This is a book I plan to recommend to others. It is a quick read with a short sweet story. I love reading about New York in the 1950's, what a lovely era. Lucia is a woman even the modern girl can relate to. As Lucia argues throughout the book about careers and families, every modern woman still has this conflict today. I like how the author lets us know how all the characters end up.

The only disappointment would be the simple writing style. Although, it makes a wonderful short read. Read this book!

Adriana Trigiani, author of the hugely popular BIG STONE GAP trilogy, returns with a much-anticipated stand-alone novel, LUCIA, LUCIA. Set in 1950s New York City, LUCIA, LUCIA is a tale far removed from Trigiani's familiar rural Blue Ridge Mountain setting so lovingly portrayed in BIG STONE GAP, but it is, in its own way, a love letter to a unique time and place as only Trigiani can write.

LUCIA, LUCIA opens in modern day Greenwich Village when Kit Zanetti, a struggling young playwright, is invited to tea by her elderly upstairs neighbor "Aunt Lu." Out of a polite respect, Kit feels obligated to accept but isn't particularly thrilled with the prospect of spending an entire afternoon with the older woman. Her mind is quickly changed when she enters Lu's apartment for the first time and discovers a "chintz wonderland" filled with the fabulous knick-knacks of a long and interesting life. When Kit inquires about the gorgeous full-length mink coat she spies hanging on a dressmaker's mannequin tucked back in an alcove, Lu begins her story.

Born the youngest child, and only girl, in a large and boisterous Italian family, 25-year-old Lucia Sartori is the crown jewel of the Sartori family. Besides being the most beautiful girl in Greenwich Village, Lucia is also a bright and successful career girl in a time when opportunities were just beginning to present themselves to women. She is happily employed by upscale B. Altman's department store as a seamstress in their custom department, apprenticing to Delmarr, an up-and-coming young designer waiting for his big break. Lucia still lives in the attic-level bedroom where she grew up but is soon to be married to her childhood sweetheart, Dante DiMartino, son of the local baker.

Plans for the upcoming nuptials are sailing along smoothly until Lucia learns that Dante's controlling and overbearing mother, Claudia, expects Lucia to quit her job immediately after the wedding to stay home and help her future mother-in-law take care of the house and the children that she will unquestionably bear. Shocked and angry that she would have to choose between being a wife and having a career, Lucia breaks off the engagement without a second thought. Her decision causes unease in the Sartori family when Lucia's mother, Maria, reveals that a curse was placed on Lucia while she was still in the womb by a jealous and scheming aunt. The "Caterina Curse", as it is dubbed by Lucia's eldest brother Roberto, was placed on Lucia to ensure that the girl, while beautiful, would ultimately die alone and of a broken heart. Lucia dismisses the curse as old-world superstition and forgets about it altogether when she meets the mysterious and charming John Talbot while browsing one day in the interior design department at B. Altman's.

John sweeps Lucia off her feet and offers her a glimpse into the uptown world of luxury and wealth that most girls in her neighborhood can only dream about. Lucia and John quickly become engaged and Lucia puts all her trust, not to mention her savings, into the future John has promised her. While her father has serious doubts about John --- it's never quite clear exactly what he does for a living --- Lucia is certain he is the one for her. Forced to choose between her family and her own happiness, Lucia finds herself in the middle of a society scandal and is forced to forge a new path for herself.

Filled with the same brand of lively and engaging characters that made Adriana Trigiani's past three novels so successful, LUCIA, LUCIA will not disappoint fans looking for the same bighearted, warm humor that was introduced in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. A hip, new locale and vivacious new heroine should earn her some new ones.

--- Reviewed by Melissa Morgan

Adriana Trigiani has a rare gift for gently sweeping her readers into a world that is filled with rich characters, inviting us into a story that feels like family. Lucia, Lucia is a tender and sweet story that is neither overly sentimental nor unrealistically dramatic. Adriana has woven together family relationships, romance, tragedy and nostalgia in a way that is comforting in its familiarity. I was left wanting to rush out, find an older person and listen to their life story.

Readers who have enjoyed the Big Stone Gap triology will be especially thrilled with the new venue of Greenwich Village in Lucia, Lucia. Adriana's ability to vividly sketch people and places is as evident in New York as it has been in Virgina. Her wit and warmth make you feel as if you are a welcome guest whereever she takes you.

