie Eisenhower's residence at Gettysburg than you did about the women who were drafted into battle, whether they were forced to nurse, to cook, to slave, or to fight. Why is this? Partially, as Professor Creighton explains, these women were told, and they believed it, that their sacrifices did not matter. And that, perhaps, there was even something a little bit shameful about what they did, particularly if they were required to assist the invading Confederate army. Of the ravishment and rape that undoubtedly occurred, we know little but can surmise much, thanks to Creighton's research and the guarded testimony of forty Gettysburg women, mostly farmwives. Creighton looks at the nuance behind every statement, searching out human reality wherever it crops it head. "A middle-aged woman on a farm opened her door to a soldier on July second. By the way he was dressed, she was sure that he was a Louisiana Tiger. He told her that `General Lee had said that they should ask for food and if they would not give it they should demand it and that was what he was going to do.' She fed him ham. He ate some of it and then insulted her. The bread, he complained, was not fit to eat, `Madam,' he said, `I can go into any cabin in Virginia, poor and desolate as it is, from Winchester to Richmond, with not a fence standing, and get a better dinner than this.'" Creighton returns to this anecdote to eke out perceptions on the nature of resistance, and the implacability of the bad ham (Gettysburg women had to be fine actresses, for otherwise the Tiger in question might have guessed that the farmwife had fine chickens hidden with their beaks taped.)

As Creighton acknowledges, the presence of women on the Gettysburg battlefield is currently a contested site for scholars, particular feminist scholars, and she acknowledges that a host of others are trawling the same fields. The material remains of interest, and does indeed widen our picture of what happened that summer long ago, but I wondered, after finishing the book, if perhaps she might have written three separate books, for there's a sense in which the struggles of the immigrant soldiers, the Gettysburg women, and the freed, escaped or citizen slaves are experiences of very different registers and don't mesh together especially well except under cloudy language of the deracinated and ignored, and although Creighton tries her best, she can only link them this vaguely for the first two hundred times, then after that her rhetoric grows tiresome.

A lesson that comes through in Margaret Creighton's excellent The Colors of Courage is one, you'd think, we wouldn't need to learn: that the courage displayed by soldiers on the battlefield doesn't exhaust the meaning of the word. Curiously, though, it's a point that our culture seems to resist. Although we use the word "courage" in a number of different contexts, the template for our thinking about what it means to be courageous almost always is the battlefield with all its conventional associations.

But as Creighton points out, using the battle of Gettysburg as her focus point, courage comes in many "colors," and when it comes to the Civil War, we're only now beginning to discover what some of them are. Certainly, men facing one another on the battlefield display courage (although, as Gerald Linderman pointed out in his Embattled Courage: The Experience of Combat in the American Civil War, what counted as courage changed as the war progressed). But other kinds of courage as documented in Creighton's book include

--the courage of the civilian women at Gburg who protected their families (many of the town's men being absent) during the battle, negotiated with Confederates to avoid trouble, and tended the thousands of wounded before and after the three days;

--the courage of the African American residents in Gburg and southern Pennsylvania who had to contend with slave catchers that accompanied Lee's invading army, federal authorities who refused to let them bear arms against the invaders, and the gradual romanticization of the Civil War as a conflict in which "both sides fought for what they thought was right" that minimized the horror of slavery;

--the courage of German-Americans (derogatorily referred to as "Dutch"), who were seen by native-born Americans who viewed them as cowardly soldiers, lazy civilians, and buffoons everywhere. The heavily German-American 11th Corps, which (largely through no fault of its own) had been routed at Chancellorsville by Stonewall Jackson's surprise flank slam, were derided for their entirely honorable actions at Gburg simply because they were "Dutch";

--and the courage of generals such as Oliver Otis Howard and Carl Schurz, who both refused to subordinate moral to physical courage, and recognized that the stakes involved in putting an end to slavery were much more important than those offered by "the vogue of rugged, tough, and secular masculinity" (p. 234) too often then and now identified as courage.

A masterful book that opens new vistas on both the battle of Gettysburg and the meaning of the Civil War.

