This is absolutely the best fictional work about slavery and emancipation I have ever read--eat your heart out, Toni Morrison.

Although Hersey offers very little explanation about how the world got to be the way it was in the book (how would a nation ravaged by smallpox be able to successfully prosecute a war?), he spares no detail concerning how white slaves could fit into Chinese culture.

And yet, the book is not prophetic; it is simply a good read for anyone who is interested in a fresh look at an old issue.

I thought this was the best book I've ever read. It's a little long, but it's worth reading. It's well written, it's interesting, and it is realistic. It's a story that seems like it could really happen, and it makes you stop and think what you would do in a situation like White Lotus finds herself in. John Hersey makes you feel like you're in the story, or listening to White Lotus sitting right across from you telling you her story!

This book will touch you emotionally and intellectually. White Lotus is a view of the future that provides the reader with insights into slavery and the black experience in America. The machines and technology once a part of world culture are gone. American civilization as we know it is gone. A young white girl is captured from her Arizona enclave and marched to the sea. She's transported as a slave to the east to serve the now powerful Chinese. The story is beautifully written and reads well on all levels. The heroine's many experiences mirror the history of the African-American experience leading up to the civil rights movement. White Lotus should be required for reading and discussion in schools and deserves to be reprinted.

this book not only puts the music into perspective but also the struggle that still goes on too this day.very upfront&honest about problems that still linger.it traces the journey&challenges it's reader too better understand the reason for the whys??one of the best Books that I have ever read from start too finish.

not just about music - jones weaves the detailed and complicated history of african americans throughout this thoughtful, opinionated and very honest book. blues is stripped of over-simplified origins and rooted deeply in the heart of a people and culture with many layers and voices. fascinating and real - a must read.

Amiri Baraka (aka Leroy Jones) wrote a book about the move from Africa to slavery and from slavery to citizenship, and from "African to Negro" in his words. As music was the most profound artistic expression of this move, Baraka analyses each stage of social change through the music it produced.
As Baraka concentrate on the process, he does not put any emphasis on names and details of the musicians. The book is not in any way a list of "who's who in Blues or Jazz".
The book is critical of American mainstream culture, describing it as shallow and un-creative. Baraka observes that Blacks who have tried to belong to the mainstream (white) society have not been able to produce any music of value. He believes that their rejection of their Blues (slavery) roots made them too as shallow and un-creative as the society they wanted to join.
Baraka is most knowledgable of Bebop and its developments up to free Jazz, as they are the closest to his generation. He is admittedly less connected to country blues, which for him expresses the first stage in the post slavery black society.
The book is magnificent in its originality and boldness. I think it is essential reading for anyone interested in African American music and/or culture.

Much like the film this book by Elizabeth Von Arnim inspired, there is something peaceful here on these pages. This is a gentle novel about the gradual internal changes brought about by the beauty of our surroundings. It is a book that reads itself as much as it is read, the author writing with the flow of the characters thoughts and feelings as their hearts are changed by the suprise of beauty.

An ad to rent a castle in San Salvatore on the Italian Riviera will prompt two British women, Rose and Lottie, with only a passing acquaintance, to inexplically leave their husbands behind for a summer that will change their lives and their marriages forever.

Joining Rose and Lottie for this holiday is Mrs. Fisher, an older woman living in the past, and Lady Caroline Dester, a grey-eyed society beauty tired of being gawked at like a majestic statue, not allowed to be human. Diverse in nature and temperment, not to mention background, they interact uneasily together until the flowers and the sea bring about a change in their souls.

Surrounded by fig and olive trees, plum blossoms and Tamarisk daphnes, and the scents of fortune's yellow rose and blooming acacia, the women slowly find their roles at this castle by the sea, and in doing so find themselves as well. New insights will prompt Rose and Lottie to send for their husbands. Lady Caroline, or 'Scrap' as she is known, will find love in spite of her wish to be alone and her great beauty. Mrs. Fisher will form a friendship with Lottie and her husband, and discover a renewed zest for creativity in this heaven by the sea.