Having just turned the last page, I enthusiastically recommend Lucia, Lucia, and head back to my own book shelves to revisit Big Stone Gap.

I found this book to be interesting, but not in-depth enough for intermediate astronomers. The information on the planets is overly simplistic and for entertainment purposes. For example, instead of having a graph of basic information for every planet, sometimes it lists essential information (like orbital period) and sometimes it doesn't which makes it useless as a reference.

I suggest it for the younger prospective amateur, but for older users get the Peterson's Field Guide: Stars and Planets. Very sturdy build and good guide for charting the planets.

This is a nice, streamlined book. Logical layout, sharp photography, and a clean, crisp design. The first portion discusses the universe and stars (addressed below), and is followed by another section that provides a 2-4 page profile on each planet, including when and where in the sky it's visible until 2009. Following these sections, is a large section covering all the official constellations in alphabetical order with at least one interesting item to check out from each constellation. Obviously, some have more: Sagitarius, Scorpius, Orion, etc. A brief constellation history is provided, along with a small map depicting the constellation stars, surrounding stars, and objects of particular interest. These objects are coded with simple icons to denote "viewability": naked eye, bino, scope, etc. The last section of the book has monthly sky maps. I purchased the flex-cover edition, which is made of some quasi-vinyl material that's quite nice. The book itself seems well made and durable. Why only 4 stars? I have two issues. #1, I wish it were spiral bound. #2, it's not as forthright about its hypothetical aspects as it should be (planetary core composition, Big Bang mechanics, Oort Cloud (!), etc.) Other than that, the book is highly recommended and a pleasure to read/use.

If you own only one astronomy field guide, this should be it. The charts are accurate & easy to read, the text is informative but not overpowering, and the design is very reader friendly. The monthly star charts can be used from most latitudes - both northern and southern.
This is the third edition of this book. I've been a fan of it since it was first published in the mid 1980s.

I did not read this book until ten years ago - age forty for those who count - and found it a brilliant work. It touched on every aspect of life in that era, using a difficult premise at the focus.

One reviewer called it 'sexist.' In that era, women were kept removed from the world, so men were the ones who made the initial contacts with reality and their sexuality. If Lawrence had written about that society in any other way, he would have been inaccurate. Lawrence shows the social conflict with both subtlety and brutality. Yet, Mellor IS a lover. There are sexual descriptions which are explicit, but within the coccoon of emotional bondings.

The way that Lawrence has essayed the class structure of England in that era is brave and accurate in all ways. He makes the posturing of the aristocracy both frivilous and full of assinine criteria at the same time he understands the willingness of those in power to offer their lives in the defense of the general welfare.

Lawrence notes again with unpleasant accuracy the detriments of an unchecked Industrial Revolution on the social structure of the time. He has Constance both witness these effects and suffer the olfactory damage.

This is a literary work which has an effect across the full spectrum of the possible. Finely drawn characters searching for a better way to survive their lives in a scenario that is rife with obstacles and unpleasantness. He has the touch of the finest artist working with the lightest gossamer and the blunt force of an ogre swinging a stone axe.

This was published in an abridged version because it was felt that the societal message it conveyed should be allowed to transit the draconian (by the less filtered standards of today) censorship of the era which DID focus on the sexual descriptions but could NOT stop the voice of social criticism any more than the same group could stop Dickens a few decades earlier.

As with any good novel there are several levels on which this book may be read. Taken factually, here a woman forsakes her incapacitated husband and takes the gamekeeper of their estate as her lover. Pretty ugly scenario! How can such a cruel action be justified? Lawrence is not afraid to take on this formidable challenge.

To some people there is absolutely no issue here. When you marry, you commit yourself exclusively to your mate. Period! Case closed! But in real life, the matter is not so simple, unless you choose to make it so.

On a deeper level a marriage inherently has hidden strings attached. It requires an honest effort by both partners to commit to the marriage, to sense their partner's needs, and to respond to them honestly and with sensitivity. If one mate is not perceptive, not doing their part, not "truly interested" in the marriage, then the marriage is in reality already dissolved, albeit not legally. This was the case with Lady Chatterly and her husband. It was also the case with the gamekeeper and his wife. Lawrence had to courage to recognize and to address this marriage problem, which probably is more common today than we would care to admit.

