United States Books


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United States Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

United States
Don't Block the Blessings
Published in Hardcover by Riverhead Hardcover (1996-10-04)
Author: Patti Labelle
List price: $24.95
New price: $5.50
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $24.00

Average review score:

Great Read!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-07
Oh I love this book, couldn't put it down. Mrs. Patti puts her foot in it the good, the bad and the ugly.. but comes out still shining. I can't wait to get another one of her books..

Don't Block the Blessings
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-15
I have yet to read this book, but it is in good condition.

AWESOME BOOK
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-24
This book is one of the best autobiographies I've ever read. Not only is it filled with details of Patti's life, it also takes you to the lessons that she's learned from the time when she was a shy little girl, to life as a megastar. This book will truly touch your heart as you cheer on the diva that is Patti LaBelle.

Joy to read this book
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-07-11
Congratulations, A reflective autobiography with some depth and truth. Before reading Patti's, I read Aretha's, which I ultimately felt like tossing in the middle of the street! Great job! I thought the book was very inviting to the personal side of Patti. I have always admired how forthcoming she has been with the public in relation to her late sisters. This book can truly encourage one to live life, as well as love and appreciate life.
However, there are a few things I would like to clear up, which I found inaccurate or inappropriate. The Jackie Wilson episode I found rather distasteful, particularly since he is not around to defend himself(it was o.k. to slander Al Green). Also, as I had to do with Gladys in her book, I need to clarify a few inaccurate points you raised in your book. In reading your relationship with Atlantic Records in the 1960's, one is left with the impression your group wasn't given a fair shot due to the success of Aretha. Well, that's not totally true, since you were with the label two years before she signed on. It just wasn't your time yet! Now is your time. You sound greater and look more beautiful than ever. You have a wonderful spirit in which people adore you far and near. You are truly a blessing. Wonderful job.

What a blessing to read!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-10
Patty LaBelle is amazing. She has an incredible voice, a career full of ups and downs, and can bring down the house in concert. This book is just another triumph for a lady who deserves all the accolades she receives. With absolute honesty, she reveals so much about her life--from sexual abuse to the fear of dying of cancer like her sisters and good friend--you feel that Ms. LaBelle has given you all that she can. Throughout her life, she has faced a good deal of challenges but has emerged with a positive attitude about life and can still entertain with the best of them. I have seen her in concert 3 times and she blew me away each time. This book does the same. After reading the dismal biography of Aretha Franklin (From the Roots), I realized what a gem this is. If you wanna read a really good book about an incredible entertainer, give this one a go. Its worth every penny!

United States
Hindenburg,1937
Published in Mass Market Paperback by Simon Pulse (1999-07-01)
Author: Cameron Dokey
List price: $4.99
New price: $1.00
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Grand
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-09-15
I thought this was one of the best of the hundereds of books I have read during my short 12 year-old life (I read ALOT). I like the way Karl turns out to be the good-guy and Eric was a vicious terrorist battling the Naizs by killing inocent civilians. I did like the way it started, better than most.

Hindenburg 1937
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-03
A truly amazing story of love and adventure, a definite read for anyone who longs for romance.

Wonderful Story Line...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-12
Cameron Dokey definately hit the mark creating an adventerous and romantic story line. However, I wasn't thrilled with the way the book was written. Too much information was repeated over and over. Instead of showing us the action and leaving the reader the joy of drawing inferences, the narrator, Anna, reveals every thought. These internal revelations came so frequently, I had a hard time believing Anna's conclusion at the end of the novel. The story was thrilling, but the characters didn't pop.

a great love story...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-05-19
Hindenburg 1937 by Cameron Dokey is a great read, because it consists of romance, history, and a tad bit of adventure. I found myself not wanting to put it down because I so wanted to find out what would happen next. This book never gets boring, because there is always so much drama and events going on within the pages.
The main character is Anna Becker, a brave, young woman living in Germany. Her grandfather never finished his dying wish, but he was holding tickets for the trans-Atlantic voyage on the Hindenburg. Anna takes this as a sign to board the plane, despiter her fears. After all, if she doesn't leave her brother might marry her off so he can advance as a Nazi. Anna has bigger dreams than a housewife, which is another reason she takes the journey. She takes total trust in a stranger boarding the Hindenburg, because traveling alone is not safe. She soon finds out that his name is Erik Peterson and she really gets along with him until she sees that her first true love, Karl Mueller, is also on the plane, working for Germany.
This book has lots of twists and turns, so you'll be sure to stay interested. The festivities on the plane are always exciting and its fun to go along with Anna'a adventure. What is even more enjoying is the love triangle that is soon created. This book also refers to the voyage from history that changed Germany forever. The book is not a difficult one, and it's also easy to fall in love with the awesome plot.