This is a novel about life and love, told gently through the emotions of these women, as the the suprise of beauty and the warmth of being suddenly admired and seen as beautiful, when they had not been before, changes their simple lives, which were not so simple at all. You will definitely enjoy this novel if you enjoyed the film. It is about love restored, and love discovered, along the wistaria covered steps leading down to the sea.

"Enchanted April" is one of my favorite books. It is such a warm, witty, wonderful story, full of hope and romance. I hear it is going to be a Broadway show this April! (fittingly) I cannot wait... I know I'm going to be the first one on line for tickets, that's for sure. All you other "Enchanted April" lovers out there, I urge you to come see this show! I'm sure this will be one of the finest shows on Broadway in a long time!

Yay "Enchanted April!"

This is a delightful story...one of my favorite books! Gives you a little faith that even seemingly irreconcileable situations can be restored or transformed, that drastically different people can find common ground and become friends, and that people can change their lives for the better! A sunny read for a dark winter day!

I purchased a new copy of this book back in 1986. It has to be one of the best books ever written regarding business start-ups. I guardedly loaned the book to friends over the years and eventually LOST this valuable resource. After searching for some time (plus sending some company wide e-mail pleas) I purchased an excellent condition copy from a seller on AMAZON. Later, to my delight, the LOST copy magically reappeared on my desk! I now have my original, with 16 years of hand written notes in the margins, plus a "clean" copy. Every entrepreneur should be so lucky. If you are new to starting a business, desire business structure skills, need sales technique review, or just want some business related inspiration, this book is for you.

I read this book in 1984, still in college, and it changed my professional life ferever. It has always been in my personal reference library, that means I do not lend it to anyone. Sorry for the other reviewers who did lend this book and lost it. This was my first business book, reading many others, but no one has been able to even come close to this jewel. It is not just good for entrepreneurs, but also for business people and anyone interested in understanding business. For me this is THE BUSINESS BOOK, everything else is rhetoric.

My review will sound like a broken record when compared with the others: Like nearly everyone else, I had bought a copy when it was in print over 20 years ago. Like nearly everyone else, I read it, loved it, and then lent it out...only never to see it again. Like the others, I never forgot it. Now that I'm involved in a new start-up, I tracked down another copy and it's not going far from me. Let me steal from another review below: "This is by far the very best book that has ever been written for budding entrepreneurs...Even though it was written in 1977, don't shy away. Over 99% of the information is still viable in today's business world."
That says it all. Published by Chilton, this is a nuts-and-bolts, no-nonsense approach to start-ups, from manufacturing to service industries. You can't lose with this book.

Ellen Emerson White's strength lies in her heroines, specifically in their "voice". They are smart, self-effacing, strong and incredibly sardonic. Witty may be the better word. This voice, which ensures the reader's investment in the heroine's future, is what makes All Emergencies Ring Super such an entertaining read.

Consequently, mystery buffs may not find All Emergencies Ring Super entirely to their liking. All Emergencies Ring Super is, in many ways, more a thriller than a mystery. The reader is gripped by the heroine's actions--in the face of quite plausible dangers--rather than by a string of clues and red herrings. The mystery is as basic and unpretentious as any Diagnosis Murder episode (Diagnosis Murder episodes may be standard fare, but they are well-written and well-directed). The villain--who is believably portrayed as both attractive and despicable (a difficult synthesis that White does very well)--is nevertheless a stock character. And there are various political cliches floating around.

All told, the reader hardly notices. The heroine, her friends, her more or less boyfriend, her dog even holds our interest and our sympathy with their quirks, vivacity and the kind of fast-paced repartee that supposedly died with Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert.

Recommendation: If you don't care for thrillers, get it for the dialog and the resident's view of NYC. It is a quick read and at paperback price, is definitely worth the expense.

Ellen Emerson White became one of my favorite authors when I was in jr. high. Her books, The President's Daughter & White House Autumn, are outstanding young adult literature. I was so happy when I found out that she'd written an adult mystery & All Emergencies, Ring Super did not disappoint. It's an intriguing mystery with an insane sense of humor. Try it- you will not be disappointed!