The level at which I most liked this novel was in the descriptions of the actual physical encounters between the Lady and her lover. I have not counted them but there are perhaps four or five, all under different circumstances, all resulting in different degrees of satisfaction. Which suggests to me tht the sex act, in itself, is an almost neutral event. What gives it meaning are the attitudes and sensitivities that its participants bring to the occasion.

At its deepest level sex is a reverent act, a sacrament. It is an uncompromising, fully trustful yielding of one's body to the care and love of another person. The result can be the most glorious feeling a human can experience. It can also be the most degrading feeling in the world. In this novel Lawrence follows the Lady and her lover through their progressing relationship. The novel can serve the reader as an inspiring view of the great beauty and joy that a loving relationship may eventually engender.

Should teenagers read this book? In my opinion, no. Nevertheless, they will. But, like Shakespeare, they will not be able to absorb its wealth. I encourage them to save its reading for their later years when they are trying to bring new riches to their lives. Sort of like saving the icing on the cake, and eating it last. I think Lawrence would like that.

Lawrence really lays bare his soul in this book. It is the story of a ripe, red blooded woman who needs a real man. As usual there doesn't seem enough to go around. Ladies! I hope you all meet a Mellor's in your lives. Gardening is indeed a great trade for aspiring lovers. And You'll love this tale - it was one of Lawrence's best.

Lawrence wanted to bring us back to our dynamic center; he hated this celebral world and head sex. His domain was the realm of the body ... And all of its pent up sexual dynamisms. If you read Fantasia of The Unconscious you will be able to access his views right from his teeming intelect. He was perhaps one of the finest writers Britain ever produced and his literary output was prodigious indeed!

A few years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Helen Gee when she gave a talk before a New York City camera club. I greatly enjoyed both her great sense of humor and knowledge of photography, including its history. All of these are on display in her memoir. Although Helen Gee is not a great stylist, she tells her story in an engaging, conversational style. You share in her numerous disappointments and triumphs, as she struggles to survive as a young single mother, intent on pursuing a career in photography. The book is filled with humorous anecdotes about famous photographers such as Edward Steichen, Lisette Model, Robert Frank, and her problems with greedy landlords and petty gangsters. Anyone who wants an excellent view of life in Manhattan in the 1940's and 1950's as well as a glimpse into an important period in American photography will find this book quite captivating.

This book is a fascinating memoir of a self-made woman with an original story. Her life comes through honestly while she tells an important story of the photography scene in NY in the 1950s. For anyone interested in Photography this book is like gossiping over a cup of coffee. I really enjoyed it and read it in a couple of sittings. What Helen Gee did was important and it has been overlooked by photographic historians. She has included a very useful (and impressive) list of exhibitions held at Limelight in the back of the book. It is published by The University of New Mexico Press which is doing a wonderful job of providing the most interesting books on photography.

That's a pretty strong statement right? But it is true. This book and the woman who wrote it is simply extraordinary. The time in which she opened the Limelight was not a time that was easy for women in the world of Photography, or even the world in general. She started a business from the ground up and set an example for future generations of women photographers and small business owners. I highly recommend this book to lovers of Photography. She has intimate knowledge of some of the "Masters of Photography". The best part of the book is sadly the end of it, and the last exhibit of the seven years that the Limelight was in business. Her last show was a collection of prints by the Victorian age Female Photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron. A woman who was also an inspiration. I am so inspired by this book and great woman, that I am considering opening up a small Photo Gallery.

Tom Sawyer is the first great coming of age American novel. In addition, Tom Sawyer is one of the most endearing characters in American fiction. This wonderful book deals with all the challenges that any young person faces, and resolves them in exciting and unusual ways.

Like many young people, Tom would rather be having fun than going to school and church. This desire to enjoy life is always getting him into trouble, from which he finds unusual and imaginative solutions. One of the great scenes in this book has Tom persuading his friends to help him whitewash a fence by making them think that nothing could be finer than doing his punishment for playing hooky from school. When I first read this story, it opened up my mind to the potential power of persuasion.

