This is a charming book, depicting 1930s India as seen through the eyes of the schoolboy Swami. All the trials and tribulations of children's daily lives are there: strained relationships with adults (including of course teachers), and falling in and out of friendships with other children. Nothing remarkable or original in this subject matter, but of course there's the British Raj to add to life's complications: the strangeness of having Bible lessons in Indian schools, increasing political tensions and violence, and last but not least, cricket.

American readers who are not familiar with cricket have nothing to fear about the frequent references to it in the book - it's sufficient to know that cricket is a sport which was (and is) hugely popular in India - an added irony as its was adopted after the British brought it with them. However, it may help to know that Swami's nickname of "Tate" is after the famous England international cricketer, Maurice Tate (1895-1956), who was particularly famous in the 1920s and 1930s.

The book is generally well-written, but I found problems with the author's style. Swami's views of the world and the way he expresses himself are not consistently convincing - at times it reads more like the auther stating his own mature views rather than those that would be expressed by a ten year old boy. And, churlish though it may be, I couln't help a small laugh at a line like:

"The teacher came in and stood aghast. He could do little more than look on and ejaculate."

Though this probably says more about the state of my mind and sense of humor than about Narayan's writing.

"Swami and Friends" has a great deal of appeal, but many faults too. However, one must take into account that it was a first novel, and it certainly hasn't put me off reading more of Narayan.

I bought this book based on my memory of the wonderful Indian series "Swami". while the stories from the series are not part of the book, I found the book to be absolutely fascinating. R.K.Narayan is surely one of the giants of Indian fiction!

This Great book form R K Narayan made me remember my childhood and school days and those innocent years. Especially Swami's Grand mother, his friend Rajam and mani's characters touched the heart. This book has got lot of practical humor. Definately this book will keep you at a lighter mood and will make you to remember the stories for ever. Any guy born and brought up in India can find paralles between him and Swamy.

During her last summer in Phoenix, Arizona, before going to an eastern college, eighteen year old Jaime works two waitress jobs and plans her escape from a life forever changed by her father's prison sentence and her sharp-edged romance with Buddy Cobalt.

In the story I enjoyed the whole love vibe they had going on but the author could've went about a few things in a different way. I feel as though the it could've ended a little better then it did . But if you like twisted love stories this is a book a for you , but as for me this wasn't my type of romance! But overall it was pretty good!!!!!

Jaime is a brilliant, original first person narrator and the writing is just magical. I thought this especially true in the opening chapters in which Jaime's past--the life as a girl that she left behind at the end of the summer--catches up with her when she least expects it, when a red Mustang pulls up and parks illegally on a campus road at Bryn Mawr College and a loose end named Buddy gets out.

Jaime wants to take control of her life, and she has. But sometimes she's taken by surprise--by life, or, astonishing to her, by her own feelings. She plans everything and watches everything, but sometimes she doesn't know what she's going to do until she watches herself do it. The writing is so good that the reader is there at each turn, gasping when she gasps, and laughing when she laughs. Jaime is not always likeable, but she is compellingly human.

My Life as a Girl is billed as a book for "young adults," and seems to be marketed toward teenage girls and young women. I didn't see this as a sub-genre novel of limited appeal, though it did get a bit didactic at the very end. I was amazed by Ms. Mosier's power to say so much about the way women relate to each other, in so few words. Guys, when you get to the part where Amanda says, "I thought he had a white car," think about it.

I would recommend this little book to anyone who likes great writing, often very funny, about what people are thinking and feeling. And, to any boy who has ever showed up unexpectedly at a Bryn Mawr dorm on a cold morning, perhaps pathetic, desperate, and undeserving, needing sleep, a change of clothes, a shower and a toothbrush, but hoping for . . . another chance.

I hope that Ms. Mosier will let Jaime tell us much more about Bryn Mawr and her life as a woman. Some of us need the insights.