I have always been a fan of Ms. Emerson since my teenage years when I had to own every single one of her YA novels. I don't typically read mystery novels, but this novel, with vivid characters and plenty of humor, introduced me to a whole new genre. This book is not predictable in the least with plenty of witty diagloue and (almost humorous) suspense. I couldn't put the book down, but then reluctantly did when I finished the last page. I've been hoping Ms. Emerson continues a series with Dana. I am not sure if Dana would be better off in law school or continuing on as a P.I. And I certainly do hope for more romance between her and the D.A.

I Really Enjoyed this Book because it is Honest.it deals with America's Greatest Problem Race.this Book takes a look at Multi-Racial Culture it's effects&Outlooks.fitting in&still trying too Remain ones Self-Indenity.it tackles Social Issues&The World at Large.Multi-Racial Children are Beautiful but Society at Large still thinks of the One Drop Of Blood Rule.People Should Be Allowed too be Proud of all The Beauty that is their Creation not Be Limited.cuz that is what makes Everyone Unique.Very Powerful Book.

Black White Other is a simple yet graciously objective read. It is written in such a simple style that it is like meeting a good friend for a coffee.

It is a series of interviews with 70+ black/white biracial people of a great array of age, gender, and life experience.

Although the subject mater, 'race' is often genralised, the people in this book are all approached as individuals in every way. With very different lives,personalities and opinions.

For those of you that are of mixed race, you will find this book very comforting, there are many people that understand you. For those that aren't in our situation, don't be afraid to sit down listen to these voices, embrace the lesson and let it manifest in your life.

Funderburg does an excellent job of finding biracial people and asking questions that help them to explain their understanding of race and how it was formulated. My husband and I plan to have children and I have reseacher biracial children and identity for the past two years. Black, White,Other helped to answer a lot of the questions that we have had and I have also share this information with other mixed couples. As licensed therapists this information will be passed on and used to help other biracial people and their parents through tough times. Some of the stories were sad and some made me mad because of the way the children were treated but I found this to be very helpful expecially with clients because life is not always happy-go-lucky Funderburg does an excellent job of saying this though real people's lives. It is an easy read.

The slightest figment of hope, even when totally fabricated, may spell relief in an otherwise hopeless situation. Survivors of shipwrecks and other disasters have often proved the power of hope. Mourning their lost comrades who died in dispair, survivors recount how they continued to support themselves with fantasies of being rescued. Sometimes optimism, even if irrational, has greater value than more realistic approximations to truth.

Recently I was fortunate to read a book which helped me to experience this paradox in a novel way. Weeping Willow (Farrar Stroux) is a book I ordinarily would not have read. Working so much with the printed word, reading fiction is not something I usually choose for my leisure time. Moreover, this particular book was written primarily for teenage girls. It's the sort of book they'd love, detailing a young woman's coming of age within a poor family in the Virginia mountains, struggling to emerge from the last years of high school out into a larger world. I read the book out of respect for the author, Ruth White, who is one of A.R.E.'s librarians. It is her second book. I recall browsing through her first, Sweet Creek Holler, which won an American Library Association award as a Notable Children's Book. I had put it down because of the subject matter and presumed adolescent audience, but was haunted later by its deceptively simple style of writing and the mood the mountain dialect evoked. When Ruth gave me a copy of her new book, I immediately sat down and read it. As I was nearing the end of the story, I began to cry. I didn't know why I was responding this way to a "kids book" and felt somewhat embarrased with myself. By the end of the book, however, there was no holding back my uncontrollable tears and I was heaving sobs of release. Later that day I found myself blurting out to people feelings I would normally keep to myself. I could not deny that the book had exerted a powerful, if mysterious, effect on me. It remained on my mind for over a week as I pondered its meaning.

