Eric Miles Williamson does a great job of describing real life for the have-nots. Most people,especially today's youth,don't know what it's like to have to work like T-Bird had to in order to survive on his own. Forced, as he expected and accepted, to leave home the day after graduating from high school. T-Bird is much smarter and more talented than his environment and low expectatious family will allow. Williamson gives us insight to what the Oakland scene is really like and how difficult it is for
even an intelligent kid to escape.

East Bay Grease allows us to enter a world that we knew existed, but were afraid to think about. The story is a wake-up call; it makes you realize just how good you have it and that things are not as bad as it seems. It makes you appreciate the things you have and don't have. It makes you appreciate your family, your loved ones, and to just really appreciate life in general. T-Bird is an inspiration for us all; he represents the do'ers in the world, and he will not stop until he finds what he's looking for. East Bay Grease is the type of novel that is uplifting to your soul. The story represents all walks of life and it reminds us that we are all different...but the same. Different authors mean stories and experiences. It's refreshing to finally read a story that is realistic,and doesn't just tell us what we want to hear. Williamson has guts, and is not afraid to tell it like it is. We should congratualte him for being so honest. Mark my words, it will be in Cliff Notes in the near future.

Unlike a lot of fiction in which characters think a lot, do nothing, and bore us to tears, East Bay Grease is that rare literary novel in which there is action for the characters and the readers to think about.

This book takes the coming of age novel to places it doesn't usually go - like the working-class neighborhoods of Oakland. There are fights, deaths, drunkenness and life from one paycheck to the next. Somehow Williamson finds humor as well as pain in all this. I found myself laughing out loud as I read passages to myself and laughing again as I read them to friends over the telephone.

This book comes a lot closer to daily life, where endurance and honor are the only assets most people hold, than tepid novels in which characters ponder their well-cushioned mid-life crises in the Berkshires or the Hamptons. East Bay Grease addresses what most of us call "real life" and turns its rough energy into literature.

There are books that change the way you think about things. "Imperial San Francisco" changed the way I look at the city I live in, revealing the machinations behind the development of the Bay Area and its environs.

Brechin's book is part academic treatise, part shrill denouncement, and part insightful tell-all about America's favorite sweet-hart city. Basically, according to Brechin, a moneyed oligarchy destroyed the regional environment, poisoned our streams and wetlands, steered us towards a consumerist society dependant on fossil fuels and highways, provoked war, dumped toxic waste in workers' neighborhoods, and bought and control all significant media, all in order to make a buck. All the problems plaguing our modern society-poverty, crime, pollution, materialism-stem directly from the path of our greedy, imperial, and disgusting past.

Well researched (with occasional holes better filled by other reviewers), with plenty of gruesome anecdote and illustration, the book made my skin crawl, turned my belly aflame, and made me grit my teeth each morning as I read it on the Muni. All the passing sight from the train was just evidence of Man's greed and selfishness. What's worse, it only reminded me that the pace of our development only increases here in California.

But while Brechin was quite skillful in revealing the underbelly of San Francisco's past, his tone is grating and incessant. The book is like that obnoxious friend we all have who's politically savvy and unduly righteous. Reading the book is like being backed into a corner by this friend at a party and having to listen to all the products you should be boycotting.

And what was the alternative, after all? Certainly not the agricultural-philosophical town Brechin rhapsodizes about in the introduction. Jefferson extolled the same type of society, but his model needed slavery to uphold it, as did the Greeks', who Brechin praises as the ideal. So, after putting the book down, we're left with acrid taste in our mouths, yet no refreshing alternative with which to cleanse our palate.

Brechin's book goes a long way towards unveiling some of the core myths the perpetuate the wrong paths taken by our society.

No other place on earth is more buried in sentimental - and highly inaccurate - nonsense than San Francisco. The beautiful city by the bay, the world's favorite tourist destination, the place everyone loves to visit has also served as the home base for one of the most industrious band of white collar thieves and cutthroats the world has ever known. Rarely, have so few people created so much devastation in such a short period of time.

If this is news to you, then the mythologizers have done their job very well.

The ecological devastation of California and other parts of the West and Pacific basin - the horrific destruction caused by reckless mining, the deforestation on a scale almost impossible to conceive, the ruination of millions of acres of fertile soil - a preponderance of these disasters were the outcomes of San Francisco-based enterprises.