I can't tell you how much this book made me reflect on what my last summer before college was like. Before coming to Bryn Mawr College myself, the summer of 1997 (or any summer for that matter!) was my last chance to live as a girl. Dar Williams sings, "Get your shirt... No way. It's the last time I'm not breaking any law... I was a boy too..." Jamie feels that this is her last chance to react by impulse and not by thought. College is her chance to be mature and and avoid making stupid mistakes as her father did. But just for this summer, it's okay to be wild.

On a more personal note, the events that take place in Jaime's summer really remind me of my last summer before college. Like Jaime, I dated the biggest idiot, but I had fun. I got hurt, but because I was (and still am!) young, I can learn from my mistakes and get over it. How refreshing to have a book that clearly reflects a girl's life before she enters true womanhood. We're not all rich, blonde, and popular as "The Sweet Valley Twins" are, and Mosier finally writes from a true girl's perspective. There is a time for mistakes, but we must learn from them and not allow these mistakes to ruin our futures.

It's the splashiest period of all ancient history... a near Jerry Springer opera of lust, betrayal, and tawdry affairs. And yet, Michael Grant makes it about as dull as he possibly can.

He presents a very factual and well-researched account, though I take exception to several of his assertions and theories, including the one where he asserts that Octavian wanted Cleopatra to commit suicide because he was afraid the Romans would want to free her as they did her sister Arsinoe. Arsinoe was just one random Egyptian princess who defied Julius Caesar. Cleopatra was the occidental temptress who had ensnared and ruined two of Rome's best men. She was probably the most vilified and hated of all Rome's enemies in history, for with Cleopatra, it was intensely personal. The very idea that the bloodthirsty Romans would have a sudden sentimental streak towards her is pretty laughable.

But on the whole, his theories are soundly researched and well justified, even when I disagree with them. The book has some lovely portraits and a more in depth examination of Cleopatra's forebearers than is usually presented in her biographies. Moreover, he has an excellent perspective on the supposed 'inevitability' of Cleopatra's loss, and how the world may well have been different had things gone another way.

It's a reasonable and scholarly work that makes a fine addition to my collection. If you're looking for something to move you, you may prefer Margaret George's "The Memoirs of Cleopatra".

Cleopatra is a fascinating figure... renowned as a patron of arts and learning, a gifted linguist, and a canny politicians, she is too often remembered as a sex kitten. Grant cuts thru the myths, pro- and anti propaganda to deliver what is probably the best biography on Cleopatra. Writen by one of the marquee lights of classical history, the book is written in academic style, although for the most part it is highly readable. To be honest, I found the first preliminary chapters to be somewhat slow going, but once the story begins it takes off like a grand soap opera. Not as splashy as some other works on the great queen, this is *the* place to go for a detailed, comprehensive look at Cleopatra.

When it comes to ancient history, Michael Grant is the greatest! I've read several of his other books and he never fails to amuse and inform. His book on Cleopatra is informative as well as entertaining. Cleopatra was a Greek Macedonian ruler of Egypt with a deep love for culture and powerful men. Her liaisons with Caesar and Antony are very well described, as are her achievements as queen. Mr. Grant is truly the greatest!

In this novel, Adolf H. did not commit suicide at the end of World War II, but escaped to South-America. After he is captured, he can defend himself for his crimes. His defence contains the same items as these developed in another book of the author 'In Bluebeard's Castle'. Adolf H. took revenge by organizing the holocaust because mankind was blackmailed three times in an absolute manner: by one terrifying almighty God, by the limitless love of his son Christ and by Rabbi-Marx, who wanted to create heaven on earth.
I found the first part of the novel 'the chase of Adolf H.' rather average.
The second part 'The defence of Adolf H.' is a powerful text, but I prefer the treatment of the same themes in his book 'In Bluebeard's Castle': a bold and compelling conjecture about the subconscious motives of the holocaust.

