One day Bill Wyeth is an upscale Manhattan lawyer with the requisite beautiful wife, eight-year-old son, oversized apartment and a bright financial future. When Wyeth falls asleep at night he may be a bit bored with the predictability of his world, but contentedly falls into dreams knowing he is safe. Wife Judith is already planning for a vacation home, Timothy hosting a birthday-slumber party for eight friends, a few of them sons of influential men his father wants to impress. On the night of the party, when Bill assumes he is performing a good deed, a tragic accident occurs and a boy lies dead. Suddenly the world drops away as the grieving father takes revenge the only way he can, destroying Wyeth's carefully constructed career. Judith panics, files for divorce and moves with their son from the east coast to the west. Wyeth learns how quickly a fall from grace can alter the direction of his life from an upward trajectory to a slippery slope that seems to have no bottom, left with little cash and a few nice suits in a third floor walkup.

Harrison's talent shines in this dense novel, a happy man's descent into the darker corners of the city that wealth and privilege avoid, where crime is rampant and the struggle to survive is ferocious. Wandering the chaotic streets of his new neighborhood, Wyeth discovers a popular steakhouse that has been a staple in the area for generations. He makes himself a regular, ensconced at table 17, even beginning a long flirtation with the attractive manager, Allison Sparks. Allison is a bit dangerous, but this appeals to Bill, who has little left to lose. He doesn't realize he has farther to fall, but of course, Bill is a naïf in this world, still nursing predictable hopes with marginal success, measuring all by what he knows; he is fascinated by a closed, invitation only room at the steakhouse, the Havana Room, deeply curious about what happens there and the fact that only Allison can issue invitations. When Allison asks a legal favor from Bill for her current flame, he reluctantly agrees; it concerns a multi-million dollar transaction that will take place in the Havana Room.

Allison's friend, Jay Rainey, appears an intelligent, straight-forward client, but Wyeth advises Rainey under duress and a time constraint that makes him uncomfortable as the attorney of record. And Wyeth has reason for concern- soon enough he is embroiled in an increasingly suspect business deal that has troubling ramifications. Every favor he does for Rainey pulls Bill deeper into a morass from which he is unable to extricate himself, pursued and kidnapped by thugs, pressured for information by the new owner of the property and searching for his suddenly unavailable client, a man with a tragic past and hopeless future. Harrison delves into the murkiest corners of the human heart, the small cruelties families inflict on one another and the greed of the powerful in a complicated tale that ends one violent night in the Havana Room, the mendacity of others exposed: "Like insect colonies and creeping plants, these intrigues need a bit of moisture and darkness to thrive. " Luan Gaines/ 2008.

The reputation of George Plimpton (March 18, 1927 - September 25, 2003) was well-established prior to the publication of this oral biography of him five years after his death. However, dozens of those who knew him best will help others who only knew of him to gain an even better understanding of who and what he was...and wasn't. Credit Nelson Aldrich with a brilliant job of obtaining, organizing, and editing the abundance of material. The book's title could not be more appropriate as a prefix to various personal accounts.

For example:

1. "George, being George," he once talked the Detroit Lions into letting him participate in their pre-season program and was even allowed to play (as QB, of course) in one of the team's scrimmages games.

2. Immediately after Robert Kennedy was shot, he helped to subdue Sirhan Sirhan.

3. Decided that he was uniquely prepared to conduct oral histories of Truman [Capote] and Edie [Sedgwick] and, of course, he did.

4. Agreed to serve as the first editor of The Paris Review that was co-founded in 1952 by Peter Matthiessen, Thomas H. Guinzburg, and Harold L. Humes. He remained in that position until

5. Also pitched against Major League players prior to an All-Star game.

His other adventures and misadventures include sparring with professional boxers Archie Moore and Sugar Ray Robinson, participating in a pre-season scrimmage with the Baltimore Colts action against his previous team, the Lions, briefly playing goalie for the Boston Bruins, competing with an 18 handicap against PGA players such as Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus, losing badly in a tennis match with Richard ("Pancho") Gonzales, and failing in an audition to join the Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers Circus as an aerialist. On another occasion, he somehow obtained a temporary percussionist's job with the New York Philharmonic when Leonard Bernstein was its conductor.

As I read this book, I was reminded of James Thurber's Walter Mitty who escaped the boredom of his life and the miseries of his marriage by imagining himself in all sorts of situations that are far more exciting and (especially) much more glamorous. Having an equally active imagination, George also proceeded to do (or at least attempt to do) whatever seemed like "fun" while living an already exciting and glamorous life that included relationships with those who share their reminiscences and observations in this book. The several hundred contributors include (listed in alphabetical order) Arnold ("Red") Auerbach (former coach of the Boston Celtics with whom George also played briefly), Bill Curry (former NFL player and head coach of Alabama and Kentucky), Hugh Hefner (founder and CEO of Playboy Enterprises), A.E. Hotchner (Hemingway authority as well as co-founder and partner, with Paul Newman's Newman's Own food products), Alex Karras (All-Pro defensive tackle with Detroit Lions), Norman Mailer (author of 37 books), Freddy Espy Plimpton (George's first wife), Sarah Dudley Plimpton (George's second wife), Gene Scott (widely recognized as "Tennis's Renaissance Man," "the most controversial figure in the game," and "the conscience of tennis"), William Styron (author of many works that include Lie Down in Darkness and Sophie's Choice), Calvin Trillin (staff writer for The New Yorker since 1963), and Gore Vidal (author and playwright).

