P Books

I have just started to write plays and bought this book based on customer reviews. The reviews were right on, for this author gets his points across in a clear and concise manner. All of his suggestions are so valuable and useful not only for playwrining but fiction writing also. Mr. Catron has a passion that he realtes to the reader, giving them the incentive to start up and keep going to completion. Great book!

I only have one negative thing to say about Louis E. Catron's "The Elements of Playwriting," so I'll get it out of the way right off.

In various spots in the book, he makes critical remarks about both soap operas and the "Perry Mason" TV series that make me wonder if he's ever actually watched them. The writing cautions he connects with the remarks (respectively, always make sure your characters' emotions are motivated, and avoid a "deux ex machina" ending) are absolutely legitimate, but using these as illustrations are simply untrue.

In most other books such false reporting would seriously damage the writer's credibility in my view, and indeed it's the one thing that keeps me from awarding a full 5 stars. The one saving grace in Catron's case is that every other piece of advice is illustrated accurately, if not explicitly in the text. He shows quite well how to make your story appeal to directors, actors, and audiences, not only explaining what they look for but illustrating how to achieve it.

As with any book on writing, this is meant to be a book of ideas, suggestions, and recommendations to empower us as writers rather than restrain us. Where an accepted "rule" goes against the story we want to tell, we're expected to be true to the story rather than the rule. Every other book on this topic has taken this attitude, but Catron consistently takes the next step and cites plays that illustrate how nearly every rule has been broken by a successful play, and why that play succeeded in spite of breaking that rule.

Catron is a completist in other ways as well, taking the reader from the conception of a story all the way to a list of playwright's resources (such as directories of literary agents).

Whether your playwriting is a hobby, a sideline, or a prospective career - or even an established one - I highly recommend this book.

The Elements of Playwriting is a great book for anyone who wants to understand what it takes to write a play. Catron goes over everything a person needs to know including creating characters, building a plot, and constructing dialogue. I really liked the chapter on What Makes a Play.

Even if you are not a Playwright, but you are involved in the theatre in another capacity, such as an actor or stage manager - you would still benefit greatly by reading this book. It will give you a great understanding of what a Playwright must accomplish in order to get his play to the stage.

I completed the first draft of my play "American Brass" back in 1999. It was pretty awful. Then, I found this wonderful book by Prof. Catron. Following the guidelines and inspiration contained in his book I eventually transformed the draft into a stageworthy script.

Before reading his up front advice "Don't show anyone your first draft", I had given a reader a look at the play. The reader, an experienced theater person, tried to be helpful with constructive comments, which I came to understand after reading Catron's book meant - I had no plot, my characters were flat and I was writing narrratives rather than dialogue.

This book provides a clear understandable guide to the structure and dynamics of a successful play and how to write one. Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.. and before each rewrite review Caron's book for insight and inspiration.

There's also practical advice - look to get your play on stage not necessarily on Broadway. So I had a high school do a reading and then a church group and now I have the area community theater interested in a full production.

Thank you Prof. Catron

I am a Midwestern physician by day and fledgling playwright by night. One year ago I decided to take an idea to paper and wrote my first play. The story was clear in my mind so the writing went easy. Within six weeks I had completed a rough first draft. At this point I ventured over to the local bookstore to see what books they had on playwriting. There were several, but Louis Catron's The Elements of Playwriting caught my immediate attention. Standing there, I skimmed the contents then read a few pages. The book was full of pearls gleaned obviously from a lifetime of experience in the theater. I bought the book and ordered a coffee to read more, (isn't that the way it always happens?)

Catron goads our left and right brains into action in ten chapters that range from how to get the play started, formatting the text and incorporating Aristotle's six elements of live theater into the work, to suggestions on getting your work published and performed. Various exercises to get the point across are used along the way. The book is a joy to read; a superb "nuts and bolts" treatise for the novice and veteran writer alike. I pick up something new each time I read it. I particularly enjoyed the discussion on how to be a playwright, involving as much with how one "thinks" as what ones "does."

