This book is a great book because it is action packed with adventure. I think it should be a best seller.

I read the "Escape From Lost Island" when I was in grade school, about 7 years ago, and they were the first books that I couldn't put down. I still remember the great story as something that could rival "Lord of the Flies."

Once again Clay Caldwell delivers solid good writing. Good 'one-handed' reading- as are most of his titles... Captures the 'feel' and eroticism of wrestling- a nice mix.

"Gordon Merrick fans beware! You won't find pretty blond guys making love in Tag Team Studs." - from Lamda Book Report

Before the beginning of this century, the only information we had about Ancient Babylon was from the Bible. Consequently, most of the literature that I have read on the subject (written during the height of Iraqi Archeaology in the 1920's and 30's) has been on a religious note rather than a historical one. This book changed all that. It brought a highly academic subject to the layman. It is a simple, informative account of how the real Babylonians lived. It describes the Babylonians as an advanced people who appreciated art and literature, as well as entering into contracts and having mortgages. It is a great introduction to an ancient civilisation.

THEY WROTE ON CLAY : The Babylonian Tablets Speak Today. By Edward Chiera. Edited by George G. Cameron. 235 pp. Chicago and London : The University of Chicago Press, 1964 (1955). (pbk.)

The civilizational achievements of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians only started to become known over the course of the last century or so. For our new understanding of the past we have to thank archaeology, in particular for its discovery of many tens of thousands of baked clay tablets which have miraculously preserved the complex cuneiform writing system, languages, and literatures of the ancient Mesopotamians, and for the patient decipherment of these tablets and other cuneiform-bearing artefacts by a small and dedicated group of international scholars.

The literature on this subject today is vast, and much of it is accessible only to specialists. Of the studies that are generally available - such as those by A. Leo Oppenheim, Samuel Noah Kramer, and Thorkild Jacobsen - most tend to be aimed at a more scholarly type of audience, the kind of people who like detailed footnotes, precise references to sources, bibliographies, etc., and little seems to be available in the way of a more popular treatment for the general reader.

This is where the present book comes in. Edward Chiera, though a competent and respected scholar, was exceptional in having an ardent desire to share his knowledge by making the results of his research readily and entertainingly available to the general reader. Consequently, instead of giving us, for example, a lengthy and detailed analysis of the religious ideas or political history of the Babylonians, he has chosen instead to offer an absorbing excursion into the common life of this ancient civilization.

Chiera's 'They Wrote on Clay' is both well-written and easy to read since the pages are small, the font used is gratifyingly large and readable, and there are numerous black-and-white photographs and line drawings which illustrate various aspects of life in the near East : people, places, animals, domestic scenes, archaeological sites, buildings, artworks and other artefacts etc. These illustrations perfectly supplement Chiera's written account, and although many are contemporary, they do serve to suggest something of what life must have been like in the past.

Chiera has managed to pack an awful lot into this small book. We learn about the discovery of the ancient cities, the amazing libraries of clay tablets that were unearthed, the exciting story of the decipherment of the complex cuneiform writing system, the worlds of business and religion, of kings, priests, scribes and ordinary folk, and of their multifarious doings, and of much else besides.

The author clearly loved his subject, and it's invariably from such writers that we get the best books. So if you're looking for a well-written, well-illustrated, easy-to-read popular treatment of this fascinating world, a world that is vastly more important to you than you may realize since it is there and not in Greece that the real roots of Western civilization lie, you'd be hard put to better 'They Wrote on Clay.'

And if Chiera succeeds in whetting your appetite, as I'm sure he will, you might go on to read one of the best-loved stories to come out of that world, the deeply moving story of the adventures of Gilgamesh, his friendship with the wild man Enkidu, and his search for immortality. I'm pretty sure that, if you don't already know it, you would very much enjoy that too. One good popular edition of this story that can be recommended is:

THE EPIC OF GILGAMESH : An English Version with an Introduction by N. K. Sandars. Penguin Classics Revised Edition. 128 pp. London : Penguin, 1972 (1964) and Reissued.

A couple of young Jewish guys living in New York in the thirties and forties become successful by using their wits, nerve and talent, but find that their struggle for happiness is not so easily attained. Sound familiar? Well, if you've ever read Irwin Shaw, William Goldman, Saul Bellow, Harold Robbins, or Phillip Roth, it probably does. But don't let that stop you. This is an excellent novel and a superb addition to the genre.

The Jewish characters here are cousins: Sammy Clay, who starts off as an inventory clerk for a novelty-gag company; and Joe Kavalier, who starts off by escaping with his life from 1939 Prague. Kavalier makes it to his cousin's home in Brooklyn, and Clay, recognizing his artistic talent, pushes the idea to his boss that he can sell his novelties and save money by creating themselves the comic books in which they normally advertised. The boss agrees, and wouldn't you know, this turns out to be the beginning of the golden age of the comic book, and Kavalier and Clay's comic books make both themselves and their boss enormously successful.