Each of these and the other contributors share her or his reminiscences of "George, being George" from his student years at various schools and then Harvard, through his lengthy association with The Paris Review, until the years immediately prior to his death when health issues precluded almost all physical activities and yet he still retained (in his words) "the gumption to get out and try one's wings." Together, the mini-contributions -- from so many different people, recalling different moments in different places at different times - create a multi-dimensional portrait of a truly unique person. Almost a century ago in a speech delivered at the Sorbonne, Theodore Roosevelt praised what he called "the man in the arena." He could well have been describing George Plimpton: "Credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

If asked to respond to Roosevelt's description, contributors to this book would probably explain "that's just George, being George."

Race Chicks Inc. driver Jaycee Anderson has stunned the previously all male dominated NASCAR Sprint Cup by finishing fourth in the final standings. Her objective for the new season is to move up at least one notch with her bodacious goal being cup champion. To obtain third place means holding off all that testosterone that placed behind her and move past Rory Canyon, whom she has known much of her twenty six years of life.

Rory has never forgotten when the teen tomboy kissed him as he ran from her and still is running. However, he knows in his soul how much he wants her even when she hides her curves with driving garb. She never forgave him for ending their friendship a decade ago, but also knows her impetuous kiss affirmed how much she needed him. Each use their rivalry on the track to keep them apart off the track as Daytona looms.

Readers will enjoy this "NASCAR Holiday" while rooting for the heroine to beat the pants off her rival on the track and elsewhere as Kimberly Raye leaves the "dead" romantic fantasy crowd for a spin on the NASCAR circuit. The story line is fast-paced especially when the lead couple competes with each other; the support cast seems two dimensional at times causing a detour to the pleasant prime plot of lady start your engine.

Harriet Klausner

A few years ago when I was in grad school I knew slightly a woman who was the hearing child of deaf parents. While at Stanford she was one of the students who worked with Koko, the famous signing gorilla. I asked, of course, about her belief as to whether Koko really possessed the capacity for language, and she was adamant that she did.

A few years before that I had read three books by the ethologist Donald Griffin (who is mentioned in this book and after whom one of Irene Pepperberg's parrots was named): THE QUESTION OF ANIMAL AWARENESS, ANIMAL THINKING, and ANIMALS MINDS. I had worked very closely with my German Shepherd Birgit and had managed to teach her several hundred different commands and while I wouldn't argue that she possessed the capacity for language, her competencies made any suggestion -- as the behaviorists would insist -- that she did not think.

But the work that Irene Pepperberg did with Alex provided overwhelming support to the notion that not only do animals think but also they have far greater cognitive capacities than we normally give them credit for. The question of whether Alex possessed "speech" is a complex one, but there is little question that he used words, grasped concepts, and could employ simple sentences to achieve his desires. At some point the question of whether he had the capacity for speech becomes so blurry as to be irrelevant. To adapt the old expression, if it looks like a duck, waddles like a duck, and swims like a duck, it is a duck, even if it is a parrot.

I first learned of this book as a participant in Amazon's Vine Program. But by the time I looked at the items offered that month, all copies of the book were gone. I then heard Iren Pepperberg interviewed on Fresh Air with Terry Gross (I've probably read 20 books as a result of listening to Terry interview one person or another). Even before the interview was finished I had ordered the book from Amazon. It is a very fast and enjoyable read, but also a very moving one.

Alex comes across as a bit of a stinker, but all the more lovable for that. You marvel at the kinds of things he was able to do. My favorite may have been when they were working with him, trying to get him to tell them how many of a particular kind of object was on display. Although the correct answer was two, he obstinately kept saying "one" or "four," until they put him in another room for being uncooperative. He instantly started shouting, "Two! Two! I'm sorry. Two!" But there were a score of similar instances in the book.

One thing that comes out clearly in the book is how deeply connected Ms. Pepperberg and Alex were. Though she intentionally attempted to maintain some emotional distance as befits a scientist, it is clear that the two had forged a deep bond. And while Alex died tragically young for a parrot, he seems to have had a rich and enjoyable life.

I kept thinking while reading this book of a very great short story by Gustave Flaubert entitled "A Simple Heart" (it can be found in THREE TALES). In it, a simple, uneducated servant insists that instead of representing the Holy Spirit as a dove as is traditional in Christian symbolism, it should be represented instead by a parrot. Just as the Holy Spirit gave the gift of tongues, so a parrot is the lone creature other than humans capable of articulate speech. Whether Alex shows us anything about the divine, he clearly showed that the distance between birds and humans is far less than we might have imagined.

Having read all and then reviewed most of Guy Kawasaki's eight previously published books, I was especially eager to read this one because it was rumored to provide everything he wishes he had known (but most of which he didn't) when he embarked on his career in business (counting diamonds a fine-jewelry manufacturer called Nova Stylings) while at work on an MBA degree at UCLA. (He had already earned an undergraduate degree at Stanford.) Kawasaki later went to work for an educational software company called EduWare Services. However, Peachtree Software acquired the company and wanted him to move to Atlanta. "I don't think so. I can't live in a city where people call sushi `bait.' Luckily, my Stanford roommate, Mike Boich, got me a job at Apple. When I saw what a Macintosh could do, the clouds parted and the angels started singing. For four years I evangelized Macintosh to software and hardware developers and led the charge against world-wide domination by IBM." By now, presumably, he was accumulating a wealth of real-world experience in leadership and management and well as knowledge about marketing, sales, finance, strategic planning, problem-solving, resource allocation, and customer relations.