In my opinion, Louis Catron's The Elements of Playwriting is the best book on the subject out there. It helped me complete my play and make it a more polished work. The book would be perfect as the main textbook in any college playwriting class. Louis Catron's "Elements" certainly "plays in the heartland!"

I got interested in buying the book after listening to her "Dear Jane" podcasts. Unfortunately, the book was much less useful than her casts would lead you to believe. The podcasts are more useful than the book, and FREE!

Look for David Burns and his 10 Days to Self Esteem book sets for some real help. There is also Break the Chains of Low Self Esteem (cannot remember author's name). These books have been immensely more helpful in dealing with my depression and related low self esteem.

I don't even think I'd recommend Enough is Enough for anyone who is further along in her/his recovery process. Just not helpful. Lots of platitudes, but no real skill building exercises.

Best of luck in whatever you choose on your road to recovery!

If you have thought to yourself or said out loud, "I just can't do this anymore" this engrossing, entertaining and practical approach to identifying the obstacles to living a vibrant and fufilling life is for you. Jane Straus provides tangible examples and exercises to help anyone who is really ready to address their 'endurance'. I have been acquainted with this author's work for many years and have seen impact in myself and others of her incisive and to-the-point remedies. She reveals her own inspiring story and those of many of her clients with compassion and humor, and invites the reader to undertake this exciting, and sometime painful path to a fuller, richer, more thriving life.

I have read around 100 self-help books and would, unhesitatingly, count it as one of the best (if not the best). It gave me lots of food for thought. I think Jane should get onto the Oprah show. It merits that kind of attention.
Paul Heller

A fun and easy read, yet powerful and filled with insight and inspiring stories. Jane Straus has compassionately offered her heart and soul in this book about truth, authenticity, non-judgement and forgiveness. "Enough is Enough" provides the reader with a sobering look at how our fears and self-judgements stands in the way of living the life we were meant to live, and how in the end, it is all about forgiveness. Jane gently guides us with practical tools and exercises to help us move forward in the direction of our dreams. Thank you Jane for your honesty, humor and humaness in revealing your own fears and vulnerabilities. I see so clearly now how I have been creating distractions in my own life and I am now ready to live my one precious and extraordinary life with no more excuses! Thank you for this wonderful gift you have given to all of us and to the planet.

I found this book very easy to read and, as strange as this might sound, I felt better immediately after reading it--like I really could change specific aspects of my life NOW if I was willing to see myself truthfully. The author uses personal experience, and the experiences of people she has coached in her professional life, to demonstrate how to stop enduring people, things, etc., in your life and start choosing to live a life that is aligned with your higher truth. While some books require extensive exercises and cumbersome companion workbooks, this book is much less threatening and provides thoughtful questions (she titles these "Time In") for your own consideration after she provides important "food for thought". One thing in particular that I appreciated about the author's approach is that living your life to the fullest is a process that can be started today, no matter what your situation. For example, one of her chapters is titled, "Daily Tonic for an Extraordinary Life" and she offers the following, "Living our truth cannot be for some future goal or noble end; our commitment to releasing judgment and limiting beliefs, practicing positive affirmation, honoring our emotions, and striving for win-win is the daily tonic for breaking free of our endurance." Wonderful stuff that I highly recommend to any reader!

I don't know about you, but I'd love for my marriage to last a lifetime. Growing old and having a companion to share it all with -- good and bad -- is a wonderful thought. However, anyone that has ever been married will tell you that marriage is hard work. And making a marriage last? Well, I think the 50% success rate in the US speaks for itself.

In her book, Everlasting Matrimony, Sheryl Kurland shares wisdom and advice from 75 couples married 50 years or more. The book contains stories from couples across the nation. These couples come from various faiths, backgrounds and ethnicities and provide a sampling from many different viewpoints.

The couples featured in the book were interviewed separately. I thought this was particularly interesting when I noticed quite a few couples who answered similarly - I guess maybe that's why they've been married so long. One such couple is Leon and Irma Horowitz, whose answers are featured on pages 78 and 79. They both comment that what has made their marriage successful is working as a team in all they do.

Everlasting Matrimony is a beautiful coffee table book and yet is also useful. The practical advice given by the couples included is invaluable. I truly enjoyed this book. It made me laugh out loud in places and yet it also made me think more deeply about how certain things affect my marriage.