The tale is about a girl named Tiny whose prospects for the future are grim. Poverty, being needed around the home, and a lack of expectations in the community narrow her chances of stepping out. Her meager pickings are further sullied by the specter of incest by a step-father. The book handles this topic very gracefully but we can feel the depressing, life draining effects it has on Tiny. There is a happy ending, however. What turns things around? The book begins with a vignette showing how an unsympathetic school teacher forces a young Tiny to disavow her imaginary playmate, "Willa." Periodically through the story she tries to call Willa back, but to no avail. Only when she is in deep dispair over her encounters with her stepfather does Willa return to comfort her. Just as in many documented cases of real life victims of childhood abuse who find their companionable imagination and inner voices to have paranormal ablities, so does Tiny find Willa providing some special guidance that saves the day in a critical moment. By responding to her inner guidance, Tiny is able to face an important challenge and graduates from survival into the larger world of success.

I now know why the book affected me so profoundly. Several times in my life I have known hopelessness, whether through addictions, depression, or interpersonal tangles. I was saved from my first encounter with hopelessness almost magically. The second time around, however, I had to participate more actively in my own rescue. Through successive encounters I was learning, as has every wounded healer, Cayce's secret of transforming crisis to creativity. I discovered that I have an imaginary companion who has a special magic. The companion doesn't usually appear as a vision of a superior being, or as a fairy god mother, or even as a fairy. It usually comes first simply as "The One Who Listens." This friendly ear appears as I become willing to listen to myself. If I have to resort to basics, I get my journal and write how I feel and have an imaginary good listener write out, without judgment or interpretation, simply a "receipt" for what I said ("What I hear you saying is..."). The "One Who Listens" becomes the hint of a special companion. Receiving the gift of listening calms me, my feelings begin to unravel, and a natural intelligence appears. What was at first mere listening now becomes a gateway to wisdom, a companion with guidance. The acceptance of my feelings begins a process of recovery of the ability to hope.

Throughout most of the book, Tiny's attitude toward her life has a special quality. Even if only by dint of the author's use of a first person style, Tiny can acknowledge her feelings. Her breakout to success isn't all to Willa's credit. At a critical moment Tiny herself takes action. Hers is an act of listening. She listens to herself and she hears a clue her little sister's been giving her. Then she gets her mother to listen. These little acts of listening bring about significant change.

Sometimes we can feel too helpless to initiate change and, as Tiny and I both know, self-hatred may seem to be the only thing we can still assert. You may find, however, as we both did by listening even to our self-hate, that there is something good inside, a core untouched by life's wounds, that welcomes us home like the prodigal child returned to awareness. Accompanied by sweet and sour tears, sadness now recognized at a new level of acceptance becomes sadness now open to hope.

A book of fiction for children turns out to be not fiction at all, and not for children only. A simple truth, well told--I wish all my non-fiction reading were as valuable.

To read Henry's essays on other interesting books in the field of consciousness, spirituality, dreams

I remember reading this book in the 6th grade and it has been my all- time favorite book ever since! I love to read it over and over. I highly recogmend this book to anyone. I hope you get as much out of it as I have!

Too melodramatic, people have said. Yes, and we all know rape is, in real life, just a lovely stroll through the park, right? This is the best book I've ever read, and I'm not just saying that. If you like Weeping Willow, check out "When She Hollers and Kivrin

This is a tight and powerful novel. It is more or less unique in Russian literature in that it is the story of a "typical" (i.e. non-socialist) family affected by the Revolution and Civil War. Bulgakov grew up in Kiev and his love for the city comes through very strongly. When I read this book I knew very little about the historical events it describes but this didn't prove much of a problem in the long run.

