I first read this in high school and I fell in love with her words and the power that she has in her writting. After going through a difficult break up... I re-read her poems and was filled again with her honesty and strenght and I can unclench my teeth long enough to tell him so.

Alice Walker not only writes astounding books, but her poetry is real, familiar, and powerful. This book was originally published in 1975, one of her earlier works, but rings with the same truth today as then. Soft-spoken, Walker nonetheless is sure of her truths, and diligent in communicating them. Love poems for her people, for all people, and for the men she has been accused of hating. Thanks, Alice, for your spirit.

The Gospel of Colonus "Greatest Performances" on video IS the BEST performances I have ever seen. I have searched HI and LOW for the video and still no luck. It has to be away to get this video!!! All I have is the PBS version (shown in 1985)and you can imagine how it is now. (sad face) But I recommend that EVERYONE see this performance. The story of Oedipus transformed into a gospel play that will send shivers up your spine! As you look at the video, you will forget where you are at the moment and think that you are there. I am sure the book is great, but the PLAY is AWESOME!!! I believe the play is MUCH better than the book because you can live it an feel what each character is feeling. THEY NEED TO PRINT THE MOVIE!!! WE NEED BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND!!!

Of course everybody knows the Oedipus myth, it's like something out of a Jerry Springer show {grin}. But what happened afterwards?
This adaptation of Sophocles' OEDIPUS AT COLONUS by Lee Breuer retains the spirit of the Greek playwright's reflections upon death, while giving it a baptism into the African-American church. But it is Bob Telson's gospel/blues-inflected songs (performed by the Soul Stirrers, Clarence Fountain and the Blind Boys of Alabama, among others) on the cast album (not included here, this is just a paperback, the text of the play) that make this 'Gospel' experience what it is.
...It only had a short run on Broadway in the 1980's, yet the memories will reverberate long afterwards...

Be sure to get the cast CD for maximum enjoyment...

...Pity the GREAT PERFORMANCES video is out of print...

truly captures the era and times. Makes me realize all that my forefathers' sacrificed and why we should fight to preserve the confederate flag so that they are not forgotten. Our heritage has been swept aside by so many who want to rewrite history, and we should not let that happen. This book is many true stories of a brave southern army who fought like no other before or since. southern army who fought against all odds.

I found this book to be the most informative about what it meant to be a cavalryman. The stories tell of hardship, devotion to their country, and gives a sense of being there where the action takes place.

The best of the best another great book from the Birthright Series

I fell in love with this novel. All of the characters are interesting, the plot is amazing, and there is never a dull moment. I strongly suggest reading this book.

I agree with the previous reviewer's writeup of this book. It is full of very useful information.

I bought my copy when it came out almost ten years ago, and I am dismayed to find that the authors have not been encouraged to create several more-current editions during all these years.

Bob Hall and Mary Lee Kerr have done an exceptional job compiling useful information in this volume. The book includes the topics of air- and water quality, use and abuse of energy - including automobiles, toxic and hazardous waste, chemicals and other factors that affect us in our homes and workplaces, and governmental policies in place to help clean up our act. It also includes information and statistics on state parks and forest, fishing and hunting, water-front activities, and other leisure-time topics.

The information is laid out in an easy-to-read format with maps, charts, and statistics in each section. Every subject has a separate scale by which the states are ranked as well as an over-all ranking. Another section listing the best and worst environmental aspects of each state is also included. If you are wanting one or two quick facts about the environmental health of a certain state, these maps and ranking charts are a terrific way to find them. Quick and painless.

A list of indicators is given for each topic (i.e. air sickness lists 18 indicators and sources), as well. These "indicators" are the different types of pollution/problems that exist and their sources. In addition to the maps, charts, statistics, and rankings, is a very informative narrative further explaining the research findings. For those of you wanting a little more information, you'll find it here.

This book is a good resource for anyone, whether you're looking for the healthiest place to live or curious about the environmental health of your current home. I'd recommend it to anyone concerned about the air they breath or the water they drink. Be warned, however, the truth can sometimes be painful (and frightening). Perhaps more of us need to be aware of these statistics.

The authors have done a great service by putting this book out. My only wish is that there were a more current index. Well, Bob Hall and Mary Lee Kerr, when can we expect it?

This book is an incredibly charming read, made even better by the beautiful pictures. I enjoyed it so much that I have given several copies of this book to friends and family. When I grow up (?), I want to be an archaeologist!!