I gave this book as a gift to an engaged couple, and a couple celebrating their 52nd wedding anniversary. Both LOVED it! In fact, one of the couples asked me where I bought the book so that they could give the book to some of their friends.

Expertly compiled and organized by Sheryl P. Kurland, Everlasting Matrimony: Pearls Of Wisdom From Couples Married 50 Years Or More is an elegantly published keepsake volume of keys to marital longevity as related by couples whose own marriages have endured for half a century or more. Touching upon every aspect and facet of marriage ranging from communication, sex, and money, to children, religion, hardships, and more, this coffee-table volume is enhanced with "then and now" photos of each couple making Everlasting Matrimony a highly prized and unique self-help compendium of seasoned advice, as well as a confidently recommended engagement, wedding, or anniversary gift filed from cover to cover with "lifetimes of wisdom, experience, and love".

This book is amazing and interesting as it has pictures from 50 years ago and today. Each couple explains in his and her own words how they stayed married for more than 50 years. This is not some stuffy book about marriage counseling theory. These couples lived it! I also found very funny and intriguing the stories of how these couples met. This book is a MUST read for any currently married couples or couples about to get married. What a great gift for anniversaries, engagements and weddings! I could not find a gift for my wife of 15 years, since she had everything, so I bought her this book and she just loved it!!

Marriage is a lifetime commitment. In this day and age, people aren't staying married for long periods of time, and the divorce rate is increasing year after year. Instead of remaining together through the good and bad times, couples are throwing in the towel at the first sign of trouble. Essential factors such as communication, compromise and commitment are all lacking in marriages today.

EVERLASTING MATRIMONY by Sheryl P. Kurland is a book depicting the lives of couples who have been married for fifty years or more. Hailing from various backgrounds and ethnicities, couples tell what has held their marriages together. Each story has a picture of the couple in their early years, a brief summary of how they met, a picture of how they look now and their advice on what has kept their marriage together for a lifetime.

A lot of the advice given may seem common sense, but they are things that we tend to take for granted such as: saying I love you, not going to bed angry, communicating and listening to one another. Other key factors given in having a lasting marriage are: spending time together before having children, spending time apart, trust, honesty, no secrets and sharing the housework. A very essential key to a successful marriage is having God as the center and praying together; without these key factors, a marriage is sure to fail or be full of problems.

EVERLASTING MATRIMONY is a vital resource for couples already married, those engaged and those hoping to one day tie the knot. I enjoyed how each of the couples shared a part of themselves and their love with the reader. To see that there are couples who have been married for five decades or more who are still happy is truly inspirational and encouraging to me. I have been married almost twelve years, and I am in my early thirties. I am proud of this accomplishment, especially in this day and age when you rarely find couples within my age group who have been married over five years. This book and the tips provided will assist me and my husband making it to that fifty year mark. I encourage all couples to add this book to their personal library; by doing so, they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Reviewed by Eraina B. Tinnin
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers

I agree with jt from New Jersey. I picked up "Far Cry" based on its review in the NY Time Book Review in 1986 (front page coverage). If you simply accept Mrs. Hawkins at face value you will fall in love with the setting, the time and Mrs. Hawkins approach to life.

Perhaps the book has a special place in my heart because I read it in a hotel bar overlooking the Arno in Florence while my pregnant wife was resting upstairs. I still reread the book and remember the bar. Funny.

I enjoyed "A Far Cry from Kensington" and recommend it. It's an entertaining story about an overweight young editor who matures in many ways (weight loss, new romance) over the course of the novel and exhibits strength of character in overcoming various tribulations. When she puts down a toadying literary hanger-on, this unpleasant person becomes something like a stalker. A good yarn; the last chapterlet is bang-up. It's one of those novels, which I think are pretty rare, where the last two pages are the best part.

