It's "what I did on my vacation", stuff. Written by a remarkably self-serving,horny, 20s something guy, well on his way to alcoholism.

The book is very easy to read; the descriptions of life on a kibbutz brought back all my memories. I went back in '97 and got into the same kind of situations as the author. Every aspect of kibbutz volunteer life is explained, including the bad times too, but overall you can tell that the author had a fantastic time and misses those fun days. Highly recommended!

This book is witty and outrageously funny. Carson made his experience come alive through the pages of this book. His encounters will bring a smile to your face, even if you have no idea what he is talking about culturally. This book is guaranteed to make you want to get on a plane bound for Israel. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good laugh, or insight into a different way of life, kibbutz life.

I read Come Together and Come Again (the sequel to Come Together) over three days while traveling. They are both very funny and perfect if you're looking for a light read. I would recommend reading Come Together first and then reading Come Again shortly afterwards because there are several references to the first story in the sequel that you may miss if you wait too long in between. I really enjoyed the way the book looks at both sides of the dating story (the male and female sides are written), it really adds humor and makes you think about what someone else is going through that isn't always seen on the surface.

Four friends, one wedding. Therein lies the foundation for this second novel written jointly by Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees. 'Come Again' is also the sequel to their first novel, 'Come Together.' You do not necessarily have to read the first one to understand this one; it just only makes the sequel more enjoyable.

The story centers around four friends whose lives end up intertwining in the lead up to their mutual friends (Amy and Jack's) wedding. And it's the intertwining of their lives which make this novel so entertaining. Every chapter is written from the perspective of one person, which not only allows you to know each character more deeply than if it had been written from just one person's perspective, but also allows you to see each situation from a different angle.

So, who are the characters? Well the person to start the story is H (Helen). H is a highly-strung career woman, who despite being highly strung, still cares deeply about her friend Amy. Next we have Stringer. He's the Adonis you never thought you'd meet, because he has no overblown ego to go with his chiseled looks. He's funny, he's down to earth and he's exactly the kind of friend everyone wants to have. Next is Susie. Susie sells hats at the marketplace, and lives life the only way she knows how. With as much alcohol, fun and sex as possible. But she's beginning to want more from men. Another of Amy's friends, she's as devoted as H is. She's more down to earth than H is, though. Finally we have Matt. Matt is Jack's best friend, and ex roommate. He suddenly feels lonely and that he's been left behind when Jack moves out, and in with his fiancée. He's so lovable and never pushes too far, and is also never 'drippy' with his feelings. He's the grown-up with the cheeky grin and the glint in his eyes, and he suddenly finds himself wanting everything his best friend has. All four characters are likable. That's how they've been written, after all. But H, Stringer, Susie and Matt are more than likable. They're real. Each one of them I could see in my own friends, and I loved it.

At times the situations which the four of them are thrown into seem farcical. But that doesn't last long, because the authors manage to bring back reality very quickly, and it's thanks to their understanding of their own characters that they're able to do this with such ease that you rarely notice. All the loose ends come together fairly neatly, but it's still left open enough to allow for another novel.

This is an amusing and entirely addictive novel, not only because the characters are so real, but because the humor is real, too. Don't think you have to read the first novel to 'get' this one. Because you don't. I didn't, anyway. Just enjoy it for what it is - fun - and you shouldn't be disappointed. Highly recommended.

I thought this book was very mature and detailed. She is an excellent writer and I am doing a report on her! She was a wonderful person. And I enjoyed this very much.

I just finished this and I can't wait to read the rest of the author's work. Carson has a gift for describing the world around her and a command of the language that few seem to appreciate today. This is basically a natural history book written as if it where a novel. In "Edge of the Sea" she describes seashores, the environment and how it defines the animals and plants that a visitor will see. She concentrates on America's East Coast. The text left me with a longing to be there. Where modern writers would use pictures, Carson uses words. This book would be good (4 stars) for anyone who enjoys written imagery. If you already love the sea then it deserves 5.

