Canada Books

Peter Jennings was taken from us at the pinnacle of his
career. He shaped the news in many areas like the
ABC Nightly News. The book provides many specifics about
his life and career. There are memorable pictures
contained throughout the book. i.e.
o The Miss Canada Pageant of 1965
o various political conventions
o the Munich Olympics
o the Clinton Presidential Inaugural of 1997
o a meeting with Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991

The acquisition would be perfect for persons interested
in journalism, politics and government.

This book is purchased for our Book Club for next year's books. Several of our members had read it to be sure it was okay. It was difficult to purchase - first we had to wait till it was published (you know how THat goes!) and then the price was exhorbitant (that was overcome) and finally it joined the other books we purchased for the Club. Oh, and say, did I mention that this is a book for next year's selections? and that it will be much like "saving it for dessert?" I haven't read it yet either - just scanned through it, and therefore I know it to be the "icing on the cake."

I was never a regular viewer of Peter Jennings' news broadcast or any of his documentaries, but now I wish I was.

This book pointed out all the great time, effort and blood, sweat and tears that Peter Jennings put into all segments of his broadcast and documentaries. He did not take his anchor position lightly and wanted all viewers to share his same passion and understanding of the subjects he was speaking.

It also went into great depth to speak of the man that none of us saw on his nightly newscasts. One who was such a humanitarian and lover off people from all different walks of life.

This book kept my attention and made me feel sad that I did not pay closer attention to his newscast while he was still with us.

If you loved Peter Jennings you will love this book. It was written in an innovative style by way of an amalgam interviews with his colleagues. If you are looking for dirt on Peter skip this book, but if you want to relive the hundreds of wonderful hours you spent with him on your TV, this book does the trick. Your memory might also be jogged when you read the many adjectives describing him in the book: charming, distinctive, exuberant, thoughtful, reflective, gracious, caring, sincere, whimsical, questioning, authentic, direct, gentle of spirit, warm, great sense of humor, intelligent.

I loved the insight many of the contributors gave, as well as the quotes from Peter: "He connected with every person he met. He didn't use them." "He had this life force that seemed to surround him--his enthusiasms, his boundless energy and curiosity. He was one of those people that was just a great sense of nirvana to be around." "And when he was faced with the actual test, he instantly did the right thing." Peter: "Be spare, be precise, take your time, and don't say too much. Let each work carry the weight of the story....communicate in a concise way."

Peter would ask, "What are we going to do today what will distinguish us?" He despised predictability, mediocrity of any kind, laziness." "Listening to Peter was...riveting." Peter WAS riveting, and so is this book!

Bill Kizorek, CEO, Two Parrot Productions

When ABC newsman Peter Jennings died from lung cancer in 2005, he left a void in the industry that has yet to be filled. Along with the likes of Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, Jennings helped revolutionize television news, sitting on both sides of the desk, transforming the genre from a 15-minute afterthought to a major component of network broadcasting.

The editors of PETER JENNINGS: A REPORTER'S LIFE, including his wife, have collected the thoughts and memories of scores of family, friends and colleagues who are universal in their praise and turned these stories into an oral biography. It seems as if Jennings was almost predisposed to the profession. As the son of one of Canada's most respected radio broadcasters, he got an early start, hosting his own children's show as a nine-year-old. Formal education held little interest for Jennings; these days he might have been diagnosed with ADD. His success, despite dropping out of high school, was truly remarkable.

Jennings was just 26 when he was handed the anchor assignment for ABC News in 1965, a job to which he admitted he was not suited at the time. He earned his stripes by going out into the field --- far, far afield to Europe and the Middle East where he thrived on the exotic surroundings and the action.

The entries in A REPORTER'S LIFE reveal a man in a hurry, ever curious and always willing to do whatever it took to get the job done, even when that meant putting himself in harm's way. Jennings was no "Scud-stud," a term used to describe reporters who made a name for themselves during the first war in Iraq; he didn't even like to fly. But he impressed everyone, from his sound men to heads of state, with his ability to soak up information and present it to his audience.

When he stepped down as an active reporter to once again take over the anchor desk for ABC News, he brought that same restlessness with him. He was a demanding boss, always expecting the reporters to do the same thorough job he did. But his humanity was always evident. During the coverage on 9/11, he wanted the audience to see the devastation of the World Trade Center rather than in-studio shots of him. And he was never afraid to defer to experts or admit he did not know every issue involved.

Many of those interviewed said that Jennings never wanted to be the center of attention, which made his on-air revelation of his illness all the more conflicting. For him, it served as an abject lesson, another chance to educate his viewers.

The format of A REPORTER'S LIFE both works and doesn't work. Since it's not a straightforward biography, it appears choppy at times, a series of mini-monologues interspersed with Jennings's own words. It is also understandably biased; you won't find too many speaking ill of him. On the other hand, these are the people who knew Jennings best, and the book serves as their final chance to pay him tribute.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan

this is a sweet story about a relationship between a grandfather and his grandson. the grandfather makes his grandson a blanket and as the boy grows and destroys the blanket the grandfather makes something new out of the material. i have a close relationship with my grandparents and they do everything to make their grandchildren happy. this story was kind of a reminder of that for me, how they'll always be there for me, and will help me and teach me with whatever tools they may have, but most of all how they'll always love me. i get almost emotional when i read this book. its a good one. get it.

A Grandpa's Love

This is my favorite children's book. It is warm, charming, and fills one
with a generally good feeling. Something from Nothing is adapted from a
jewish folktale. You don't have to be jewish or a child to be thoroughly enchanted with the relationship between grandpa and Joseph . Joseph is a little boy who goes to his grandfather to fix his tattered blanket because "grandpa can
fix anything". The story takes you through the passage of time when grandpa
converts the blanket to a jacket, a tie, a handkerchief, and then a button.
What to do when the button is lost... The pieces of fabric left over from grandpa's
mending goes below to a family of mice who end up with bedcovers, curtains,
table cloths, etc. The text is absolutely delightful, the illustrations magnificent. I have given and read this book numerous times to young children, They always ask me to re-read it to them, while they gaze at these wonderful pictures, and giggle over the mice family's good fortune.