Thank you, Naomi Miller, for giving me many evenings of pleasure.

Amazon.com had a mistake in the listing (since corrected) which prompted me to write and take the opportunity to transmit what my friends say about the book (I, of course, would be too prejudiced to write my own review):

One of the people pictured in the book wrote to me: "Thanks a million for your wonderful book. I've just spent a while taking refuge from a grumpy evening by flipping through it, pausing to read about the parts of your life I don't know. How wonderfully generous of you to enshrine us like this, with such precise evocation of time, space, foolishness & purpose."

Another friend wrote:"Your lovely book of drawings and watercolors arrived yeaterday. [We] were immediately entranced by the images and text--such an amusing, informative down-to-earth description life on the dig. The watercolors are really wonderful, but I've always known that.... I had never seen the Shiraz bazaar or Malyan village scenes. Then there are all the pals: ...--they evoke such memories! Is that Dash, the Wonder Dog, on the back cover? Remember, he had a "thing' for you, invading your bedroom with his cargo of fleas! And there he is, wagging his tail at your photograph. Plate 16 is a sweet rendering of my favorite view of Yassihöyük. The Euphrates views are as close as I ever need to get to that old river. Finally, I love all the little sketches scattered throughout--especially the birds and animals. Thanks again for the originals, which I treasure, and thanks for the book. ..."

And another friend wrote: "...Your book is wonderful: your narrative is a delight to read and you know how much I admire your watercolors--each is exquisite w/ great sureness of line, balance of composition pacing & repetition that makes a whole of the multi-paneled ones, and of course great use of colors to die for. I love them! I am lucky to have seen many in incomparable person but there were some that were new to me--the luminosity of the originals and your wonderful backlighting were undiminished in reproduction. Of course we love best of all discovering new things in the plates with each reading.
Congratulations in getting your book out. I am so happy that everyone else will get to share in the pleasure of looking at them.
Thank you again, I am most proud to possess a copy so wonderfully inscribed!"

I won't bore you with the rest of the rave reviews!

In recent years Twayne Publishers has done a fine service for the study of social movements through a series of now twenty-five short studies. These have included such movements as the American Peace Movement, the Antinuclear Movement and the Creationist Movement. While varying in analytical content, they have provided an unusually valuable basis for describing and thinking about the variety of objects contained in the term "Social Movements." Gregg Lee Carter, Professor of Sociology at Bryant College, has added another highly useful volume to that series. Carter's emphasis is largely on two gun control organizations, Handgun Control, Inc. (HLC) and the counterorganization, the National Rifle Association (NRA). Carter also analyses some of the issues and thinking about guns in the U.S., such as their relation to violence, the impediment to gun control in the Second Amendment, and what he describes as the "myth of the frontier legacy." Carter opens with a chapter on the relation of violence to guns and finds the data research ambiguous. In concluding the chapter he poses what he calls the central question for the rest of the book: "why the gun control movement has seen so little success. Why does the United States lack strict national gun control laws?" Much of the remainder of the book attempts to answer this question by closer analysis of the two organizations: the HLC and the NRA. Carter's analysis of the Second Amendment and the alleged role of a frontier legacy convinces him that these often cited explanations have little factual basis; yet the limited victories of the gun control movement and the successful opposition of the NRA remains a problem. The question is deepened by his analysis of polls. Large majorities support control measures although their intensity and commitment may not be deep. The author emphasizes that while the public appears supportive of gun control, they did not approve of banning guns. This reluctance, as he describes it, has been a defining issue in the gun control movement. From its formation in 1974, the HLC has broken with prior organizations that had advocated banning guns. In 1977 a "palace coup" in the NRA transformed that organization from being a spokesman for hunters and rifle users. Prior to that it was unopposed to controls, a sharp contrast to its present fierce antipathy toward all such efforts. Since 1977, it has been highly successful in preventing national legislation for controls. While the HLC, on the other hand, has had some successes, such as the Brady bill, in the main it has not achieved most of its goals. Carter also reviews a number of polls concerned with the sources of gun control support and opposition. While he points to sources of financial support and lobbying activities of the NRA he has no clear analysis of why the organization has been so overwhelmingly opposed to any gun control measures, why its membership is so intense in their support and why legislators are so readily influenced by them. Perhaps there is no ready answer, but to attempt one is essential to more effective analysis. Other lobbying groups have not had intense support like that of the NRA. Perhaps the virtue of shortness is also the vice of limiting analysis. It is fate of studying ongoing movements to be overtaken by events after being written. Currently the movement is seeking its goals on local playing fields and in the courts. Nevertheless the author's historical and sociological data make it a necessary study for social movement analysis and for those concerned with the issues of guns and their control in America.