At it most pedestrian moments, George Steiner's novel "The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H." is a "what if" story in which young Israeli Nazihunters find Hitler in the Amazonian jungle thirty years after the end of the Second World War. The genesis for the story comes from the historical disappearance of Hitler's body after his suicide as well as the apprehension, trial and execution of Adolf Eichmann. Now we know that Stalin had Hitler's remains brought to the Soviet Union to prove that the madman was indeed dead, but the idea of holding Hitler accountable for his sins is certainly compelling. While this book does not provide a formal trial, it does raise some fascinating questions.

There are a pair of chapters in Steiner's book that stand out from the mere mechanics of capturing Hitler. In the first the question on the table is what would you do with Hitler once you had him in custody? Here is a man responsible for the deaths of millions, who remains in our minds the greatest mass murderer of the past century no matter what truths come to us about Stalih's purges. How do you extract judgment? Without access to the hellish inferno of Dante's imagination, what punishment could ever hope to provide closure? The fact that a satisfactory answer cannot be found does not detract from the merit of the line of inquiry.

The second important chapter is the last, where Hitler is allowed to speak. The value of this chapter is that it gets beyond the memory of history to the heart of the evil. There is a fatal tendency in the modern world to equate Fascism with Hitler and the Nazis, which means anti-semitism and the Holocaust. The common folk on the street today would point to skinheads as being fascists. But Fascism is a dynamic built upon the Struggle for Order, a world in which the ends justify means that a democratic populace should scorn. Ultimately Steiner speaks to the ironic level on which Hitler achieved a victory of sorts, having cast the world in the image of his own ideology. Certainly the Cold War, which was still in bloom when Steiner wrote this book, is an example of the fascist ideology, where the demands of "national security" becomes a justification for blind obedience.

Reading these two chapters is well worth reading the entire volume, which is but an evening's read. Certainly you can give over one evening of your life to consider the issues raised by "The Portage to San Cristobal of A.H." and come to terms with them on your own. Hitler has become a caricature and while it is difficult to see him for what he truly was, this book definitely looks in the right direction.

This book describes the causality of Nazism (cultural), the theory, and why it failed.

Herman should stick to what he knows, military fiction, and leave the politics out. There is too much going on in this story, a major world crisis, the first female president, etc. Each deserves a novel unto itself. Herman over stretches his knowledge on this one.

I have always enjoyed Mr Herman's books and believed he had a good grasp of what he writes about.

However, being a Malaysian who currently resides in Singapore, I'm apalled at what I've read so far. Yes I'm only halfway through the book but am already wondering about whether to continue reading.

While it is a work of fiction, the factual errors in the book coupled with a poor understanding of Malaysia and Singapore has greatly reduced my opinion of Mr Herman.

He may be an ex fighter pilot and writes well enough about aerial conflict and the workings of the American political and military machine, Herman should have at least put some effort into making the bits about Malaysia and Singapore beliveable.

The Malaysian Army for example is one of the few forces in the world to have successfully put down a communist insurgency. The way he portrayed Malaysian troops makes them sound more like the Iraqi Republican Guards.

US Marines and Rangers regularly train in Malaysia and have acknowledged their professionalism. The Malaysian Armed Forces may not be quite ready to fight a major conventional war, but in the context of this book, they would undoubtedly more than hold their own.

It's fine if you're only catering to the American market who still think Malaysia is a country somewhere in the Carribean but for those of us here who appreciate good fiction, this is a poor effort.

Let's hope he puts more effort into his next book. And no, watching Ben Stiller's Zoolander is not enough if you want to know about Malaysia.

The author's treatment of power politics and aerial warfare is both insightful and exciting. The scenario is plausible and the action fast-paced. I find this this is one of those books that is entertaining to read while at the same time is informative as well.

However, it gives a poor account of Malaysia, the Malaysian army and the Malays. Of course, this is a work of fiction but there are some cultural misconceptions too glaring to ignore. For example, there is a part where a man who speaks Malay (presumably a Malay), tries to kill and eat Sgt Rockne's dog, Boyca. Malays do not eat dogs. Never have and never will.

In all, Last Phoenix is a satisfying read. It's a shame that it had to portray Malaysia and Malays in such a dim light.