Something from Nothing is a classic folktale retold by Phoebe Gilman in a delightful, playful way. My children love repeating Grandfather's refrain "Hmm, he said as his scissors went snip, snip, snip and his needle flew in and out and in and out. There's just enough material here to make..." along with me as I read and they love discovering new things the mouse family are up to under the family's floorboards or out on the town. They find something new every time! Joseph Had a Little Overcoat tells the same story but we like Something from Nothing much, much better.

This is one of my favorite children's books. I love the artwork and the retelling of an old story. It is a wonderful gift for all your best beloved children.

I love this book! I am now reading it to my young grandson.
It is such a heartwarming tale. It is really two stories in one because the little mice at the bottom of the pages are an important part of the story going on during the main portion of the book.
The pictures are charming and beautiful. This is my second copy of the book because as a teacher, I wore out the first one and didn't want my grandson to miss out on this special tale.

Martin Luther King Jr. uses very apt exegesis in his Sermon about the Good Samaritan. The greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, with your Soul and with all your mind. The second is like unto it to love your neighbor as yourself. Sum of the Law and prophets hang on these two commandments. This truth taught by Christ was demonstrated through the telling of the story about the Good Samaritan. Martin Luther King JR's sermon on this story is an excellent analysis what it takes to be a loving neighbor. Dr. King tells how the Samaritan overcame prejudice, fear of physical danger, expenditure of money, along with inconvenience; time and effort.

In the sermon titled: Death of Evil on the Seashore, Dr. King acknowledges the existence of evil in all men's heart. The theme of this sermon is how a Christian should overcome evil acting upon oneself and respond with love. One should overcome evil with good. In this sermon, Dr. King states Jesus never made a theological statement about the origin of evil. He does state man's evil does not come forth out of mistake or misguidance. Man should be held culpable to his evil. Love is truly made manifest when in response to which one knows wishes harm or ill towards. This type of love does not come naturally to any man.

Martin Luther King Jr. was taught in his youth to hold the truths taught in the Bible are inerrant. In the final chapter, Dr. King says he entered seminary as a fundamentalist. In his senior year he introduced himself to various theological theories and critical thought when he read various books. Dr. King says at one time he became enamored and held liberal theological uncritically including the belief that man is generally good. Objective appraisal and critical analysis are terms Dr. King acquaints with liberalism. Dr. King says liberalism taught him to have an open and critical mind. In reading the `works of Richard Niebuhr made me aware of the complexity of human motives and the reality of sin on every level of man's existence.' Pg. 136 I would think Martin Luther King Jr. would have been taught about Total Depravity in his years going to church. Dr. King rejects the concept of God being Holy other: hidden and unknown. Dr. King states the influence Walter Rauschenbusch's book: Christianity and the Social Gospel had on him. Then student King searched other philosophers who were not theologians about how to bring social change. Student King was in despaired until he discovered and learned about how Mahatma Gandhi brought social justice to India through nonviolence and the term Satyagraha. Satya means truth which equals love. Graha means force.

Paul's letter to American Christians is a sermon by Dr. King in which he attempts to use the voice Paul's letter to instruct the Christian Church in the United States about disunity in the Body of Christ and unchristian thinking among its members. Cultural, political, and the state of Christendom are the focus of the sermon. I think Martin Luther King Jr. tries to invoke the sentiment of Ephesians 4:1-3:

As a prisoner of the Lord, I urge you to live the life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. In this letter Dr. King criticizes the multiplication of denomination of churches in the United States. He praises the National Council of Churches and the World Council of Churches. He argues for unity with the Roman Catholic Church with no note that there are some things Christians cannot compromise about. Racism and disunity is the only sin taken to task. I do believe racism is an unfruitful of darkness and Paul did address this in his letters-it is not the only unfruitful works of Darkness:

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but reprove them.
. Ephesians 5:11

A quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.:
Pg. 3 "The historic- philological criticism of the Bible is considered by the soft minded as blasphemous and reason is often looked upon as the exercise of a corrupt faculty. Soft minded persons have revised the Beatitudes to read, blessed are the pure in ignorance: for they shall see God."

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. quotes from Matthew 10:16 - Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as Doves.

Later Dr. King equates science as reality and religion as values. He sees the tough minded as those who incorporate their faith to fit science. Dr. King does not believe the Bible is to be taken at face value but be interpreted trough the lens of science and other philosophical thought. Theological thought is used and the Bible is quoted to make the argument, but only when facts are determined elsewhere. Values are not defined through God's written word but to collaborate outside sources. Values are determined and thought processes are discovered with the Bible as the secondary source.

