Mexico Books

An inspiring,provocative,educational novel based on a true story from the sixteenth century, concerning the Spanish Inquisition in Mexico. A marvelous mixture of suspense,romantic interludes,and courage. A must read for anyone who appreciates extraordinary story-telling. A great book for discussion groups.

Provocative!Based on a true story during the Spanish Inquisition. A masterful mixture of suspense, bravery, cruelty and romance. Captivating and educational, from historical and theological perspectives. A must-read for anyone who appreciates a first class novel and an excellent book for those belonging to book clubs/ discussion groups.

"Soldier of God" is not only a page turner but a font of information on the history of Mexico in 16th and 17th centuries. The mores of the Catholic and Jewish religions are portrayed in a manner that does not interfere with the exciting story line. Intolerance runs rampant. Torture and death are routine for those who do not pay homage to the religion of the King of Spain. Character and faith are put to the ultimate test.

I was not aware of an inquisition in Mexico. Growing up in the U.S. our history lessons were obviously limited! The Jewish people have historically been persecuted and misunderstood. This wonderful accounting of factual historical information, intertwined with a tender romantic scenario is well worth reading! I couldn't put it down!

This book is one to have in your collection. The images by
photographer "Jack Dykinga," are done with an artistic approach
to landscapes. Very nice layout,text and paper quality. I bought
the hardcopy used in excellent condition. Much to my surprise it
was signed by the author, "Charles Bowden," as an added bonus.

Having grown up with Arizona Highways magazine, I had, over the years, lost interest in the same old lovely-but-humdrum Meunch brothers photography and lackluster text commonly given to the Sonoran desert. Then I saw the cover of "The Sonoran Desert" and everything changed as I leafed through it. Bowden's text is intensely thought-provoking; the text is spare and rich at the same time, like his subject matter, and Dykinga's photographs show the Sonoran desert in the only way it should EVER be photographed. The photos capture a depth of the desert I've never seen in print before. Dykinga shows like nobody else the juxtaposition of textures and colors, the whole feel of the Sonoran desert in all its glory- and there's a whole lot of glory there if you take the time to look for it. Dykinga clearly does.

This is a stunning book of photography, with about 120 color plates of the Sonoran desert, taken by photographer Jack W. Dykinga. Besides Arizona, locations include Mexico, Baja California, the shoreline of the Sea of Cortez, and Anza-Borrego and Joshua Tree National Monument in southern California.

There's no mistaking that it's a dry, hot region, but it's also clear that there is plant life almost everywhere. There are photographs of landscapes of sand, rock and sky, with saguaro, barrel cactus, ocotillo, and many desert flowers. There is not a sign of human life (until you reach the last half dozen pages where the editor has included several shots of blight: graffiti, a junkyard, a concrete water channel). Many photos are taken at sunrise or sundown, capturing glowing colors and shadows. A few are taken after snowfall.

The text, by Charles Bowden, is personal and impressionistic, with a Sierra Club point of view. He emphasizes the desert's resistance to any but the Native populations, who lived here in harmony with the landscape for millennia before the exploitation of European explorers. To these, in their crudest manifestations, are compared the more reckless schemes of modern-day developers. The closing chapter is an appreciation of wilderness advocate Edward Abbey. In my opinion, an error on the part of the book designer was to set these long essays as full pages of italic type, which makes them difficult to read.

As a companion volume, I recommend Joseph Wood Krutch's "Desert Year," an account of a year spent in the Sonoran desert near Tucson. Although a different desert, there's also Abbey's "Desert Solitaire."

If you think of the deserts as places of emptiness and boredom, have a look at this superb book! The subject was not easy but Jack Dykinga is mastering the art of using the light and the shapes to make us enter a new dimension. His breathtaking large format photographs plead in favor of preserving the wilderness in it's original state and presents us to it's amazing vegetal hosts. After seeing this book, you will never ever think of the Sonoran Desert as an "uninhabited place".

She winds up caught up in the "Traps of Faith" as Paz refers to the traps sprung by her time and lifetime which doomed her to a shortened life-span and an end to her excellant writings from poetry to prose to drama along with an end to her library filled with books and tomes from her time. Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz is inspirational as a poetess in particular and Paz salutes this woman with his hefty biography filling in the blanks as to the influences that surrounded and imbued Sor Juana with her colourful figures and joyous sufferings that inspired her to dig for gold in the mines of the baroque affectations of her time. For SorJuanistas a must have-- and you know who you are-- for those unaquainted with Sor Juana Ines de La Cruz-- you'll find out how much you are missing.