After reading Phoenix Sub zero I found myself in a deja vu' situation. I have read Voyage of the Devilfish and this book seems a little bit like it. It has a good plot and a believable scenario but it threads together like Devilfish. A hunt for a super-sub. A super torpedo, both boats blowing up.

I am hoping for a turn around with Barracuda Final Bearing the next book in the Pacino saga

"Phoenix" is sort of like a submarine version of a story that combines "Sink the Bismark" and the story behind the 9-11 attacks. Though it brings back Captain Pacino, commander of the cutting edge nuclear sub "Seawolf" amd hero of other Michael DiMercurio novels, the plot sets the book apart from his other books, and also keeps Pacino on the sidelines for most of the story.

The Plot: The Islamic world has united and formed a massive powerful union (UIF) that wars against the west. The war itself is already old news when "Phoenix" starts. The UIF, led by the enigmatic General Sihoud and slowly realizing that the tide has turned against them, crafts a deadly weapon - a "dirty" radiological bomb that can coat a major american city with a sticky film of plutonium. Unfortunately (for them) the UIF have only figured out how to mount these bombs on short-range cruise missiles, and the UIF has no territory or assets anywhere near mainland America. When a US strike at Sihoud's command narrowly fails to kill Sihoud himself, the general escapes and rendezvous at sea with the "Hegira", a high-tech UIF submarine supplied (like most of the UIF's cutting edge weaponry) by Japan, and already armed with the deadly missiles. Knowing the situation desperate, Sihoud presses the sub to break out of the Mediterranean and into the Atlantic, where they will launch atleast one of their missiles on Washington. Complicating things is the experience and numerical superiority of the Americans, the fact that none of Hegira's torpedo tubes are designed to be re-loaded at sea (like the VLS tubes on latter models of the Los Angeles Class SSN), and that Hegira's hi-tech makes the sub's capabilities almost as mysterious to its crew as it does its enemies. On the other side, 3 of the USN's nuclear subs stand between Hegira and the US - Seawolf, Augusta and Phoenix. Seawolf begins the book in dry-dock, where the Navy had been working feverishly to install tubes for the "Vortex", a revolutionary type of torpedo. When a test for the new torp (a rocket-propelled wonder obviously influenced by the real-life Soviet "Shkval") goes disastrously wrong (both the test target and shooter are destroyed), the USN works feverishly to remove the tubes. The hunt for the Hegira puts a crimp on those plans as well, and Pacino is forced to go to sea with the hated Vortex. Augusta is a latter model Los Angeles Class SSN, almost a match for Seawolf, and commanded by a fearless master of submarine warfare. Between the two subs is Phoenix, an aging "Flight I" Los Angeles Class boat, commanded by the very competent if less-than-stellar commander Kane.

This was a very good submarine thriller (considering "Shark Mutiny" was my last one) which, like the vortex missile packs a punch and a misfire in the same shot. What goes wrong is the basic premise - a pitched war with the UIF (and even the UIF idea) seem pretty far-fetched. Dimercurio goes to a lot of trouble creating Sihoud and getting him to Hegira - but since he doesn't do anything once he's on board (not being experienced or even informed on the dynamics of sub-war), there's no real reason for him to be there at all. The idea that the US will give in after it's been hit by one of the UIF's dirty bombs (in an attack they know can't really be repeated) is also a big stretch. Isn't there an at least as strong possibility that we'd just hit back harder? Other stretches are the Vortex torpedoes - it's clear that they're hazardous from day-one (the Navy test fires them from unmanned drone subs) - but the Navy still guts their top attack sub just to install the unproven weapon aboard. (That Pacinio works up a solution to the problem that otherwise eludes its designers doesn't make that twist any more acceptable) The UIF are largely generic bad guys and (outside of the war situation) they're not really that bad (Dimercurio gives the Islamic crewmen a conscience that's reviled by the suffering they're about to unleash). The book is pretty short on surprises (including an ocean map that charts the course of all subs in the book). The biggest flaw of the book is that it's not really about anybody, so with all of the action going on, we never really know who we're supposed to pay attention to or care about. Though Pacino is supposed to be the hero, the guy Dimercurio really should have headlined was Kane. With his less than stellar credentials and his creaky old submarine, Kane's life expectancy is excitingly low, and the story does place a lot of emphasis on him, without ever showing it cares about what's going through his mind. Dimercurio introduces his characters with a fairly detailed description (unlike Dale Brown, he manages to keep this from interrupting the action) that never otherwise affects how they act or interrlate throughout the rest of the book (Kane's insecurity allows his XO to become a rival figure on the boat, an intriguing idea that disappears once they confront Hegira).