In 1983 I entered teaching in West Virginia and received this book as a present from one of my teachers. In two years I moved to South Central to teach at 93rd Street School then into the Salinas valley and now in Oxnard.It has proved itself to be of great use to a teacher. I say this by way of explaining that as an elementary teacher, one working with a variety of settings, children, cultures, families, many kinds of educational issues I've come to believe that the book King wrote, this book, is a true helpmate to anyone trying to deal with inequity and injustice.Teaching is an act that requires a very deep understanding of who you are, your strengths, purpose, and this volume supports the evolution of your social conscious. For me the text allowed me to solidify who I am as a teacher and why I do what I do. One example might be the difficult job it is to teach in schools under assault for doing poorly, seemingly being de-constructed by politics without enough valid insight into ways to guide real improvement and coming up against ignorance in many forms-including the disparity in economic means permitted in America. It's not easy to teach children with vast dental decay, families out of work and watch a nation laud this as positive "welfare reform" when stranding these children in worse fixes. Sometimes I find it infinitely difficult to love my neighbor,well, my voucher loving neighbor, or even find commonality with those in million dollar homes feeling botox might make them both more appealing and more interesting.The child as a commodity construct which is now prevalent in educational dialog, among many other kinds of views, I find difficult to separate from the individuals telling me( in often rude and hurtful ways) that my efforts educationally are a failure and that schools don't work. In my world it's a constant Lou Dobbs immigration rant that somehow is hiding vaguely words that really seem to be saying something else. I tire of watching the reality of racism, class ism acted out in the lives of children-and this is a fatigue that easily becomes anger-King speaks to this.... I find myself lacking the strength to love positions taken by those that really don't know what they are talking about, and don't care other than for personal advantaging anyway.... There is something truly fascinating about having a book that describes both your situation and your feelings as well as frames this into affective forward action-King can give you individual empowerment quite readily.And he can help you address your mindset. And that in this world of mine is a beautiful thing. I frame my work with principles that are able to outweigh the personal likes and dislikes levels...so I bring to school dealings my thoughts that I am there to help Anthony be the best Anthony he can be...not to condemn Anthony to my judgment about him. Let us say then King's is an active lexicon and this volume is insightful for someone wishing to everyday face injustice and difficulty with positive reaction and action. For me as a person I find the book more helpful than any I ever had.

If anyone underestimates MLK's true intellectual ability, or simply wants to revisit the kind of person he was, a read of this book should serve to illustrate that America has had a prophet in my lifetime. Truly this should be required reading in high school and college programs for the young persons of our country to become acquainted with and use in working on social issues.

Let's not just sit in silence on *Martin Luther King Day* - - We must ask ourselves how WE can carry forward Dr. King's message & become agents for change. Reading his words in "STRENGTH TO LOVE" makes an excellent beginning.

Remember those words from the Bible that challenged us "to love justice"? King's sermons (collected mostly from the time of the bus boycott) prod us today to carry forth "the Power of One" and make this particular holiday a statement of our own acts of Love. To love takes courage as well as strength.

Since the Gulf state hurricanes, we have witnessed injustice toward blacks as blatant as any experienced in the 40's. To summon up the hope and optimism that kept Martin Luther King's message alive is an absolute necessity today. To exercise King's principles, to work for justice, to not allow ourselves to sit in silence - - that's where our beliefs must take us. " . . . the day we become silent about things that matter" IS THE DAY "OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END."

Love is where non-violent action begins. In his sermons King expanded on how the tactics of Gandhi can & do work a mighty force for change. For "Strength to Love" the cover art, a wood cut by Stephen Alcorn, makes another strong statement. Dr. King's words most forceful to me are about *love* and *redemption* - - (the latter is an under-used word these days) - - and the last chapter in which he shared his amazing *PILGRIMAGE* through philosophy and experience. Reviewer mcHAIKU echoes the hope of many: that we act responsibly, energetically and courageously to speak truth to Power. "I ain't gonna study war not more." (Martin Luther King Day, 1-16-06)

Timeless. As relevant now as what it was when it was written. Addresses the issues of hate and indifference and argues that the solution is love. Love does sound all too simplistic but it is one of the hardest things to face but its rewards are beyond words.

"Strength to Love" woke me up.

It made Dr. King so much more real. It contains some of the most powerful teachings on how to love in situations where it is difficult to. Not love -in the romantic sense - but rather, in a much deeper way - as in love of humankind. Of Christ-love. Just read his sermon on "Loving your enemies": he starts with the difficulty of reconciling this commandment, and finishes with a flury of passion exhorting us to make this commandment real when he starts with the words "To our most bitter opponents, we say...". It's not just the banter and broad strokes which he uses so magnificently to generate his passion. He also gathers support from folks such as Emerson, Napolean, Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche and the Bible of course. All of this to convey a sense of urgency to show how low we all have come, and at the same time to inspire us to a place where we can go.

While you may not agree with what he says, you must admire and respect what he says. Dr. King's messages aren't easy to digest- but he says the right thing - which is not always, the easy thing. Even though these teachings were written over 40 years ago now, his messages in "Strength" are no less relevant and more important than ever.

Another weird book by Munsch.

Kristen's clueless parents drive to the zoo instead of the hospital when her mom is in labor. Three times, they ignore their daughter's warnings that their son is another's, and three times they get whapped in the face by the not-a-people-baby.

Finally, Kristen has to save the day, which she does in a quick and admirable way (the illustrations in the zoo are funny in and of themselves, by the way). Everybody gets their own baby back, and we're told that everything is fine from then on... until Kristen's mom had twins. (Uh-oh.)

This book is so absurd, you can't not love it. I really recommend it to anybody having a second child. It's a wonderful change of pace from standard "new baby" books.

My 20 month old daughter loves it. I'm not sure that she connects it to her 2 month old brother, but she sure enjoys having us read it to her. She pulls it out again and again and screams along!

I read Alligator Baby. I liked this book because it has funny pictures. In the book I read that the "gorilla grabbed her mom's ear and the father's ear and they both yelled Aaaaaaahhhhhaaaaa!" This helped convince me that it was a good book.

I love Robert Munsch and this is one of his books that the kids in my 2nd grade class loved the most!

This is a good book for when bringing home baby. We bought it for our toddler as a fun way to explain that we are bringing him a baby brother from the hospital.

I read this book and thought, yes this Frenchman makes many derogatory and embarassingly insensitive remarks about the Inuit. However, contrary to what one reviewer said below in "Good descriptions, bad insights, July 27, 2005", the author slowly develops a great respect for the intelligence, culture and abilities of these people so much so that he begins to emulate them. It is a subtle conversion story wrapped in a fabulous adventure; thoroughly enjoyable and well worth reading.