Successful financially, anyway, but these guys have a very tough time achieving happiness. Joe is wracked with guilt and despair over his family, still back in Prague, and despite his efforts he is unable to get them out. Sam has problems coming to terms with his homosexuality at a time in America when having such feelings was cause for great shame and self-contempt.

As one would expect with a Chabon novel, there is sparkling and splendid use of the language evident everywhere. He is also superb at setting and describing scenes: they are vivid, believable, and moving. Unfortunately, though, the novel stops dead in its tracks a little too often, with unnecessary descriptions of the city, for example, or buildings, or the architectural make-up of the World's Fair. There is a lot of name-dropping also, as we get to meet and hear about personages of the day, such as Orson Welles, Salvador Dali and Al Smith. Some of it almost feels like a newsreel. Sure, it adds authenticity to the tale, but at great cost to plot tension.

Thematically, however, the novel soars, and is likely the reason it won the Pullitzer Prize. The comic book hero the cousins create is called the Escapist, as he has the remarkable ability to get himself in and out of difficult situations while constantly battling evil. Of course, he serves as the perfect metaphor for these young men, both of whom make endless and unsuccessful attempts to escape the often painful and unhappy situations their lives present them. Here is a superb, tragicomic summation, taken from a scene late in the novel and having to do with Sammy's doomed marriage. 'As a rule, they tended to avoid such questions like, 'How sane are we?' and, 'Do our lives have meaning?' The need for avoidance was acute and apparent to both of them.

''What is that [you're reading]?' she said.

''Weird Planet.''

In the end we realize that the title of this novel, 'The Amazing Adventures . . .' is sadly meant to be ironic, as the adventures of these struggling young men aren't particularly amazing or unusual after all. Millions of Americans and soon-to-be Americans suffered the pain and horror of losing loved ones in Europe during World War II, and millions more fail to come to terms with what and whom they are, instead attempting to pretend to be something else. The comic book angle again serves to exemplify this: 'Having lost his mother, father, brother, and grandfather, the friends and foes of his youth, his beloved teacher Bernard Kornblum, his city, his history--his home--the usual charge leveled against comic books, that they offered merely an easy escape from reality, seemed to Joe actually to be a powerful argument on their behalf.' Indeed. The desire for escape is both pervasive, and powerful in many human lives.

This book will probably prove to be the masterpiece of Michael Chabon's career. It is a monumental achievement. It is written by a man with a deep love of comics. Even if comic books are not your thing, you'll still love this book.

The story opens with Sammy Clay - a streetwise dead-end kid from Brooklyn - sharing a bed with Joseph Kavalier, his refugee cousin from Prague. Sammy is a struggling teen-age writer and amateur artist. Joseph is an exceptionally gifted artist and magician. Immediately, Sammy sees the oportunity to form a partnership. Together, they create The Escapist - a smash-hit comic book character from the Golden Age.

Now, exactly what their amazing adventures are is difficult to relate and impossible to predict. The book echoes the shoddy treatment that all comic book artists received back in those days - especially Siegal & Schuster, creators of Superman. Although they are plagued by disaster, the story is not a trajedy. It is a journey through New York...and a world that no longer really exists. Chabon takes us through it with the skill of a master. It is not a short book, but by the time you reach the end, you'll be sorry you can't tune in next week for the continuing adventures of Kavalier and Clay.

Like his superheroes, author Michael Chabon has pulled off an amazing feat of his own, challenging the dark forces of intolerance and elevating and empowering the little man in this terrific novel. Set in the late '30's and early '40's, the novel follows Joe Kavalier, a young Jewish refugee from Czechoslovakia, and his cousin Sam Clay, creators of superheroes and producers of comic books which attack the Nazis and inspire those who oppose them. As the reader learns about the comic book industry and the sociological conditions which made comics so popular, s/he also experiences the cousins' personal frustrations as they work to gain freedom for Joe's family, deal with industry "moneymen" who take advantage of them, and search for enduring love.

No brief summary of the action, however, can begin to convey the depth and scope of this imaginative and original novel. Chabon manages never to lose sight of the Nazi menace while putting it into completely new contexts, including magic, superheroes, Houdini-like escapes, golems, and comic book characters, and ranging from Prague to New York and Antarctica. It is a novel of huge scope--and it is hugely entertaining! One of the best novels of the year, it should certainly be a candidate for a major literary award.