Despite its colorless title, The Colors of Courage is an interesting and revealing book that's well worth the reading. One learns much about native (Yankee) prejudice against German immigrants (allegedly stupid, clownish and cowardly), what happened in the town of Gettysburg during the three days of battle, and the experience of northern blacks, especially those near the Mason-Dixon line (only 7 miles away). Much fascinating material has been uncovered by fruitful research. The style of cool appraisal of historical fact though often gives way to one in which the author's paternalistic bigheartedness is apparent. Refreshingly, the author rejects the usual attempts at evoking sympathy or a misguided evenhandedness for the Confederacy and its soldiers, and presents the rebel army in all the horrific racism that was its soul and raison d'etre.

It is distressing though that much of the book is given over to a cloying gender self-promotion. Claims are made for the courageous self-sacrifice of Gettysburg womanhood, but little real courage is really described. The only incident that stands out in my mind is the fact that some Gettysburg women prepared meals for the Confederate soldiers who occupied the town during the battle, soldiers who, given the opportunity, would have killed their husbands, sons, brothers and fathers. These meals were prepared under some duress, of course, but when one woman courageously refuses she goes unpunished. But what could one expect from a gender that, in a 19th century rural backwater, suffered all the quasi-slavery and humiliations imposed by unchallenged male superiority -- not a fertile nursery for courage. The author notes many episodes of women's lives in Gettysburg, episodes that made me cringe with shame for these poor put-upon women. But amazingly these episodes are not presented as shameful at all, as if that would diminish these women as proud bearers of the title of womanhood. While chattel slavery is forthrightly despised, in this book gender slavery gets off scot-free! There is hardly a word that points the finger critically at the male superiority that so diminished the lives of these women. It's the elephant in the parlor -- overwhelmingly present, but unmentioned.

Despite this bizarre frame of reference, The Colors of Courage presents aspects of the war and the society that lived in its midst that are well worth discovering and whose uncovering justifies the obvious effort devoted to bringing these sidelights of the war to view.

Though Mrs. Creighton's text is well researched and factual, I believe it to be a bit extreme. I find that most claims made in the text are nothing more than generalizations. Yes, Lincoln passed the Emancipation Proclamation on 1 January 1863, however very few Union soldiers were fighting for this cause. Most Federal troops were fighting to preserve the Union, and quite a few were appaled over the idea of losing their lives to free the slaves. Additionaly, the majority of the Confederates namely Robert E. Lee and Thomas Jackson were not slave owners, and were simply fighting for state's rights. In fact, Lee asked Confederate President Jefferson Davis to incorporate black units into the Confederate Army. This was rejected, but by early 1865 the Confederate Army consisted of a few black units.
Secondly, although the citizens of Gettysburg suffered for a few weeks I tend to feel very little remorse. What Creighton believed to be major infractions against the Confederate Army was but mere childsplay to what Union General William T. Sherman dubbed "total war". In his infamous march to the sea(Atlanta to Savannah), his men robbed, killed, and humiliated southern citizens in an attempt to make the South lose it's fighting spirit. So please forgive me if I do not share in the citizen's of Pennsylvania's remorse for their two weeks of terror. Please do not get me wrong, I have nothing but the highest respect for those effected by the Civil War(fighting men and citizens alike). Yet, I believe it to be somewhat offensive to not even mention towns like Charleston, South Carolina and Vicksburg,Mississippi that were shelled and in the case of Vicksburg, starved into submission.
In summation, I believed Mrs. Creighton's book to be both informative and a good read. Please forgive me if I have offended anyone, and I will be more than happy to discuss this as well.

This book tells us, not about the battle, but what went on in the town of Gettysburg itself. Having lived there for 5 years, I was steeped in the folklore that the soldiers ran back and forth throught the streets of the town for three days, and with the exception of Jennie Wade (story: warned to go to the basement, courageously continued making bread) the townspeople were unscathed and John Burns (story: an irascible old coot), no townspeople participated. I had never heard of the Brian Family!