I have just read Reality Check and it exceeded my expectations. The twelve (12) "realities" that Kawasaki rigorously examines, in several chapters devoted to each, include Starting Chapters 1-5), Raising Money Raising Money (Chapters 6-15), Planning and Executing (Chapters 16-24), Innovating (Chapters 25-31), Marketing (Chapters 32-37), Selling and Evangelizing (Chapters 38-43), Communicating (Chapters 44-52), Beguiling (Chapters 53-63), Competing (Chapters 64-67), Hiring and Firing (Chapters 68-78), Working (Chapters 79-89 followed by a "Timeout"), and Doing Good (Chapters 90-94 followed by a "Conclusion." Yes, that is correct: This book has 94 chapters plus a "Timeout" and a "Conclusion" provided within (count `em) 461 pages plus (thankfully) a comprehensive Index. As is also true of Kawasaki's eight other books, the tone is informal, conversational, and at times confrontational; also, the pace is frenetic and the writing style has Snap! Crackle! and Pop! Most important to me, the content is more abundant and of a higher quality than in any other of his previously published books.

Readers will welcome the use of bold face to highlight key points. This device will facilitate, indeed expedite frequent review of those key points later. I especially appreciate the inclusion of several interviews throughout the lively narrative. They include those of Fred Greguras on key legal issues in raising funds (Pages 51-59), Chip and Dan Heath on why only a few innovations "stick" and most don't (Pages 130-138), Kathleen Gasperini on marketing to young people (Pages 168-175), Garr Reynolds on mastering the "Presentation Zen" approach (Pages 209-214), Robert Cialdini on the art and science of effective persuasion (Pages 243-250, Libby Sartain shares her perspectives on the recruiting process (Pages 314-317), Penelope Trunk offers "radically different" advice on career planning and management (Pages 318-325), Philip Zimbardo explains the factors that shape human behavior (e.g. how people adopt and adapt to given roles (Pages 359-365), David Marcum and Steven Smith explain why the ego can be one's greatest asset...or most expensive liability (Pages 393-400), David Bornstein explains what social entrepreneurship is and how it can change the world (Pages 428-435), Richard Stearns provides insights into the transition from the corporate to the non-profit world and shares lessons to be learned from an association that raises billions of dollars every year (Pages 36-441), and Jerry White explains how to overcome a "life crisis" (Pages 442-448). Note the variety of subjects covered during Kawasaki's interviews. They correctly suggest the scope and diversity of his interests.

Opinions will vary as to how to read this book. Some will read it cover-to-cover. Others will select several of the 12 "realities" and then read the chapters in which each is discussed. Still others will check out the Contents (Pages vii-xi) and then read whatever is of greatest interest. What sets this business book apart from almost others I have read in recent years is the extent to which it provides (quoting Kawasaki in the Introduction) "hardcore information to hardcore people who want to kick ass." The focus is almost entirely on how to create and then sustain an organization whose people "make the world a better place because of it." Presumably Kawasaki agrees with Thomas Edison: "Vision without execution is hallucination." If not you, who? If not now, when?

Rash has crafted a truly stunning novel, a clash of beauty and violence as ambition and greed run unchecked in the western North Carolina wilderness, where the mountains are rich with timber and men are desperate for work in 1929's depression economy. Against a pristine background systematically destroyed by an avaricious lumber company, the workers ply a dangerous trade where fatalities are frequent as a newly-married couple gobbles opportunity and uncut timber with insatiable urgency, leaving behind a scarred landscape. The Boston Lumber Company is thriving when George Pemberton and his new bride, Serena, step from a train in Waynesville, North Carolina, the Colorado-bred Serena primed for the next phase of her life in boots and pants, clearly not intimidated by the country or the fact that she is a woman. In fact, it is Serena's character that drives the narrative, a woman so ruthless that she astonishes the rough-hewn men of the camp with her first interaction.

Waiting at the station is an outraged, inebriated father, his clearly pregnant daughter at his side. When the angry Harmon challenges Pemberton for his daughter's honor, brandishing a knife, Serena encourages her new husband to "finish this now". Harmon soon vanquished, Serena coldly informs Rachel Harmon, "That's the only one of his you'll have." Embarking on their married life and business enterprises, the Pembertons are inseparable, George bending to his wife's will as she deals expediently with every challenge and anyone who opposes their goals. The rangy Mrs. Pemberton rides around camp, supervising the crews on her Arabian white stallion, a tethered eagle on a perch on the saddle, much like the gyrfalcons of medieval times. Indeed, Serena is like a Nordic goddess, intractable and determined. Soon the company name changes to the Pemberton Lumber Company. Awed by his wife's spirit and vision, Pemberton is a willing accomplice to even the most heinous of decisions, a study in rationalization in the name of love.

Rash's prose is filled with contrasts, the beauty of a wilderness daily destroyed, the Pembertons invincible with their money and powerful contacts, controlling anyone who would hamper their ambitions. The camp is peopled with eccentrics, men who endure daunting conditions, knowing that death stalks the careless as accidents erase one life after another. These laborers have an innate wisdom, watching the Pembertons, exchanging opinions of the fates of those who stand in opposition, simple men hoping to escape each new tract alive. For no one crosses these people without repercussions. After a tragic childbirth, when Serena learns she cannot have more children, she turns her wrath on Rachel Harmon and her baby, Jacob, the final obstacle. What ensues is harrowing, a penniless young woman desperate to escape Serena's vengeance, like a small, wild animal pursued by Serena's raptor. This is the territory of nightmares, but Rash is no nihilist, drawing his reader into that hopeful state where- occasionally- good does triumph over evil. Luan Gaines/2008.

