When I heard Charlotte Abrams wrote the silents, I had to get it immediately. I doubt she would remember me, but we went to Tuley High School at the same time. Reading the book for me was like a travel trough the past. The memories of the school. the park, the neighborhood, and the simpler times were wonderful. But I recommend the book for the story of love and affection it tells. A beautiful tale of the struggles of deaf parents attempting to raise their children in what was for them a silent world. And while they felt like outsiders their children lovingly guided them through the speaking world. As you read this well written book be prepared to be spellbound and also to shed a few tears.

This book tells me that deaf and mute people live lives that are very similar to hearing and speaking parents. The children of parents with handicaps have more responsibility. This book tells about the love and care the parents give to their children and the love and care the children return to their mother and father.

The author, Charlotte, takes us through her childhood in depression era Chicago to living in Los Angeles with children of her own. What makes her story unique is that her parents were deaf. And we are graciously allowed into a world which is foreign to most. A world where there are no dogs barking, no music and no voices. It's a touching, inspiring, story full of rich memorable characters that stay with you long after you've turned the last page. After finishing "The Silents," I thought to myself, what a lucky woman Ms. Abrams must be to have had parents that were so utterly and indisputably in love. I look forward to reading more from this author and I hope "The Silents" receives the recognition it so greatly deserves.

After seeing a re-broadcast of Marilyn Greenwald on CNN and having just read yet another review (NY Times and Dallas paper), there is no brouhaha over this one --this is a fine work.

Ms. Greenwald's insightful biography of the fascinating woman who was both a shaper and observer of the women's movement is fascinating reading. Highly informative and entertaining this book is a real page turner.

The authors writing style is captivating and I look forward to her next endeavor.

Insightful and well written. I really enjoyed sharing the life of this remarkable woman.

I purchased this book several years ago to give me more insight into E.B. White's classic novel. Every time I read and re-read the notes, rewrites and history of this touching story for children, I find myself learning so much more about the writing style of this fabulous author. The photographs of White's farmhouse add texture and depth to the story and my first grade students appreciated that he, too, had to make revisions on his work! A wonderful resource for anyone interested in children's literature.

This story is suitable for all ages. It is for the old and the young ones.I like this book mainly because the characters are humorous and interesting, the setting of the story are not too much and last of all it is full of emotions. Happiness, sorrow, excitement and it is also a matter of life and death.

I enjoyed reading Charlotte's Web as a child and now I enjoy reading the book to my children and students. I think part of the reason this book has remained one of my favorites is because of the classic friendship between Wilbur and Charlotte. Both characters demonstrate an unselfish kind of love that is demonstrated from the time they meet. As a mother I want to teach my children the valuable life lesson of being a good friend and I think this story teaches that lesson in a non-didactic fashion. Charlotte's Web will forever be a classic in my heart.

There are two books that any carousel collector or would-be collector must have. Dinger's "Art of the Carousel" and Manns' "Painted Ponies". These are simply the most complete of the carousel reference books. Bruce W. Zubee - Webmaster - [URL]

The book Art of the Carousel is the best I've read. It gives a full history and it is beautifully illustrated. I showed it to a co-worker and she had to have one to put on their coffee table for all to view. You won't be sorry!

This book is just a fun with the education about the carousels! This'll tell you much about the carousels ! Charlotte is a great author, and has a good sense of understanding people's psycology. You'll have fun with this book !

The other two reviews are so insightful and accurate, in my opinion, I should have little to add. Yet, after reading "Auschwitz and After", I felt I had to express something of how the book made me understand and grow. As a convert to Judaism (born in 1951, I was on the pathway my whole life, I realize now), I have read many, many books/memoirs/histories on the Holocaust. Many of them have been very moving, indeed, beginning with Anne Frank's Diary, on through to "Maus". Though I acknowledge that these words have been said before, I still believe that Charlotte Delbo's words put me into that Hell more than any other survivor's testimony to date. Delbo's words do more than say "this happened and that happened". They are poetry...yet how can poetry apply to any experience in a death camp? Surprisingly, scarily, the poetry transports the reader there more truly than any film, any historical analysis, even better than any well-written survivor account. At first I thought I would not like it; my sensibilities were offended that someone would write in poetic format about an experience at a death camp ("Maus" was different; it was a cartoon, yes, but drawn by the son of a survivor, not a survivor). After finishing Delbo's triology, I feel that her words (not all in poetic form) made me understand as much as anyone who did not experience a death camp, how it felt, how one survived, what one endured when one "came back" to the "real world".