I was not without resources. I was the director of the public library. I met Michael Shaara, Bill Frassinito, Col. Sheads, Charlie Glatfelter, and a host of lesser and unknown historians, Park Service tested guides, civil war buffs and re-enacters. Perhaps I never asked Shaara (the one time I met him) and the others whom I saw more often, tacitly understanding that this battle was a white male thing, about these things. Maybe I accepted the script because the Gettysburg as I knew it was a quiet town, didn't get involved, and maybe didn't in 1863.

How could all that fighting occur in the town, without an effect, as defined by the local folklore surrounding the battle? Could the soldiers really be so courtly that they put aside their survival needs as not to disrupt to the town's civilians?

There are people who know this battle in great detail. They can recite (and argue about) the numbers of blue and gray who died in the wheat field, the peach orchard the round tops, etc. I never heard them talk about how the soldiers got fed (did they think they had were 3 squares at a mess hall?)

Creighton gives us not only the narrartive but also the answers as to how this history got burried.

Excellent work! Bravo Margaret Creighton!

This was a beautiful, poignant story that needed to be told. I thank Mrs. Sue and her family for allowing the public to take a glimpse at the obstacles she and her husband faced, which only made their love stronger.

The entire book was so warm and inviting. It was truly nice to be invited into the Authors life. Being in a BW/AM relationship it was nice to finally read a book with experiences that related close to my own. Thanks to the author for the courage and time spent writing this enriching memoir.

Cornbread and Dim Sum has received the INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OUTSTANDING BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD.

I was hooked by this book from the first words I read. Mrs. Sue uses a warm and direct style to convey scene and emotion in a way that can almost be felt viscerally by the reader. In describing her unique experience of a life built upon a love between people of different races, the author pulls few punches when describing both the pain and uncertainty of being faced with obvious discrimination as well as the joys and deeply felt passions for her husband and daughters that were a part of her journey through life. This book earns my highest recommendation.

I was fascinated and riveted by this personal love story between a Chinese man and African-American woman. The sad part is that I normally would not have picked up this type of genre of a book to read it. That would have been a shame and I would have missed a wonderfully told tale of the heart and the soul.

Cornbread and Dim Sum is more than a look at the lives of two people caught up in the racial tensions caused by their inter-racial relationship - we also get a look at marriage, love, family values and cultural differences. Being a white male, this book afforded me an insider view of their unique life together that I would not otherwise have been afforded. I came away a better person for having read this book. It opened my eyes to what love is all about. Their lives are fully exposed on the pages of this book and honestly dealt with through the easy to read emotional prose of author, Jacqueline Annette Sue. She takes you along her life journey as reflections and remembrances while preparing for her younger daughter's wedding. The writing style works to weave the past and present into a mosaic of emotional and spiritual imagery of where their life took them.

This book is not so much about racial differences that tend to separate us, but about what is means to be a human being. I found this book hard to put down once I got into the first several pages - I was hooked. I had devoured the entire book in less than 24 hours on having it in my hands. I give this book my highest rating and recommendation. This is not just a book for women or ethnic readers - this book does deal with some racial issues that divided people but their love story transcends all that. You will come away seeing these two people not just as an African-American and Chinese couple but as human beings who endured all that happened in their lives because they found a love much greater than anything that would harm that relationship. I fell in love with their story and think that other readers will as well.

Note:

Author Jacqueline Sue is now writing a screen play about Vietnam where she recently made a heartfelt journey. We look forward to reviewing it when it is completed.

This book was like a walk down memory lane. It had me remember back in the day hanging with your boys, playing basketball and rapping about girls. What also made this book fun is that it also brought back those college memories too.
Christopher Duane, did a good job of making you remember that one neighbor who was hot. Or that wife of someone you knew who liked to flirt. This was a really fun book to read. And one of the best things was how at then end, a brother got some justice.
I would recommend this book to anyone.

DayDreams and Dander is a great story about an African-American male who is not satisfied with his life and daydreams to compensate for it. The author was able to take a subject that affects so many of us--examine it and keep it entertaining. The story is full of twists and turns that will keep the reader guessing at what's going to happen next. Our book club members all agreed...DayDreams & Dander is a great debut and a must read!