Joseph Gusfield, University of California, San Diego

Choice, February 1998, p. 1070

Carter, Gregg Lee. The Gun Control Movement. Twayne/Prentice Hall International, 1997. 166p bibl index afp ISBN 0-8057-3885-1

Carter's short book provides a useful introduction to issues related to gun control in the U.S. Among the critical questions he examines are American attitudes toward gun control and the degree to which these attitudes correspond to the agendas of key organizations such as Handgun Control Inc. and the National Rifle Association. In addition, this book explores conflicting interpretations of the Second amendment, the effect of the frontier legacy on American views of guns, and the connections among society, politics, and the gun control movement. In a very well balanced assessment, the author analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the pro- and anticontrol arguments and the organizational capacities of Handgun Control Inc. and the NRA. The introduction includes some valuable cross-national comparisons related to gun violence and gun control. The book also contains some important demographic profiles of typical pro- and anticontrol individuals, and examines the internal contradictionswithin each camp. In sum, this is a helpful overview situated in the broader context of social movement theory.

-Peter Seybold, Indiana University-Bloomington

I agree with everything in the previous review, especially the Russell versus Midler versions of the movie. This is a wonderful show, and I am the lucky woman who gets to play Rose in my local theatre's production. I bought this book because Tams-Witmark sends out "sides" for each role -- a small book that includes only the character's lines with just a few words of the cue before. Having the full script is a great help, but be aware that this book is slightly different from the version used by Tams-Witmark. I'm marking the changes in my full script and using it, though, because it's much more convenient.

Do get the memoir Gypsy by Gypsy Rose Lee. It's amazing to see how much of this show was taken directly from the pages of her autobiography. Rose and Herbie were somewhat romanticized in the show, as was Tessie the stripper and many other aspects of the story -- hey this is Broadway! There can't be *too* much misery! But the cow really did come to Rose in a dream and really did get them on the Orpheum Circuit. They really did bleach a gaggle of girls' hair blonde. Both books are great reads.

I am a student in Chicago's New Tuners Workshop, an organization devoted to the writing of new works of musical theatre. In our first year, we are required to read GYPSY. Our artistic director, John Sparks, considers GYPSY to be one of the finest book musicals ever written.

The lead part of the Mama Rose is often considered the musical theatre equivalent of Lady MacBeth or Hedda Gabler. Lucky is the woman who gets to play her. Three women have played her on Broadway: Ethel Merman (in the original production), Angela Lansbury (in a 1970's revival) and Tyne Daly (in a 1990's revival). Lansbury and Daly both won Tony awards for their perfomances. Merman lost in 1960 to Mary Martin in "The Sound Music." She was robbed!

Musical highlights of the show include the character defining "Some People," the desperate "Ev'rything's Coming up Roses" and the tour-de-force finale, "Mama's Turn." A majority of the songs are Mama Rose's, the result, apparently, of Ethel Merman's ego. Nevertheless, it works brilliantly.

If you are looking for a version of this show on video, AVOID the Rosalind Russell version from the early sixties, in favor of the recent Bette Middler version. Not only is the Middler version more faithful to the original play, Bette does her own singing (Lisa Kirk sang for Russell) and her performance rivals Merman's.

If you love musicals, you will love this book. Read it yesterday!

All of the best lines from the great "film noir" classics are here. There's a line to cover just about every subject, and you can amaze, amuse or astound your friends by using these quotes in everyday conversation. And, in the process, you can discover some pretty great films, as well--there's a lot of gems in here, and not just big ones like "The Maltese Falcon" or "The Big Sleep." Check da others out--you'll be glad ya did!

The book hit me like a cold, hard slap in the face.

The book is handsome and filled with all kinds of noir lines and photos. It's very funny. After reading it, it made me go online and search for these great B&W jems on tape.

This is the forth harmonica book I have purchased and it is the best so far. The music is complete; not like other books with only parts of songs. The size of the book is good because the music is not compressed and allows easy reading. I also like the songs in it. I must say that I have no musical abillity and I was able to play songs in a short a time. If I were to buy one book this would be the one.

It was a great book. I had never picked up a musical instument or looked at a sheet of music before. Now I'm pretty good and can play Ode To Joy by Beethoven.