Due to the passage of time, we are losing the remaining Holocaust survivors. Hence, Spielberg's and others' efforts to record the testimony before it is too late. There has been more attention lately paid to the children of the survivors' and how their parents' experiences affected their lives. Delbo's words transcend the words of one survivor - she really makes the reader understand what happned to those who "came back", how little they had to give, in some cases, to their spouses, to their children. American culture puts a lot of emphasis on "getting over, moving on". To some extent, I believe this is usually a healthy thing to try to do; but some experiences fall outside the realm of being able to "get over it". I would suggest that some experiences are so traumatic that one cannot "process" them and get over them. How is forgiveness possible when the entire world is affected as a result? Some experiences mark a person and maybe a culture permanently, and to deny or to try to repress this is unhealthy. At the end of their lives now, most published Holocaust testimonies report that the death camp experience "never leaves you" - something "survivors" probably didn't believe when they were first liberated. The fact that the Holocaust survivors are becoming fewer and fewer makes Delbo's book all the more important because it conveys the true horror, the true evil of human degradation and genocide - and explains why the Holocaust, as well as other genocides have and will reverberate from generation to generation. Her book made me realize that understanding and vigilance, not "processing" and forgiveness is the answer.

This book is a translation of the famous postwar trilogy of Charlotte Delbo, a French Resistance fighter who was caught and sent to Auschwitz, then transferred to Ravensbruck. She was, and is, quite well-known in France. Though she is now deceased, the translator, Rosette Lamont, knew Delbo personally and is the foremost expert on her work, having written a number of articles on Delbo. Another who has written sensitively about Delbo is Nathan Bracher. Like all translations, there is a little something lost in the English rendering. If you are able to read the French, the original titles are "Aucun de nous ne reviendra," "Une connaissance inutile," and "Mesure de nos jours." Other books by Delbo you might find interesting are "La Memoire et les Jours," and "Le convoi du 24 janvier." She also wrote a number of plays, and poetry that isn't in this trilogy.

Thanks to the work of the Video Archive for Holocaust Testimony at Yale University, the Survivors of the Shoah project by Steven Spielberg, and the efforts of the new National Holocaust Museum, there is no shortage of testimony from Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. But Jews were not the only victims of the Nazi regime, and there is surprisingly little testimony from non-Jewish survivors. Delbo is probably the only non-Jewish victim who became an important literary figure in the postwar era, and her position as victim along with her eloquent indictment of Christianity and Christian culture for their complicity in the extermination of the Jewish victims with whom she feels strong kinship and empathy make her work an absolutely unique contribution to post-Holocaust literature. Feel free to e-mail me at schnaibl@fas.harvard.edu for more bibliographical references.

I have never read a book on the topic of the Holocaust that grasped it quite as well as this one has. Other books make the Holocaust sound 'too good' compared to her stories and accounts that are portrayed in this book. If you want to get a real grasp or feel of the Holocaust experience in a poetic and creatively written path, then this is a book you should read. Also, for anybody interested in the Holocaust, this is a definite must. It is basically as true and real as an account on the Holocaust can possibly get. It is simply an amazing piece of work.

As a longtime resident of this beautiful & remote North Pacific archipelago known as Haida Gwaii, I enjoyed Neil Frazier's guidebook very much. It is extremely informative in matters of interest to travellers in this unforgiving marine wilderness, the hard facts of survival. As well, the author shares his thoughts on the ongoing rape of the ancient forests of spruce & cedar for which the Queen Charlotte Islands are famous. His maps are accurate & current, his directions are lucid & easy to follow, and his advice is worth heeding. Very few of Haida Gwaii's 5000 full time residents have been to half of the places that Mr. Frazier has visited. And the author's extensive knowledge of the human history of these islands is evident throughout the text, and is usually reflected through entertaining anecdotes about Islands residents, past & present. The indigenous Haida people especially are portrayed in a romantic light that stirs the imagination. All in all, the book does what a good travel guide should do- it inspires me to want to load up my boat, and head off on an extended boat camping journey of my own, and to once again marvel at the endless majestic beauty that is to be found in every corner of Haida Gwaii.