I can't tell you how glad I was to read a book that I could relate to. A straight, non pimp, non thug, non player African American male going through life's many mishaps and disappointments with emotion, courage, anger, confusion and humor. It resembles many life and relationship issues that a lot of my friends (both male and female) go through and have gone through. I laughed and related to it's realness from my own experiences as well. Duane dabbles between paradoxes- from raunchy and raw, to fine tuned intellect and thought out understanding. He passionately personalizes a confused life, where the main character comes across as a real person, with real issues, who escapes by day dreaming every now and then to cope with his disappointments and frustrations. Good read. I enjoyed it. Thumbs up!

Daydreams and Dander is a hilarious laugh-out-loud page-turner. From the first chapter, the author will truly crack you up! Time well spent and a worth while read, MAKE TIME FOR IT! It's real and outrageously depicts allot of issues that I'm sure most of us can definitely relate to. Some scenes may be a little racy but that kept the adrenaline pumping for me. I can certainly say that my heart grew a little bit with reading this book. I found it to be inspiring and thought provoking as well as entertaining. Not wanting the story to end, I plan on reading it again to catch anything that I may have missed. It was that good! A definite recommendation to everyone I know!

I give it between 4 and 5 stars (which is great for a first time author). I really like the way he writes and the words he uses. He takes the character, who is in a seemingly bad situation and manages to go through the up's and down's with real emotion and fluidity. Someone said that every man should read the book. I think women should read it as well. It really brings some insight to what some brothers go through day to day and when involved in bad relationships. It's comedic, real, rough at times and sexy.

Chavone-

While so many clergy are running from this wild fire that is destroying so many souls, Dr. Williams chose to suit up in the Armor of God and attacked this problem head on. This book is very timely for a world that is caught up in its own devices, seeking to fulfill its desires at any cost. Dr. Williams' book is written so plainly that from the person that doesn't know God to the person that is elite in his status with God will know that this life style is wrong and it will kill you and those you love. Thank you, Dr. Williams for being bold in your presentation but gentle in providing the solution to this life style.

Finally we are speaking as we should. BOLDLY. Pastor Williams only God could have directed you to write such a direct and meaningful book. The concept has been greatly overlooked until now. You have faced the issue in the way God has asked, we as Christians, to face all of life's issues. With HIS WORD. That is the only True answer. Romans 8:13.....God Bless

Pastor Dr. Gary L Williams Sr's book is both timely and tenacious in dealing with this horrendous issue! It not only deals with this awful epidemic infecting the minds of men trapped in this lifestyle, but it also offers solid solutions to help anyone struggling with this stronghold. Whether you are caught up in this lifestyle or just wish to help someone that is, this book is a must read. No library is complete without it!

In today's society, it is common to hear or see particular behaviors that truly do not line up with the Word of God. The "blind-eye" notion must become a reaction of the past. As a true Christian, we must all stand on God's written Word. Dr. Gary Williams, Sr. has directed our attention to a very serious demonic underground epidemic that is completely sweeping this nation. In his book, "Deliverance from the Down Low", he outlines a very pragmatic prescription for "deliverance". Praise God for a man of God who takes a stand on righteousness! "Deliverance from the Down Low" is not only educational but shares biblical scriptures that confirms God's plan for our lives. Definitely a must read!

In a sea of opinion and propaganda it is often difficult at best to find the unadulterated truth. But God promises that He would never be without a witness. Dr. Williams with this book serves as that witness! He stands on biblical truths and practical real life applications, to masterfully weave together a strong life line with this book,that can and will serve as the life line of deliverance to any and all who struggle with their sexuality or any habitual sin. This book is more than just another book that highlights the alternatives to bisexuality, homosexuality, or even sinful living. "Deliverance From the Down Low" exhalts God as the ultimate healer of all of mankinds deepest ills; therefore it also servers as an indictment before God for all who ignore it's message!

I would give up TV and just read Bill Clem's books. Diencephalon is exciting with a great ending.
Diane McK

fast, easy read, keeps your attention, won't want to put it down until the end! I have the next Bill Clem novel ready and waiting

Diencephalon has got to be one of the biggest page-turners ever. It reads almost like a medical thriller, yet it is a well crafted police procedural that never slows down, from its explosive beginning, to one of the best denounments I've ever seen in a book. Truly an amazing piece of work. I look forward to the next Holland Carter classic.