Amazing
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-17
This is the most beautiful historical romance fiction I've ever read. Anna must escape her brother in order to persue a future of her choice, instead of letting her brother choose it for her. So she aboards the Hindenburg and the excitement begins. I love this book to no ends even with its terrifying ending. Why Cameron, why??? I just have one last question: why choose a sad and-you know it's true- horrible ending when the story could've ended with me smiling in pleasure with hope, instead of me crying and believing that fate is truly twisted when it comes to love?

United States
Joe Dimaggio : The Promise
Published in Hardcover by Carlyn Publications (2000-01-03)
Author: Joe Carrieri
List price: $22.00
Used price: $36.96
Collectible price: $33.00

Average review score:

The other Dimaggio
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-11
I read The Promise and it was a baseball fans dream, full of Yankee anecdotes and the sharing of personalities such as the batboys Ralph and Joe, the clubhouse man Pete Sheehy, big pete little Pete, Al Rosens stolen bat, the great Rizzuto, Berra, the antics od Stengle and martin, and the GREAT JOE DIMAGGIO- I aM AFRAID THAT BEN CRAMER'S BOOK ON DIMAGGIO WILL TRANISH HIS MEMORY. i HOPE NOT. WE NEED HEROES AND TO ME DIMAGGIO WAS A BASEBALL HERE AND A MANS MAN--

yankee stadium from the eyes of a batboy
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-09-03
If you like tradition and the history of the game read Searching For Heroes The Quest oF a YANKEE BATBOY . i LIKED THE BOOK BECAUSE IT WAS INFORMATIONAL AND INSPIRATIONAL- The Yankees of the fifties were team players who played for the love of the game---A GREAT BOOK.

The other Dimaggio
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-11
I read The Promise and it was a baseball fans dream, full of Yankee anecdotes and the sharing of personalities such as the batboys Ralph and Joe, the clubhouse man Pete Sheehy, big pete little Pete, Al Rosens stolen bat, the great Rizzuto, Berra, the antics od Stengle and martin, and the GREAT JOE DIMAGGIO- I aM AFRAID THAT BEN CRAMER'S BOOK ON DIMAGGIO WILL TRANISH HIS MEMORY. i HOPE NOT. WE NEED HEROES AND TO ME DIMAGGIO WAS A BASEBALL HERE AND A MANS MAN--

dimaggio
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2000-08-09
my name is dean and i live in farmingdale---- about two months ago Mr. Carrieri appeared a Borders book store and spoke about his experiences as Yankee Batboy in the 50s---- his eperiences were fastinating. His hero was Joe Dimaggio wh kept his promise to young joe and Joe Carrieri kept his prmise to the reeaders who share his love of the game. Dimaggio may not have been a hero to everyone but he was a hero on the field and that was the focus of the story. The writing was clean and the read fast----I loved it.

A COMPSSIONATE DIMAGGIO
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2000-09-07
I HAVE BEEN READING SOME NEGATIVE COMMENTS ABOUT DIMAGGIO AND THAT MAKES ME MAD. THESE INSIDE WRITINGS SHOULD BE BETTER LEFT UNSAID. WHAT RIGHT DOES A WRITER HAVE TO REVEAL THE INNER MOST SECRETS OF A PERSON BE HE BEGGAR KING. IT IS NOBODIES BUSINESS TO READ THAT DIMAGGIO WAS GREEDY OR CHEAP.THAT IS WHY I LIKED THE PROMISE. IT DESCRIBED A GREAT BASEBALL PLAYER WHO SYMBOLIZED GRACE AND STYLE-AN AGE OF INNOCENCE-WHEN PLAYERS PLAYED FOR THE FUN OF IT-

United States
*Nside *NSync: The Ultimate Official Album
Published in Paperback by Universe Publishing (1999-09-24)
Authors: N Sync, Melinda Bell, and NSYNC
List price: $27.50
New price: $9.94
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