Tom also is given up for dead and has the unusual experience of watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That's something we all should be able to do. By imagining what people will say at our funeral, we can help establish the purpose of our own lives. Mark Twain has given us a powerful tool for self-examination in this wonderful sequence.

Tom and Huck Finn also witness a murder, and have to decide how to handle the fact that they were not supposed to be there and their fear of retribution from the murderer, Injun Joe.

Girls are a part of Tom's life, and Becky Thatcher and he have a remarkable adventure in a cave with Injun Joe. Any young person will remember the excitement of being near someone they cared about alone in this vignette.

Tom stands for the freedom that the American frontier offered to everyone. His aunt Polly represents the civilizing influence of adults and towns. Twain sets up a rewarding novel that makes us rethink the advantages of both freedom and civilization. In this day of the Internet frontier, this story can still provide valuable lessons about listening to our inner selves and acting on what they have to say. Enjoy looking for fun in new ways!

This is the classic tale of a boy's life in St. Petersburg, Missouri (based on Mark Twain's [Samuel L. Clemens] home town of Hannibal, Missouri), on the banks of the Mississippi River (I believe the time frame is pre-Civil War). The original manuscript of "Tom Sawyer" was the first American novel to be submitted to a publisher in typewritten form. Tom is living in the house of his Aunt Polly with the irritating Sid, who turns him in for playing hooky from school. Tom's punishment is to whitewash a thirty-yard fence, nine feet high. With legendary skill and deviousness, he is able to get his friends to complete the onerous task! Later, he and his good friend Huck Finn go to a graveyard to swing a dead cat (to get rid of warts). They witness Injun Joe murder the town doctor and see Joe set up the evidence to appear that the drunken Muff Potter is the assailant. The boys hide out on Jackson's Island and the town believe them drowned. Of course, at their funeral they appear, falling right into the middle of the ceremony. At the trial of Muff Potter, Tom proves Potter innocent; but, Injun Joe escapes. At a town picnic, the boys (as well as Tom's girl Becky Thatcher) get lost in a cave, find Joe's treasure, are rescued, and become heroes. And, unfortunately, respectable. Tom and Huck represent typical boys, having their own adventures and dreams. It is sad to think that, in today's world of behavioral psychologists, counselors, and some teachers, both Tom and Huck would be considered abnormal and some physicians might even prescribe certain drugs to "calm them down." And, they are just being boys. The adventurous spirit of Tom and Huck should be celebrated, not repressed! Not enough adults read "Tom Sawyer" or "Huckleberry Finn."

I would recomend Tom Sawyer to anyone around the ages of nine to twelve years of age.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is a book best for children. This is a book best for children because it is about a young rambunctious boy who gets into trouble all the time. Tom Sawyer is a normal boy.
Many exciting things happen in the Adventures of Tom Sawyer. In the beggining of the book Tom tricks his friends into white washing the fence for him.Tom falls in love,gets engaged with Becky Thatcher,and chases a box of gold. In church a dog makes a bad choice to bothera pinch bug and gets pinched and the dog runs around the church howling. And much more.
I learned that back then kids could be kids. Not like now when everyone expects you to act like you are twenty-five when your only twelve.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer tought me many things.

Considered by many to be the great American novel, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the story of a boy, Huck Finn, and a runaway slave, Jim, as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the sequel to Twain's novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Where "Tom Sawyer" was more a care-free children's book, "Huck Finn" is a far darker less childlike book.

Judging from my rating you can see that I do not agree that this is in fact the great American novel. Twain seemed far too unsure of what he wanted to accomplish with this book. The pat answer is to expose the continuing racism of American society post-Civil War. By making Jim simultaneously the embodiment of white racist attitudes about blacks and a man of great heart, loyalty, and bravery, Twain presented him as being all too much of what white America at the time was unwilling to acknowledge the black man as: human.

However noble the cause though, Twain's story is disjointed, at times ridiculous, and, worst of all (for Twain anyway), unfunny. The situations that Huck and Jim find themselves in are implausible at best. Twain may not have concerned himself too much with the possibleness of his story; but, it does detract from your enjoyment of a story when you constantly disbelieve the possibility of something happening.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is an important book in that it did affect much of the American literature that followed it. However, this is another novel which is more important to read for its historical significance than for its story.