"Boat Camping Haida Gwaii" guides readers not only through the waterways surrounding the Queen Charlotte Islands, but also through the history of the region, and the policies that continue to degrade these coastal areas. The guide is filled with detailed maps as well as pointers about where to land and where recent clear-cuts preclude camping. Even if you don't own a boat or a tent, you will still find the author's discussion of the past and possible future of these islands to be a useful guide for thinking about the fragility of the few "wild places" that are left, and about the price of ignoring the long-term effects of deforestation and overfishing.

This is a trip which my husband and I have always wanted to take. With Frazer's book, we feel confident enough to try it (hoping for good weather) The maps and descriptions of the area are very detailed and clear. The personal anecdotes and history enliven the book and make it an unusually readable travel guide. We appreciate the warnings and safety tips as well as the excellent bibliography and index. Congratulations to the author.

Read this book (and the Gerson Therapy) if you want to heal yourself actively. This book will help you become an active participant in your own healing, that means more control over your life, and disease. Our bodies can fight cancer if we help our immune system, and detoxify our bodies.
My mother was diagnosed with cancer of the soft tissue (low back area), and Non-hodgkin's lymphoma 2 years ago. She didnt seek medical advice thinking it was just low back pain until the pain became unbearable. The cancer has already spread to her bones and other parts of her low back compressing her kidney, and blood vessels and nerves to her leg. She started doing chemotherapy but whe is too weak to handle it all. It made her very sick, and she felt that the chemo will kill her before the cancer does so she decided not to finish the chemo program. She searched for an alternative and found Gerson therapy.
My mom is alive and well. In fact she is back doing her business and practicing her profession. Her MRI showed that her cancer had shrunk and stopped growing. She's gained weight, and got her life back.
Another lady was diagnosed with Non-hodgkins lymphoma about the same time my mother was diagnosed, that lady had expired after just a few months (she didnt know about Gerson's therapy).
I'm so happy that my mom is alive! She is commited to doing the Gerson Therapy which saved her life.
I'm sorry if I talked more about my mother that the book. This is because she is living proof that Gerson Therapy really works.
This book is a must read if you want to cure yourself or a loved one.

If you do, READ THIS BOOK! A friend of mine who hasfibromyalgia introduced me to Dr. Gerson's book. I also havefibromyalgia. Ten months ago, I thought I was going to die. I was sosick that I couldn't work, I could barely take care of myself and Ihad to give away most of my possessions to move half way across thecountry to stay with family. Now, I'm feeling much better and my lifehas improved dramatically. Much of my progress stems from the thingsI learned from this book as well as my WILLINGNESS to implement them.I highly recommend this book!...

Dr. Gerson's book is a must-read for anyone with cancer (particularly if you've been given a "hopeless" prognosis). It proves once and for all that there IS and HAS BEEN a cure for cancer in America for many, many years.

Lyndall Gordon does an excellent job of retelling the life of Charlotte Bronte. In this book we see a different side of a woman who since Gaskell's novel, has been pitied. In this biography we find a Charlotte that is full of life and even with the sadness and death that surrounds her is able to continue to follow her own path. She does not crumble into oblivion. Lyndall also opens up parts of Charlotte's life ignored by Gaskell to protect Charlotte's image. This novel reveals a Charlotte Bronte that knows passion and love not just pain and loss. This is an excellent book for any person interested in the life of a incredible author who was as strong-willed as the characters she wrote.

From the time I first read "Jane Eyre" in high school until now, some 30 years and many re-readings later, I have never come across anything that made me feel I really could comprehend the woman behind the work, until I read this book,which I finished early this morning. "Jane Eyre" has always been my favorite novel... I have seen every movie adaptation, I have trudged the rainy streets of Haworth and the surrounding moors, I have read several biographies, I have read other Bronte works. You see, I thought if I understood Charlotte Bronte better, I would understand myself better, at least the part of myself that is so incredibly moved by Jane Eyre at every re-reading. I was THRILLED to find a book that leaves the strict biographical details to any of the numerous Bronte biographers and explores the soul behind the facts. It is wonderfully written in its own right and demonstrates incredible insight and respect for the Bronte genius. Without feeling like I was being manipulated by a feminist with an agenda, I came to appreciate the incredible strength of mind and character in a woman like Ms. Bronte, whose unique identity and voice couldn't be suppressed by her social and personal circumstances. My already profound admiration for Charlotte Bronte was only deepened after reading this book by Lundall Gordon for the first time.

I adore Charlotte Brontë and did enjoy very much this book. I have to congratulate the author on this wonderful bio, very informative and yet so interesting. Everyone who is interested in the Brontë legend should read this biography.