Entertaining in parts. Unfortunately somewhat disjointed and becomes rather boring towards the end. Does provide an insight into The Tonight Show and Johnny Carson. Most of the references to incidents on the show seem to come from the Video tape set- The Johnny Carson Collection" (which I highly recommend). Have also read "I'll Be Right Back" - by Mike Douglas. A much more entertaining and informative book about talk shows. I don't suppose that there is much chance of Johnny Carson writing a biography because he likes to keep his privacy. It would undoubtedly be a best seller.

to enjoy this book, you will need soft light, smoking jacket, cohiba, and a stiff glass of bourbon. to delve into the topic of ed mcmahon it takes that kind of mindset. johnny carson's riveting forward captures the whole essence of the "hiyo," years. ed then takes us on a whirlwind tour of late nights of enebriation and carousing. shows spent drunk with johnny, burt reynolds and dom deluise are also brought to life so vividly by mcmahon you swear you could smell the vermouth and brut 33. ed also triumphantly portrays what it was like for him at the culmination of his life's work when timothy blakesley became the first winner of the american family sweepstakes. the question of whom did he prefer: johnny or dick is explored in an honest disection by the author. by this point your not quite sure of anything because you will be on your sixth bourbon and the cigar you were smoking has caught your smoking jacket on fire. i give four stars just on entertainment value alone. HIYO!!!

Further evidence that you don't need to be able to write (or hire a proofreader) to publish a book. If you can get past the second-grade grammatical errors, malapropisms, and punctuation gaffes, you'll at least learn something about another very sloppy enterprise: the Seattle Pilots.

Although Jim Bouton's 1970 book Ball Four made the Seattle Pilots famous (or infamous), no book actually told the full story of this one-year enigma until Carson Van Lindt's 1993 book, The Seattle Pilots Story. All in all, the book isn't half bad. The history of professional baseball in Seattle, especially at Sick's Stadium, was well covered. It has a few good photographs, goes into great detail about how the club was founded, and then how it floundered. It covers the Pilots' sole season in a series-by-series format that recaps each of the games the team played that summer of '69.

This book was clearly not a big-budget affair. No interviews - just a lot of hard work putting together the whole story by way of newspaper sources and other archives.

Now the downer. While a lot of effort was made to tell the whole story of the Pilots, Van Lindt clearly is not a gifted writer. His writing style for the most part tends to be factual and aloof. He goes into great detail about the games, the negotiations, and the courtroom battles, but there's something missing. You don't get a full feeling for the personalities of the players or some of the quirks and nostalgic memories that make a particular team or season unique. The coverage of the season games tends to be repetitive and is tempting to skip at least in part. The real meat of the book is in the sections before and after the 1969 season.

It also seems like no one ever took the time to edit Van Lindt's manuscript. The writing at times is awkward, and even a basic word processor should have snagged the myriads of punctuation errors that plague the book from start to finish.

Overall, good story and lots of information. The somewhat terse quality of the writing shouldn't detract from the unique subject this book covers. Because of that alone, I give it four stars.

Jo Carson lives and works in East Tennessee, and her work, in this book, has been taking overhard conversations around her, modifying the language into something that approximates folk poetry, and writing it down. Normally, this is a recipe for disaster. However, Carson's ear is finely-tuned enough that what comes out more often than not does resemble both rural dialect and poetry. And that in itself is more than enough reason to consider this a noteworthy book. But every once in a while, the stories she tells are the kind that tug at the heart without the naked appeal of obvious emotional manipulation (though there's certainly some of that here, too; if you go into this not expecting to find the cliched "boy, I wish people wouldn't treat East Tennessee folk like hicks," you're going to be disappointed-- but Carson does amnage to keep it to a minimum). A good, solid volume that's worth a quick read. ***