(4.5 stars) Not a traditional mystery, Kate Atkinson's third Jackson Brodie novel grows instead out of the terrible traumas that children and young people must endure when people they love die violently. So marked are they by their sudden tragedies, that they never really escape their pasts, and spend the rest of their lives wondering "when will there be good news." Five separate plot lines evolve and begin to overlap here, and in each of these plots the main characters are all needy people hiding an inner loneliness from which they would like to escape. In the first plot, Joanna Mason Hunter is a physician living in Edinburgh, the happily married mother of a one-year-old, a woman who appears to have it all, but thirty years ago, she escaped a slashing attack which murdered her mother, sister, and baby brother. Though she seems to have put her past to rest, the murderer of her family is about to be released from jail.

Joanna's "mother's help" is Reggie Chase, a sixteen-year-old fending for herself in a rundown apartment that she shares with her delinquent brother. Reggie adores her job--and Joanna, who has no idea that Reggie's mother has died traumatically over a year ago. Jackson Brodie, a former police detective and a lead character in Case Histories: A Novel and One Good Turn: A Jolly Murder Mystery, is newly married for the third time, estranged from his twelve-year-old daughter from a previous marriage and prohibited from seeing the two-year-old he believes to be his son with his former girlfriend.

While working on a case in England, Brodie takes the wrong train and ends up in Edinburgh, where a crash near the house occupied by babysitter Reggie Chase brings Reggie and Brodie into contact. Meanwhile, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Monroe, a former girlfriend of Jackson Brodie, has also come to Edinburgh, to warn Joanna that the killer of her family has been released. In a final subplot, Joanna's husband Neil Hunter is in debt and in trouble with criminals, and Reggie, the babysitter, has found the house empty when she arrived to babysit. She is convinced that Joanna and the baby are missing and probably dead.

Atkinson's narrative is enhanced by her skillful pacing as she introduces new elements and surprises, and she is especially adept at individualizing her characters. Through flashbacks, she compares and contrasts their past and present lives, and the reader comes to "know" them. Connected thematically by their yearning for loving relationships, they are eventually connected through the plot's complications and mysteries. Ironies abound, and mistaken identities create some bizarre and sometimes darkly humorous scenes. Coincidence plays an important role in resolving the novel in dramatic fashion, and though no one will believe that these twists and turns are remotely realistic, they are great fun and completely consistent with the ebullient story-telling that Atkinson has made her signature. n Mary Whipple

Behind the Scenes at the Museum: A Novel
Human Croquet: A Novel
Emotionally Weird: A Novel
Not the End of the World
Abandonment

One of the review titles that I opted to accept for a recreational read was the young adult novel The Rule of Won by Stefan Petrucha. I'm often hesitant to venture into the YA genre, as 1) I'm definitely not a "young adult" any more (at least based on the calendar... "immature adult" may still apply), and 2) any lessons that are trying to be taught are often no longer applicable. But the premise tweaked my interest, and the tweak was accurate in this case... The Rule of Won is an entertaining read, with solid writing and a message that a few more adults should pay attention to...

The main character, Caleb Dunne, is a high school student who has turned slacking into an art form. Anything worth doing is worth doing as easily as possible, and there's not much worth doing in the first place. The flip side is his girlfriend, Vicky Bainbridge, who is a classic overachiever... running for school office, involved in everything, and is pushing Dunne to clean up his act. This motivation comes to a head when a fellow classmate, Ethan Skinson, starts a club to discuss and live life by the principles in the book The Rule of Won. Basically, if you want something, you can use mesmories to imanifest your crave. The group starts out small, and sets a crave to get money to rebuild the school's gym (which Dunne is accused of ruining the first time it was being rebuilt). When this event actually comes to pass, the group picks up momentum, and sets a crave to have their high school win a basketball game (which they haven't done all year) against the state champions. Strangely, this too happens. Vicky is smitten with Ethan, Dunne is on the fence as to whether this is all for real, and in short order nearly the whole school has gotten on the bandwagon. This "groupthink" bothers Dunne to no end, and he sees how it's quickly becoming a case of "you're either for us or against us". When a teacher is seriously injured in a car accident due to the crave of everyone needing to pass an algebra test (that he's no longer able to give due to the wreck), Dunne confronts Ethan with some facts, and that leads to a physical showdown between the two, with nearly the entire school body imanifesting Dunne getting the snot beat out of him...

Petrucha based the story off of the best-selling book The Secret, which proposes that you can have anything in the universe you want just by imagining it as already belonging to you. He pokes plenty of holes in the concept, as well as showing what happens when greed, ego, and groupthink start to drive what you crave. I really enjoyed the wisecracking dialogue of Caleb Dunne, as well as his emotional turmoil over Vicky's infatuation with Ethan, and his own growing attraction to a goth girl he's never really gotten to know that well. Great characters, and perfect pacing. The moral of learning to think for oneself really does transcend the YA audience, and I can think of a number of adults who would enjoy this (and a number who should also read it for the lessons). If you get the opportunity to pick this up for your kid (or yourself), I think you'll be pleased with your selection...

In these troubled economic times the books value for me is in the common sense lessons Mr Buffet has to offer, be it living a simple lifestyle, to investing in what you know and trust as well as knowing that to those that much has been given, much is required. Would make a great gift, especially for that young person starting out or that person who thinks materialism is what will make them happy.