WOW, Chilling, A Page Turner

Once you pick this one up you won't want to put it down til the very end- which is about what I did. It's fast moving, realistic, deciptive - you really can imagine all of this happening in real life. This book lets your imagination take over. These Doctors and Researchers have no remorse whatsoever when it comes to experimenting on these sick humans- they regard them as nothing more than guinea pigs or rats! The ending is so fitting - Dr. Styles. A great start to Bill's new Detective series. I can't wait for the next one to come out. I can't imagine what Bill has in store for us next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fast-Paced. I enjoy the short chapters. Many twists and turns. Mr. Clem will definitely become a household collection. Can't wait for the next installment!!!

I've always had the impression that Western/American Buddhism was overwhelmingly white, upper-middle-class and academic - an impression and perhaps a prejudice (or a hang-up); in spite of having read and been influenced by the philosophy and practice through much of my adult life, I've always held any personal endorsement or affiliation at arm's length because of this - I'm not white, upper-middle-class, or an academic, and the (perceived) insularity of that particular world doesn't often seem to be very inviting.

This is why this was such a valuable read for me - Willis belongs to a very, very small demographic - African-American Buddhists, and in DREAMING ME she traces a path from a Baptist upbringing in the segregated (and oft-violent) South to her present life as an academic and Buddhist scholar. Willis' recountings of her childhood were - to me - the most successful part of the book, with the grimness of Jim Crow-era Alabama rendered in cinematic detail. Willis also - with great success - draws parallels between the faith she grew up with and the philosophies she grew to accept as an adult. Beautifully written, she makes it almost seem effortless.

Not a very well-known book, unfortunately - and I fear this may slide into obscurity. I would encourage checking it out.

-David Alston

This book was read in one marathon session that flew by all too quickly. It spoke to the very core of my being. Having this story told in such a personal way deftly teaches the reader at every level. It's well written and one could easily be fooled that they are simply being entertained with a good read. There were many moments where I felt stunned with deep recognition of a life experience that mirrors a good portion of my own. I connected with this book deeply at the heart level. Most touching were the moments with her teacher, Lama Yeshe. His extraordinary heart helped her heal deep societal and personal pains which have traveled across generations influencing and shaping our culture in difficult ways. Thank goodness Dr. Willis chose to develop the good heart, rather than fight the good fight. One does not need to be in a culturally specific group or religion to recognize and feel Dr. Willis' experience. She reached into the depths of spirit and wrote in a way that touches universally. This lady has a heart that totally outsizes her brilliant, immeasurable intellect and her story will benefit countless numbers. I'm one unabashedly grateful reader.

Since I have met Jan Willis a few times through my own work at Naropa University, I emailed her after I finished reading Dreaming Me. Here's part of what I wrote to her: "I just wanted to let you know how engrossing I found your book. It was like talking to you, hanging out with you, to read it. I had put it at the bottom of my pile of "books I want to read" but somehow it jumped right up to the top, and I couldn't put it down until I finished it. Please take that as a resounding compliment! Thanks so much for writing it, and for revealing so much of your big heart.

There is something intriguing about a story which chronicles a former Baptist's alteration towards adhering to the teachings of the Buddha Shakyamuni. Jan Willis is an African-American Tibetan scholar and translator, a professor of religion at Wesleyan University and teacher of Buddhism for more than 25 years. She starts the book recording her life prior to finding the Buddha's teachings, a life spent as a devout Southern Baptist in a segregation ridden south. The KKK was active in her area of Alabama, and at a very early age they had burned a cross in her parent's front lawn. Later she would go on to march in Martin Luther King's civil rights movement, adhering to the values she so strongly believed in. In 1965, with 7 other African-Americans, she enrolled in Cornell University where during her junior year she sailed off on a trip to India which greatly impacted her life. For a brief period she returned to the states to continue her studies at Cornell, but eventually she felt drawn back unto the East again. She left this time for Nepal and underwent intense study with the Tibetan master Lama Yeshe. She studied with him for more than 15 years, where she faced a problem most predominant in all our practices: sense of self, ego.