My good friend and I were talking a while back after I had watched the movie The Fast Runner, which he had recommended. Talk got around to my deciding to send him my old childhood copy (out of print, I believe) of Peter Freuchen's Book of the Eskimos, and his deciding to send me his old childhood copy of Kabloona. Neither of us had ever heard of the other's book. I must say, as much as I've always liked Freuchen, I got the better of the deal!

What a wonderful book. So well written, such nice storytelling, so enjoyable, refreshingly honest, and unexpectedly insightful. It is haunting. It really is in a class by itself, although I have trouble putting my finger on exactly why this is so. All I know is that I did not want it to end, as I'm sure the author did not want his time in the North to end. And, like him, I don't think it will be the same if I go back and try it again. And I know I also had a strange feeling throughout which only later I identified as a form of envy, envy for the experiences this man had and for his ability to experience them so deeply. I've seldom felt envy mixed with awe and admiration like this before.

Of all the book, I was most deeply moved by his account of the priest out in the middle of nowhere who had survived and kept warm in incredible cold merely through the power of faith and prayer. Humbling.

A man comes out of nowhere, lives these experiences, writes this incredible book, and disappears back into nowhere. Amazing. Read it.

The audio CD is outstanding...indeed the best I have ever listened to. For one thing, the narrator is marvelous in recreating both the 1930's world of France and Frozen Canada. I can't think of any other book or audio that so successfully transported me into an alien culture. Considering that there are quite a few films and books about Eskimos, why buy this one written 70 years ago? Answer: the literary quality of this work surpasses the prose of the last quarter century. When you listen to the narrator weave his tale, it mirrors the experience of hearing a tobacco chewing explorer slowly recounting his adventures in the wild. The story dives deep into the interior life of the author as much as it details an ethnographic examination of (primitive) Inuit life. The myths and values of the Eskimos contrast sharply with the borgeouis morals of a gentleman of Paris. For example, in Eskimo culture, there is little concept of private property...that's why an Eskimo man will let you borrow his wife or a snow knife. Language in the arctic is far more concrete. A polar bear is HE WHO HAS NO SHADOW. Far away, in the cold Arctic, author Grontran De Poncins learns what it means to be human, a man preeminently. This is a romance, a classic reminiscent of Robinson Crusoe. If you buy the audio CD, you will not be disappointed.

This is a magical book which I first read when I was young. It inspired in me dreams of adventure which I did not follow, but which became a part of my inner life. Now that I am old, I am reading Kabloona again so that I can remember that I once was young.

I looked up at the bookshelf over my computer and spotted the battered 1941 edition of Kabloona that has been in my family for 40 years since I first read it in the village of Coppermine (now Kugluktuk) when I was a 12 year old boy in 1961. I decided to do an AMAZON.com search to see if anyone else knew of this marvel that had so enchanted me as a child, and found the site you are now visiting.

We were much more civilized in the Coppermine of 1961 than the same village the author had visited 20 years earlier. We had electricity, and communication with the outside world by a Morse code key at the Department of Transport office, plus we had a scheduled visit by a single-engine Otter every two weeks. It was a magical time for me (adults found it a difficult time, but they simply did not understand things)

The book Kabloona gave me insight into the minds of the people around me. We were a community of 200 Inuit (Eskimos) and 35 whites. The whites had as many of the amenities of civilization as they could garner, but the Inuit lived much as described in De Poncin's book.

I was enthralled by the awesome hunters with their dog sleds and their magnificent huskies, not show dogs or racing dogs, but working dogs that made the difference between life and death. The men would bring back the carcasses of seal and caribou, and the furs they had trapped. The women sewed the furs into beautiful garments that kept man, woman and child warm in intolerably hard winters. It was also the women's job to butcher the carcasses, which they did with incredible speed and skill using only the ulu, or woman's knife. I regularly witnessed the activities of this way of life. De Poncin described all this in his book, but he also gave me insight into the underlying culture I was immersed in.

You can't live the life I led 40 years ago as a boy in the high Canadian arctic, but you can vicariously journey there to an even more primitive time, and enter into the incredible peace and stillness of an arctic winter night in an igloo, or the warmth and safety of a house made of snow as an unbelievable storm rages outside around you.

I recently spoke by satellite telephone to a man in Coppermine from my home in Missouri where I now live, and found that the village I once knew is now a very different place. But you can go back to an earlier era with De Poncin. I assure you, you won't regret your wonderful voyage with him.

I don't know if I'm permitted to speak of it here, but I have described my life in those years in the Arctic in a book, The Boy Who Fell To Earth. It is available at Amazon.com for those would like to buy a hard copy, or can be read for free on my warmbooks.com web site.

I really love books like this that give me an interesting story that keeps me turning pages while at the same time informs me, teaches me so many nuances of another culture. I felt the author wrote with great insight and also with wisdom in her characterizations. She looks at these people like a Sherlock Holmesian Freud or Jung and does a good job of it too.

I also loved the way she included the eccentric folks that lived across the street. Iran has known so much tragedy. More than a few times I thanked my lucky stars that I was born in the United States while I was reading this book. Yet at the same time so many personal dynamics were mirrors of exactly what people experience anywhere and everywhere. It was enlightening for me as well as educational and entertaining.

With lush prose and surgical precision, Nahai examines pre-revolutionary Iran, a country hobbled by a social system so oppressive it crushes every one within it. Muslims and Jews live side by side, and each of their worlds is as socially stratified as the other. The novel is narrated by the young daughter of a wealthy Jew and her penniless mother, and she details their increasing desperation as her father falls in love with a Muslim woman. His abandonment of them leaves them emotionally bereft and socially isolated in a world that has no place for them. Brilliant and affecting. You will think about this novel for days after reading it.