Real meditation practice takes place "out at the edge of the darkness," Barry Magid writes in his not-so-ordinary book, ORDINARY MIND. "That's where we have to work. What is that edge? It's the boundary of where we feel comfortable, where the difficulties start. And that boundary is always clearly marked by anxiety or anger or fear: whatever we don't want to face. That's where we need to sit" (p. 74). Magid is no stranger to the cushion. Not only is he a psychoanalyst who has been practicing Zen meditation for the past twenty-five years (p. 1), he is also the founding teacher of New York City's Ordinary Mind Zendo (p. 4). In his book, Magid demonstrates how therapy and meditation practice can work together "like one foot forwarded and the other behind in walking" (p. 5). "What we do in Zen practice," he writes, "what we do in therapy, is watch how we go about facing--and even more important, avoid facing--our life as it is" (p. 160).

While Magid's observations may not be "groundbreaking" (John Welwood, for instance, has covered the same territory in books such as TOWARD A PSYCHOLOGY OF AWAKENING), they are indeed fascinating. Therapy and meditation practice share some common ground. Both create long-term relationships with a therapist or a teacher, respectively. Both create "a setting for the eliciting and working through of intense fantasies and affects." Both train us "to stay with, tolerate, and explore thoughts and feelings normally felt to be too painful or frightening to endure" (p. 103). "Through both psychoanalysis and Zen practice we strive to come back to ourselves," Magid says, "to re-own what has been split off, and to embrace what we have warded off. Then we are who we are; each moment is what it is" (p. 166).

Based on my own experience with Zen and shamatha-vipashyana (mindfulness-awareness) meditation styles, I found that Magid's observations are frequently reminiscent of the late Tibetan Buddhist Chogyam Trungpa's teachings. For instance, Magid's observation "that we lead lives so confined and constricted that we can hardly begin to imagine what true freedom is like" (p. 41) echoes Trungpa's MYTH OF FREEDOM. Perhaps Magid would agree that, just as psychoanalysis may be integrated with Zen meditation, it could also be integrated with other schools of meditation including shamatha-vipashyana Buddhist practice.

Magid's excellent book will appeal to the reader interested in uncovering the painful and hidden material of his or her life through therapy, meditation, or both so as to alleviate suffering, and to live a more meaningful life "as it is."

G. Merritt

Although the title of this text implies that this is a work best suited to professionals, I was delighted to find just the opposite. This is a book clearly presents some of the most basic aspects of Zen meditation written from a personal and inspiring perspective. It makes it possible for even the beginner to understand the rewards and challenges of just sitting meditation.
As a previous reviewer said ..."this is not just an intellectual polemic. Using a combination of honest examples from his own life, the wisdom of the Zen koan, and not least of all, humor, he repeatedly returns to how these issues inform our everyday life as we live it."
In addition this work includes a nicely written index making it possible to revisit those areas that made you think on your first read.

Magid uses classical koans, clinical material, and the thinking of cutting-edge psychoanalysts like Stolorow, Eigen, and others to lucidly explore the commonalities and divergences of Zen practice and the psychotherapeutic enterprise.

In particular, I found his thoughtful examination of self at once
evocative and refreshingly straightforward. His examination of the issues of boundaries in both clinical and zen teacher-student relationships is intelligent and realistic. And his comments on transference and its relationship to a Buddhist conception of ego are of particular interest.

In psychoanalytic circles lately there has been a growing interest in Zen and Buddhist psychology. I believe that Zen students and mental health professionals alike will be in Magid's debt for a long time to come.

Syn-Jern Sorn is a man that has been through more suffering in his lifetime than any man should ever have to go through. But regardless of this, there is something deep within Syn-Jern that keeps him going, driving him, and not letting him give up, no matter how much he wants to. He has been stripped of his title, shunned by all that knew him, killed in self-defense, framed for a murder he didn't commit, and sent to a place that death would be have been preferable: The Labyrinth. This is a prison from which no man returns in his right mind, if he returns at all.

When the end of Syn-Jern's 10-year sentence at The Labyrinth comes and goes without his release, he knows he's never meant to leave there alive and somehow manages to escape. This leads him on a perilous journey in which he endures even more pain and anguish, almost losing his life on more than one occasion, but he also manages to find joy and happiness. On his quest to reclaim what is rightfully his, he makes a few friends and finds his destiny. But will he live long enough to fulfill this destiny?