Over ten years ago, this book completely changed the course of events in my life for months. Let me explain!: I was wiling away the hours with nothing to do during a 2-week hospital stay in Madrid, going over the notes for my master's thesis about Spanish writer Juan Goytisolo, when someone suggested I read this masterpiece about a Baroque Mexican nun to pass the time. At first I thought the suggestion was absurd, hardly a book that would help the hours go by quickly, but I gave the book a chance (the Spanish-language version, of course) and soon met Sor Juana Inés, with whom my only previous encounters had been on a Mexican banknote.

Sor Juana Inés was so far ahead of her time that it would have been a miracle for her NOT to have been persecuted and ejected from the society of her times. Octavio Paz (could anything less be expected from such an author) makes her life even more fascinating than it probably was in reality, as he examines her comings and goings from birth to death, or at least as much as can possibly be known, since his study is probably the most thorough that exists. Sor Juana's biography is amazing and caused me to drop my thesis and change topics entirely. I spent my whole hospital stay engrossed in her tale of love, erudition and ill-fated struggles for equality. I can't shower enough praise on this book, which opened up my appetite for knowing more about her...since then I have read more and more, as well as all of Sor Juana's works, and never get enough. If you want to see what is was like to know that women deserved full equality, to have the intelligence beyond comparison and be forced to use that intelligence with the utmost care so as not to violate strict social norms, and get away with it for years, sor juana will be your heroine, as she should be for so many more women in this world who are unfamiliar with her.

This would be a great text for any hispanic literature, women's studies, gay and lesbian studies, mexican history or a wealth of other courses, or just as a text of interest to women and people in general.

This book by the Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz is a great account of the life of one of the best writers of Hispanic literature. Sor Juana created astonishing poems about life, love, and people. It is a pity that only little is known about the facts of her life. As with Shakespeare, must of what we know about her comes from her literary legacy. Octavio Paz is able to solve some of the mystery that surrounds Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz.

This is a balanced, penetrating examination of Sor Juana and the elements that shaped her life. She understood that her passion was the pursuit of knowledge and that she could never fulfill her life's work unless she became a nun. In addition to describing Sor Juana Paz enlightens his readers about the masculine society into which she was born. She was a brave, talented woman who spoke up for what she believed in.

When Sarah Stark is rescued by her father's friend, Bruce Knight, from foster care, the street-tough kid moves into a new life where she eventually joins the family business as a field operative in acquisition and recovery.

Accompanied by Bruce's son, Drake, she takes an assignment to investigate a mysterious medallion and, at the same time, track her father's killer. Along the way, the attraction between Drake and Stark develops into something more as they discover a nefarious plot that is bigger and more deadly than they imagined.

This story has instant appeal that grows with every page. Intrigue, romance, exotic settings, rollicking action and unforgettable characters make this a fresh, fast and fun read. This first novel by J. R. Turner will most certainly be enjoyed by a broad spectrum of readers. I'm looking forward to more from this author.

Audrey Yoeckel
Editor
Big Country Peacock Chronicle Magazine

As Stark Knight opens, we join an acquisition and recovery detail in progress. Sara Stark, recovery expert, is in the midst of retrieving a medallion for one of Knight, Inc's clients. Knight, Inc. is owned by Bruce Knight, the man who took her in and raised her after the death of her parents. Knight's son, Drake, whom Sara has long regarded as an older brother, has apparently graduated from that status to one of major hunk; for Drake's part, he cannot believe the little girl he regarded as his sister for so long has grown into such a beautiful woman. He and Sara dance around their growing feelings for each other upon her return. But romance is only one small part of the action-packed plot.

When Sara finds out Victor Acosta is the client she risked her life for, her temper flares out of control, because Victor Acosta is the same man who murdered her father. The necessity for the deed is explained by Bruce Knight, a/k/a the Colonel, and Stark and Knight draw the assignment of finding out the hidden secret of the recovered medallion. To do this, Stark and Knight go undercover in sultry Panama, where Stark pulls out all the glamour stops to get at Dr. Juan Salva's computer. A close encounter with a bullet forces them to confront feelings they didn't want to face. And later, when Drake's father is kidnapped, the mission becomes personal to both of them.