San Francisco's elite also played a crucial role in involving the US in destructive wars overseas starting with the Spanish-American war through to Vietnam and Central America. San Francisco's leadership in developing both the Bomb and the rationale for using against Japan is also covered in detail.

The story isn't pleasant, but it's real and it's essential reading for anyone who is trying to make sense of the last 100 years. Many fascinating illustrations and very well written.

Brechin's acerbic and well-researched account of San Francisco's development and the attendant despoiliaton of its hinterlands will be amusing reading to anyone with a populist bent and an interest in San Francisco history.

But "Imperial San Francisco" is far more than good local history. It's a book that wrestles with big ideas -- the poisonous and secretive power of economic elites, the cost of technology, and the way fortunes are built not by creating wealth but by shifting costs to others (including future generations).

There are no easy answers here. This is not a book that inspires one with optimism about human nature or the human prospect. And by connecting San Francisco's rise to power with that of other imperial cities in the past (most notably Rome), Brechin makes a strong case that "t'was ever thus."

"Imperial San Francisco" is also well-written (although this isn't popular history, but the real deal). And I feel compelled to add that in this day of specialization, careerism, and caution in historical writing it's a real pleasure to read such a wide-ranging and daring book. Brechin also makes excellent use of both photos and illustrations and comes up with quotes so juicy they made me want to head for the archives and read the primary sources myself.

This is a the book that made a difference in my lfe. Because of it, I spent vacation time on the Eastern Shore and even made a pilgrimage to Tangier Island. I have become fond of the little critters and am really fascinated by their life cycle and habits. I wish the author would write more books like this. I can't understand the one negative review in this series unless the reviewer has a hidden agenda.

I have treasured this book that was a gift from my late grandmother who was a native of Norfolk, Virginia and lived along the Chesapeake Bay during her entire life. Beautiful Swimmers is one of the finest books in my library. I have both a hardbound and softcover copy. This book brings "The Bay" to life in a very rich and abundant way. Warner has accomplished a perspective that places you comfortably among the waterman and the life of the Chesapeake Bay. Having grown up in coastal Virginia, this book allowed me to gently return to my childhood and my times spent in pursuit of blue crabs to sell to neighbors for pocket money and for my family's dinner table. A fine read! I highly recommend this book.

This book is so easy to read and so full of information that I have an absolute craving to revisit it every year or so. I have never read a book so often (and I read and reread constantly). Having spent my summers on Maryland's Eastern Shore and having visited Smith Island, this book absolutely takes me home to a wonderfully simple and fascinating way of life. Who would have ever thought that the common blue crab was so eloquent a creature...I'm sold!

This novel succeeds on may levels. At heart it is a gothic romance for the twenty-first century. Candle Bay, having said that is also oh so much more. The plot and pacing are quick. The characters colourful, lively and intriquing.
It tells the story of an assisant coiincierge just beginning work at a beautifully restored resort/hotel and spa. Unbeknownst to her the proprietors are a family of vampires.
The suspense is well maintained throughout the story, and it is definitely a novel with positive possibilities of sequels. I also am impressed that Tamara Thorne makes obvious refernce to the vampiric works of Chelsea Quinn Yorbra(sp) even so far as making her trueblood impersonate Chelsea's vampire.
Overall a great read for those fans of Vampire stories or those just looking to read something a little different.

I picked up Candle Bay early one morning and didn't put it down, not once, until I had finished it about 9 hours later. It was wonderful! Candle Bay is the first book I have read by Tamara Thorne and now I'm itching to get my hands on more of her work!

This book has it all! A fresh and interesting social structure for the Vampires, and very surprising and unique origins!! A vivid, beautiful, yet haunting setting. Wonderful characters, both human and vampire ... dangerous, shocking, quirky, intriguing, sexy, and lovable. There's also action, betrayal, mystery, secrets, love, lust, humor, thrills, and even a surprising bit of good old magic!

The story grabs you from the first page and just gets better and better as you are sucked into the fued between the Darlings and the Dantes, the history of the Cadle Bay hotel, and the dangerous secrets that are hidden in the ancient catacombs beneath it. Definitely a page-turner! I highly recommend this book and am very grateful to the friend who recommended it, and gave it to me as a birthday gift!