*NSYNC's Give Back To Their Loyalist Admires
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-16
For those fortunate fans who were in the groups fan club, in 1999, could purchase it earlier on, and would get an extra page, at the front thanking fans for their support.
Ever imagine being on stage with one of the coolest bands,*NSYNC, to see what it is like to be them? "*NSIDE *NSYNC The Ultimate Official Album", delivers.
Read a day in the life of *NSYNC, leading up to their stage entrance. Hear what they are saying about fans,and life on the road.
Go backstage, meet their band. Get to recognize their security team.
View the guy's off stage antics, with each other, wherever they may be!
End your journey as the tour bus rolls out.
Look at the signs, marking their arrivals.
In closing gaze at a unique image of everyone that makes what they do possible. It's one photo , you won't ever forget!

I love the book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-06-25
I order the book from Amazon and I just got it today and I started to go and read it and I love it because it brings me back memores seeing them in Arizona in 1999 when I saw them it is great book. I love it a lot I can know what they do offstage this for any N'sync fans you will love reading it also it is so funny too with the pictures that they have in the book. Justin is so hot in the pictures also with the back of the book Lance is so cute sleeping.

The Best 'NSYNC Book Yet!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2000-02-28
If you like to look at tons of colorful photos of 'NSYNC, then you'll love this book! This book does not contain any new info, but it does contain tons of full page photos of all the guys during shows, backstage, and just hanging out. It's just a wonderful book for any 'NSYNC fan!

Pictures EVERYWHERE!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2000-05-03
This is by far THE best ever that i have seen coming from the guys themselves, *N Sync. This book brings with itself the real lifes of these VERY talented guys. You are going to be SO entertain with its awesome pictures, that you won't even bother with the reading. You should read it, ofcourse, because that is the reason why they made this book. They want to let people know who they are and to also show the world that they are here to say. They are the best group ever. They don't have their 15 minutes of fame and leave. These guys make a mark wherever they go. Chris, Justin, JC, Joey, and Lance: Congratulations on your sellings and remember that GOD is on your side. I love you guys snoopy8876.

Nside Nsync is Ncredible!
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2000-06-11
Tons of photos! If you haven't yet gotten to an Nsync concert, you'll feel like you have with all the pictures of the showl. And for those of you who have been lucky enough to see Nsync perform live, this book will show you what goes on before a concert.

United States
Scientology: the fundamentals of thought
Published in Hardcover by The Church of Scientology of California, Publications Organization United States (1973)
Author: L. Ron Hubbard
List price:
New price: $4.00
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $10.00

Average review score:

Body Mind & Spirit
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 22 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-31
This is excellent reading for anyone who is interested in understanding better how the human mind works. The connection between Body, Mind and Spirit. Who are we? How can we be happier? Why do we behave the way in which we do? These life perplexing questions are answered here. After you read this book you may realize that you are not insane after all. You may even be able to change the way in which you think about life. Or the way in which you think about things all together, which may help you to bring about positive changes in your life.

~~Great Basic Introduction to What Scientology is All About~~
Helpful Votes: 15 out of 44 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-23
This book is well written and straight forward. The chapers are short so you can read an entire chapter on a break at work. Each chapter covers a basic topic in Scientology. Then to top it off, if you're brave enough, in the end chapters you can learn some real Scientology counselling techniques and twin up with a friend and do them on each other! Using the techniques, you can improve your outlook on life. Something can be done about it after all! The counselling is only for the well disciplined though!

A meaty book
Helpful Votes: 24 out of 52 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-04
This book isn't for reading while you listen to punk rock. It's a thoughtful, chewy series of meals, best enjoyed and pondered alone or with an equally quiet and absorbed-elsewhere friend.

You won't find Christianity or Buddhism here, though Hubbard often credits Eastern religions for the genesis -- not the later discoveries developments -- of his theology and weltanschauung. If you're curious to find deeper life-truths than you'll find in any other popular author -- and more understandable philosophy than you'll find in a purposefully obscure philosophy class -- then you should read Fundamentals of Thought.

Read it slowly. View the new ideas in terms of "How might this be true? When could it be true? Are there times when it applies? Times it wouldn't apply? Have I seen this at work in life?"

The first time I read Fundamentals of Thought, I didn't love it. I was looking for a more fast-food answer to the Universe. I'd paid my money and I wanted my Big Slushy Truth now, please.