This book is a fascinating look at a very small minority in the world of Buddhism, the role African-Americans have played in it's growth and the teaching of the Dharma. In the west, in my lineage of Zen, African-American's are probably the least represented group of all. While we have male and female teachers, and practitioners of several racial and cultural backgrounds, for some reason or another there is a very small pocket of African-Americans present. This is not due to any sort of discrimination but rather, to be frank, oftentimes the African-American individual can at times have a problem with breaking down ego. Something which has it's roots in the horrendous treatment this group underwent at the hands of a predominantly white America. This work is a fascinating look at practicing the Buddha Dharma in modern times with a voice of honesty, clarity, and incisive wisdom on each and every page. Enjoy this treasure.

Books like "Dreaming Me" are gifts or treasures that we rarely have the good fortune to discover. Ms Willis' journey is at times painful yet ultimately joyful. She shares this pain and joy in a compelling writing style that is filled with anecdotes and drama. No matter what your life experiences may be you are quickly drawn into the universal themes that every human being shares. As a white male living in the Northeast during the sixties I was on the other side of the world from a person like Ms Willis. Yet she made her experiences part of me. And like two parts of a greater experience I felt whole after reading this book. I highly recommend it. Thank you Ms Willis for putting your experiences into such a beautifully written book.

This is some real stuff to have friends that are still down even though somethings have happend. I'm wailting on the next part to arrive in the mail. Keep doing what you love.

This book was awesome. I read this book in a couple days just like all of your other books. I am truly a big fan of yours. I like the way that you keep me in suspense and then you let everything unfold in a great manner. I love the characters in your books. They all seem like real people instead of charcters in a book. When discussing this book at work with my co-worker people think that we are talking about real people. Keep up the good work!!!

P.S. - Can you try and write like 3-4 books a year???

Drug Related will have U biting your nails and pulling your hair. I am very impressed with Mr. Glenn's writing abilities. He will have U staying up late nights trying to figure out what will happen next. His characters are all unique and very complex, which keeps U wanting more. Make sure U check out MOB..

you will find a picture of me!!!! That's right Mr. Glenn I am now a boni-fide fan of yours... I once thought Roy Glenn was just another street writer (not that there's anything wrong with that) but oh... he is so much more.... the suspense, the intrique... the mystery ...the satisfaction ...the AH-HA moment for me!!!

Mr. Glenn you brought it....

When Gabrielle Childers hires Nick Simmons a resourceful, street-smart, former Army specialist turned Private Invetigator to find her missing scientist brother, Simmmons thinks it's just another missing persons' case, but soon we're taken on a fast ride of intrique and mystery. This story is deep... and you've got to pay attention.

Sure, Nick rarely meets a woman he isn't attracted to, but he's a man's man and I like that... We quickly learn nothing is as it appears with Mrs. Childers as far as her missing brother or her secretive drug lord husband Chilly are concerned, they're all caught up in a scheme to develop synthetic crack turned deadly... but fear not... Nick Simmons is on the case... and I was with him all the way!!!!!

I really enjoyed Simmons' character-he seemed so real.. you know the type, rough around the edges, but good with the ladies.. he's carrying his own burden of betrayal but he's willing to make ammends for walking out on his buddy Black at a crucial time. (who doesn't love a man who's not afraid to show his vulnerability)

I also enjoyed the way Mr. Glenn kept me guessing... Just when I thought Nick and I had it figured out... Mr. Glenn tossed another twist.. without giving anything away, I can just say Nick is telling this story to a woman who has a history with Nick and his buddies... I enjoyed the story, the pacing, the characters-they were all so real-the plot, thick and deep, well thought out.

I'm hungry for more...

This was my first Roy Glenn story, but you can better believe it will not be the last! I'm about to go back and read Is it a Crime and Mob... I can not wait for Payback and anything else Glenn has in store for his fans.. know that I'll be in line come Feb... oh, wait-already pre-ordered mine! I suggest you do the same...

And I know he won't dissapoint!

I enjoyed Drug Related, it makes me want to go back and read other books by Roy Glenn.

Nick Simmons tells the story of his arrest with his attorney Wanda after he's released from jail-the story is told in a dated journal format, which I liked.

