Startling in its intelligence, moral power, and sheer beauty, this text is a treasure for both the seasoned wise and the passionate young. Lusseyran was a man of rare talent and courage; his untimely death in 1971 saw the loss of one of Earth's freest and wisest souls. May our children and our children's children have the privilege of reading his remarkable story.

This book was recommended to me in 1970 by Marshall McLuhan. He was greatly impressed by this book, as was I. Lusseyran's experience with the human voice was particularly intriguing. I tried to contact him at the university, but he had left. Does anyone know what happened to him?

Upon becoming blind at 8 years of age, Jacques Lusseyran discovered a deep inner joy that henceforth illuminated his entire life and never left him, not even in the horror and despair of Buchenwald. He was a daring, courageous French Resistance fighter who taught people not just to see but also to experience that life beyond all life and that joy that surpasses all human understanding. Even the evil of Nazism sweeping throughout France could not dim this ever-shining light. Jacques lived life to the fullest every moment of his waking hours with an enthusiasm that is astonishing, energizing, and almost unbelievable. To read this book is discover anew that light which the darkness has never been able to extinguish.

A great read and brilliant exploration of the mind of a terrorist and the sanctity of life. I live in the area where this is set and Ms. Laden's descriptions are lovely and true to life. The plot is stupdendous and will have you riveted to your reading spot, wanting the book to end but not wanting it to be over. I have never read a book quite like this. It is mystical, thought provoking, funny, sad, and original! Will appeal to men who like action books, too,

I could not put this book down because I fell in love with each character. It also made me want to live in Idaho. This is the perfect gift for all your friends who love to curl up with a thriller packed with romance, hope, and celebration of the human condition.

Elizabeth Laden has once again transcended all our highest expectations. In "Angels of the Unborn," the sequel to the beautifully powerful "Mystic Warriors of the Yellowstone," we are taken on another ride through the lives of some of our favorite characters-- the way that only Ms. Laden can! After reading "Mystic" and "Angels," I anxiously await her third novel. Her writing takes us to the real heart of Yellowstone, through the tourist sites, and then much, much deeper. She knows her subjects, her settings, and her characters; and brings them all to a glorious apex, (which may yet be topped in her next book), with "Angels of the Unborn." Elizabeth Laden leaves us with very high expectaions for her next novel, and is setting new, higher standards for writing.

This is a great book for girls who love to do fun crafts. I rate this book 5 golden stars. You've gotta buy it!!!

This is the perfect activities book for young girls. I bought it as a gift for our neighbor girl and she keeps telling me how much fun she has had been having trying out "her projects."

I wish I had this book when I was a kid! The activities included are creative, intelligent, and they are actually FUN! My two girls, ages 7 and 9, loved discovering new cool activities and then putting their own twists on them.

The activities are great because some can take up a few minutes, and others can take as long as the girls would like the activity to continue. They also got a huge kick out of the illustrations.

Clearly the authors are on to the fact that girls nowadays don't sit at a table and cut out paper dolls for hours on end! I vote for a sequel---more of these great activities for best friends---girls and boys.

You can buy this book in second editions for about $100.00 so if you are purchasing it as a collector or for information and not on edition-out of print value then look for a button collector who can help you locate the less expensive edition.

Just about the best all around guide for the serious button collector.

This is the most complete button reference book I have ever seen. It is well worth the money. Beautiful pictures and informative price guides.

I love the idea of dolls coming alive Christmas Eve and I have always hoped it was true! Now my children read this wonderful book and I hope they will pass it on to theirs. Great illustrations and wonderful language by the dolls.

This was one of my all time favorite books as I child. I had a doll house, so it was wonderful to imagine doll house people coming alive on Christmas! I read it every Christmas Eve night - a tradition that lasted for years.

My mother grew up with this book, and I grew up with her copy. It is a wonderful story about dolls who come alive on Christmas

this book is my bible and comfort, its a shame it is so often overlooked

Simply breathtaking - a unique account in magical prose poetry of all consuming love, which you will return to again and again. Almost too painfully visceral at times, snapshots of sheer beauty leap out of the page as you ride the non-stop vertical drop on the rollercoaster of their relationship - not for the faint or hard hearted.

Scathing, deeply poetic rant of obssessive love forced into obssessive hate. Deep and lasting, based on the author's actual experiences.