I am a big Muriel Spark fan -- I mourned her passing earlier this year -- and was very interested in a book that is generally accepted as a companion novel to the brilliant "Loitering with Intent", one of my favorites. I was particularly intrigued given the reviews on amazon. So I want to caution prospective readers that there's no way that this is up to Spark's best work. It simply doesn't have the resonance or mysterious allusiveness that some of Spark's other books have. It's kind of a throwaway, in fact. So I think some of the reviewers below are getting carried away and overpraising the novel. Open it with reasonable expectations and you have an entertaining, intriguing tale ahead of you.

This is one of those books that cannot described in a nutshell. If you had to hazard a guess at a description, you'd have to place it firmly in the comedy/ tragedy/ drama/ mystery/ romance section, or simply file it under Spark: Muriel in the Classics section.

Narrated by the once round and central character, Agnes Hawkins (a.k.a. Mrs. Hawkins or Nancy), the story revolves around her experiences as a young widow living in furnished rooms in a semi-detached building in South Kensington. She colorfully describes her neighbors and acquaintances, and gives us tantalizing glimpses into their little secret worlds, in which she is a trustee and confidante.

Despite the mysterious black boxes and the lurking threat of enemies, known and unknown, our heroine manages to keep her head above water, remains a pillar of strength and finds true love among the rubble. Thanks to her diet plan (freely given to the reader as a bonus for purchasing the book), she gains new self-respect, and reinvents herself in a new country, a far cry from her humble beginnings.

A simple classic by an inspired writer.

Amanda Richards

I picked up a copy of Muriel Sparks, "A Far Cry from Kensington" on a friend's recommendation, and I loved it. Mrs. Nancy. Hawkins, the main character is a woman that everyone depends upon and needs to talk with. She has that certain way about her that summons trust and understanding. The fact that her figure is zaftig and that she is a widow lends credence she believes to her trust factor.

Mrs. Hawkins tells her story from a 30 year distance. It is 1954, post World War II, and she is living in a furnished room near Kensington. She has several neighbors of interest and Milly the landlady, was one of the more interesting. She was also a widow and was
Known as an organizer, She was able to organize everyone and everything. Basil and Eva Carlin were a quiet couple and lived on the first floor. Wanda Podolak lived next to them. She was a Polish dressmaker. Kate Parker lived at the end of the hall. She was a district nurse and suffered no germs at all- she was constantly cleaning. On the attic floor, lived a medical student William Todd.

Mrs. Hawkins was an editor at a publishing house and in due time she lost her job and went on to several others. She was excellent at her job, and, of course, everyone confided in her. She knew everything that was going on with everyone. Like the rooming house she lived in, Mrs. Hawkins spent her days and evenings giving advice. The rooming house becomes involved with Wanda and her anonymous letters that turn into blackmail and eventually into big trouble. Along the way, we meet Hector Bartlett, a charlatan who turns many lives upside down.

Mrs. Hawkins gives advice to many and one day she looks in the mirror and discovers that she is too obese. She resolves to lose weight, and by eating only half portions and then quarter portions, she does just that. Her fine bone structure is revealed, and her new body structure also attracts many men. She finds herself in a relationship with William Todd the medical student, which eventually turns into a marriage. Thirty years later,
Mrs. Hawkins, so wonderfully happy with her life in Italy, "a far cry from Kensington",
looks back at her life and continues to offer us advice.

Muriel Sparks has been called "Britain's greatest living novelist", and she was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1993 and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1996. She lives in Tuscany, Italy. An outstanding story, told by a wonderful novelist. prisrob

Muriel Spark's A Far Cry From Kensington (1988) is the bookend companion to her 1981 classic, Loitering With Intent. Both novels share a common theme, and like the earlier novel, A Far Cry From Kensington is largely autobiographical and takes place in virtually the same setting and time period: the literary world of early Fifties London. Both are explorations, via reminiscence, of the banality of everyday evil, taking place among the workaday, routine lives of the lower middle class. Less scathing if no less hilarious than many of its predecessors, the relatively unsung A Far Cry From Kensington is the most realistic and humane novel among the twenty-odd Spark has written. It is also exceptional in that it is the single Spark fiction in which a love affair blossoms into a successful relationship of duration.