Gina Nahai is one the most creative and literate authors working today and should find a regular place on the bestseller lists for her impressive storytelling talent. Her exquisite writing and character development never fails to keep me coming back for more.

Once I started reading "Caspian Rain" I couldn't put it down. Without giving away too much of the story, all I can say is that Ms. Nahai captures your interest with her complex and fascinating characters examined and described in her exquisite prose. You feel the heart and soul of the characters and every moment and situations resonates that much more deeply. I love to read anything Ms. Nahai writes and look forward to her next novel. I highly recommend "Caspian Rain" to anyone who loves to be drawn into a story that takes you to a place about universal themes dealing with real human emotions of loss and acceptance.

"Caspian Rain" by Gina Nahai is a true literary masterpiece and one of the most beautifully written, insightful, touching, and stirring novels of our time. Set in pre-revolutionary Iran, Nahai tells the story of a young girl named Yaas, who faces the tragedy of slowly going deaf at the age of ten and watches in silence and fear while her parents marriage falls apart at the seams. Nahai captures the character of Yaas, who narrates the story, and manages beautifully to express Yaas' sadness, desperation, and incredible wisdom. Nahai's writing style is not only magical and poetic, but she manages to be straightforward in her plot scheme and make the readers feel as if they are sitting in Yaas' bedroom as she whispers her tales into their ears. Nahai's "Caspian Rain" is one of the rare novels one will find that has the power to change lives, touch hearts, and make a difference. This novel hardly falls short of perfection and should be read by all.

Reading Caspian Rain, by Gina Nahai, is like opening a golden treasure chest. Inside it, you will find all kinds of intriguing and fascinating objects. There are several interconnected stories being told . First there is the heartbreaking story of an innocent little girl, Yaas, who desperately longs for the love of her parents. In reading the book, the reader can feel her anguish, as she tries every which way to be noticed and loved. There is the story of the intelligent and ambitious Bahar, Yaas's mother, a story in which the reader can actually taste the bitterness that Bahar is left with, when she realizes that she cannot conquer any of the barriers that will forever keep her from realizing any of her dreams. There is the story of Omid, an emotionally stunted man who, while being the son of privilege, has come from a community which, as a result of being faced with deep prejudices, has had to downplay its' ethnicity and become self loathing . Finally, there are the very rich descriptions of the sounds, sights and smells of Tehran, a fourth character in the novel; a bustling city where the contradictions between the old and the new are funny, tragic and endless. The book was truly unforgettable.

I flew through this book because I could not stop reading it. The details of life growing up in the Bronx were truly mind blowing, especially for someone who grew up in a super sheltered environment.

However, the best part of this book is how Canada relates how the gun culture has doomed inner city children to an adolescence of violence and how something must be done to change this.

This is the most powerful anti-gun books I have ever read, and the message isn't shoved down your throat, it's told through the author's own life experience which makes it that more powerful.

A must read.

This is hands down one of the best books I have read. Not only does Geoffrey Canada explain in gritty detail the inner workings of ghetto society, he also lists solid well-thought solutions, which would enable inner city youth and residents to rise above poverty and despair. We, the people, have turned a cheek for much too long. Something really can be done. This book should be required reading for high school and college-level coursework.

Dr. Canada presents an emotive argument for gun control through story and eclecticism. He makes an interesting case for the slide from Fist to Gun without ever dealing with the reason for the violence of fist and/or gun. One might argue with his conclusions though one cannot argue with his heart's concern as to the results caused by the increased violence. Overall, a good read for thought and/or argument.

I personally have had the opportunity to hear Geoffrey Canada speak at my college twice, he an alumni of Bowdoin College. Not only is his book inspiring, he spoke to my class about joining the "losing team", and making a difference in the lives of others, like those of the South Bronx and Harlem, NY. Not only has he lived to tell, he has taken his experiences and turned them into something very positive, by developing and running the Harlem Children Zone, making a difference to those children there. The book is a great read for anybody who is an urban educator, or involved in social services.

Canada grew up poor in the South Bronx in the '50s. Violence, then, as now, was a way of life. All boys fought - life was worse for those who refused. Violence and the rituals surrounding it established the social pecking order. In the preface to his memoir Canada says, "The difference is that we never had so many guns in our inner cities."

Canada's first memory of street violence came at age 4, when his two older brothers had a jacket stolen at the playground. The boys' mother sent them right back to fetch it, promising them a beating "ten times as bad as what that little thief could do to you," if they failed.

They left the house in tears and returned triumphant, with the jacket. Their mother sat them down and told them it was a lesson in not becoming a victim. The author, her youngest, was unconvinced.

Then a neighborhood boy who habitually refused to fight was "stretched" over a car and savagely beaten by a group of boys. "The lesson was brutal and unmistakable. No matter who you fought, he could never beat you that bad."

Canada's memoir is a thoughtful, moving portrayal of social behavior in a culture of violence. A quick study, Canada learned to use posturing, attitude and negotiation as well as his fists to minimize the number and severity of violent encounters.

But he is absolutely convinced that violence is a learned response, not innate. He and the other small boys, says Canada, were aghast at the prospect of fighting. Only fear of worse violence and a life of cowering in corners spurred them to fight.

Today, says Canada, the same imperatives operate. But guns have shattered the rituaized formality of the pecking order. Toughness is no longer determined by fighting skills or "heart" but by willingness to pull the trigger.
This is the book's most chilling precept. The streets are now ruled by those whose most important attribute is a lack of compunction about killing.

Canada's own experience as a gun carrier is a perfect illustration. Home from college he found a nearby street ruled by a gang of toughs so intimidating he would take a circuitous route to avoid them. So he bought a gun. Carrying it, he found his whole personality changed.