Stark and Knight encounter mistrust and betrayal along the way as they race to stop a madman and recover the Colonel before time runs out. Romance and action combine to make Stark Knight a page-turner and a must-read for all action-adventure fans! I confess, romance and action aren't my favorite genres, but J. R. Turner's descriptive prose may convert me...

I am absolutely blown away by author J. R. Turner's novel Stark Knight. This book has a merging of James Bond and Lara Croft type action and a hot romance to boot! This is how it would be if James Bond met Lara Croft, and they joined forces to prevent a possible nuclear disaster. Toss in espionage, kidnapping, treason, add a little treachery, and a love so wonderful your toes will curl, and you are just getting started with Stark Knight. I really wish I could give this novel 10 stars. I fell in love with Sara and Drake (The H&H), with their devotion to each other, their military/martial art skills; and their "take no prisoners" attitude. Did I mention a Surprise ending that you will not see coming? This novel would make a fabulous movie! I cannot wait for a sequel!!

A friend loaned me this book, and told me I'd enjoy it despite my past disappointment with authors from small publishers. And she was right! Turner writes an intriguing story that kept me interested from start to finish, and the romance was terrific. Strong sexual tension, nice insight into the characters thoughts and feelings, and a well-crafted ending. I will definitely keep an eye out for more from this author in the future.

Book is in excellent, new condition. Have not yet read it, but am a fan of the Posadas County mysteries.

STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS is a fine addition to Havill's excellent Posadas County series. While it certainly can be enjoyed on its own, readers who seek out the other novels will be amply rewarded, especially if they read them in order of publication. The richness of character and setting builds throughout the series. I eagerly await more from this author.

I have read each and every one of Steven Havill's books in the Posadas County series, and will read every one he publishes in the future. They are very comforting, with stories that not only surround a mystery or two, but also the lives of the continuing characters. I've gotten to know these people. They are like old friends, and I love reading about them. Steven Havill is one of the most under-recognized authors I know of, a secret for those who love good books and seek them out. Thanks to Amazon.com, I will never miss out on any of Havill's work.

On Christmas Eve in Posadas, New Mexico, Chief of Police Eduardo Martinez suffers a heart attack while confronting car thieves in a motel parking lot; the stories from the two witnesses seem off kilter. The next morning Sheriff Robert Torrez still in recovery from on the job injuries suffers from what appears to be a pulmonary embolism. That afternoon the fiancé of one of his deputies is murdered. Finally that evening someone viciously assaults former sheriff Bill Gastner who is brutally attacked that night.

Under-sheriff Estelle Reyes-Guzman is left in charge to learn who brutally attacked her mentor Gastner, killed the fiancée, and to capture the car thieves. At the same time she feels overwhelmed and her spouse feels the same way as a doctor at the hospital with an abundance of law enforcement officials filling the beds albeit Robert's is in Albuquerque.

In her latest police procedural Estelle feels overwhelmed with the recent medical track record of law enforcement as she and her shrinking staff struggle with a difficult caseload including murder, car jacking, and keeping score of how everyone is doing. She also has some issues at home, but that quickly takes a back seat to police matters. STATUE OF LIMITATIONS is a fabulous police thriller that fans of the series will immensely enjoy and newcomers will seek Steven F. Havill's résumé.

Harriet Klausner

Men have three souls and women have four souls, because women are the source of life. The Tarahumara call themselves the Rarámuri. They live in the Sierra Madre Occidental of northern Mexico where they retreated from the invading and bearded Spanish 500 years ago. (They call outsiders "Chabochi"; a "person with spider webs across the face.") Rarámuri means "foot-runner" or "he who walks well"; they are excellent long distance runners, very skilled on their narrow mountain trails.

The Tarahumara live in the Copper Canyon, or Barranca del Cobre, a group of six canyons, in places deeper and altogether larger than the Grand Canyon in the US. They constitute one of the largest indigenous peoples still living in the Americas, and have maintained many of their traditional beliefs and customs. Nevertheless their religion contains elements of Roman Catholicism, and Coke and instant Japanese noodles are now part of their every day diet.