Later, I read it as part of a class where I had to dig into a dictionary to see *which* meaning of some of the words the author had meant. And I wrote some short essays on the chapters and concepts, then looked for ways these new ideas might be useful in the mean ol' walk-around world where I lived, made a living, and interacted with people.

So I came to appreciate the book on my second try. I hope you are more thoughtful and exploratory on your first try than I was. This book deserves it. And it pays you back for your time.

Exceptional Information
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 21 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-02

I read this book years ago, during a time when I needed advice and some sort of tool I could use to make life better for me and my family. This one really did exactly what it promised. The book was simple and easy to understand. The content was something I felt I already knew and the author just reminded me! I have read this book a couple more times the past 20 years and still find things in it that make so much sense - this is one worth keeping for reference, and is great as a gift too.

Gives you a new way to look at things
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 23 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-19
I read this book many years ago, and it definitely changed the way I looked at things in life. This book is a good introduction to Scientology.

United States
Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools
Published in Paperback by Archangel Group (2005-03)
Author: John Giduck
List price: $25.00
New price: $22.50

Average review score:

Naked Brutality
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-09-21
Great story, it was hard to read at times. The brutality of the Chetchen terrorists is unthinkable, EVEN BY TALIBAN STANDARTS !!

The herorism of the Russian soldgers that went all out to save as many children as they could restored some of my faith in humanity.

Great book that is something we should all read because it will happen here sooner or later!!!

A Must Have for Parents
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-15
This book should be be considered "must read" materials for parents with children attending school. The first 3 parts of the book addresses the terror attack itself and what the terrorists hoped to achieve. The last part talks about teaching your child to survive. In these days and times, children are "locked down" in a school when something happens. If I were a terrorists or just a VT or Columbine nutcase I would thank you for teaching your child to sit and wait for me. Please read this book and help keep your children alive. Even if you only read part 4 of the book, it will be worth it.

Terror at Beslan: A Russian Tragedy with Lessons for America's Schools
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-02
Wow! A real eye opener. What has become of the human race?! This book is very powerful. Written to "capture" you from the first page. We live in a world with so very many differences. Wars have been fought from the beginning of time. Children have lost their lives due to "collateral damage". And now, our school are being targeted. Not to destroy, but to use our children as weapons. This book brings out our need to become aware of the dangers that now exist within our own country. "We're not in Kansas anymore".

Connecting the Dots
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-12
A fantastic book that connects the dots of terrorist acts in Russia to those in the U.S., the Middle East, Africa and Israel. Should be required reading for school administrators, military and law enforcement officers.

The attrocities committed by the terrorists are difficult to read about, but necessary in order to understand. I applaud the author for recognizing the contributions that can be made by the general population. It has been a long time since the public at large have been engaged in the defense of this country, and that needs to change as soon as possible.

I waited a long time to get this book, because it was sold out everywhere I looked, and now I understand why.

Read it and act upon it
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-10
This story is a tragedy through and through. What happened in Russia cannot be allowed to happen here. It's time to stop being politically correct pandering to fanatics. These people do not understand good will, they only respect ferocity that is greater than their own.
Mr. Giduck puts you on the ground, at the school. You will hear the children , you will feel the anguish, and you will become angry. You will not be able to put this book down.
SSG John Tidona
NYG G3 NCOIC

United States
True Devotion (Uncommon Heroes, Book 1)
Published in Hardcover by Thorndike Press (2004-06-21)
Author: Dee Henderson
List price: $29.95
Used price: $13.19

Average review score:

Good books
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-04
My sister-in-law recommended this book. At first I was skeptical, because other "Chiristian" fiction I've read was pretty watered down and sappy, but this is a really good story with real life applications. Not preachy, or syrupy.

Good, but get a new editor
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-23
I'm definitely a fan of Dee Henderson books, and this one is a good read, too. My only complaint is twice at least in the first half of the book a comment was made something like "the tension in the air was palatable". It's supposed to be palpable. Palatable means something tastes good. I enjoy the story, but such glaring errors like this make it hard to concentrate on it. I hope she's no longer using the same editors as the ones that checked this book.

An Excellent Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-27
When Kelly says a delirious "I love you" to her deceased husband's best friend and Navy SEAL Commander, Bear, neither of them can ignore the words to avoid the consequences. Kelly wakes up in the hospital after Bear rescues her from drowning only to realize what a horrible mistake she's made in revealing her feelings. Neither character seems anxious to acknowledge Kelly's declaration because they don't want to hurt the friendship they have. Bear's active duty status doesn't help matters, either. But what else can you do when you are both so crazy for each other?