This is the most poignant and introspective memoir this reader can recall having read. Kendall tells her personal and family story, intermingled with social and political history of the American 1950's and '60's, from the time she was born in 1947, until April 3, 1969, when, on the way to a spring vacation on the Gulf coast of Alabama, her mother was the only fatality in a car accident in which Kendall herself was the driver (She and her three brothers and a sister were all injured, but survived.). Kendall's mother, Betty, began her adult life as a young society matron, married at age nineteen to a charming but temperamental and bullying ex-Marine pilot and Harvard graduate (She herself had attended Vassar, but left college to marry, and never finished her degree.). She had six children, but despite the burden she bore at home managing her large family, she evolved into a civic leader and civil rights activist. In the meantime, she and her eldest daughter Elizabeth came to rely on each other as confidantes, companions, and friends. This book is a chronicle of white, middle class American life in the mid-twentieth century, as well as a loving tribute to a mother who was taken much too soon, and is for anyone who has lost a loved one.

This story of a mother and a daughter strikes a balance between the personal and the historical in an interesting and informative way . Kendall's honesty , humor and intelligence make a personal story a universal one. I was moved by her descriptions of the intense mother-daughter bond and all of it's ramifications. I would recomend this book highly to anyone interested in women's roles in the last half of the twentieth century.

I found this book tremendously interesting and absorbing. It says important, perceptive things about all American mothers and daughters, while describing one specific mother/daughter relationship that was both heroic and tragic. An admirably honest, fascinating book.

This book is a valuable guide for students considering a career in the arts. Each career path includes a brief history, a description of the actual processes involved in the work and discusses training options and job potentials. A particular strength of the book lies in including some of the more unusual crafts like book binding, stained glass design and weaving.

Excellent advice on how to pursue careers in the arts and crafts fields and professions. It is practical and fun to read especially since so many opportunities in these fields are discussed. The histories of these fields are very good as are the processes involved. It makes one want to pursue one's interest in arts and crafts!

Do you sometimes think to yourself when you're doing a project, "I wouldn't mind doing this for a career." Then the one question you must definitely ask yourself is, "What procedures must I take in order to develop a career out of my talent?" This book can get you started in the right direction.

Opportunities in Arts and Crafts Careers offers you a clear understanding about the various careers available, the skills needed, and how to get started. I wanted to read this book to find out if it would help out fellow woodworkers who would like to pursue a career with their skills, and if it had information for them to get started in one. I've found that not only does it provide information for these two avenues, but also an understanding of the history of the craft.

I extremely recommend this book for those who would like to seek a career in the arts and crafts. Elizabeth B. Gardner has performed an exceptional measure of research, in order to write this book with the facts provided in it.

There are many cycling guides, but this is one of the most practical and well-organized. As other reviewers state, the real value of the book is its collection of information on camping, nearby hotels, access points, points of interest, etc. The authors also have a wonderful "you can do it" attitude in their narrative style. Their encouragement inspired me to ride the Skyline Drive last fall, to my great enjoyment. I would quibble, by the way, with their elevation profiles. I certainly discovered hills that they don't tell you about! Supplement your planning with one of the fine topographic map products for a better sense of what awaits you.

I just returned from a weekend riding the 105 mile Skyline Drive in VA. The Skinners' book was an invaluable resource to me in preparing for & executing my trip. The advice is practical, the information invaluable as you plot out your journey. I am already planning my next weekend trip (Afton Mt to Roanoke) using this as my Bible! If you have any interest in cycling all or part of the BRP/SLD, this book will first whet your appetite, then serve as your guidebook/Bible.

It's so easy to pass facilities, accomodations and attractions along the Blue Ridge Parkway! This book lists them all, campings, B&Bs, country stores, and more, along with the best way to get there. A real must for anyone planning to have a great trip on the Blue Ridge and Skyline Drive. And the elevation maps are a great help too.

It is easy to think of a novella as being a longer short story (with the usual short story limitations) and in this case, that thinking would be appropriate. When reading a novella anthology, one has to understand that character development will be more limited than in the traditional novel or mystery. There simply isn't the time to set up detailed and complex characters due to the restrictions in length a novella places on the work. Therefore, the author has to pack as much character development in his or her work as possible, while setting up the scene, the mystery problem (in this case) and plenty of action to move the story along. It is a difficult task and all four of these authors, with very different themes and writing styles, pull it off wonderfully.