When Lyssa Dent Hughes, a widely respected physician, is nominated for United States Surgeon General, it looks as if she is a shoo-in to be confirmed. Fifth generation granddaughter of Ulysses S. Grant, daughter of a conservative Indiana senator, wife of a respected Georgetown professor, and tireless pioneer for women's health issues, Lyssa is looking forward to her opportunity to make a difference on a larger scale. During a casual conversation in the presence of a reporter, however, a "friend" remarks that she once failed to appear for jury duty.

The press pounces on this "Jurygate" mistake, which quickly becomes worse when she indicates that she does not make "icebox cake" and "pimiento-cheese canapés" like her late mother and the other women from Indiana, galvanizing them to oppose her "elitism." The press camps out at her Georgetown home, and before long, her young son is yelling from the TV room, "Mom, they think that you're the problem with America." But Lyssa refuses to "be hung out to dry, even if I have to wear headbands, bake cookies, and sing lullabies to do it." In an interview with Timber Tucker, which becomes the climax of the play, she aggressively tackles the health and social issues which mean so much to her, and angrily faces down the press and the public's perceptions, for better or worse.

Written in 1999, this play tackles women's social issues in a man's world, serious women's health issues, political expediencies, and press intrusions into private areas, and every female reader or viewer will understand and empathize with the characters as they face their demons here. In the ten years since this play was written, however, the country has made great strides, and the issues Lyssa discusses have been analyzed and tackled with far greater energy than ever before, to the point that Lyssa's impassioned speech seems a bit dated. Hilary Clinton's "baking cookies" remarks and Lyssa's parallel icebox cake and pimiento-cheese references feel tired and "stale" now.

The facts and figures she cites regarding research funds for breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer, as opposed to the far greater funding for prostate cancer, are being actively addressed, and points made about the holding of women to different standards now feel like a cliché. As a relic of the 1990s, this play is important and, perhaps, even ground-breaking, but its punch has been blunted over the past ten years by the progress women have made since it premiered. The fact that it still resonates with viewers, however, shows that significant issues still remain. n Mary Whipple

The Sisters Rosensweig
The Heidi Chronicles.
Bachelor Girls
Old Money
Charlie Rose with Wendy Wasserstein, John Guare & David Henry Hwang; Caio Fonseca, Edmund White & Isabel Fonseca; Morris Lapidus (November 23, 2000)

If you want to understand what happened on those awful days at Mountain Meadows in September 1857, I recommend this book above all others. Juanita Brooks' books are still very good and she should always be admired for the work she did in telling this story and this event and providing a biography of John D. Lee. But this book presents information she did not have access to and provides many helpful illustrations, maps, photos, and notes that help us as readers. The authors do not debate other versions of this event and if you want to believe that Brigham Young ordered this slaughter, you will not like the evidence presented here. However, neither John D. Lee, any of the contemporary participants, Juanita Brooks, or these authors implicates Brigham Young. The authors do show the extraordinary pressure put on John D. Lee by the non-Mormon judicial system that tried and executed him to point the finger at Young, but he did not do so.

What I think is especially helpful about this book is the way the authors never once try to make excuses for the horrors committed against the immigrants while also providing a context for this nightmare. Not to make excuses or to spread blame, but to show the full chain of events. We all know that horrible events such as plane crashes are rarely the result of one big failure, but the sum of many small things going wrong. If any one of them is caught and dealt with properly, the tragedy is averted. Nothing can excuse the massacre of the emigrants. Nothing can make it understandable in any rational way. But the context helps us see the chain of events that contributed to, used as an excuse, and exploited in order to justify the initial attack.

I was fascinated by the way the authors handled the charge of the emigrants poisoning a dead ox and thereby killing local people and Indians. If it was anthrax, as the authors posit, it explains a lot and since it was not understood at the time it would appear to be the work of the emigrants and seem to "justify" some kind of retribution or extraction of payment. However, the Indians did not cause the attack. They were also exploited and manipulated by the Cedar City leaders, especially Lee. Then there was the murder of several members of the party who were seeking assistance from nearby folks to save their party from the Indian attack. Once those murders occurred, the final slaughter was an attempt to cover up the original attack and murders. Reading this story is like being trapped in a nightmare you want to wake up from, but can't.

While we can't undo this tragic horror, we can learn from it. Here is an example of people committing wrongs and then seeking to cover them up with more crime. Here are events that burden us more than a century and a half after they happened. The final butchery took only a few minutes and yet will never end. I also appreciate the way the authors undermine the pride of those who say they did not participate in the crimes; however, the authors note, which of them stood up to Dame, Haight, Lee, and others in any attempt to stop the killing? That is our requirement. We must stand up to wrong and not merely stand apart and feel innocent.

This book covers the context and the crime, but not much of the aftermath (except for what happened to the children not murdered and the execution of Lee at the Meadows in 1877) , which the authors say should be its own book. I hope they write that book. While this book is 430 page long, the actual telling of the story is only 231 pages. The rest contains appendices listing all the emigrants, their property (that the killers coveted), the names of those involved in the murders, the Indians involved, sources, 127 pages of footnotes (very helpful reading, by the way), and an index.

Frankly, I wept more than a few times in working my way through this book. I do not see how anyone could read this history without becoming deeply engaged as these terrible events unfold.

Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI

This is a beautifully rendered, poignant account of a totally dysfunctional family. It is little wonder that this book won numerous awards and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. I simply could not put this book down, as the author had me transfixed with her story of growing up in such an unusual family.