This novel contains the best, most extravagant first date I have ever heard of! There are also flashbacks of military operations that add depth to the story. The suspense plotline is very well prepared. But the true gems that warm your heart are displayed in less flamboyant sequences where everyday life happens: painting the kitchen, SEALs coming home to a fridge with food in it. This is a superb book!

True Devotion (Uncommon Heroes, Book 1)
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-15
A wonderful story and great dedication to our service men and women.

An Intriguing Book Without Garbage
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-30
Dee Henderson has once again written a fascinating book. It is well written, absorbing, and fast-paced, yet contains none of the lurid details less skilled authors use to attract readers. It realistically shows the struggles Christians face when dealing with adversity.

United States
Evaluability assessments of five rural economic development programs: A synthesis (Accountability and evaluation reporting system)
Published in Unknown Binding by Extension Service, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (1992)
Author: George W Mayeske
List price:

Average review score:

Existential adventure
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-12
The hero is a pragmatist in a Godless world. The protagonist, Frank Cassidy, had not had a day off in two years when he quits his job in New Jersey to go the the Upper Peninsula, Michigan for reason of a death in the family. He steals a car and later robs a man named Melvin. Frank's brother-cousin and his wife, Norman and Martha, dread the arrival of Frank and Honey and Robert Lee and Ernie, the children.

In the boarding house where they stay there is a hint of opulence. It is learned that the body of the deceased uncle, Ward, is being held by the authorities. Honey feels they should try to get jobs in the town. Frank works as a security guard and Honey in the business office of a college undergoing a transition from a community college to a four years residential college with a Great Books curriculum.

For Thanksgiving it is decided to eat at Cedar Lodge and stay there through the long weekend. Listed winter activities are ice skating and ice fishing. In a telephone call Frank learns that his cousin Norman is collapsing. Norman upended the sheriff's car when served with papers of foreclosure. Frank and his family go to Norman's place where it is discovered the dairy herd has been killed. In the end Frank uncovers and clarifies mysteries that have always surrounded his boyhood. The atmosphere created by the author matches the subject of the search for meaning by being indeterminate, foggy, bewildering. The children are presented in interesting realistic detail.

Very very weird, and not what it seems
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-14
This is an unusual book, strange in so many ways I'm going to have trouble listing them all. I'll try, though. I will say that at some level I enjoyed this book, and if you can overcome the shortcomings that I'll list below, you may enjoy it more than I did.

For one thing, there's the issue of the author's name. This *isn't* the Michael Collins who was the first president of Ireland (of course not, he's been dead for 80 years) though the author was born over there. He's also not the astronaut who stayed on Apollo 11 while Armstrong and Aldrin wandered around on the moon. And he's also not Dennis Lynds, who has a series of detective novels featuring a one-armed private eye named Dan Fortune, and who writes novels under the pen name Michael Collins. This is the other other other Michael Collins. Very weird.

The plot of the book is pretty complex. All of the plot takes place in the late 1970s, a strange choice for the author. It works at some levels, though. Frank Cassidy is a small-time next-to-nothing, working at a burger joint, married to a woman who is at first a dispatcher for a trucking company. They have two kids, though the older one is from her previous marriage. Frank gets word that his uncle has died, and he decides to return to his hometown for the funeral. However his cousin and the cousin's wife are very angry at this.

This is where things begin to get strange. It turns out that Frank's wife, Honey, was married before, and her husband killed two people and is now on Death Row. She beats the son she had with the first husband. Frank, meanwhile, steals cars and money in order to finance their trip back home. As the novel progresses, there's not a single solitary character in the whole plot who's truly honest, good-hearted, and/or selfless. Everyone's out for themselves, dishonest, and nasty. It's sort of a cross between American Beauty and The Grapes of Wrath.

One point I think worth making is that the author isn't an American. You've got to wonder what these guys are thinking (I'm thinking of the guy who wrote American Beauty) when they move here in order to write stuff and tell us what jerks we are. I wonder if an American could move to Britain or Ireland and write a novel like this, and get it published, let alone receive awards. Needless to say, all the gushing blurbs on the back of the book are from British and Irish newspapers, which all insist (of course) that it reveals "America's long malaise".