Instead of avoiding the block or even crossing the street he would swagger through the gang, his whole attitude provoking a challenge. But back at school in bucolic Maine he saw his behavior in a different light. Appalled at how close he'd come to shooting someone, he threw away the gun.

Those who don't leave the ghetto don't have the luxury of contemplation.

Canada has devoted his life to helping poor children and reducing street violence. Today he runs a program which offers classes and recreational activities which involve the whole community. The Rheedlen Center uses public school buildings, open 17 hours a day, in an effort to provide children and families with safety.

At the end of the book, Canada offers a program for solving the problems of violence in the inner cities. Chief among them is getting handguns off the streets by using buyback programs, registration at the place of manufacture (so any gun can be traced) and registration of ammunition.

Whether the reader agrees with his solutions or not, Canada's memoir is powerful testimony of a future of little hope without major change. It is also a riveting and convincing personal history.

This book has been my savior I reccommend it to anyone even remotely interested in a PHd or a PsyD in clinical psychology you wont be dissapointed

I carefully followed this book's recommendations throughout the entire application process. I applied to eleven APA accredited doctoral programs in clinical psychology and was accepted at EIGHT of them! The book's detailed suggestions were tremendously helpful and probably contributed to this remarkable outcome. However, I found it important to use other sources of information as well, since some data in the book is inaccurate. Inadequate information on how to select the "best-fit" school from among multiple offers was the book's greatest shortcoming. P.S. Don't worry about typing the application forms - just use very neat printing or handwriting. Type everything else, however.

Everything you'd want to know about grad school is all in this one source. This book includes everthing you'd want to know about applying to graduate schools (overall acceptance rates, whether an advanced degree helps, what graduate schools consider to be important). However, rather than presenting the author's advice and opinions, the information is compiled from empirical research studies which adds much credibility to the information provided. Very helpful, is also the comprehensive guide of all APA approved combined, clinical and counselling psych programs. Provided are such things as scales indicating how clinically or research oriented a program is, the theoretical orientations of the faculty, what percentage of students are accepted into APA internships, the GPA and GRE cutoffs, number of applications received and number admitted, percentage of students receiving financial aid, percentage who hold advanced degrees, percentage of women and minorities, average years to completion of the program as well as research and clinical oppurtunities available. This book is very helpful in providing you with a general idea of what programs you may want to look into further, however the information doesn't always seem to be 100% accurate, therefore you may want to investigate further rather than accept all the information as factual.

This book gave me a realistic look at what it takes to get into a Ph.D. Program in psychology and how to go about getting what I needed. I have recommended this book to many others because most books on this subject only give you statistics of different schools- how many students they accept, what the average GPA is of someone who is accepted. THis book is much more practical and step by step.

For anyone interested in clincal or counseling graduate study, this book is essential. These areas are extremely competitive and one cannot go into the process "blind." The general APA guide can be useful, but it covers many areas and mainly gives the basic facts on all programs. On the other hand, this book is very specialized. It gives information on the programs, but also includes invaluable information relevant to clinical and counseling psychology training. It has information on the programs, but also tells you how to prepare yourself, so you get in to those programs.

I am interested in clinical health psychology and this book was a great help. It has a useful index of programs by subject area. It also has a self-rating from programs about how strongly they emphasize research or clinical practice. It is essential to find schools that will provide you with the experiences you are looking for.

Overall, this book will help you find programs that suit your needs and maximize your potential for getting accepted to them!

Town House by Tish Cohen is a light, funny, interesting novel about how our man, Jack Madigan, a famous rockstar's only son, deals with hurt and painful memories he can't leave, can't escape and seems to not want to. He is locked into the town house with them, and this he does completely willingly, except for his problem, he is an agoraphobic (no that does not mean a fear of spiders). He is completely unable to go outside without taking a heavy medication, which lately isn't even doing the trick. Jack's time in the town house is father left him is coming to an end, he needs to sell the house since he is not keeping up with the payments. Will he be able to leave the house and find a job? Will he be able to keep his house?

Two women in his life push and shove him to break through his fears( his naive Realtor, and his precocious neglected 8-year-old next door neighbor girl), but he constantly lets them down. He can't help them if they are standing outside his house, and how can a friendship stand strong when it seems so one-sided at times?His son Harlan, an amazing kid with a true loving heart, is slowly loosing hope for his father. He is a teen, a teen should not be seen with a father who cannot leave the house except to get dizzy, create a scene and embarrass his son (or so Harlan thinks!!!)

Well, read it!! Town House is a perfect book that is not as silly as chick lit, and has much more substance...but it also is very funny. Jack the main character is full of sarcasm, and he will draw you right in, and you will love him, at least I do. So, if you are looking for a book in between reading Tolstoy and Henry James, this is it. The quality is there, the lightness and humor are there as well, and yet it is completely quirky and real. Dive in!

Quotes from the book:

" No, the rood of your problem lies in your lack of a stable childhood home. Lack of parenting. Lack of a solid family life. Your father was and obsessive -compulsive with olfactory issues who left you to sleep in a Coca-Cola crate" (p. 21).

" Harlan would be much better off with his mother, Jack thought. Hell, he'd be better off with this Yale guy, who takes all the vitamins. Only the most selfish of fathers wouldn't see this" (p. 62).

"This house has turned you into a prisoner. It being sold is, like the best thing that could ever happen to you. And me! Let's get the hell out of it!" (p. 81).

"It was all so delicate, so temporary, this thing called life. One minute this was your world; the next minute it was gone" (p. 249).