Born to highly intelligent, creative parents who marched to the beat of a different drum, the author and her siblings had a difficult childhood. With a dreamer of a father who battled the bottle and a mother who was somewhat irresponsible and probably mentally ill, family life was a study in contrasts with an emphasis on independence, as well as artistic and intellectual pursuits, while spurning creature comforts, stability, and the much longed for three hots and a cot. This free wheeling philosophy, espoused by the author's parents, subjected their children to hunger, homelessness, and a nomadic existence. Yet, the children were resilient and thrived, even as their parents went on a downward spiral.

The author's story is positively riveting. It is a story of survival and eventual prosperity within mainstream society. It is a story about keeping one's head, when all around one others are losing theirs. The author's journey is certainly an amazing one, and I for one am delighted that she chose to share it with others. Those who enjoy reading memoirs and autobiographies will, undoubtedly, very much enjoy this one and be fascinated and moved by the author's singular, well-told story. Bravo!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book of paranormal suspense and mystery, especially as the events take place in upstate, New York, a location to which I am always drawn. It is a fairly well-written book, with a tightly woven plot. Although the author's knowledge of criminal law seems a bit sketchy, it does not unduly detract from the mystery within. Moreover, the main character Anna Young, around whom much of the plot revolves, is a very interesting, enigmatic character.

In Sandburg, a small, economically depressed hamlet, nestled in the Catskills region of New York State, a miserly slumlord named Henry Deutch is found dead of a heart attack. Anna Young, who along with her mother had been evicted from one of Henry's rundown apartments, eventually leading to her mother's death, is not shedding any tears over his demise. After all, she was heard to have sworn a blood oath of revenge against him for being the catalyst to her mother's death, and she is not sorry he is dead. In fact, before his death, she was seen casting spells and performing rituals that had disconcerted Henry.

When Henry died amidst unusual trappings, the politically ambitious local prosecutor, Paula Richards, claims that Anna is responsible, having frightened him to death. She has her arrested, and Del Pearson, the young public defender, is assigned to represent her. Little do they know that the forces of evil are girding for battle. Anna, a practitioner of the Wiccan religion, is not surprised at the forces that are gathering. It is a battle for which she is well-prepared.

Readers of paranormal suspense will enjoy this book.

This was my first introduction to this author, and it was a pleasant surprise. Those who enjoy books of paranormal suspense will surely enjoy this one.

Cassie Neill is from a long line of psychics. She keeps a low profile and assists the Los Angeles Police Department in catching killers. She does this by entering the minds of those who kill. When one such mind meld goes horribly awry, Cassie, hoping to find peace, relocates to the small, sleepy town of Ryan's Bluff in North Carolina, where her recently deceased aunt has bequeathed her a house.

Cassie succeeds in finding peace only for a short while, when she suddenly becomes aware that a killer is loose in Ryan's' Bluff, stalking its women. She doesn't know who he is, but she certainly senses him and goes to the authorities where she is met with skepticism and something else she never expected to find. Once the first body is found, Cassie becomes a suspect, until the bloodbath grows. Then Cassie becomes a valuable tool in helping to stop a madman whose only thought is to kill again, until he can get the crown jewel in his collection of murder victims, Cassie herself.

Who is doing this and why is for the reader to discover. Fairly well-written with an interesting plot, it is a very entertaining read that will keep fans of paranormal suspense turning the pages.

After winning the Whitbread Award in 1989 for Gerontius, a serious literary novel, Hamilton-Paterson most recently has written in a completely different vein--three wild, off-the-wall novels starring Gerald Samper, an aesthete who loves gourmet food, clothing, and cutting edge social commentary. Samper is, however, something of a jerk, a man so self-absorbed that he "lurches from crisis to crisis," never pausing for reflection. Despite these unsympathetic qualities, however, Samper cannot help but amuse and intrigue readers as he involves us in his whirlwind activities and the rollercoaster of his life.

Rancid Pansies begins with the plummeting of Samper's Tuscany house down a ravine during an earthquake. A facetious remark Samper makes as he is being evacuated from the site of his now-vanished home--that Princess Diana had appeared in a vision and warned him and his guests to abandon the house seconds before disaster struck--has led ultimately to hordes of pilgrims descending on his property. A makeshift shrine becomes a grotto, and the local mayor and the "comune" see the tourist potential. Marta Priskil, next door, a former nemesis, can no longer work because of the noise and distraction, and Samper persuades her to move and work with him on an opera about Princess Diana, the royal family, and the movement to declare her a saint.

Samper continues experimenting with culinary "delicacies," such as hedgerow broth with gently seethed owl pellets, liver smoothies, and Mice Krispies Vol-au-Vent, however, giving new meaning to the term "throwing a dinner." Hamilton-Paterson is too good a writer, however, to rely on this low humor for the entire novel. He satirizes British pretentions, British life, and even the royal family, his satire taking on added dimensions as Samper travels and comments about the differences between Italy, where he lives, and England where his business interests, and many of his friends, reside. A great punster, lover of word play, and creator of wild anagrams, including the title of this book (which is also the name of Samper's opera), Hamilton-Paterson (and, by extension, Samper) keeps the reader amused at his cleverness, even as the "plot," explodes in several different directions.