I read this, since it was my school's outside reading assignment. The printing was so small, that I first thought it would be a boring read. But I soon figured that I was wrong. I found myself slowly slipping into the story as if it was all happening before my own eyes. The characters were very interesting. Especially Huck Finn seemed like a very likable person with a strong identity, wit, and a soft heart. He does not want to sit and let the world rule over him, but instead test his own ideas and proves to the world that he can be better than what the society expacts him to be. And although many say it is a racially biased book because of its frequent use of N word, nobody can deny that it was a commonly used word in the 1800 where the rogue institution called 'slavery' was considered healthy and inevitable. As a matter of fact, this is a book that actually tries to tell the world about the evilness of racial prejudice not promote it. One should read between the lines, in order to acknowledge Twain's subtle attempts. It was a thrilling experience and I recommend people to have for their own!!!!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, was one of the best novels I have ever read. When I was a junior in high school, I had to get signed permission to read this novel. I never thought a book could be so controversial that something like that would be necessary. I am so glad that I read it then, and again during my freshman year of college, because I think it sends a powerful message. Written in the dialect of the deep south, Twain successfully gets the reader involved in the book. When I read this novel for the first time, I did not want to put it down. The character of Huck intrigued me. Though a young boy, he had more common sense than many people years older than him. He knew what he wanted and was smart enough to know how to go about getting it. When he befriends a runaway slave named Jim, social issues are brought up and Huck is forced to follow what his heart says, instead of what society says is morally acceptable. I enjoyed how Twain portrayed Huck and Jim's journey down the river and the adventures they shared. It was a symbol of their need for freedom. By sharing the same goals, Huck and Jim become true friends. They are beyond the color barrier and realize that a person is a person, regardless of what they look like or who they are. I think much of today's society could benefit from reading this book. It helps you put things in perspective and think about what is really important in life; what others think versus how you feel. If anyone is looking for a good novel to read, one that captures interest and provokes thought, Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is it.

The more Dickens I read, the more impressed I become at his skill as a writer. No matter the form, be it short, long, or a monolith like some of his best works, Dickens excels at changing his style of characterization and plot to fit whatever mode he writes in. "A Tale of Two Cities" is one of his shorter novels, and he manages to make the most of out of the allotted space. The compression of the narrative sacrifices Dickens's accustomed character development for plot and overall effect, but what we get is still phenomenal.

"A Tale of Two Cities" begins in 1775, with Mr. Lorry, a respectable London banker, meeting Lucie Manette in Paris, where they recover Lucie's father, a doctor, and mentally enfeebled by an unjust and prolonged imprisonment in the Bastille. This assemblage, on their journey back to England, meets Charles Darnay, an immigrant to England from France who makes frequent trips between London and Paris. Upon their return to England, Darnay finds himself on trial for spying for France and in league with American revolutionaries. His attorney, Stryver, and Stryver's obviously intelligent, if morally corrupt and debauched, assistant, Sydney Carton, manage to get Darnay exonerated of the charges against him. Darnay, a self-exiled former French aristocrat, finds himself compelled to return to France in the wake of the French Revolution, drawing all those around him into a dangerous scene.

Dickens portrays the French Revolution simplistically, but powerfully, as a case of downtrodden peasants exacting a harsh revenge against an uncaring aristocratic, even feudal, system. The Defarge's, a wine merchant and his wife, represent the interests of the lower classes, clouded by hatred after generations of misuse. Darnay, affiliated by birth with the French aristocracy, is torn between sympathy for his native country in its suffering, and his desire to be free of his past.

"A Tale of Two Cities" is a novel driven by historical circumstance and plot, much like the works of Sir Walter Scott, wherein the characters themselves assert less agency, finding themselves forced to deal with the tide of epic events. Richard Maxwell's introduction to this newest Penguin edition does a good job outlining the themes of doubling and literary influence that Dickens works with. One specific influence I discerned in reading "A Tale" that Maxwell doesn't metion is Edmund Burke's "Reflections on the Revolution in France," which if nothing else, gives the feeling that the rampant violence of the early revolution and the later Reign of Terror has brought about an irreversible change in human nature. While Dickens remains cautiously optimistic throughout the novel that France can recover, the tone of the novel speaks to the regression of humanity into a more feral, primal state, rather than advertise any real hope for its enlightened progress.