I am also astounded that only three people reviewed this book. The novel centers on the Turbin family living in Kiev, Ukraine during the Civil War (1918 - 1921) that followed World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the Russian empire fell apart in 1917, the Ukraine declared an independent state in early 1918 led by a parliamentary leader called a Hetman. The Hetman Skoropadsky in The White Guard is the second such leader. Skoropadsky assumed power with German support and intervention. Having just lost World War I and being not all that interested in the Ukraine anyway, the Germans could not support Skoropadsky enough to quell the inevitable power struggle. In the Ukraine, there arose armies of Tsarists (led by Deniken, mentioned briefly in the book), Bolsheviks (who, of course, ultimately win but are not major players in the book), and Socialist nationalists led by Simon Petlyura. The Turbins enlist in a local guard unit supporting the Hetman against Petlyura's much larger army. It soon becomes clear that their loyalty to the Hetman is misplaced, but the Turbins' loyalty to each other, their city, their friends and neighbors, and their commanding officers is heart-warming. Besides "heart-warming" there are also running gun battles, sabre decapitations, machine gun ambushes, and enough action to please all but the most hard core testosterone addicts. Petlyura is regarded by many Ukrainians as a great general (no opinion from me), but many readers will enjoy despising Petlyura for the pogroms he instituted that killed 100,000 Ukrainian Jews. Petlyura is called a "dirty Yid" at a point in the book that might give insight into Bulgakov's view on these pogroms. This book is both a taut thriller and a beautiful story of loyalty and love. Brian says "Check it out" (Sorry, Joe Bob).

While we are, as Americans, familiar with the story of the Stalinist purges and know something of post-Revolutionary Russian history, the Russian Civil War between the White and the Red is not as well-known.

But this is the crux of the struggle that subsequently determined Russian history. Many authors tried to give a view of that turbulent period; Pasternak in "Doctor Zhivago", Solzhenitzen marginally in "Ivan Denisovitch" (Denisovitch was in a gulag because he was a returnee from the German front and thus viewed as a political traitor) and Ayn Rand "We the Living." Bulgakov's novel is one of the richest, most touching and well-written I have read on this historical time.

He takes the story from the personal standpoint of a single family affected by the German betrayal of Russia to the incomprehensible brutality of the Civil War. The use of "white" and "red" as symbols in describing everyday objects and landscape is novelistic, the action is pure stage drama as you'd find in a play or film.

This is a far better novel than "Doctor Zhivago", which dealt with essentially the same subject (families torn apart by the Civil War and their way of life forever altered.) If you are at all interested in Russian history, I can't recommend "The White Guard" enough to you. I just loved it.

Nice pictures and good descriptions of many roller coasters, including some NOT in North America. The book begins with a history and sometimes dabbles into the science of the rides. A bit more precision on the science of the rides is desired. The large middle section is devoted to just about every kind of type of coaster except the (now defunct) side friction coaster. Chapter 3 briefly includes white knuckle rides that are not coasters.

This book is THE refenrence for world wide coaster informations...Superb color pictures,great details,and is the most up to date book on coasters.The "quality -vs- price" ratio is excellent,you won`t regreat this book,if you`re a long time coaster fanatic or a new comer like me !!

A great book with color photographs and statistics about the some of the best rides in the world. It's great that someone wrote a coffee-table book about Roller Coasters.

The racial double entendre couldn't have been lost on John Connolly, surely one of the most talented new voices to come out in the last four years since fellow British scribe Boris Starling. And it is racial relations that the always-savvy and canny Connolly explores in this book that is reminiscent of Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and Grisham's A TIME TO KILL.
No one is perfect and writing great books takes craft as well as skill. However, I believe that John Connolly's almost invisible hubris will never allow him to write a bad novel and THE WHITE ROAD never gave me the impression that he had written it to keep the series going. We're treated to some welcome backstory regarding Angel and Louis, including how they met, and a story told by Louis to Charlie Parker in THE KILLING KIND becomes the basis for the beginning of the book.
However, that's where Connolly's narrative falters. The burning alive of a black man in the 60's does not seem to have any bearing on the main story, which is about a young African-American man charged with the murder of a wealthy white girl. Another thing that does not fit is the paranormal child prostitute who appears a few times and disappears into a car.
But these seeming anomalies notwithstanding, Connolly gives us another Parker mystery that for once doesn't give us a fascinating and ingeniously flawed serial killer like Mr. Pudd, the Traveling Man or Caleb Kyle. Hunchbacked Cyrus Nairn could've proved to be a much more fascinating character than Connolly actually made him but he's creepy enough and the Rev. Faulkner makes an all-too sparing but welcome return.
Reminiscent of THE CHAMBER and Troy Soos's HANGING CURVE, Connolly embroils his detective in a battle of wits with the KKK and the usual assortment of physically deformed henchmen. His humor is as biting as ever (his brief but bullseye take on Fred Durst is priceless and is alone worth the cost of the hard cover).
The plot anomalies are easily overcome by the usual vivid characterization, dialogue and attention to detail in all things that sets Connolly head and shoulders above all but two or three of his peers in the mystery genre.