This book, especially the second edition, is recognized as the most comprehensive study of the Tarahumara. The text is very sympathetic and many of the photographs are superb.

"The National Geographic" for November 2008 has published a wonderful series of photographs and a description of the challenges facing the Tarahumara, which include a modern airport, an expanded resort area, and the cultivation of illegal drugs.

"Geographic's" article echoes the text of Tarahumara: Where Night is the Day of the Moon:

"The choice of the Sierra Madre as a strategic retreat from the Spaniards all those centuries ago is both the gift and the burden of the Tarahumara today. Their ancestors weren't cowards or pacifists; histories recount violent rebellions among Tarahumara in less remote mission and mining centers, where colonists used them for brute labor while trying to press them into European-style village living. But as a people, the Tarahumara survived largely because of what a Sierra priest described to me as a gift for the evasive maneuver--and here the priest clapped his right hand over his left and then slithered the left out gently from underneath, like a fish slipping through a crack in the rocks."

I was fascinated to read this excellent introduction to the Tarahumara several years ago, and even more impressed to revisit it after reading the "Geographic's" excellent article. The magazine also published a GeoPedia article features online resources and an extensive bibliography.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Written with respect for the dignity and unique culture of the Tarahumara Indians, an indigenous people that live in the Sierra Madre Occidentals (Copper Canyon region). Lots of photographs (both black and white, and color). Although a paperback, it's quite large (pages are about 9"x11"). A "must-have" if you are going to visit, or have visited, Copper Canyon, Mexico.

If you like to have some insights regarding your travel destinations, then this is a must read prior to visiting the Copper Canyon. The Tarahumara are a very interesting indigenous group, but they will be very shy around you, so the only way you'll know (and hopefully understand) their values is by reading this excellent book.

In the northwestern portion of Mexico, in the mountains known as the Sierra Madre Occidental live the legendary Tarahumara. This is an indigeneous group who have been one of the most successful to resist the onslought of western civilization, beginning with the Spaniards conquest and continuing to this day. Seeing the pictures in this book is like taking a step back in time; they are a culture spared the shadow of time. The Tarahumara are known for maintaining their customs and traditions in spite of of an ever encroaching civilization and tourist trade. The Tarahumara are phenomenal runners who traverse , climb and descend the mountains that reach 9,000 ft. beginning as children and contuinuing into old age. Known for their long distance running they are incredible endurance machines that come from a genetic pool that used to carry letters 600 miles! A contemporary good runner can run forty miles with a steady pace over six to eight hours. This book is a fabulous tribute to the majesty of a proud people, complete with over forty color plates and nearly as many powerful black and white photographs. The book is not only a picture book but has a marvelous text that explains and details how this group has endured the harsh natural conditions as well as the invasion of "outsiders" who tried to indoctrinate them with religion and cultural mores. The simplicity of their home construction in the ranchos and the traditions that continue are an anthropoligsts dream. Some of the cultural traditions are fascinating and a wonderful testament to mankind. This is a good book to read prior to a visit to Mexico and journey along the Copper Canyon. The book aIso includes a bibliography and a glossary for further clarification and further knowledge. I would recommend finding the hard cover edition that is out of print if possible because the photographs are amazing and timeless reflections of a distant and persistant people. The color and black and whote plates are as magnificent aas the people they depict. The oversized edition is a cultural treasure. Regardless of the edition I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the people known as the Tarahumara who believe that a mans soul dreams and is manifested and works in mysterious ways at night while his body sleeps.

Any who would understand Mexican culture and social issues will find at once poignant, moving, and revealing Guacamole Dip, an expose of daily life in the border town of Tecate. His vignettes are folksy, fun and often provide both a light-hearted and alternately serious look at Mexican and Mexican-American culture and issues, juxtaposing tales with views of changing border life between Mexico and the U.S. Any collection strong in Mexican or Mexican-American immigrant issues will find this an attractive, popular lend whether at the college or general lending library level.

I loved this book...the stories are very touching, funny, sad and very real. I especially enjoyed the last story, and it is that discription of the Mexican culture that makes me love Mexico. Thank you Daniel for sharing these stories from Tecate. I look forward to reading your other books. Hope to see you soon at Bar Diana or perhaps at Rancho Tecate.
Adios,
Kathleen, www.aqualink.org

Many thanks to all of you who have read my books and come on-line to say such nice things.