Despite the supposed dichotomy between England and France in the novel, Dickens seems to suggest throughout that there are no real differences, due to the way that human nature is consistently portrayed. With England in between two revolutions, American and French, Lucie's sensitivity early in the novel to hearing the "echoing" footsteps of unseen multitudes indicates a palpable fear that the "idyllic" or "pastoral" England he tries to portray is not exempt from the social discontent of America or France. In this light, stolid English characters like Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and Jarvis Lorry appear to almost overcompensate in their loyalty to British royalty. In a novel that deals with death, religion, mental illness, I could go on and on for a week, but I won't. One of those novels whose famous first and last lines are fixed in the minds of people who've never even read it, "A Tale of Two Cities" demands to be read and admired.

Love, betrayal, drama, and suspense, the makers of a great novel, are all found in Charles Dickens', A Tale of Two Cities. Dickens not only sets a great foundation for the novel but he also builds an illustrious story with great detail. His creativity explodes in this book.

The book is set in the time before and during the French Revolution. It is about the experiences of two French families and how those experiences later collide with their future. Their experiences not only create a great fictional story but they also dipict the true horrors that occured in France at that time.

Dickens makes the plot very interesting because he incorporates fiction and historical facts and events. For example in the storming of the Bastille scene, he brings to life an actual event and adds the fiction of what the peasants found in Dr. Manette's cell and the inside look on how they may have felt. Two other examples include the scenes where the revolutionaries kill the king and queen of France and the many times they use the guillotine. They demonstrate this mixture because they're true events yet, Dickens adds fictional characters and the feelings and emotions the people might have had.

Another great touch that Dickens adds is all the detail. Although at times it is rather long it helps to make a clear picture in the mind of what is going on. One such example where he does this is when he describes fate and death. He makes two rather hard to picture objects visible in the mind as the Farmer and the Woodsman. Another example of his great use of detail is when he describes Mr. Lorry's trip down the Dover mail. His description gives the feeling of actually being there. These are just two but there are numerous of other examples.

One more thing that made this novel fascinating was how Dickens reveals bits and pieces of the plot mixed together, but then ties every piece together at the end. For example he dipicts the Marquis' cruelness first and does not explain his involvement right away. However, by the end he turns out to be a key character. He also does that with the character of Dr. Manette. He introduces the character but leaves the suspense of that character's involvement until later. The suspense keeps the interest in the novel going. Dickens details, mixture of fact with fiction, and suspense makes the novel a extremely enjoyable book. After reading this book a clear understanding is achieved of why Charles Dickens is such a renowned author. A Tale of Two Cities is a unique and fascinating story which is why it is a must for anyone's bookself.

Even after many centuries, a classic novel can still be read, understood and charm a wide audience. For it teaches the reader about life and death, society and history through a magnificent story. "A Tale of Two Cities", written in 1859, is one of those classics.

This magnificent story begins a year before the American Independence and several years before the French Revolution. As only Dickens can, he breathes life into the most bizarre, comical and memorable characters... such as Madame Defarge, Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher and a slew of others. But in the midst of these people, the light shines on the few characters on which the story hence revolves. About Lucie Manette who has a true and beautiful heart that affects everyone around her and her aristocratic husband Charles Darnay, an ambitious man of French blood. Dr. Manette who after surviving 18 years in jail overcomes his weakness to rescue another. The light shines strongly upon Sydney Carton... a man who doesn't seem very redeemable in the beginning but who has a heart of gold who is capable of the greatest sacrifice of all for the woman he loves. It is these people whom Dickens chose to give life to during the grim and bloody French Revolution.

This novel is one of my most favorite of Dickens' novels. The hero and the heroine are rather complex and admirable characters. However, they are not necessarily the ones that win the sympathy and the heart of the reader... but suprisingly (and pleasantly) to the most unexpected of Dickens' character. On another note, the novel starts with a famous and recognizable opening line, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." and ends with a very memorable line, "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." To which I give great credit to the novel by Mr. Dickens.

The protagonists have no soul, they seem caricatures - not people you would care about. So many coincidences also lead to plot being less than believable. Nice enough try, but I will wait for the library copy of the next one

She's back, Olivia/Oliver Brown, poet/sleuth, that is.