On the plus side, "Phoenix" survives its implausible premise, and the action guarantees that you won't put it down half-finished. The technology of military subs is too complex to be satisfyingly synthesized for landlubbers like us, so Dimercurio does a bang-up job making it as clear as he does and further by conveying the tension each crew faces despite the techno-speak. The compact plot keeps your attentions even if it makes clear why we won't have a sub-thriller as enjoyable as "Red October" or "Sink the Potemkin".

This book kept me gripped until the last pages. Certainly one of the best inside looks at how submariners conduct the business of war deep under the surface. Dimercurio has a very good insight into what takes place aboard a nuclear sub. If you are a Tom Clancy fan, you'll enjoy this one.

The only reason that I finished this book was because I wanted to read Wild Blood (which was just as bad.) It didn't have a very good plot-most of the time there was almost no action. I felt that a lot of the things in the story were irrelevant to the plot, and I thought that the author didn't have a good grasp of her characters. I mean, Tess is a total BRAT to her father, and all he does to punish her is send her to her room? Come on. In real life, she wouldn't have been allowed to go see the phoenix. The only thing I liked about the book was the fact that the author didn't talk down to her audience. Other than that, it was a complete wash-out.

I really did not like this book. The book was really boring.it had some good parts to it like the character Alemgon. She is a girl that can photosynthesisized herself into a Phoenix and a vampire. I think thats very cool. When I first saw the book, I was like wow this book is really great, because the cover attactched me to check it out. So now I know not to ever judge a book by its cover. I think you might want to try it if your older than me, and by the way i'm 13 and couldn't get into it. So that is what I really think of the book.

Tess is a Switcher -- someone who can take on the shape of other animals as freely as they choose, until the age of fifteen, when all Switchers must decide what animal they choose to remain as for the rest of their life. Ever since the terrifying but thrilling adventure with Kevin, another Switcher, in the Arctic, Tess has been pretty lonely since she last saw him. But her world changes once again when Kevin, in the form of a phoenix, is captured. Tess has no way to save her best friend, and she fears the worst will happen. And when she meets a deathly pale, mysterious boy her age named Martin, who is a Switcher, too, she becomes introduced to a terrifying power and a heart of darkness that will rule both her and Martin forever if she can't control her desire on time. The frightening world of the vampires is soon introduced to her through Martin, and there's even more to Martin then she could have ever dreamed. As her fifteenth birthday draws closer, she must decide her future. But will that future be an eternity of something good or evil? In this gripping and powerful sequel to Kate Thompson's thrilling novel Switchers, the author writes with a brilliant emotional writing and measures up to this novel's predecessor. However, I enjoyed Switchers more then this, Midnight's Choice, but this novel was still a wonderful read and the author could not have made a better sequel.

Mr. Basten is not known for his photographic expertise. Just look at one of his earlier books, Bruin Country, where the photographs are the worst I have ever seen in a book of pictures.

I'm sorry to be negative--I'm a big fan of some of Mr. Basten's other books--but this was a disappointment. I expected more (or at least some) text. Hardcover, but only 127 pages, and many of the photos are blown up so that their pixels or scanner artifacts show. The book's graphic style is "Annoying Fifties," which is appropriate, but the caption text is rendered in brush script. Another reviewer said that the first half was all about the early history of the first casinos--would that this were true.