The story of the universally respected though immensely overweight Mrs. Hawkins, A Far Cry From Kensington follows two divergent threads in her daily life: the mounting sufferings of a rooming house neighbor who is being anonymously threatened, and the problems that stem from her own continuous encounters with Hector Bartlett, a manipulative sycophant who hopes to use her footholds in the publishing world to advance his nonexistent literary career.

While Loitering With Intent can be read as something of a tactical combat manual, A Far Cry From Kensington is instructive in the art of deduction: caught up in a spiraling series of mysterious and increasingly serious coincidences, Mrs. Hawkins, short of both hard facts and physical evidence, actively unravels the odd events that are taking a toll on both the lives of her friends and her editorial career. Fully realizing she is as prone to misjudgment as anyone, Mrs. Hawkins, utilizing her intelligence, intuition, and instinct, nonetheless proceeds confidently and assertively to pierce the veil of secrecy and quiet conspiracy engulfing her. Spark is at a creative peak as she reveals the subtle turns, nuances, and moment to moment impressions in Mrs. Hawkins' mind as she forms her cautious conclusions.

Unlike Spark's finest novel, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1961), in which a significant portion of the mystery of human existence is shown to exist on a partially transcendent level, A Far Cry From Kensington eventually grounds that mystery in the knowable everyday. Though the author was to return to something of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie's vision in Symposium (1990), here she seems to be expressing that at least the mundane truths of human life can be ascertained by diligence of method, applied intelligence, and a fundamental willingness to be believe that some people are unabashedly predatory, unscrupulous, and ethically coarse at best. Another message of the novel is that the weak, the foolish, and the vacuous are among the most potentially dangerous individuals one can become involved with.

Upon its release, a number of critics publicly objected with pointed distaste to some of Mrs. Hawkin's behavior, she who enjoys "a puritanical and moralistic nature; it is my happy element to judge between right and wrong, regardless of what I might actually do." For exhausted with Hector Bartlett's elaborate attempts at manipulation, unhypocritical Mrs. Hawkins calls him a "Pissseur de copie" to his face when she encounters him in a public park, and continues to do so, to the detriment of her publishing career, throughout the novel. "It seemed to me," she says, that he "vomited literary matter, he urinated and sweated, he excreted it." Far from keeping this observation to herself, Mrs. Hawkins loudly shares it with authors, editors, and publishers, and since Hector is protected by best-selling author Emma Loy, finds herself fired from one job after another. But Mrs. Hawkins is without regret: "I can't help it. Sometimes the words just come out and I can't stop it. It feels like preaching the gospel." Thus in this and other passages, A Far Cry From Kensington supports speaking one's perception of truth under certain circumstances, regardless of consequence, even if that truth represents an enormous breach of upper class WASP manners and social decorum.

In Spark's vision as expressed here, building relationships of any kind solely for personal gain, manipulating others through callous, self-interested `networking,' and general toadyism are high crimes, all of which Hector Bartlett is guilty of in the extreme. In fact, Hector is one of Camille Paglia's "court hermaphrodites": "red hair en brosse, brown corduroy trousers, tweed coat with leather patches on the sleeves, a yellow tie and a green shirt: this was gaudy in those days, and Hector Bartlett was always dressed in bright colors. He was tall, with a pronounced stoop of the shoulders, which made him seem older than he was - I imagine at the time, he would be in his mid-thirties. His face was round with a second fat chin. He had a small but full baby-mouth as if forever asking to suck a dummy teat." Though many critics have felt otherwise, no amount condescending liberal piety can excuse Hector's routine aggressive subterfuge, moral mediocrity, and parasitic nature. It's unlikely that Spark chose this character's name randomly: "hectoring" is exactly what this he often does to those he encounters, and `Bartlett' suggests his "pudgy," pear-shaped physique.

Written in the plainest language possible but poetically conceived and executed, A Far Cry From Kensington belongs, with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Girls of Slender Means (1963), The Driver's Seat (1970), The Takeover (1976), and Loitering With Intent, among others, with the very best of Spark's work.

Very well done. Will make a great movie too.

Very enjoyable. I agree with other reviewers about its
contents. My vote to play Phil Cresta in a movie is
Robert Di Nero. Looking forward to the movie.