This time she joins her bohemian friends at a rustic farmhouse for a weekend of gin, games, gossip, and sex for sex's sake. And the intrigue begins when tempers flare and the host and hostess seem to part ways. Then Olivia and current squeeze, Paulo, discover an icy apparition hanging from a tree. The frozen female is none other than the nanny of the host and hostess, Fordy and Kate Vaude.

The investigation of the suicide turned murder moves to Greenwich Village as the weekend guests return there for their "normal" lives. Thus, Olivia, Harry, Mattie, Gerry, and the Hudson Dusters once again join ranks to solve things first. (They all came together in Meyers' first Olivia Brown mystery, Free Love.)

Olivia waxes poetic and enthralls every male with whom she comes into contact, including the underworld character Monk Eastman who showers her with booze by the crate and roses by the dozen.

Meyers' delivers this easy read and keeps the solution a secret until the end. This Oliver adventure involves characters in the Secret Service, the Pinkertons, the Black Hand, and the Ivy League poetry effete. Olivia is still not my favoriate protagonist, by any means, but Meyers' certainly sets a scene of the decadence that followed the Great War in 1920's New York.

Olivia Brown, 1920s Bohemian poet and part-time detective, is a most fascinating character, sophisticated and intelligent, but tending to be rather theatrical and headstrong. Obviously based upon Edna St. Vincent Millay (she is even called "Oliver" by her friends, as Millay was called "Vincent"), she and her milieu are quite convincing. The Greenwich Village that she resides in seems completely authentic, along with the real-life characters with whom she associates, such as Edmund "Bunny" Wilson and Susan Glaspell, and the atmosphere of prohibition, with its speakeasies and bootleggers.

The investigation of the murder of a maid (who turns out to be an undercover agent) is intriguing. And the diversions of the Black Hand gang, trying to discourage Olivia's prying, and rival mobster Monk Eastman, who displays a romantic interest in our heroine, add to the suspense.

The ending, when we finally discover "whodunit," really doesn't depend to any great degree on the whole progress of the investigation, and the novel comes to a rather disconcertingly abrupt close. But who cares? It has been a great ride, and I'll be first in line for Olivia's next adventure.

Although younger than Wakefield, I was around NYC, especially the Village, in the '50s & I was really looking forward to "looking back" at a unique time & place. This book was a real disappointment, unfortunately, with little more to offer than big (& not so big) names & parties. I found it very superficial & self-promoting, in effect light weight *gossip*, which in the end is very shrewd on the part of author & publisher, but oh so cynical.

There's a time-honored prerequisite for living the if-I-can-make-it-there life in NYC -- you, and your friends, and the 'hood/bars/restaurant/flats/local characters, etc. assume, by default, all the criteria for being a legitimate 'Scene' or 'Movement' save one: Time. But that one you can ignore because one of your mind's eyes has alreayd projected itself far into the future, so that it can look back and watch you watching yourself and your chums making glorious History!...

That said, I found the title of this book misleading... Wakefield has written an eminently personal memoir, not a history. The telling plods on and on in his cranky, cracked little voice, fusty-bachelor-to-the-core, praising the bygone zany antics of Westvillagers yet falling back (with a literary blush, no less) so repetitively on an unnecessary "but we were from the 50s, we didn't do that" mantra each time his narrative requires the mention of some "beatnik" act -- "free" love, pot, psilocybin, etc. -- so unsure of himself, so inextricably mired in that same narrow, embarrased, small-town midwestern ethos he spends most of the book trying to convince us he had escaped from in the headily free atmosphere of the Village, that he comes across like a stuttering prude. I was ultimately left unconvinced. Wakefield never quite seemed sure of what he wanted to say -- especially in the case of a character like Kerouac. He hems and haws and sidesteps the issue.

It's nice to read about those people, his friends, sure, but in the end, none of them came across as nearly as interesting as others (and other memoirs) from/of the same era. Another old fart jumping on the memoir bandwagon -- another memoir of 50s New York -- truly as innovative, as challenging and as necessary as another Rolling Stones album and/or tour. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I found this book inspiring, funny, and beautifully written. It carried me to a time, before cell phones, the internet, dvds and instant communications, when the written word mattered, when books and magazines and letters were greeted with high anticipation and made a difference in people's lives. When books mattered, ideas mattered, friendships were the stuff of life, and art was not only a creative expression but an affirmation, a challenge to take the high road, to live life to the fullest. This book will put zest in your soul. I recommend it highly.