Don't dismiss the complexity of these "simple" poems too early. Jo Carson's STORIES I AIN'T TOLD NOBODY YET gives voice to an often misunderstood culture, and when we listen to this voice, we learn that economic differences are overshadowed by similarities of dreams, wants, and concerns. Carson's collection of poems might be described as an oral history in verse. These aren't the rhyming poems of greetings cards or the poised verse of classic poetry anthology. These are poems in the style of someone talking to you, or, perhaps even more powerfully, the style of overhearing others in a candid conversation. (Carson gives credit to overhearing many of these dialogues.) The result is simple language addressing complex themes. Loosely divided into main sections like Family and Work, the poems center on rural peoples' perspectives. Sure, economic hardship is a common theme, but more universal themes of family, responsibility, and dignity are also addressed. Yes, the simple language of the poems allows for a quick read. But a reader would be wise to give the collection a second read. And a third. And so on. There are layers to these simple dialogues, and even lessons to be learned. Literature can sometimes bridge the gap of misunderstanding between groups, cultures, etc. Although simple in language, this is literature that can do just that.

A series of characters, who may as well all be fragments & aspects of the same person (the author), suffer angst. Set in the early eighties, in small town America the primary characters all seem to be suffering early twenty somethings, with the exception of two equally shallow, angst ridden adults. At times the prose is jerky, & difficult to follow, however "Twisted Kicks" has it's moments, just not that many. Adolescent & a little too limited in it's world view.

"Twisted Kicks" is no less than one of the great novels of our (or anyone's) time. I've read it many times and it never fails to thrill and delight me. This amazing book chronicles the lives of several diverse characters in the mythical town of Icarus, VA in the late 70's-early 80's. An almost perfect time-capsule of the druggy mixture of boredom and glam that was so many teen's lives at that time. Because the style of the novel itself is slightly surrealistic, the reader really seems to feel and experience the characters confusion, giddiness and disenchantment with themselves and their world. This is the only book I've ever read where every single person seems believable and directly drawn from life (I think I've MET some of these guys!). I really can't recommend it highly enough...I know it changed my life, and books like that are rare indeed. Completely Brilliant!

I haven't seen the movie yet, so I can't, and won't, compare. I'll just say that the adaptation is a haphazard mess that seems more like a fast-forward highlight reel than a true re-telling. The reader is likely to spend much of the time wondering what just happened, how did we get from there to here, who is that, etc., which does not make for an enjoyable read. I realize that the book is targeted at children, but children are YOUNG, not stupid. Even when I was younger I would have dismissed this as trash. Greg Ehrbar (The "writer") is a name I will studiously avoid in the future. The saving grace is the sketchbook in the back, showcasing the design work of the movie's Production Designer, famed comic-book creator Mike Mignola. I bought the book just to see his sketches, and at least they delivered.

Mignola fans might be happy, but all others should steer clear.

 
Take it from someone who's seen the movie. Atlantis is very far down on my list of Disney features. But if you're wondering what exactly went wrong, I'd advise buying the graphic novelization. Obviously, the writer was working from an earlier draft of the script and elements from the movie that are completely perplexing on screen are cleared up in this re-telling -- especially in the final battle between Milo and the movie's villain. (My 8-year-old daughter actually commented on that fact after reading this adaptation.) Comparing the film and the adaptation tells a fascinating story about some of the last-minute plot meddling that may have happened to help save this doomed feature. I'd advise that any completist Disney collector should have both the movie and this adaptation on his or her shelf. I know Greg Ehrbar as the name behind some very handsome and well-told French-language Disney comic book adaptions that are available only in France. But, I'm afraid no one could have made this feature completely intelligible. Perhaps the film makers concentrated too much on capturing the style of Production Designer Mike "Hellboy" Mignola. I only wished that they had paid a little more to the one detail Disney usually does best -- story.

Was very happy to get this GRAPHIC NOVEL...GREG EHRBAR has a real flair for adapting a DISNEY film to text! Wonderful! Had no idea MIKE MIGNOLA did the cover and there is a very nice sketchbook of his on the back pages! Well Done!