The author *can* write, though. There's not that much of a plot, unfortunately. Instead, we get a bleak, desolate account of Middle America a quarter century ago. While the author isn't positive about anything, it's interesting to watch the characters wander through the plot. The mystery angle isn't (as is traditional) important to the book, and the solution, when revealed, seems rather forced and quick. Luckily, as I said, it's not that significant.

I enjoyed this book within these parameters. I might recommend it, but you've got to be aware of how annoying it can be at times.

This is where things get weird, however.

A Pleasure to read
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2005-01-02
This book is a pleasure to read. The writing style is effortless - Mr Collins is a skillful and inventive writer.

The story follows a 1970s family who return to the Frank Cassidy's hometown for his dad's funeral. As the mystery around the death unfolds, other themes are also addressed. In a couple of generations Frank's family has moved from primary industry, mining and farming, into the service econony (flipping burgers). The novel shows the impact on families, on men and women and their ideas of their place in the world. Some people can survive in the modern world of corporate farming, of colleges which free people from their tie to the soil. It is not an easy journey but the ability of people to survive shines through, especially when the benefits of education are used to change for the better. In the background the impact of a war fought overseas is also in the air.

Ultimately, a novel about hope. Perhaps even an update of the American dream? Great book, deserves more recognition.

"I got vision and the rest of the world wears bifocals."
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-07
Frank Cassidy lives on the fringes of society in a succession of demeaning jobs, a wife with an ex-husband on death row in Georgia, an angst-riddled stepson waiting for his father to be executed and an innocent pre-schooler, obsessed with his toy dinosaurs. Frank's edge-of-desperation lifestyle can be traced back to his childhood, his father and mother killed in a fire that erupted on the family farm when Frank was five-years old. His memories of that time are dim, shaped by the overwhelming presence of his uncle, who raised him as one of his own, and the psychological evaluations the doctor hoped would unlock Frank's fragmented memory of the night of the conflagration.

As soon as he is old enough, Frank leaves the farm behind, along with all family connections, to make his way in a hostile world with no patience for an emotionally damaged survivor. His life since then has been a series of misdemeanors, an anti-social approach to the rest of mankind. Frank views his occasional petty crimes as the natural evolution of a careful society, like car theft, his deeds "preordained statistical probability", but refuses to believe that "stupidity and desperation equate to evil". When he reads of his uncle's murder, Frank gathers his family and heads for the past, a dark trek from New Jersey to the vast, empty cold of the far north in Michigan.

Along the way, Frank telephones his cousin at the farm, arguing about the purpose of the trip and the resolution of a shattered history. For Frank, this journey is like poking a stick at a bad tooth, as painful memories surge, taunting and confusing his every action, his haunted youth returning with savage intensity. He makes his way back to the kind of town nobody would willingly return to unless called by tragedy or loss. People here live in despair, inhabiting days frozen in minimal needs and obligations, waiting to thaw. At each phase of his odyssey, Frank is beset by images and memories, the flickering light of a television screen in a starless night, black and white reruns the backdrop for a tragedy buried in his subconscious that fills him with a vague sense of guilt, a mistrust of his own motivations.

Thirty years after the traumatic events that stole his childhood, Frank is called back into the chaos of his youth, the self-destruction that has defined every rebellious action since. Both distressed and comforted by a suffering family he can barely provide for, Frank plunges into what remains of his world, forced to redefine time and place, to make a stand in this frozen wilderness, drawing courage from his own need for resolution and the love of his dysfunctional family. He does so with consummate grace, a tragic character cart-wheeling through free-associative hell on a collision course with the truth. The prose is shadowed and disturbing, a painful view of the underbelly of American life, where the have-nots gather around a burning trash can in hopes of warmth in an indifferent landscape. Luan Gaines/2005.

Nothing special
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-29
~ Frank Cassidy learns in a newspaper of the death - possibly, murder - of his uncle, and goes back to North America to investigate any possibility of inheritance; to find out why his uncle died; and to sort out loose ends left in his head from a fire at his family farm in his childhood...