I read until I finished (3am), because I couldn't put it down. It is a very well written, interesting, and entertaining story of an lifestyle that is often contrived or overdone by others in the genre. The no-nonsense, unapologetic tone is definitely fitting of the central figure, Phil Cresta. I give my highest recommendation, which doesn't show itself very often. I can't wait for the movie, and you shouldn't either. Get a copy, block some time (I doubt you'll be able to put it down either), and enjoy.

A lot of fun to read. You can't help but laugh at a lot of these true-crime stories. You just can't make this stuff up. This book would make a great movie.

A Decent book, very interesting read. The style in which the story is told is very engrossing as it is told from the first person. The one drawback to the book is that it is based on one persons recollections and biases. With the exception of the Plymouth mail truck robbery most of these crimes were standard criminal enterprises, hardly crime of the century material. Of the crime he boasts the most of, a Brinks hold up, Cresta ended up going to prison. This is the story of a man who thought he was smarter then he was and in the end, was too smart for his own good.

now my kid is afraid of bird eggs for fear an alligator will hatch. Bad idea when we have a bird building a nest on our front porch. would have been better to be one of the flamingos

It's a great book to read to toddlers. My brother and I loved "Are You My Mother" and the "Dog" books when we were little so I thought I'd give this book to my niece. I showed it to my brother before I wrapped it, and we both laughed at the story. Two 30+ year old men laughing at a children's book. That's good comedy! PD Eastman showed such personality and story in the illustrations, they add depth to the simple words. And the premise is cute.

this was a fun book for my child to read, and I recommend it highly. The animation is fun, and makes the reading come easier for the child.

This book has a very cute story line.
My daughter was especially intrigued by this book because we often talk about birds and have even watched a few build their nests outside.
It also has a good story about what birds eat....to help children envision what birds feed to their young.
Very well written and great for beginner readers.

Boy, is this ever cute! when a little boy puts an alligator egg in the Birds' nest, they take care of it as if it was their own. They sit on it until it hatches then when he does, they feed it constantly! It's funny watching an alligator eating all that "bird food" and still grows huge. The end is particularly nice. They decide it's time for "Junior" to learn to fly but instead, he learns to swim. Sure is a cute story - especially on caring for others. Highly recommend!

The French Bulldog by Muriel P. Lee is the definitive guide on this charming breed. The books' design, layout and lavish illustrations have as much personality as the breed itself. This text is an encyclopedic approach to the French bulldog and will appeal to both the dog fancier and the novice alike.
The chapter "Pieces de Resistance" by Gary Bachman, who is a connoisseur of French Bulldog related ephemera, creates an extraordinary overview of objet dart ranging from a pair of Faberge smoky quartz Frenchies to unusual knickknacks, lamps, toys and tobacciana of the breed. Chapter by chapter The French Bulldog chronicles the history of the breed's popularity from the 1800's to the present with contributions of canine specialists worldwide. This book, a Kennel Club Classic, is an informative and entertaining guide that will introduce you to the Frenchie as an authoritative text and a superb introduction to unusual collectibles for every dog lover.

A tour de force. Muriel leaves no stone unturned. The only book about Frenchies that you'll ever need. Outstanding photos!

The French Bulldog by Muriel P. Lee is a must have book for any French Bulldog owner or fancier. This book comprehensively and deftly covers topics ranging from the history of the breed to the breed's portrayal in art and collectibles. The author's decades of experience with Frenchies shine through in this piece, as does the expertise of the other top notch contributors to this book. This book is one of depth, substance and beauty. The excellent text is accompanied by wonderful photos. This is a book that French Bulldog fans will enjoy reading and re-reading over the years.

Ms. Lee, a well-known and respected author in the industry, first made her name with the still popular "The Whelping and Rearing of Puppies: a complete and practical guide". This book follows her excellent reputation for books on specific breeds. A number of chapters are written by experts in their field such as Dr. Jan Grebe, current President of the French Bull Dog club of America, and Anne Hier, respected AKC and UKC judge. Despite the different viewpoints of the various contributors, the book is a cohesive whole and reads extremely smoothly. This must be considered one of the most complete and authoritative books on the subject for years to come, and is essential for all frenchie enthusiasts and fanciers.