There are lots of "mood" photos, and Charles Phoenix' collection of matchbooks and swizzle sticks are amply presented, but the text is filled with "mid-fifties" and "late 1940s." Call me obsessive, but I like a bit more precision in my history. The book starts with a mention of "Helldorado Day," a tradition that evolved into a four-day annual celebration. Wonder what time of year it occured or whether or not it is still occurring? Me, too.

So, if you'd like to see several dozen historical photos with reasonably good captions, here's your book. Keely Smith's introduction is entertaining. But as another reviewer mentioned, Alan Hess' Viva Las Vegas is better for a real history with actual, um, facts.

I've been to Vegas a dozen times, but the stores are always sold out of this fabulous book. So I was glad to get it here. It's a great, visual tour of old Las Vegas--the place my mom and dad used to go and bring me souvenirs. I like the pictures very much, as well as the artwork from the period, and the brief captions were enough to whet my appetite for more. I want to collect poker chips now! The fabulous shot of Elvis and Liberace, as well as the shots of Sinatra and Mae West are all unbelievable treasures. I don't know how these guys found all this stuff, but my hat is off to them. And actually reading Keely Smith's words after listening to her music for years was a great honor. I recommend this book whole heartedly

The trouble with writers who can write good English is that they can present bad arguments attractively. Let's face it: John Morris was a crank, a very learned, impressive crank, but a crank. My copy of his work is dotted with pencil notes that question his sanity; and while that was the immediate, unmediated response to the impact of a first reading, a subsequent and more placid view does not really mitigate the effect of some of his enormities.
His worst feature was a complete inability to tell the difference between legend and historical fact - understandable, perhaps, in a novice, but incomprehensible in a man who had spent all his life in scholarship. It is typical of his methods (to dignify them by that name) that he should take seriously the Kentish legend of Hengist and Horsa (as related by Nennius), in spite not only of its obviously legendary features but of the fact that it plainly contradicts everything that our best properly historical source, Gildas, has to tell about the first Saxon war. Gildas tells us that the war was a blitzkrieg caused by the sudden fury of starved barbarians; the legend makes it a long-prepared plan. Gildas tells us that it reached as far as the West Country; the legend restricts it to Kent. Gildas tells us that it was bloody but swift; the legend makes it last ten years. How does Morris get over these hurdles? Why, by a simple and airy remark: "accounts of the war north of the Thames have not survived". He should have said not only north of the Thames but west of the Medway; but let that pass, since at any rate it shows the level of his critical intellect. This sort of thing is highly damaging, not only because it legitimated the destructive scepticism of the currently prevalent Cambridge school of David Dumville and his followers, but because it has a lethal fascination for the unprepared reader, impressed (as some of the earlier reviews show) by the show of learning, and by the cohesive picture offered. The learning is not fake (although on a few occasions, especially when dealing with Rigothamus and Brittany, Morris leaves the impression of having invented sources, or at least read them very "creatively"); but learning is not enough, and a poorly grounded overall picture is worse than none at all. I have written myself about this period of British history, and am continuously surprised at Morris' blindness to obvious fact when inconvenient for his theories.
This book escapes getting only one star for two reasons: first, its genuinely excellent prose style; and second, that in the middle of the scholarly ordure there are a good few diamonds. From time to time, Morris comes up with genuinely brilliant ideas and insights (such as his argument for the existence of an individual insular idea of Empire, or his defence of the currently unpopular early dating of St.Patrick). But these are too widely scattered among a fluent tide of nonsense to be a reason to recommend the book. Though addressed to lay readers, this book is dangerous for them; it should be restricted to those who, having as much learning as Morris himself, are able to judge and condemn his arguments.

Morris's "Age of Arthur" is a scholarly work on Dark Age Britain, and the tribes it comprised. As anyone reading the history of the first millenium will realize, the quality and extent of reliable sources on European history drops off in a major way, following the collapse of the Roman Empire, and much of Morris's story relies on archeological evidence and pieced-together fragments of local annals. For this reason, this is not a terrific work of narrative history, but on the other hand, it is a solid survey of what went on in pre-Norman, post Roman Britain.