This book starts off quite promisingly. The writer evidently knows the mechanics of how to write well. But the book lacks sufficient plot after about the first hundred pages (of a 360-page book) to keep the reader very interested in continuing with it. The journey to the end of the book becomes boring, too unstimulating, too slow, too drawn out, with too much description and detail just for the sake of giving description and detail, too much describing of humdrum life, with the reader wondering if the book is going to go anywhere sufficiently interesting to be worth going on turning the pages. The characters in the book aren't made particularly interesting in themselves. The story ceases to be interesting. The reader is left in the dark for too long as to where the book is heading to, or why all the details are supposed to be interesting, or what the point of the book is supposed to be. Whilst what really happened many years before, in Frank's childhood, is revealed to us in the last fifteen pages of the book, by the time the reader gets there, he will probably have lost interest in the tale anyway.

A few specifics in the plot that didn't really seem to fit together well:
1. It seemed odd for Frank just to dump Juniper, the family pet, in someone else's car, and for that action then just to be accepted by the rest of the family.
2. It seemed odd for Frank to go back home with specific personal missions in his mind, but yet then never actually to get round to meeting up with Norman and Martha face to face for the whole time he was up there.
3. It seemed odd for Norman and Martha just to run away without saying more to anyone, after their herd was slaughtered.
4. Why Chester Green was suddenly being referred to as 'the Sleeper' didn't seem to be explained.
5. It seemed odd for Frank, not rich, not to want to salvage any possessions from either house before they were bulldozed.
6. It seemed odd and too convenient for Frank suddenly to be interrogating Baxter, his new co-worker, for information, which was forthcoming, as soon as he met him.
7. It seemed odd for Frank just to be allowed to be left alone with Chester Green in a hospital unsupervised, particularly in later visits after he had already been suspected of trying to harm or interfere with Chester Green earlier on.
8. Why Baxter suddenly ended up in the sanatorium following the window-smashing incident and ended up getting ECT treatment wasn't very clear.
9. Frank suddenly realising his mother had died in a fall many years ago, by listening to tapes, didn't really ring very true.
10. The detail at the end of the book (page 357), of Frank killing the paralysed 'Chester Green' in the sanatorium, seemed to be a detail borrowed straight out of 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest', where the huge red indian suffocates the comitose Jack Nicholson at the end of that film. That conclusion seems to be borne out by a reference to 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' in this book, just a page later (page 358).

All in all, this was not a very satisfying book, for a variety of reasons - mainly lack of interesting plot and lack of interesting characters.

United States
At Face Value: My Triumph Over a Disfiguring Cancer
Published in Paperback by Caveat Press (2006-01-01)
Author: Terry Healey
List price: $16.95
New price: $4.48
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

A Triumph Over The Superficial
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-02
"At Face Value" details author Terry Healey's brush with death and his conversion from a focus on the externals of life to the fabric that makes up the human spirit. Healey, diagnosed with a fibrosarcoma while a college student, is a cancer survivor today. In "At Face Value," Healey chronicles his years-long journey from the initial, agonizing diagnosis through more than thirty surgical procedures and radiation treatments he endured.

Healey was not sure if he would survive the cancer, as it reoccurred. Once survival was a real possibility, he had to deal with having to never look "normal" as the fibrosarcoma radically disfigured his appearance, particularly his face. Thoughts of death and stares by friends and strangers were constant companions.

The author says "the book is not about cancer disfigurement but a much broader issue, society's quick judgment of people based on the superficial" and "our need to look beyond appearances." We need to look deeper, and focus on the internal fabric that makes up the human spirit.

The book explores the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual challenges faced by those forced on people faced with a serious life-threatening and disfiguring illness (or accident). These challenges are not unique to Healey. For example, a spiritual challenge most of us can identify with is our daily relationship with God. "I felt guilty about wanting to ask God for good health and favorable pathology results...why I only paid special visits to church when I needed help. Why couldn't I stop by church to say a few thanks now and then?...We all get caught up in our lives and tend to pray only when we're facing a major obstacle or illness ...eventhough (sic) I knew prayer always helps."

Today, Healey is a board member of the Wellness Community - helping others facing a life threatening illness - and is a highly sought after motivational speaker.



Easy But Profound Reading
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-21
Inspiring. If I ever feel sorry for myself I will just pick up this book. Quite a story. Quite a personality. (I felt I got to know Terry personally.) And, I was thoroughly entertained with the story he was telling. Most of all....his book will help me face life with a better attitude.

JIM RICE

Laugh, cry, and applaud all at the same time
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-01
This book is excellent; an outstanding inspiration! I found myself laughing and crying in the span of 15 seconds and applauding his bravery with each turn of the page. Terry is a wonderful example of how positive thinking, coupled with a strong faith, are instrumental in the healing process. But we also see his many other raw emotions, and how they're hard to fight in the thick of battle. Terry, thank you for being extra transparent, allowing us to identify with your story (even if we don't have cancer) and apply it to our own challenges.