The French Bulldog by Muriel P. Lee is not only the most complete book on the breed, but it includes a section written by Gary Bachman on Frenchie collectibles. Lee also engaged Dr. Janice Grebe to contribute a comprehensive section on health and care of this wonderful breed. French bulldogs doing utility, obedience and therapy work also are included. But for many readers, the icing on the biscuit will be the superb pictures of Frenchies being the adorable and adored family members they were born to be. Making people happy is what Frenchies do best of all!

Excellent first book after you have received the diagnosis on your child. Good overview. After absorbing this information, you will want to move on to books that deal with the specific type of epilepsy with which your child has been diagnosed.

After hours of internet searching and bookstore browsing with not a whole lot of usable results, finding this book was great. It is clearly written, easy to understand, and covers all of the different causes for seizures, as well as medications and some discussion of the physiology of seizures. I am ordering another copy for my daughter's preschool teachers, who want to be as educated as they can be so that they are prepared for potential seizures at school.

When my 13 year old son had his first seizure, I completely freaked out. When he had a second seizure, I completely lost it and became full of anxiety, fear, and anger. But after reading this book, I found great comfort knowing that all the emotions I had were "normal". The book is also easy to understand, and covers a lot of information which has helped me to become more informed regarding seizures and epilepsy.

I can't begin to describe the grief and fear and utter isolation I felt when my daughter had her second seizure. I remembered that knowledge is power, and I needed to feel powerful. This book gave that to me and so much more! Suddenly terms made sense and I wasn't alone anymore. The section on family coping is amazing: it's as though the authors have reached inside your mind and put down every emotion you've gone through and some that are yet to come. There are case examples throughout that are uplifting, and yes, sometimes a little frightening, but very helpful to read and very enlightening. Most importantly, the book is positive throughout without minimizing what you're dealing with. My only complaint(and this goes for all books, websites, etc) is the use of percentages to illustrate how uncommon different seizure types are, or how many kids outgrow, etc. We already know our kids beat the odds, we don't need to be reminded, and frankly those numbers that in the beginning were a comfort, now are depressing. Again, if a child in your family has seizures, YOU MUST HAVE THIS BOOK!!!

This book contains the answers to most, if not all, of your questions regarding how seizures and epilepsy will affect your child and family. It will also help you know which questions to ask your child's physicians. It is a most complete work. In five sections it describes why seizures occur, diagnosing, treating, coping, and living with epilepsy. Please do yourself a great favor and purchase this book. It is written in language a parent will understand without previous medical knowledge and also it is written with compassion and optimism. I have recommended this book to my family and friends who wish to understand more of how epilepsy is affecting my son's life. You won't be disappointed, buy it today!

This is a story that is more frightening than anything Stephen King has ever writter. It's a realistic 'The Bad News Bears' that will make any reader with an ounce of empathy feel like crying. The harrowing life that the children of the Cabrini projects must endure in their day-to-day existence is a bleak background of violence, drugs, and society gone wrong. The fact that Little League baseball can serve as a beacon for these kids is almost as amazing that a society like ours can let projects like the one depicted in this book exist.

A powerful, important novel, and one that should be read by anyone interested in learning about the differences that exist in our society.

Coyle gave a great story. He was very descriptive. His writing had the affect to make me able to visualize every character and setting. I've spent time in the projects on many occasions' with friends who stay there and I see these things all the time, except children are growing more love for basketball and football. Yet they still show the heart on the court and gridiron as they did in this story in the diamond.