I'm sitting in the plaza watching the ever-changing pageant of color and listening to the sounds of Tecate.I can hear the silvery notes of a mariachi trumpet coming from somehwere. Little frills on an accordion drift across the plaza from the Bar Diana. Ah, and here comes Antonio with his guitar cradled in his arms singing an old love song.(Jurame.) The song evokes memories of Señorita X. Doña Marcelina predicted that one day Señorita X would come into my life. Doña Marcelina practices scatomancy. In other words she's our local poop psychic. For her purpose she uses a duck! But that's another story.

I'm watching Juanito Aldama pushing his Sno Cone cart over near the kiosko. I notice he has more customers than usual. I'm going to hang around to see if I can find the reason for his sudden increase in trade. I can't believe it! If you know the password (he changes it daily) he'll whip up a Sno Cone margarita!!

Mila is waving to me from her table at the sidewalk cafe. She's in black pants and knitted jersey today. The big splash of red over her heart is the result of a silk scarf. She probably has a good story to tell me so I'll say hasta luego for now.

Daniel Reveles

Or lyrically magical...Both apply, but neither serve completely. This book inspired me to visit Tecate (which I since have done!) and made me so proud of my Mexican heritage!

Walter Noble Burns looked up Wyatt Earp with a view toward writing a story about him, as he had about Billy the Kid. His Billy the Kid helped establish once and for all the legendary status of the Kid. Wyatt Earp reported Burn's first visit to his friend, movie star, Wm. S. Hart, saying he was happily convinced Wyatt would allow him to do his story.

Unfortunately, for both Burns and Earp, Wyatt's friend John H. Flood Jr. had just written Wyatt's story, which was being circulated to publishers with the help of Wm. S. Hart. More unfortunately was that Earp loyally declined Burn's offer out of regard for Flood. The rub there turned out to be that Flood obviously couldn't write for beans. (Ask me. I found, bought and published his work after historians had sought for years this rare document, all copies of which had dropped out of sight.) As one editor said of Flood's work, it was "stilted and florid and diffuse." That may have been an understatement.

In any case, shifty Burns, despite what others have more kindly said about the sequel, tricked Wyatt into thinking he would instead do a book on Wyatt's intimate, Doc Holliday. And under that pretext he got a lot out of Wyatt, and used it to do a book that Wyatt finally concluded, was more about him than Doc. In fact when it occurred to him that he'd been tricked out of what amounted to the most interesting part of his life story he considered suing Burns. His friend Hart encouraged him, and thought he'd probably win big time. But suits cost time and money just as they do today. Moreover, Wyatt was old and tired. So Burns got away with his trickery, and brought out one of the most interesting, and accurate, books on what had gone on during what could be called the Earp, Behan, Clanton, McLaury, Cowboy Gang Feud. Behan was the crooked sheriff in spades. Burns did not learn that beneath much of the violence at Tombstone lay the fact that Wyatt had swiped the sheriff's cute, young, gal, Josephine Sarah Marcus. (Who later became his third and last wife, at least by common-law.) SEE THE STORY OF HER LIFE WITH WYATT ON AMAZON: "I MARRIED WYATT EARP."

Burns success in portraying things as they were was based on the fact that he found many of the participants still living, just as he had in the case of Billy the Kid. Burns was, however, basically a tenderfoot. For example, while researching Wyatt, an idea for another book occurred to him to cover the shenanigans of the many colorful old timers out in Cochise County, and he proposed to have the father of my old friend Ben Sanders act as his oracle and guide in seeking out old scoundrels. Bill Sanders reaction was: "You must be joking. These people are my neighbors!" If the implication isn't obvious to law professors from back East and that sort, he meant he'd have to move out if he blew the whistle.

In any case, this is a book well worth reading. It's author ended a colorful career shortly after the book came out, by dying quite young. Pity.

There is less fiction here than modern writers, who are shot in the pants with debunking, would like us to believe. Burns knew the foremost guide to writing such books was "stick to the facts, till you run out of them, and only make up as much as you have to in order to eat regularly." Editorial ethics then and now were much the same. In any case, Burns was not "stilted and florid and diffuse."