My only quibble is that even though things were wrapped up in the end, it felt a little too abrubt. However, it leaves certain things wide open for a sequel, so maybe this was intentional. Candle Bay can be read as a stand-alone, but a continuation of the story would most certainly be icing on the cake! I'm not going to give anything away, but if you read this book you will understand what I mean and find yourself begging for more!

This is the pinnacle of Tamara Thorne's brilliant writing career. And that says a mouthful; because this dame can write a yarn. She writes a great vampire novel here and does so much better than Ms.Rice.

This book has it all; sex, violence, gore, romance. What else can a horror fan ask for? Plot synopsis? You got it!!

Amanda, an innocent little thing, goes to work at Candle Bay resort, owned by the Darlings, a vampire clan. Candle Bay is an exclusive resort outside of San Francisco. The Darlings have an on-going feud with The Dante's. And the fun begins.

Thorne outdoes herself with each effort and is quickly becoming one of the best female horror writers published today. Her pacing of a novel is smooth and effortless, her characters are fleshed out, the violence quick and painful to the jugular, and the sex...Well you need to read this novel.

I have yet to read Eternity but it looks fantastic. Her new novel, The Forgotten, to be released in November 2002, also looks awesome.

Tamara, please, please, keep 'em coming!!!

This is a good book ,the problem came from the fixation they put on his painkillers addiction and the problems it bring with his wife and teammates.You also have a lot of details about the health problems this addiction caused to him,a little bit like "Drugs is bad to you,see what it do to me."His wife almost let him down for that,his teammates are tired of him asking for Vicodin and others painkillers.The two or three first paragraphs talk about that, but chapter after chapter they come back with it.The book talk to much about his "post popularity" life and not enough of him when he was unknown.His "post popularity" life are report in all the daily newspapers,that why I expect to learn more about Bret Favre before he was a star.They pass to fast on his teens years,his collegiate years.The reason to write a biography his to talk about the unknown parts of someone life,but in this book you just found what everybody read on the last five years newspapers.That a good but incomplete book.

As a Londoner, who learnt to appreciate American football at 21, I wanted background reading to enhance my enjoyment. I started by looking into favourite players of mine, so came this book!

I wanted to understand what goes on in players mind before a big game. How they react to the coach barking orders. How they conduct themselves on and off the field. This book helped me to do all these things and more. Favre is not a roboback, he is an individual with flair and creativity, which is why this book is so entertaining.

I seem to be able to climb right on into Brett's head, and into his personal life through the pages in this book, which is enlightening to say the least. We hear about his highs and lows, and he is frank about his addiction to Vicodin, and his relationships with players and coaches alike.

I think this book is for American Football fans only, which explains why this was my first Amazon purchase, (This book isn't in print in the UK) but for a fan of the Packers, or just a Football fan in general, you can do no wrong in buying this, which will no doubt increase your respect for the stress players endure every game.

Will Brett ever update this book to include the humiliating defeat to the St. Louis Rams in the playoffs last week? I mean, don't get me wrong, I love reading about his near-death experiences behind the wheel, and his love of prescription medication as much as the next guy, but what I really want to know is how he looks his teammates eye-to-eye after completely folding and ending the Packer's season. Does he really want us to believe he doesn't drink anymore? After that game, if Brett doesn't go out and get a case of Pabst to wash down the 3 bottles of Vicadin he has been saving for such a humiliation, I'll be greased-up and defiled like the 17-year old babysitter at Mark Chamura's house. I wouldn't be surprised (or saddened) to see Packer fans (are there any left up dere?) lining up on rural overpasses and the top of tall buildings (packing plants?) waiting to jump to their not-soon-enough deaths after losing to Kurt Warner and the lowly Rams. We can only hope Brett is jumping next. Before you jump, please write a new chapter for us Brett!

I love this book because, at its core, The Beatles, The Bible and Bodega Bay is an insightful, inspirational, reflective, and personal look at relationships.

As the trinomial title indicates, it is about three pivotal relationships in one man's life and how those associations have shaped his life path. Ken Mansfield shares his affiliation with arguably history's most influential rock group, which launched his 3 decade long career in the music business, understating yet hinting at the excitement that comes with the blurring whirl of touching fame. He approaches the topic of the Beatles through the eyes of a humble young man from the midwest sitting on a rollercoaster just before it takes off. He recounts personal stories of parties, concerts, and liaisons with people whose lives have touched him along the way. The fact that it is the Beatles with whom Ken started his career is almost incidental. These are stories about a man and his friends.