My mother heard I was thinking of moving into a Boston townhouse, and she sent me this book as a sort of warning, for Tish Cohen lays out all too clearly the perils of getting settled into a town house, no matter how spacious and airy. In this way, the book is rather like the forthcoming Dale Peck novel, in which a young boy who inherits an entire New York brownstone mansion, soon finds himself climbing the walls with loneliness (THE GARDEN OF LOST AND FOUND). Cohen's treatment is rather different, for she mixes the whimsical with the deadly and dangerous disease (or neurosis I suppose) people call "agoraphobia," where you never want to go outside. Jack Madigan has it made, the son of a famous rock star, and the father of a handsome teenage son Harlan, he has it all on the outside, but for him, there is no outside, it is a spooky and unimaginable world to which, as it happens, he has now lost his lovely wife Penelope who, or so it seems from the outset, has just about given him up for there are some people who just don't understand those of us who hesitate before lesving the house.

I heard the author of SEABISCUIT, Laura Hillebrand, recommend this book on one of those NPR radio chat shows where famous authors give tips on what's new and deserving. Hillebrand, as many know, herself is a real life victim of agoraphobia and despite that she did what Tish Cohen has done, built up a whole world out of a place where she has never been.

If asked what the book is like, I would pause and then reply that it is sort of a cross between ABOUT A BOY and PANIC ROOM. It would be a great movie with Hugh Grant and Jodie Foster! And some cute little girl like the one who played Foster's daughter in PANIC ROOM. There's also a good part for a realtor, someone like oh, Thelma Ritter used to play. Dorrie Allsop, the realtor in charge of selling the town house, provokes the crisis in Jack's life, by making him realize that even the safest refuge isn't always the best option in life. A funny chapter shows her perplexed when the ad she puts up describing the town house, that read, "Shelves in Cellar," is altered by the compositors so it looks like "She Lives in Cellar," and people reading the ad stop and say, "Who lives in the cellar?"

It's also a little bit like LOVE ACTUALLY (also with Hugh Grant), but with a Canadian twist. (Although set in the USA, it has some Canadian locutions that give it a strange, though welcome, freshness.

Town House has a cast of characters that manages to be quirky without being cartoonish, a satisfying romantic involvement, and a perspective on color that made me start staring at the paint on my wall much longer than I probably should. Throw in a cat with half a head, some badly fitting shoes, and a handy device called the Groper, and you've got the recipe for a delightful read. I can picture the movie already!

Town House is an amazing story by Toronto author Tish Cohen, whom I met in June with authors Patry Francis and Jennifer McMahon. Not only did Tish write her book in three and one half-weeks, (it WAS fully plotted - but, still - that is an amazingly fast write - even for a writer who writes, as Tish does - everywhere - (on the keyboard or on scraps of paper scrawled while grocery shopping) she soon sold Town House to Fox movies.


Ridley Scott has been signed as the producer; Doug Wright as the screenwriter.

Tish told me recently in an email that filming is slated to begin in Boston in January.

NEWS FROM THE AUTHOR, (Tish herself!)We've had some nice film news--John Carney, who directed the much-acclaimed indie film, ONCE, has signed on to direct Town House. ONCE won at Sundance, it's a great film that's getting a lot of Oscar buzz.


Tish has a fantastically creative and quirky style. That is one reason her book sold so quickly. Another reason? I have no idea. But hum a few bars for me or give me the recipe and I'll try my hand...Hmm. Maybe not. Tish is sui generis, a unique author with a unique story to tell.

On to Tish's book. Admittedly, an agoraphobic herself, Tish's main character, Jack Madigan, is also agoraphobic. He lives in the house his dead, rock-star legend father, Baz Madigan, left in his will.

(This fictional house and the cover of the book is a Boston Town House, the subject of the book. Once upon a time, Tish fell in love with Boston when she was here for a conference. She skipped the conference but toured Boston with its fabulous history, culture, and architecture.)


Like Jack's life, the house is a once-glorious enterprise now in near ruins. Yet, Jack is still way too good looking for his own good and is fast spending the inheritance from his father's royalties. However, in Town House, like in real life, once the money runs out, it becomes time to pay the piper. Jack must negotiate his way through many characters in this fast-paced story. The bank is threatening to foreclose; the ex-wife wants to take their son to California - and a maddening girl next door keeps barging in on his life. Then there is the matter of the real estate agent.

So Jack turns to his ingenuity to save his mortgage, his sanity and his son. And to venture out into the real world beyond his front door. This is a comic read in the best sense - zany characters who seem too nutsy to be real and yet they are characters you recognize as your own neighbors (or, possibly as yourself).

* * *

Excerpt:

This is from the Prologue:

"The pills clung to the bottom of Baz's dry tongue like barnacles. He held his breath, waiting for the nurse's tyrannical bosom to swing away and lead her downstairs, toward the street where her teenage son was waiting, or honking rather, in his shiny new '78 Pinto.

"Swallow," said the nurse, narrowing her eyes.

He opened his mouth to show his empty tongue. "Were you always this bossy?" One of the pills struck the underside of his tongue stud.

"Only with the sneaky ones."

The Pinto beeped again.

"Go ahead, Louisa." Baz's words hung, wafer-thin and dusty, in the stale air of his bedroom. He closed his eyes and swallowed, sending trickles of pain across his temples and down his neck. "I'm going to sleep until Francine comes up with my dinner."

"How that fine woman ever birthed a wretch like you, I'll never know." She gathered his mane into a loose ponytail and stuffed it down his T-shirt. "Your hair smells nice today."

Baz cracked one eye open as she lifted the leather jacket from his shoulders and replaced it with a soft guilt. Having assured himself she wasn't mocking him, he glanced up to admire the giant Bazmaniacs logo on the back of the battered jacket as she hung it on a chair - right next to his Fender Stratocaster electric guitar and three framed gold records."