When Samper and Marta's opera finally has its premiere in England, Hamilton-Paterson gives new meaning to the term "opera buffa," as the evening turns so absurd that no pretense at seriousness can be maintained. Samper's libretto is clever and blackly humorous, the satire of the royals is wicked (though a bit trite), and the results are memorable. Impossible to categorize, this novel is a series of loosely connected episodes, each more absurd than the previous one, with dark humor, satire, and word play running riot, and the reader hanging on for the wild ride. n Mary Whipple

Gerontius
Cooking with Fernet Branca
Amazing Disgrace
Playing with Water: Passion and Solitude on a Philippine Island (Twentieth Century Lives)
Biography - Hamilton-Paterson, James (1941-): An article from: Contemporary Authors Online

"You create your own experience by and through the choices you make everyday." ~ pg. 67

"Life Strategies" is one of Dr. Phil's best books on success because it helps you manage your life so that you create momentum in the direction of your dreams. At first he paints a dismal picture of our society in decline and then explains how you can follow the path of winners by making simple changes in your daily choices.

In order to program yourself for success Dr. Phil presents 10 laws of life. These laws can help you deal with depression, boredom, loneliness, financial problems and even relationship issues like getting people to treat you better.

While reading this book be prepared for "brutal honesty." If you are in denial then the sections on personal responsibility may seem a little overwhelming to you. Dr. Phil encourages you to stop being a victim and to take more action in your life.

I think "Life Strategies" is an excellent book if one of your main issues is "fear." This book shows it is OK to be fearful but that you should not let fear control you to the point where it takes away your dreams. It was also helpful to realize that most of our decisions are made based on either a fear of rejection or a love of acceptance.

The only thing I disagreed with is Dr. Phil's point about how "no one is teaching us about marriage or how to lose weight." There are plenty of books on the subject and even Dr. Phil now has a few - Relationship Rescue: A Seven-Step Strategy for Reconnecting with Your Partner, Love Smart: Find the One You Want--Fix the One You Gotand The Ultimate Weight Solution: The 7 Keys to Weight Loss Freedom.

~The Rebecca Review

'...whatever people think they know about someone's past is used to interpret the present...Maybe sometimes that's valid, but I think it's also a way to avoid dealing with the here and now on its own terms.'

Gene Naro may be one of the finest new writers to appear this year. Rarely has a first novel, as in Naro's UNSPOKEN, appeared so strongly fleshed out, so rich in imagery and depth of knowledge of myriad subjects, and yet never for a page forget the mission of a fine novel - to tell a story that is compelling, drawing the reader into a world between its covers that resists all temptations to put it down. Perhaps the degree of praise this first novel is garnering may raise the eyebrows of doubters, but UNSPOKEN is clearly a polished work by an enormously gifted writer.

UNSPOKEN deals with family idiosyncrasies: the O'Brien family is one of wealth, achievement, and success. By all observations bank builder Jack and his wife Carolyn have created a world of earned luxury, shared by son Dan and daughter Julie. But the seeds for Naro's story lie in the unspoken secrets and lies that threaten to destroy the apparently solid family unit.

Dan O'Brien is 23 years old and longs to follow his own dreams rather than follow in the footprints of his workaholic father. When Dan's closest boyhood friend Michael leaves Charlotte, North Carolina for New York, Dan follows his example, despite his father's threats: Dan's love for Michael is of a deeper nature than either lad realizes. Once in New York Dan's dream of a life with Michael is quashed and he must fend for himself. Strikes of fortune follow when Dan rooms with Marty (a performer both on the stage as well as in the S&M consignations in his apartment he performs for money). With Marty's help Dan discovers himself, and ultimately finds his happiness as a gay man, assumes a protective professional moniker, lands a prime job as a model through the kindness of one Steve Baldwin, a highly respected wealthy lawyer who not only connects Dan with a career, but also connects with Dan's heart. The two become a pair, neither telling the other of the secrets of their pasts that connect them in ways that will try their relationship.

Concurrent with the beautifully written love story that is as tender, erotic, and grounded as any other in literature, is a thriller-paced story of the making and breaking of competitive high finance corporations. It is to Naro's credit that he weds these tangent complementary tales so well that they both are full of power and unflagging interest. How the O'Brien family finally opens the windows to the realities of past and present weaknesses brings this compact story to a fast paced ending.

Gene Naro's background in the arts and in Greek drama and in corporate finance provides him with an inordinate depth of knowledge of many fields allowing him to incorporate such topics as philosophy, the 'event horizon' concept of the Black Hole theory, moments of keen reflection on the paintings of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, the raw stages of underground New York City theater, the nuances of contemporary communication and their odd influences on relationships, solid legal and financial investigation , and a true appreciation for healthy gay relationships. He is able to carry the reader through erotic passages without resorting to the raw or lewd mannerisms that can narrow a reader audience.

UNSPOKEN is, simply, that rare brilliant first novel by a writer whose capacity for countless further novels is quite apparent. He seems assured a place in the roster of important writers of the 21st Century. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, November 08

I was contacted by PearlGate Publishing awhile back, and offered a copy of Things Forgotten, a debut novel by Thomas N. Tabback. The premise sounded somewhat interesting, but debut novels are normally such that I try and keep my expectations in check. Turns out that I need not have worried... Tabback has written an incredible novel, made even more so by it being his first try. I was mesmerized by the story, and eagerly looked forward to picking it up each night for reading...