Timothy Dumas' account of the Martha Moxley murder must be read in light of the fact that it was published in 1998 which means that the research was done at least a couple of years prior to that time. Now that there has been an indictment of Michael Skakel and the trial has commenced the information in the book seems a bit dated. However, it is a good source of background information.

I found that often the author stretched his limited materials in order to make a book length work. He includes pages of information that are not relavent to the Moxley case but do give background information about the community of Greenwich.

Dumas spends much of his time focusing on Tommy Skakel and Ken Littleton as key suspects. He tells of the many tragic things that happened to many of the characters but just doesn't seem to tie the story together. The reader gets a good incite into the Greenwish and how the "other half" lives. But all and all I found this book very shallow.

I first read Mark Furhman's book Murder in Greenwich and then read this one. It would not have mattered which I read first but I liked Furhman's better. Dumas lived amoung them and it seems his book holds back a lot of information like he is afraid to tell the whole story unlike Furham who wanted this to be solved and have Justice Done. Dumas cast almost a sympthy for the accused wealthy Family and I find it annoying. I also think he did not need to Dis Mark Furhman in his book it makes him look bad. Furham may have had a bad reputation but nobody ever questioned his ability as a cop. I know nothing about Dumas for all I know he was as [messed] up as everyone else into drugs, etc... That does not make him an expert. He shows a lot of arrgogance I lived here so I know more. Well that case needed a new set of eyes an unintimided outsider. I bet if the two of them worked together you would have had a great book.

Both books make me think that both Tommy and Michael did this or are covering for each other. If you read between the lines it you see two MO's and two murder scences I think one of them went into a rage with a golf and the other stabbed her just my opinion. Also the family seems to cover for them at the beginning and then hides both of them (Tommy and Michael)away but not the rest of the kids.

I must say that I am glad they both potray how much Dorthy Moxely was involved as any Mother she would want to know the truth about what happened to her daughter. She is a pillar of strength and made sure her love for her daughter carried on. I believe that police, and the community was too scared of the Skakels to fess up. However, I would of talked because it was so violent why would you want to protect someone capable of doing what was done? Then again if I did it would be blacked out in police reports or I'd be dead. I do not care about wealth or stature the whole community should have been hell bent on finding this murdere not covering it up. Neither book really gives you a great insight because all the people are so vague or gaurded it is pathetic. Overall Dumas gets pieces the Furham book did not and vice versa. Dumas's book raises more questions than answers and Furhman's solved the case. That may tell you something. All in all we will never really know what happened but at least it was not ignored. This is one of the saddest murders I ever read or heard about.

Rarely do I read a book that continually keeps my attention throughout the entire story. This is especially true when reading true crime stories. A Wealth of Evil by Timothy Dumas was more than I could have imagined. Not only is this Dumas's first and only true crime book, but he also put in so much more in a true crime book than most accomplished true crime authors have ever thought of doing.

The story is about the famous Martha Moxley murder in 1975. Immediately the suspects were none other than the Skakel brothers, who coincidentally were distant Kennedy relatives (their aunt being Ethel Skakel Kennedy). As many can imagine, you get a crime involving high people in high places and you have a recipe for getting away with murder!

Dumas not only gives the sordid facts of the murder, but he also gives the reader a detailed view of the town Martha lived in, Greenwich, CT. Dumas, who has lived in Greenwich all his life, could not have described this upscale town any better. The history not only adds to the story, but also gives readers a better idea of how this crime was and is so shocking. Dumas clearly did his homework when writing this book and brought readers a wonderful depiction of a young girl who lost her life much too early in life.

A Wealth of Evil will leave you disturbed by the facts surrounding the case and will keep you wanting justice to be served to the individual who did this crime. A well-written book that will keep you turning pages and not wanting to put the book down until it is finished.

Dumas has proven himself to be a very capable writer of true crime and I can only hope that he will consider writing another true crime book, as he has the gift for telling a good story.