A wonderfully candid story of courage tenacity, and triumph - a "must read"
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-19
This book is a great read for anyone who wants to know just how indomitable the human spirit can be. Terry's story is written in a refreshingly candid style, giving us access to places that many authors seemingly avoid. By showing us his deepest fears and greatest challenges, he ultimately takes us on a journey of touching triumph.

While there are several amazing aspects to this book, I found the most moving and enlightening area to be his description of re-inventing himself "from the inside out." Virtually all of us have made up stories about ourselves that keep us separate from others. Terry 's illumination of this process can help each and every one of us to dispel those myths and ultimately enjoy much closer relationships - both with others and ourselves.

Finding Peace with Cancer
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-03
As a fellow sarcoma survivor, my journey with a different type of sarcoma, in a different location, was similar. Terry's recounting of his journey was helpful for me. It reinforced that the numerous emotions that one goes through both during and after the battles, however different are part of the process of healing. Like Terry, part of me is disfigured, but I have accepted the scars as battle wounds, as a reminder that I have won and life goes on. Terry put into words the very emotions that I encountered these past few years. Unless one goes down this dark path firsthand, it is very difficult to understand what living with cancer is like. I highly recommend this book for everyone, not just therapists, patients and caregivers. Terry wrote the book like he is telling his tale to his friends. His message is a great wake-up call to all, to not pre-judge others on appearances. There is a story behind every scar. Read the book, then pass it on to a friend. Thank you, Terry, for writing your story.

United States
The Audrey Hepburn Treasures
Published in Hardcover by Atria (2006-10-03)
Authors: Ellen Erwin and Jessica Z. Diamond
List price: $49.95
New price: $30.98
Used price: $27.90

Average review score:

A must-have for Audrey Fans
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-08
This is a wonderful collector's item for Audrey Hepburn fans. I opened the box, and, after looking through the pages, had no other words but "wow". There are 34 removable items of memorabilia. These include a partial script from Breakfast at Tiffany's, many letters to and from Ms. Hepburn herself, postcards, pictures, photo albums, tickets of movies and programs of plays she's done, and many many other items.

The book is done in a scrapbook format, and beside all of the removable items, has countless photographs with many of them having never been published or from her friends and family's private collections.

This book could have easily cost over $100, and I thank the ones who have put it together for allowing the fans to be a part of such intimate moments and items.

Nice book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-14
this is a very cute and amazing book about audrey hepburn.. it is a treasure,must have item.

A Classic.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-11
With nearly thirty films tackled and under her belt, Audrey Hepburn is no doubt a household name, but how many really understood what went on inside of the personal life of Audrey Hepburn?

This stunning compolation of extrodinary copies of documents, family photos, playbills, and ticket stubs is a credit to her name. It shows her eloquence, style, grace, poise, and even some mystique as we get to experience a sliver of her private life, without invading the caverns of her mind.

Although not written from an autobiographical standpoint, it is easy to immerse yourself in her thoughts, because of the personal letters and dictations. Erwin writes about her beautifully, and lets the reader experience her life in the best way possible.

Shrink-wrapped book with dented edges.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-24
As a fan of Audrey Hepburn's, I read the information about this book and anticipated it's arrival. However, it arrived in a shrink-wrapped package with the corners dented badly. Since it is a type of scrapbook, the corners dramatically took away the beauty and quality of the book. The content of the book includes life-long pictures and memorabilia of Audrey's life and are a good representation of her experiences and choices. And so I would recommend the book without the mishandling.

A Life Exemplary
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-20
Reading (or more accurately, experiencing) this elegant volume of memorabilia recalls dead ideals, not just of decorous celebrity behavior, but of the quiet conviction of deeds rather than publicized pronouncements from Hollywood's movie stars. This book captures a sense of a life lived in the limelight, but never blinded by it, and conveys an archetypal and emotional journey through a minefield of tempting superficialities, all the way to self-discovery and meaning.

It's moving to see and feel how Audrey Hepburn's roles reflected her best selves at every turn -- resolutely alert, attuned, engaged, yearning, striving, feminine, human -- and be reminded of how a life can really be exemplary, after all.


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