This is the best of the four. Every Dead Thing was a good read, but overcomplicated with too many characters and plots. Dark Hollow was much better. ANd even that warranted five stars. Then came The Killing Kind which was stupendously excellent. The best thriller of 2001. Even better than Dark Hollow. But now comes The White Road. And it's even better.

John Connolly's prose is simply wonderful. It is superbly lyrical, and his descriptions are superbs. I was in awe when he described a world as being "painted on glass". He has many sentences like that, which stop you in your tracks and make you realise how truly [darkly] beautiful his writing is.

Charlie Parker is back, and fighting for his life, and thst of his lover and unborn child. the demonic preacher Faulkner is out for revenge, the instruments of which will be horrfying killer Cyrus Nairn, who keeps his secrets buried by the riverside. At the same as Parker is investigating the rape of the young daughter of the wealthy Earl Larousse. Accused is her black boyfriend, Atys Jones. But deep in the nearby swamps something lurks...something connected to a long ago crime, and it wants vengeance...

This is a stunning novel. The darkness of it is haunting, and its complexity astounding, but JOhn COnnolly manages to tell you the tale in an easy to undderstand way.

It is truly chilling. The way Connolly blends subtle elements of horror in with a crime novel is awe-inspiring. And with this book he has created his most dark plot yet, yet it seems to contain a tiny snub of light shining through at points. At times the darkness becomes too much, and the light disappears as if gone forever, but at others, it reappears, burning brightly anew, and you can hold out some hope for Charlie Parker and his quest.

I cannot praise this novel highly enough. The resolution, and the way in which it is all brough together is brilliant, and the final solution shocking.

Connolly, with this book and the last created possibly the most chilling villain in the religious fanatic Reverend Aaron Faulkner, and in this book he is even more chilling than before. He simply oozes evil. This time, he is out to get Parker, and he is going to use killer Cyrus Nairn, recently released from the wing of his prison, to execute that revenge. It is a truly chilling book, with a wonderful plot, and a colourful cast of characters, including Angel and Louis, who are back in full force. This time we learn a little about why they are who they are.

From the excellent prologue to the epilogue this book is a sucess on every level. Connolly just gets better and better. If you haven't read him yet, you're missing out.

South Carolina lawyer Elliot Norton calls his pal Charlie Parker to help him with a case in which his client a black man has been accused of murdering his white girlfriend, the daughter of wealthy powerful parents. Charlie would like to help his friend, but is concerned about leaving his pregnant girlfriend Rachel alone. He fears that their enemy Reverend Aaron Faulkner will retaliate for the deaths of his murderous son and daughter though he is standing trial for killing his congregation members and other people.

Charlie reluctantly travels to South Carolina, but arranges for Rachel's protection while he is away. In the South, Charlie becomes involved in a world where hatred is the norm and the pretrial may prove deadly for the defense team. Though perilous, Charlie investigates the case that leads him to several other murders and a trip to hell down THE WHITE ROAD coaxed by a malevolence beyond anything he ever faced before even while evil stalks Rachel back in Maine.

John Connolly provides an exhilarating Parker tale as the audience receives more than an investigative novel. Readers obtain a taste of the historical South cleverly interwoven into the drama as well as a powerful crime story occurring in two states. Parker is at his best as he tries to solve a mystery, stay alive, keep his friend and client safe, and struggle with being in two places at the same time in order to insure no harm comes to his beloved. Readers will want to travel THE WHITE ROAD and when attaining the final destination will look for previous Parker treks (see THE KILLING KIND).

Harriet Klausner