And from Chapter 1:

" Jack Madigan squeezed his eyes shut. Hard. He wasn't going to cry over this. There were exactly three events in his thirty-six-year-old memory that had brought him to tears, typically life-splintering events; such as his father dying on him while he was away at a sleepover; his son, Harlan, bursting - squalling an bawling - out of the womb and into his heart; and his ex-wife sashaying out the front door of the old Boston town house and wishing Jack a good life.

She'd forgotten the tweezers."

* * *

So will Jack be able to find love? Save his house and child? Venture outside into the real world? All that will become evident in the final chapters of this MUST read!

Although this is a novel, it has the ring of truth throughout. Imagine trying to save your home and maintain sanity and stability while battling agoraphobia (for those not in the know, this is a phobia which makes it nearly impossible for sufferers to leave their homes without feeling extreme anxiety,including panic attacks).

What I found amazing about this book was the humor inherent in a very difficult situation. Jack Madigan has lived within his home in an old townhouse along with his son, a cat and his wife. His wife left him and s already planning her marriage. Whenever Jack tries to leave his home, he has panic attacks, a particular type which causes him to feel dizzy, head spinning,unable to stay upright. While this could be milked for far more drama, I liked the rather wry take Jack has on his condition, even as his son expresses a mixture of emotions, from resentment to compassion to shame.

Of course, nothing stays the same, not even in a seemingly controlled environment and the world comes crashing in on Jack. His income dries up and the townhouse is put up for sale, pressuring him to face the reality of change - and far more change than simply stepping outside his door, something he finds difficult unless he is extremely angry- and even then, his anger generally wears off quickly and he is panicky again. To add to the mix, his real estate agent is a quirky person who is quite chatty, often overwhelming or baffling Jack. But there is more to her than meets the eye.

I thought the author managed to convey the particular traits of agoraphobia quite well, although there are many types and varieties of this condition. Some people can make it outside their home, within a certain area of safety. Jack has a far more severe form than those people, finding it impossible to even step outside to pick up a dead bird. He is known as a "hermit" by many in the neighborhood, even taunted by children.

Few anxieties are cookie cutter imitations of others and depend on the person, their will, their biochemistry and other factors. For those who find the novel a bit contrived or can't relate to Jack's quirkiness, I hope you'll find the writer's style unique enough to balance anything that seems a bit pat. For those who are prone to anxiety and panic, they may find some comfort in a book which acknowledges the realities in a far more accepting and matter of fact way than you might expect.

I remember reading this book way back in Grade 12. Its not so way back considering that it was probably two or three years ago. This book ranks among the best war books I have ever read. In some places, I laughed so hard I nearly dropped a lung. In other places, I remember being so sombre and imaging the horror experienced by Mowat and his band of Hasty Ps.

This is a must read for any Canadian even remotely interested in the Canadian role in World War II.

I didn't really want to read another war book, but a friend convinced me he thought this was the best one ever written. However, I came away from it thinking it wasn't as good as "The Forgotten Soldier". The last chapter about the battle over the Moro river was just as good. However, the depth of the first three chapters I felt was diminished by the author's sense of humor and his tendency to exaggerate. For example, the dying of the inscrutable A K Long - taking out his pipe for a smoke and a book to read when he was so seriously wounded, calm in the midst of terror - struck me as unrealistic. In sum, this was a good book but I would say, not really memorable.

I bought this book almost in a state of doubt. I had seen the name Farley Mowat and automatically assumed it was a good piece of writing as is most if not all of his other pieces of work. He is perhaps one if not the best Canadian writer ever to pick up a pen and paper. And after reading this book, i quickly realized why.

I had been searching for a book that could possibly inform and educate me on a Canadian's standpoint of the second world war. I quickly realized that I had picked out a good book. It puts you in the mind of a young man reaching adulthood and as had every other young man at the time, had his mind set in joining his fellow Canadians and Allies in the battle. This mindframe had been to be fairly excited and actually happy to go to the frontlines. As it had obviously not been programmed to the unfortunate reality of the war itself. Farley Mowat tells a great and wonderful story of his life before and during the timeline of the Canadian military's part in the war itself. Whether it was the obvious anxiety of waiting to be shipped overseas to the frontlines, or the brutal and graphic reality of the battle itself, Mowat unveils a true and dramtically emotional story of World War II.

Myself I was seaching for a book such as this one. It retold the historically correct graphic and terrifying nature of war, more specifically that of the Second World War. I know that one such as myself will never know and hopefully never experience the reality of war but, I can honestly say that I have infinite gratitude and thanks for those who fought for our freedom. All in all, a WONDERFUL book and I highly recommend it to any Farley Mowat fans or anyone who likes great historical literature. I just cannot seem to express how great of a book this really was. Hope you like it too!

Undeniably the best war memoir written by a Canadian who served in the Second World War. The book chronicles Mowat's experiences in 1943 as a participant in the invasion of Sicily and Italy, and in classic Mowat style captures both the stark reality and lighter side of his experiences. Mowat also wrote a history of his unit--one of the first books he published, and which was later revised (and is somewhat difficult to find at the moment)--entitled The Regiment.

This book was a great surprise for me. I picked it up at a local library because I saw the name Mowat and thought, "Funny, Isn't he a Canadian naturalist? What's he doing in the History section?" What followed was a fascinating voyage of war,adventure,hilarity and,ultimately,tragedy and pain. Walking into the experience of WWII with a completely innocent demeanor, anxious to get into a fight, this brilliant writer has many funny and almost fatal false starts. When the fighting gets serious, the glib descriptions of his units treacherous challenges are positively riveting. I COULD NOT PUT THIS BOOK DOWN. If you like your war personal, exciting and honest, get this book to a comfortable chair and be prepared to not move for a night and a day. A brilliant book by a Canadian national treasure.