The title of the book refers to the Arthur myth, to which some (but not all) of the book is devoted. Morris's thesis is that the Arthur legends are traceable to a real-life British king, who brought the disparate British (i.e. non-English, non-Saxon) tribes in a coherent political unit, and whose reign was much venerated in the following centuries, when the British peoples became fragmented and vulnerable to invasion. In his treatment of the British and other tribes (e.g. the Scots and Picts) Morris is slightly susceptible to the tendency to find proto-nationalistic traits, when perhaps there were none. Still, a useful and coherent reference point for Dark Age Britain.

If John Morris never wrote another book, his AGE OF ARTHUR would have to be described as a lifetime achievement. I bought this book because I've been fascinated with King Arthur for some time, and this book is THE history of the period before, during and after Arthur. Only about one-fifth of the pages in the book are about Arthur's life, but Morris convincingly describes Arthur's time and his lasting effect on the cultures and governments of the British Islands. He also makes a convincing case that history is not predestined.

THE AGE OF ARTHUR covers a period that has been condescendingly labeled the "dark ages" by some. Morris suggests this age is not so much obscure as it has been overlooked. (Or was at the time he published his book. Many new "early Medieval studies" were published in the 1990s). Morris demonstrates that scholarship about this era can be carried out by using annals; lives of the saints; law codes; land grants and religious charters; "histories" such as those written by Gildas and Bede; graffiti and tomb inscriptions; poetry; chronicles; wills; genealogical records; archeological evidence from cemeteries, burial mounds, and barrows, houses, villages, encampments, battle fields and other sites; and linguistics analysis. He has done a magnificent job of identifying and synthesizing much of the extant material. His book is loaded with suggestions for scholars who want to continue investigating this era. I doubt you will find a better book for an overview of this period or for research leads.

Among other topics, I was intrigued with the various ways the Welsh (Angle for foreigner), Irish, Scots (Latin for Irish), and German peoples including the Angles of Arthur's age dealt with everyday issues. Their social and legal problems were not so very different, but the Irish and the Welsh (Roman Britains) appear to have been somewhat more practical and humane. They were much more concerned with compensation than revenge or punishment and more than once Morris refers to them as early humanists. For example, an (adulterous wife) was expected to compensate her offended husband by paying him "face money." Some of the old laws from this age are still "on the books." For example, the notion that seven years cohabitation by persons of opposite sex creates a "common-law marriage" is at least 1500 years old and is the law in places such as the Commonwealth of Virginia which follows English Common Law.

I suppose when someone dies or is murdered, the number of books published immediately after their demise says something about the infamous nature of the case.

This book "Lost In Hollywood" is one such case. For those of you who are not River Phoenix nutjobs, take it from one. :) This book is filled with errors. Please keep that in mind in your quest for knowledge.

You're probably better off visiting "Rio's Attic" on the internet.

Let's talk about the good stuff first. The book is in depth about River's life. The author did alot of research and wrote a pretty good book. The titles of the chapters kept me going, eventhough I already knew most of the information. The pictures inside were rare and candid, sortta. I found out some new info about River that I didn't know before, but I still have to find out if the book has the facts correct. Now the bad parts. There were huge basic mistakes in the book. First they kept spelling Joaquin Phoenix's name wrong. In the beginning it was Yoaquin, then Toaquin. Second, they left out River's 2nd sister Liberty, she was born July 5, 1976. The do mention her later, but many times they leave her out. There are more mistakes throughout the book, but I'm not going to bother with them....Enjoy the reading P.S. Since this book is out of print, you might want to look for another edition titled: River Phoenix The Biography, it's the same book (by the same author), but with a different title.

Any River Phoenix fan would be amazed at the River you didnt see when reading this book. It tells all the "what the media didnt tell you". From before being born tohisdeath,learn about friends, family, and the unfortunate life of River that brought it to end. As a River Phoenix fan still, I enjoyed every word. I highly recommend reading it!