At the same time, it makes reviewing the work rather difficult. One does not want to give away too many of the details and with each novella coming in around 100 pages on average (a couple are a little shorter and conversely a couple are a bit longer) it would be easy to reveal too much. The reviewer also has to take into account his or her particular interests and a couple of these were not exactly what I look for in a novel to read. Having said that, though some of the works were not my thing (as it were) it has to be admitted that those were as well written as the others in the collection, which I did really like.

The collection is opened by the offering from Mr. Robert L. Iles, titled 'The Ten-Spot Murders.' Set in a small town deep in West Texas, the work revolves around a dead man found murdered at the local motel. Instead of being found in his room, he is found behind the building. How he got there and why becomes an intriguing case for Sheriff Okie Bliss and his small department.

'Pangs of Prophecy' by Christine Spindler follows next in the reading order. In this work, April is tormented by the fact that she can see death for those she knows. She knows in excruciating graphic detail how they will die'she just doesn't know when. Trying to prevent a murder she knows is going to happen, she becomes deeply involved in the resulting case when the murder does occur.

The third work is titled 'Buyer's Remorse' by Elizabeth Dearl. Taylor is a writer living out in West Texas and is asked by her friend, Paula, to help her move. Paula has bought an old house and needs help, not only in moving, but restoring the house to livable condition. The problem, beyond the fact that the house is old and in disrepair, is the fact that it might also be haunted.

Rounding off the book is Dan Sontup's work, titled 'the Santa Switch.' While you may have secretly wished death on the mall Santa when he went ahead and promised a toy you know your child could not have in his wildest dreams, in this story, a mall Santa is killed at the mall in a back way hall. Now, Mall Security Chief Matt Ridley has to clean up the problem as well as find out who did it when the Police can't solve the case. At the same time, he has his own internal political problems and a dead Santa does not help things one bit.

In each work, the case is interesting and the approach each writer takes in developing his or her story is tremendously different. With such differences in writing styles, themes, etc., it makes this anthology an interesting and enjoyable read. There is something each reader will like and this is the perfect bag to fling in the tote for a day at the beach.

Avid Press recently released a collection of mysteries featuring four investigators certain to send readers in quest of longer works.

"The Ten-Spot Murders" by Robert L. Iles: The desperate secrets of a salesman come to light when his body's found outside his motel room. Set in Cass County, Ohio, the Sheriff's Department is crippled by a lack of budget and an overabundance of testosterone. Gritty and tense, the triangle formed by traveler, the motel handyman, a part-time prostitute, and the family of a prominent judge will hold the reader's attention riveted.

"Pangs of Prophesy" by Christine Spindler: When April comes to see Inspector Terry, she impresses him: "She was all muted gestures and self-effacing smiles, but she had a mind on the brink of another dimension." All to true, since she has visions of violent and tragic deaths. Inspector Terry is a wonderful creation, always cheering the underdog and even befriending attack cats. Indeed, this novella is startling and skillfully rendered.

"Buyer's Remorse" by Elizabeth Dearl: When the new owner realizes the dilapidated of her bargain, she soon comes to regret her new purchase. While the old house has marvelous carpentry and incredible light for a studio, it also comes complete with its own mystery. Part ghost story and part thriller, this novella will keep readers up past their bedtimes. Believable characterizations, a haunted house, and a precocious and charming ferret create a fascinating and gripping narrative.

"The Santa Switch" by Dan Sontup: Two days before Christmas a Santa is found stabbed to death with scissors in the ladies' room of a shopping mall. The unlikely hero is a security chief with an associate's degree and a background as a New York City police officer. With an unusual cast of characters and a fast paced plot, the merry red of the holiday season carries whole new meaning.

A remarkable collection, BLOOD, THREAT & FEARS is a must read. Each exhibits the powerful writing that makes these authors favorites of mystery fans. Very highly recommended.

I'm giving this book to friends and relatives for Christmas. In one 337-page book are four superb novelettes that should please all mystery-lovers. "Pangs Of Prophecy" was certainly an enjoyable read, an intriguing combination of precognition, rape and murder. "The Ten-Spot Murders" is about a killing in the Ten-Spot Motel. A good, solid mystery. I liked it very much. "The Santa Switch" concerns the death of a shopping mall Santa - death by scissors - and has a very satisfying and unexpected ending. "Buyer's Remorse" (my favorite) introduced two characters I want to get to know better - Taylor Madison and her ferret, Hazel. (Taylor and Hazel are in two other full-length mystery novels, and I'll order them, too.)