The story starts and ends with a cop by the name of Paul Kelly. He's a New York officer who has seen his share of death and evil. One night while out with his partner, they venture into an alley to follow what looks to be two individuals dragging a body towards a car. Everything looks to be under control, until one of the men pulls a gun, kills Kelly's partner, and pulls the trigger on a point-blank shot to Kelly's head. What should be the end of his life only serves to launch him back in time nearly 3200 years, back to when the nation of Israel was leaving Egypt and was starting to settle the land of Canaan as their own. Kelly drifts out of the hospital and becomes Nahar, someone who has a past as a veteran warrior but who wants nothing more than to just live in peace. He's forcibly conscripted by the Canaanites to fight the Hebrew invasion, but gets captured during the first attack on his position. Taken as a slave, Nahar should be put to death for his killing of one of the Israelites, but Jain (his master) can't shake the feeling that Nahar has something more to offer the Hebrews. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, agrees that God has marked Nahar for something special, and permits him to live. Nahar can't figure out why he's being spared, and tries numerous times to make his escape to head back to his own land. These escapes continually fail, and he slowly starts to become somewhat accepting of his new tribe and life.

Throughout all this captivity, Nahar is haunted by vivid nightmares involving the ritualistic slaying of his family by Baal priests when he was young. Min, an Egyptian leader, is an ever-present evil in Nahar's existence, and is offering Nahar the chance to join him and share in the riches and pleasures of life. Nahar know however, that giving in to Min is unthinkable, and that constant temptation binds him even closer to his Israelite "family". Nahar is conflicted as to what his real purpose is in life, and whether or not he truly believes in the God of Israel. All this leads up to a confrontation between good and evil, where Nahar has to remember his past and do what is right regardless of the outcome.

A 500 page novel by a first-time writer isn't usually a good sign. In this case, Tabback could have gone 700 and I would have been perfectly happy. It's not until the end of the book that you start to understand the Paul Kelly character in relation to Nahar, as 95% of the book takes place 3200 years ago. Still, the ending and merger of the characters back into the present is a nice ending, and sets the stage for additional books (which I *will* be reading). Tabback paints a detailed and rich picture of life in the land of Canaan, going to war against the inhabitants to claim the land. In no time at all, the characters become real people that had me caring deeply as to what happened to them. The love interest between Nahar and Tirzah is also played perfectly, walking the line between customs of the time and the reality of someone who has fallen deeply in love with a very independent woman. All in all, I loved the book...

Tabback is writing a second book to follow this called Rebellion. It will be a must-read for me when it comes out. If it's anything like Things Forgotten, it'll be a memorable read.

What do you think of when someone mentions the Horror genre - vampires and zombies? Homicidal monsters shredding people's throats? Well, there is so much more to Horror than that. This interesting book brings together Horror short stories written by twenty-four different authors, each written in their own individual style.

Now, there are way too many stories in this book to give a synopsis all of them, and they are all so different. I really like The Bees, which I found to be the most horrifying of them all - so ripe with horror and regret. And The Two Sams was absolutely heart breaking.

Yeah, this is an excellent anthology. And, do you know what's the best thing about reading anthologies like this one? It allows you to discover wonderful authors that you have never read before. I really enjoyed this book, and don't hesitate to recommend it.

This is the second volume in Jean Plaidy's well-written "Queens of England" series of books. As in all the books in this series, it is written as a first person narrative, creating an intimacy of style that makes the book all the more compelling and immensely readable. Replete with fascinating period detail, political machinations, public personages, and historical events that were a part of the life of Queen Elizabeth I, the author builds a fascinating, three dimensional portrait of a woman and queen.

The author recounts the early years of Elizabeth, a troubled child, unsure of her place in the affections of her father, King Henry VIII. Knowing that he had had her mother, Anne Boleyn, beheaded, an impressionable Elizabeth observed the succession of women who took her mother's place and assessed how they fared at her father's hands.

Elizabeth lived through the reign of her younger half-brother, Edward VI, as well as that of her half-sister, Mary, during whose reign Elizabeth would come perilously close to losing her life under allegations of treason. Having survived the reign of her sister, whose legacy would forever enshrine her in history as "Bloody Mary" for her fanatical persecution of Catholics, Elizabeth would come to the throne as a Protestant with a penchant for religious tolerance towards her Catholic subjects.

The author takes the reader through the ascension of Elizabeth to the throne and her glorious reign, making the reader understand why Elizabeth I is revered as one of the greatest monarchs the world has ever known. From the early halcyon days of her reign to the more troubled ones that were to follow, the author fully engages the reader. The author also recounts the story of Elizabeth's close relationship with Robert Dudley, her Master of Horse, whom she would make the Earl of Leicester.

Through her, Dudley became one of the most powerful men in her kingdom, as Elizabeth I granted him all but his most fervent wish, which was to have her hand in marriage. This wily and scholarly Queen would not share her power with any man, not even Dudley, a man she professed to love. Nonetheless, she would have a life long relationship with Robert Dudley, and his death, while in his fifties, would mark Elizabeth I for the remainder of her long life.

The fractious relationships Elizabeth I would have with some of her courtiers are recounted, as are the ones that were more harmonious. Familial relationships, scandals, and intrigues would also have their impact, not just on Elizabeth I, but on the monarchy and the world, as well. Such is the lot of monarchs, and the reign of Elizabeth I was no different. World events and their effect on England also pepper this book, and at the center of it all was the indomitable Elizabeth I, a queen regnant who made England into a world power with which to be reckoned. Her reign would go down in history as the glorious Elizabethan era.

This is a wonderful book that those with a penchant for historical fiction will, no doubt, enjoy. Ms. Plaidy is a master storyteller, seamlessly weaving a tapestry of events and personalities that make this book one to be savored.