***** Outstanding, A definite must read! This book doesn't just draw you into it, it makes you feel like you are there and a part of the events as they unfold. WINDCHANCE is one book that you definitely don't want to miss. *****

A storm tossed sea leads the Windlass's crew into a fantastic adventure. The saucy Geneveve Saur (Genny), her brother Weir, and her brother's pirating partner Patrick Kasella, along with crew, stumble upon a ghost ship. Plundered by pirates and left because she wasn't seaworthy, they explore the dredge, and are amazed to find two men locked behind a hidden bulkhead panel.

The last crewmember of the ill-fated ship has saved the life of a convict, but in their hiding, they have became trapped. The convict is filthy, starved and dying of Labyrinth fever. Having served his ten-year sentence for killing a man, a crime of which he is was innocent, Syn-Jern Sorn had escaped the hell-hole two years after his sentence should have ended. But Syn-Jern is no ordinary prisoner. The son of a Duke, the victim of cruelty and injustice, his incredible spirit continues to display itself throughout the novel.

If you love tales of intrigue, magic and mystery, I highly recommend this novel. For those already familiar with Charlee Boyett-Compo work, you'll enjoy the allusions to her other novels. All readers will find themselves enthralled by this gripping tale. As with many of her works, keep a box of tissues handy, for the ending will leave you shocked, tearful, and amazed by the beauty of the tale.

The world changed irrevocably the day that Captain Weir Saur and his sister Genevieve boarded the derelict ship. Neither they, nor their pirate crew, realised that their find would have such far-reaching consequences.

Searching the deserted vessel, they discovered that it was a prison ship on it's way to Ghurn Colony - home of the Labyrinth - the cruelest penal colony ever devised. Just as they were leaving the cursed ship to its ghosts, they heard thumping from the hold. Perhaps it wasn't deserted after all, either that, or the superstitious First Mate was right and they were about to be eaten by NightWinds.

Searching the hold, they were nearly overcome by the most disgusting stench - gagging, Genevieve Saur (Genny) discovers a hidden door in the bulkhead. When they finally pry it open, they are horrified to find two men crammed into the space beyond.

Their horror soon turns to pity when they find that one of the men is close to death, having been inhumanely abused. Evidence of brutal lashings, malnutrition and exposure were just some of his symptoms.

Nursing the sick man they discover the Serenian Penal Colony Identification Mark tattooed on his wrist - this man had escaped from the Maze, and the prison transport was obviously taking him back to the Labrinth - taking him back to die.

This immediately garned their sympathy, as the Captain's best friend, Patrick Kasella was similarly marked. Both had endured the Tribunal's punishment, and both had escaped. There was no way they would let the foul Dominion's priests lay hands on this man again.

The crewman rescued with the prisoner was in much better shape and was able to tell the Windlass' crew the horrors the sick man had endured. Crucifixion, whipping and keel-hauling were just some of the punishments he had survived.

Patrick, Genny, and Weir were devoted nurses, until they learned the prisoner's identity...

He was the son of their most despised enemy! His father, Duke Giles Sorn, had turned their father into the Tribunal and taken their lands. Sending Genny to be raised in the hell-hole Galrath nunnery and Weir to the orphanage in Fealst. Separated for nearly twenty years the siblings had only just found each other two years ago, and were united in their love for each other, and their burning desire for vengeance against the man who had ruined their lives.

Patrick had a hard time convincing the pair to let the patient live, but their innate good natures also fought their vengeful desires. Watching Syn-Jern Sorn overcome his injuries and battle to get back into shape earned him Weir's grudging respect - even if Genny's heart was harder.

Returning to the Privateer Brotherhood at Montyne Cay, Syn-Jern Sorn's courage, determination and bravery softens even the hardest heart - until he is considered one of them. Pirate loyalty is a tremendous force and when Syn-Jern is recaptured, the Privateer Brotherhood is not just going to stand by and see him taken. Even unforgiving Genny won't object, as he was captured trying to protect her!

So starts an intricate tale of honour, heroism and friendship that will change the lives of many, as "honourless cuthroats" attempt to overthrow an evil Tribunal that has enslaved the populace for generations.

A gripping saga that has no equal. Charlotte Boyett-Compo does not spare her heroes, so a happy ending is never assured.

Thank goodness there are so many more books in the WindLegend Saga, I for one want to read them all!