NEVER EVER READ THIS BOOK! This is the worst book in the world. It has no plot and no action what so ever. I can't believe people would read this book for pleasure. I only read it because I had to write an essay on it. I am never going to read any of Carson Mccullers other books and I would strongly recomend you not to either. It is poorly written and I hate Carson Mccullers for writing it!

A word of advice---Ignore the first review. It was obviously written by someone looking for an easy fix to a classroom assignment. No plot? Well---I guess that's because it's a book of essays written ABOUT McCullers work. The author HATES McCullers for having written it? She didn't. It's a series of essays analyzing McCullers' work. The collection was gathered (that is edited) by Clark and Friedman. If you want critical work about McCullers instead of the ramblings of someone who obviously put no thought or knowledge into a response, get this book.

Needless to say, any book that gathers well-thought, professional essays on Carson McCullers' writing/thought is essential reading for any literary scholar. While not inexpense, it contains journal articles that the reader would not be able to obtain otherwise, or if so, at much greater cost.

I bought this book when the book store was out of the "Heart is a Lonely Hunter", remembering a friend who said that it was just good as that book. It looked like an easy read, it was cheap, so I bought it. Now, just from looking at the cover I thought "Oh no, another boring southern gothic coming of age story..." But I bought it anyway. I was halfway through when I discussed it with said friend, who said: "Oh, isn't it good? Just like the Bell Jar." That just about stopped me. "NO!!! Pseudo feminist histrionics!! " But I read on. It only took me two afternoons to read, was very accessible, and very, very, good. I won't pile on the superlatives, but this book expressed very honestly the need of a teenager to leave the seeming small mindedness of their homelife, which I could have definitely related to as a teen. Whether presenting these thoughts in realistically poetic conversations between F. Jasmine and Berenice, or in simple, stubbornly cold and straightforward sentences(a good example is the one above), Carson McCullers relates detachment very truthfully and compassionately, while still keeping her critical eye glued on Frankie.

And I mean it. Really!

Carson McCullers has been my favorite author since I was thirteen and my father recommended I read a book by her. Now, four years later, I have read all of her short stories and all but one of her novels. By the reviews I have read, I believe maybe this book is not in the right category when it says "young adult" and should not be an option for a book report. Responding to this book with "whatever" and "no plot! " is not truthful and is a terrible injustice to it. This is a perfect "coming-of-age" novel, complete with the feeling of loss and the struggle to fit into pieces of a puzzle where you feel you do not belong. Typical McCullers - compassionate, painfully honest, and sensitive. While I'm obviously getting a little sappy, I do believe McCullers is the only author that I've ever read where I always feel like I am the protagonist - I felt like Frankie every word of this book, because McCullers creates the most realistic characters...let's be honest, kids - we were all "annoying", "selfish", "stupid", "unrealistic" and so on at the age of twelve.

My mother first bought me this book when I was 13. Now I'm 18 and I still love it, and I'm still amazed by the beauty in its style everytime I read it. It's the story of Frankie, a twelve year old girl without a mother who does not belong in her town. She feels like an outsider everywhere she goes. It's a concept that I totally related to when I first read the book. Frankie's older brother is planning a wedding, and the novel takes place in the days leading up to the wedding. Frankie, who longs for a way out of her small town and an escape from her life, can hardly wait for the wedding, which will take place in a town called Winter Hill. Frankie imagines how beautiful Winter Hill will be, and she begins to imagine that when her brother and the bride leave for their honeymoon after the wedding, they will take her along. This idea builds up so much in her mind that she can barely stand the anticipation, and she gets into some trouble. Overall, this book conveys Frankie's emotions and confusion so realistically that it's almost painful. But it's a wonderful book. The writing is beautiful, and there is so much imagery. One can picture the sweltering heat, the humidity, and it really helps the reader to get a sense of Frankie's inner frustration. This book is definitely worth reading.