The format did require me to pay attention to the story which wasn't a task because I read the book in two days (only b/c I had to work it took so long)

Nick is a former Army specialist who is hired by Gabrielle Childers, the wife of drug dealer Chilly... Gabrielle wants Nick to locate her missing chemist brother, Jake, she believes her husband is involved in his disappearance.

Nick soon discovers Jake and Chilly were working on some kind of synthetic form of crack... without giving the story away.. a bunch of twists and turns and murders later, we discover the mystery behind this street saga.

I liked that the story basically sets the stage for the sequel: Payback... so much so that I've already pre ordered mine.


~*~ Roy Glenn, add me to your growing list of fans ... I want more!!! ~*~

Here is an account of one of the boldest attempts of slaves to free themselves. In April 1848 dozens simultaneously fled from Washington, DC, in a sailing vessel provided by white sympathizers. All were captured, but the well organized attempt startled the public North and South. The author fills out the story with background about slavery in the nation's capital, and traces some of the era's major political developments relevant to human bondage. The book is informative and an easy read.

This is a gripping tale.

While the book's title highlights the 1848 escape attempt on the Pearl, the contents of the book encompass much, much more. There's the story of a slave family - the Edmonsons - which Ricks follows from before the courageous but unsuccessful flight to freedom all the way into present-day Washington, DC. There's an engrossing overview of abolitionism and its firey, impatient and ultimately triumphant adherents. Ricks presents her readers with a compelling description of the underground railway. Washington is presented as the small southern town that it was then, with illuminating detail. She brings to life the mid-nineteenth century context with its wrangling and maneuvering and unforgettable characters. It was a hell of a time and she gets it.

The small hard kernel of yearning and determination that impelled this particular journey by these particular people inspires us. Here, too, is a great and continuing irony of history: Some human beings are capable of enslaving others; at the same time different human beings strive passionately to free others; still others fight to free themselves.

'Escape on the Pearl' is a terrific read.

This is a great book. But don't take my word for it - Edward Ball, author of the bestseller Slaves in the Family, says "My kind of Southern history looks at slavery through people, and Mary Kay Ricks puts you on a first-name basis with the remarkable Edmonson family, who went through a mass escape, the near prostitution of two daughters, and a great homecoming. And she's found their descendants, who will tell you all about it." (quoted on the back of Escape on the Pearl).

In 1848 some residents of Washington DC owned slaves though many others opposed the "curious institution". In April, conductors on the Underground Railroad try a bold freedom run using the Pearl to take seventy-seven runaway "fugitives" to freedom in the north. However, a terrible storm on the Chesapeake doomed the mission. The sheriff arrested the freedom fighters and took the recaptured slaves back to their owner who sent them to New Orleans for sale. Another twist returns the slaves to DC where Preacher and staunch abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher made efforts to get them freed and his daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe used their plight as part of her reference notes published as the Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin, two years after the classic was released.

This is a complex at times convoluted look back at a major incident of its time that has somewhat lost its significance over the subsequent century and a half. The book gets inside the heads of the slaves, slave sellers, slave owners, the Stowes and the Underground Railroad conductors. However, most fascinating besides the link to Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic is the way the citizens in the metropolitan DC area looked at slavery. Historical readers need to set aside some time because though difficult to follow because of how complex the events leading to, the event itself, and the subsequent aftereffect and outcome are, this is a discerning insightful look at the abomination of slavery.

Harriet Klausner

The author's knowledge of her subject is remarkable, her writing is graceful, and her judgments are consistently sound. This book is a great read, an exciting tale framed by a sharp, balanced and sensible portrayal of an era of shame, ferment and change in our history. Ricks's literal knowledge of the streets of which she writes makes this book vibrate with authenticity. I enjoyed it consistently--and learned enormously from reading Escape On The Pearl. Since I write fictional accounts of the period myself under the pen-name Owen Parry, I realize how complex a subject this author has taken on--and I can only say that it's humbling to see another writer do a far-better job than one can ever hope to do. This book deserves wide attention and, as readers, let us hope that Ricks will return to the period for additional books in the future.