Since Flood's Ms. was not saleable, when Stuart Lake came along a few years later he took it over and made it that way. And Lake's so-called biography of Wyatt is a lot more truth than fiction. Read it, too: WYATT EARP: FRONTIER MARSHAL.

Burns was the first of the big name writers that started Wyatt Earp on the trail to fame and eventualy six-shooter Sainthood. I have a notion Wyatt would have liked the money in it, but not necessarily the fuss and bother of meeting celebrity seekers.

One of the editorial reviews above says that this book is "a mixture of fact and fiction." It seems to me that it is no more so than modern works on the topic and perhaps may be more accurate.

Written less than 50 years after the primary events that made the town famous, and while some of the people who participated in them were still alive, Burns crafts a portrait not just of those seminal events but a general history of the town from its inception to what had become of it in the 1920's.

Many other works about the Earps and their opponents tend either to lionize or demonize Wyatt Earp. Burns takes a more balanced view of both sides in the conflict, exploring their shortcomings and their qualities. Modern writers on the subject could take a lesson from him.

I read somewhere that more movies have been made about Wyatt Earp than all the U.S. presidents combined! There's something about the gunfight at the O.K. Corral that touches the mainspring of American imagination. Tombstone is the book that made Wyatt Earp famous and shaped forever our perception of him. I read Tombstone first when I was in high school back in the 1950s and I've since dipped into it countless times. Some might object to the author's purple prose and made-up dialogue and newer scholarly studies of the Earps and Tombstone may be more accurate and balanced. But Burns drew his material from interviews with old-timers and Tombstone newspapers and I'm confident that he comes about as close to fact as you can get. This is a magical tale and nobody could tell it any better than Burns.

Smallchief

tombstone the Iliad of the Southwest was a very informative book that keep me entertained as well as learning about the history of the people that shaped the southwest.I was very impressed how the author was able to interview many of the characters or speak to people that lived through that era.The book being writted in 1927 really brought out alot of history that would otherwise be lost.

this book is filled with information from yesterday ,and is still valued in todays Baja travels.If you can find this book ,I treasure mine as a must for my Baja library.Ray Cannon was a great writer, and a true Baja explorer

The California Outdoor Writers Association awarded the title "best book of the year." It's easy to see why. Kira pays homage to Ray Cannon, who wrote the bestseller The Sea of Cortez which documented the "Golden Age" for Baja. No one could have written a better tribute than Kira, a Baja afficionado whose enthusiasm and affection for the peninsula can be detected on every page. Rare photos and drawings complement the text. This is a beautiful book!

This magnificent book covers the life of Ray Cannon,who wrote The Sea of Cortez. It is a facinating and well organized assemblege of the man's colorful life. It took me to a simpler time and a place on earth that was unspoiled. A wonderful book.

Wonderful photos and you hold in your hand a book that can transport you, via his own words, into the inner circle of an astounding man, Ray Cannon, and the glamorous and mysterious friends he drew around him. He left Hollywood and the big-city life of the movies, where he had money and power, to take up the life of a country fisherman and a writer of essays. But he was never a country fisherman. He was an institution, living the romantic life in a wild, untamed place, among beautiful scenes and unforgettable people who did outrageous things. Great book. Wonderful company. A trip you can take over and over again.

The understated writing and excellent descriptions tell all about this 1952 visit to Mexico. Charming and entertaining. But I did skip the chapter on the history of Mexico.

Sublime. I am profoundly uninterested in Mexico, but it charmed my socks off. Wonderfully written. Up there in the clouds with Paula Fox, William Trevor, Alice Munro.

This is an absolutely charming but non-sacchrine account of travel in Mexico following World War II. A surprisingly important bonus is a better understanding of the history of this country and why it is what it is today. Wonderful. I will read it again.

I've enjoyed this travel book more than any I've read in a long time. Educational and enjoyable. Anyone who has done any traveling anywhere can have a good chuckle at the culture clashes that come from traveling in Mexico or any country where you're not familiar with the customs. These women weren't afraid of adventure and certainly found plenty of it! In spite of the frustrations of things not always going their way, they never resort to racial slurs or any real putdowns of the people they meet. And what a trip. They saw some of the most beautiful parts of Mexico before they've become over-run with tourists. I think the spirit in which they travel is something more people need when going to a foreign country. Go with the flow and everything will work out in the end. A wonderful read.