Sandwiched between anecdotal snippets of Ken's life in the entertainment world are thoughtful prayers from a now older man, having conversations with God and sharing with us as he looks at the steps he's taken so far and the steps he is faced with. Ken's focal relationship is to God as his trusted companion on his life path. It is his connection to his faith that makes the author so personal and real, and we can see how his love and devotion have given him clear vision after living a sometimes cloudy lifestyle. These are stories about a man and his spirituality.

Finally, the correlation of Ken's experiences, his faith and Bodega Bay is the relationship that appeals to many who find peace in nature. Ken's expression of his bond with the ocean, his environment, and his connection to his faith touches any human being who has ever glimpsed Heaven in a sunset or been enchanted by the deep vast blue sea. Bodega Bay is Ken's retreat, it is where he has slowed down to hear the quiet around him and feel most connected. But Bodega Bay could be any spectacular place in nature, it is about a man's bond with his environment.

As with all good autobiographies, you close this book feeling like you have a relationship with its author. He is a friend telling you stories of his life.

After all these years and after all the things I have read about the Beatles, for the first time I finally feel like I know them. What a refreshing view of these wonderful people. To cap it all off-as a baby boomer who grew up with the Beatles it is incredible to have such a beautiful pictorial about what is important in my life at this stage. Ken Mansfield describes his spiritual journey in such a non preachy way that I feel I have been given some direction in mine. I totally recommend this as a unique rock and roll historical journal with great new unseen pics of the Fab Four and as a personal level must read. I was totally surprised because I have never read a book so unique and unlike anything I have ever seen before.

At first, I found it a bit off-putting to read one chapter relating to Ken Mansfield's experiences working with The Beatles, & the very next chapter detailing his personal spiritual journey, but his poetic prose & very humanistic approach to both topics soon lulled me into a creative rhythm not unlike the way the Fab Four completely changed popular music when they appeared on the scene in the U.S.

Mansfield's writing is delicious, from the very first page when he says: 'You are invited to absorb these offerings as you would a suntan. Afterwards, you will probably look good in a white shirt or pale blue earrings.'

The photographs of Bodega Bay are absolutely lovely &, along with Mansfield's joyful hymns to his faith, make this book as much a keepsake as the formerly unpublished photos of Paul, John, George & Ringo.

I went on vacation to San Francisco about a month ago and I needed a book that would guide me to the city. Access San Francisco was extremely informative and helpful. I found some great restaurants, cafés and shopping areas. Of course, it also guided me to China Town and the Golden Gate Bridge. Also, the book tells us the history of San Francisco and the different types of neighborhoods one might want to go to. I loved it. Are you planning on going to San Francisco? If so, buy Access San Francisco. Believe me, it is a tourist's must have!

This book was the most useful book I purchased to plan our trip to San Francisco. I can't say enough good things about it. It divides the city into neighborhoods then goes through each one not only listing the good points and points of interest, but also listing the bad. The information is practical and easy to find and understand. His carefully researched data helps one understand the city and the culture that make it so unique. From parking garages to street vendors this is the book to have on San Francisco.

In the spring of 1996, I traveled to the Bay Area with a friend for what would turn out to be the vacation of a lifetime, thanks to San Francisco Access guidebook. SFAccess was the best read material of the week. It outshined all other tourist info and guide books that we had. The reviews and suggestion were right on. I have increased my collection of Access books to now include the London and Paris editions. I can't imagine that I would have made it around each of these cities, or enjoyed my vacation as much, without these guides. I am going back to SF in a few weeks and I am buying the new edition of SF for the trip. And hope to add the Italy edition next year. I put my seal of approval on Access travel books.

When I sat down to read 'People of the Mist', I was not sure what to expect. The synopsis on the back cover said that the book was about the Native American people in the Chesapeake bay area, and in particular about the murder of a young girl, Red Knot. Well, I was amazed with the writing style of Kathleen O'Neal Gear, and W. Michael Gear. I got into the book after a chapter or two, and couldn't put it down. The authors had me guessing till the very end of the book as to who the murderer was, and I'm usually good at figuring things like that out. If you want a good novel with an excellent mystery componant to it, 'People of the Mist' is the book for you.