This book is such a great find. Unlike the movie, this is the non-fiction account of a group of volunteer's attempts to organize a little league team in Chigago's Cabrini Green project, possibly the most infamous in the country. Don't expect any Keanu Reeves ex-gambler coaches to show up. Do expect great candor from the kids and an unmistakable affection from the author (who never appears in the book) for the players. Despite all the news stories you'll ever hear about urban decay, public housing and gang violence, it will never have the impact that some of these stories do (3 players lose their fathers during the season, one's is incarcerated, others can identify a gun's calibre by sound.) This story isn't unremittingly grim though and never is it preachy. Coyle's gift is to just let the children and the coaches speak as the story of the Kikuyus journey to the championships unfolds. There are so many sweet funny moments in this book: Louis' Star Search audition, the trip to the Iowa baseball camp (where hillbillies are more terrifying that gang bangers), Jalen's "Rude Dude" bat. Despite the fact that there are no sudden changes of heart, the players never quite permanently comes together as a team, and the league's two founders end up as mortal enemies, this is nonetheless an uplifting story. Some of the kids have potential, some don't, the odds are against most. Maybe a summer of baseball can't save them but as one of the League's founders poignantly notes, "If we save one, then this League is a success."

The best news is that while Cabrini itself is being razed, the Near North League continues. It's a shame this book is out of print. It is definitely worth seeking out.

In my top 3 books, sometimes my favorite. I would like to know where the author was and want to find out what happened to each and every member the team. I know i can't write, but the author and I, think alike and you will enjoy seeing life through these kids eyes.

... should make this book available again now that the movie HARDBALL has hit the screens. I read this book about three years ago or so when it first came out and thought it was a great read. I gave it to a fellow baseball fan, who is a supervising probation officer in our county. For those who feel that youth baseball (and youth sports) can often be more than just a game, this book is for you. Watching the movie last week brought back thoughts of this book. The movie does some Hollywood license on the story line (they win the title in the film) but essentially is well done and gives the essential message the author sought to convey.

This book and the film should be required viewing for suburban Little League teams which have as "must have" items the latest version $250 bats, batting gloves and all the new fangled gear that passes for "essential" baseball equipment these days.

In the film one of the kids is asked by the coach character as the kid returns to his housing project home full of problems and malingerers "What do you do for fun?" The kid responds: "I plaky baseball for you....." Ain't baseball great. This book plus the a little too sappy film shows us all why.

The South Carolina Coast is one of the best places. It's the south at it's best & hasn't surcumb to the Northern nonsense.

I picked this book up again yesterday having read it several years ago. I just finished a few moments ago and felt compelled to leave this review.

This book is a true delight. To those of us who have the low country in our blood, this book captures it all. I loved it even more the second time around. And even knowing about the tragedies that Mrs. Peterkin has endured I still cried. She is such a fine example of the indomitable southern woman or I guess I should say "Lady". I truly hope that one day I will have the distinct pleasure of meeting her.

My only regret is the book just ends too soon and too fast. I wish there were a sequel, I would love to know what she has been up to. And I would so dearly love a print of the watercolor that is on the front of the book.

I was not going to read this book, figuring it was yet another trivial book by a local person with famous connections (Julia Peterkin, a novelist who won a Pulitzer, was the author's mother-in-law). Was I wrong! This is one of the most riveting books I have ever read. Peterkin is a gifted storyteller with amazing stories to tell, stories that are right up there with the best fiction. I want to compare her to Flannery O'Connor, to Nabokov, to Kipling, to Dickens, to any fiction writer whose stories linger with us for the rest of our lives. Yet these powerful stories are true and open a window into recent times. Some of her stories prove that truth is stranger than fiction. They are in turns hilarious, outrageous, tragic, moving and illuminating.

Please, get this book. I don't know Peterkin but I wish I did. I picked up the book by accident and never put it down till I finished. Beg, borrow or steal it, whatever it takes to get it in your hands.

I have heard many of these stories through the years but was thrilled when I heard she was going to compile them in chronological order. I loved the way Genevieve told her life stories in a way that not only did I learn about the wonderful people in her life but the history of the area she loves so much. One of the many things I admire about Genevieve is that she lives her life and does not sit on the sidelines and continues to do so today. She has touched many hearts, mine included.

When I read Heaven Is A Beautiful Place, I felt that I was sitting on Genevieve's front porch overlooking Murrells Inlet and listening to her tell the stories. I have heard the Peterkins and Chandlers tell wonderful stories most of my life and this book truly captures their collective spirit. I finished the book at 35,000 feet over the Atlantic, but it seemed to me she was there relating the story of the loss of three of those closest to her. In spite of many adversities she has always worked to make the world a beter place.