I have read almost all of the Prehistoric "People of the..." novels by the Gears (I am currently reading the People of the Masks). People of the Mists is FANTASTIC! What a great murder mystery! I could not guess the killer til the end...and even then...wow! The characters are well drawn and the hints and clues and potential killers with their wide array of motives are very skillfully inserted in the story. I like all of the books of the series. People of the Lakes is the best, with Mists ranking second on my list. Highly recommended!

I think this is the first prehistoric mystery I've ever read. I usually don't read mysteries, but I've read all the books in this series, and I enjoyed this one as much or more than its predecessors. It's nice to see something different from past storylines. The only thing that bothered me was that the characters sometimes explained their customs to each other in a somewhat clumsy effort by the authors to teach the readers something about the culture. For example, they talked about matrilineal systems more than once, emphasizing how the mother's brother, not the father, is responsible for the children's upbringing. Once might have been all right, but more than that seemed a little too much. Other than that, I thought the book was great. And, as a resident of the Susquehanna Valley, I was pleased to see the Susquehannocks mentioned somewhere besides a history textbook.

The Blue Bear is one of the best and most concise expressions of the meaning of life that I have ever read since Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Especially Schooler's experience with the Kingfisher and the crows. It's a beautiful story about love and friendships between man and nature, man and himself, and man and God, however one envisions Him. I could not put the book down once I started to read it. Schooler's quotes from Michio's book seemed to hold a very personal message for me.

This book had more impact on me than anything I've read in the past few years. I've never especially wanted to see Alaska (too cold) and never appreciated it as a special place, but Lynn Schooler's writing pulled me in to the land and its enchanting forms of life and interesting residents. I kept thinking how brave he was to write as he did about his demons and pains and the healing he painfully found, as elusive for most of us as the Blue Bear itself. I taught classic English literature for years, and I know powerful, gripping language when I see it. This is the real thing. If I could write to Schooler, I'd tell him how moving his book was. Read it right away, and slowly.

This book is true literature. The authors discriptions are very visual. I could not put the book down. It is more than just an adventure book. It is a story of true intimacy,personal discovery and tragedy. Schooler opens himself to the reader as if he is sharing his personal intermost secrets to his closest friend. It changed my life.

The story contained in this book is a good example of why governments should have stayed out of the exploring business in the Arctic regions. The inadequate research, underfunding, and the willy-nilly selection of leaders and expedition members practically doomed the Greely excursion to Lady Franklin Bay before it began. Once under way, the objections and obstructions put forth by Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln definitely contributed to the tragedy that ensued. There is no doubt that the members of the expedition acted very heroically in many instances, including the commander himself, but there are also many times when foolish things happened, and those things had tragic consequences later. Reading this book is a good cautionary tale: plan ahead for as many contingencies as possible, have proper funding, and make sure that instructions are sufficiently clear and flexible enough to take into account changing situations.

I loved the book. If you enjoy adventure, history and reading about explorers and expeditions into extreme climates and dangerous places then this is a good book for you.
I have read many books dealing with both Arctic and Antarctic expeditions as well as exploration, mountain climbing and military history.
This is the story of an Army Signal Corp expedition and a series of screw-ups which left them stranded in the unforgiving climate of the Arctic. The extremes that these men were subjected to and the pressures brought to bear on them are mind boggling. We wonder what we would do under similar circumstances.
I came away thinking that there were really no "good guys" in this book, but lots of "bad guys" and just people who couldn't/wouldn't get along. Some had personality quirks that only magnified their plight and made things worse for everyone. No heroes in this account, only survivors. A good read.

Len Guttridge's extensive research has uncovered the true story of what happened to the ill-fated Greely expedition. For the first time, we are given new details of this horrendous part of our history. In the past, things that have been written about this expedition have been almost entirely from Greely's official records. The excerpts from new unpublished diaries and papers in Guttridge's book give us new insights about other members of the expedition and their hostility towards Greely. We see Lieutenant Greely's decisions on the retreat south as pure madness. As Mr. Guttridge concluded, Mr. Greely was no match for the arctic. Washington politics concerning the rescue of these poor souls was equally disheartening. Guttridge has subtly exposed a desperate plot by a chosen few to stay alive. Interesting that the two cooks, Greely and Brainard are among those who managed to survive. The horror of the fate of those not so lucky makes this book a real page turner. It would make a fabulous movie.