Clay Blair has written a masterful account of the German submarine war in WWII. While it is extremely thorough, the level of detail can become cumbersome to the amateur historian. Mr. Blair outlines every mission undertaken by a German submarine during the entire war; a blessing for other researchers in naval history but a curse to the lay reader. The author does a commendable job outlining the major campaigns and summarizing the effects of the submarine war. He even comes to the conclusion that the feared "wolf packs" and the submarine war in general never posed the serious threat that the Allies believed it did. Perhaps the most interesting portion of the book is the chapters devoted to describing the development of submarine/ASW technology and the encryption/decoding efforts of both sides. The author does an average job as far as the "characters" are concerned. For most people he simply describes their military careers and follows their progression through various commands and notes the awards they receive. Very few players get the background coverage that makes them come alive and seem like real people.

I highly recommend this book for any reader of history interested the German submarine war. However, the casual or amateur reader will do well to skim through the endless details.

A detailed history of the U-boat war in the Atlantic from 1939-1942. Virtually every U-boat patrol in that period is covered. Blair's theory is unique: that the U-boats were much less effective than conventional wisdom portrays and that the Germans never came close to cutting the Allied sea lines of communications. In Blair's in-depth assessment, even the vaunted U-boats and their commanders seem weaker, more vulnerable. The book does get a bit slow toward the end, perhaps a bit buried in detail. Blair does a superb job integrating the role of intelligence into this story. He has a wealth of new details about ENIGMA and other intelligence operations. This is the definitive history of this campaign.

This is a very comprehensive work! The author is not only meticulous in describing practically each u-boat sailing during this period, but he tends to keep the reader's interest in what could be a dull assignment, by explaining pertinent background information and providing in-depth detail on various crew members, making many of them "come to life" in the words on the page. At the same time, he keeps the reader informed on what is going on in other parts of the war that could affect u-boat and ASW (anti-submarine warfare) operations and practices, such as code breaking, Hitler's rash decision-making, Operation Torch, dropping off of secret agents, sabateurs, and/or commandos into enemy territory, development of radar and sonar and HF direction finding, u-boat activity on the U.S. coast, military officials involved, etc. This book is important historically since it not only provides an extremely detailed account of operations, but it reviews it from an American standpoint based on the author's incredible current research and his reading of British historians, and then commenting on divergences of viewpoint or, in some cases, the lack of British commentary on certain embarrassing happenings. - As some reviewers have noted, Blair tends to "stick with the facts" instead of sensationalising, and in the process gains the reader's trust. Excellent u-boat history, engrossing reading.

Claimed to be the best of all Greek tragedies, OEDIPUS REX (or OEDIPUS THE KING..."REX" means "KING") by Sophocles is that classic story of the man who was doomed to kill his own father and marry his own mother. Everyone seems to know the basic plot of the story, but how much do you REALLY know?

This new translation of OEDIPUS THE KING by Berg and Clay proves to be successful...everything is understandable and rather enjoyable to read too. It's hard to believe that you're actually reading a play.

I suggest that you DO NOT read the original version of the play by Sophocles first...you might be discouraged by the difficulty of the language he uses. Instead, start with Berg and Clay's translation...it's so much easier to read, and more importantly, enjoy.

I felt that the action and plot was well-woven out, and the story tied together nicely; however, there was one flaw. The ending was too abrupt. Of course, I'm not going to spoil the ending for you now (you'll have to read it yourself) but I WILL tell you that if you're one of those people who hate endings that just leave you hanging, you might not like OEDIPUS THE KING.

I had to read OEDIPUS THE KING as an Honors English assignment (and usually what kind of books we have to read for school are good?). Nevertheless, I found the play interesting, but because of the so-abrupt ending with questions still dangling on the end, I give the book 3 stars. (By the way, in no other Greek tragedy are so many questions asked, so be prepared to have your mind boggled by this book!...Have a spiffy day! -Nick Chu

"Oedipus the King" or Oedipus Rex is the world's first great tragedy. Almost everyone knows the tale of the man who murdered his father and married his own mother. The only question is, which translation do you read? Bernard Knox makes an excellent case for his prose translation of Sophocles classic. This is a version designed for the a filmed version meant for the classroom; as such, it is remarkably smooth and easy to read. There is little poetry left in it; if that is what you seek, look elsewhere. This edition comes with a nice set of introductory essays on the background of the play, the theater, and Sophocles. All in all, a nice little edition.

The only budget series of audio books and recorded drama comes from Naxos. One of their more recent entries is a very modern version of Sophocles' in a translation by Duncan Steen. In fact, some might find it a little too modern with its use of idiomatic expressions such as "You can't pin that on me"--which might be taken as an ironic reference to the final horrible deed of the hero. But when the messenger the agonized Oedipus as calling himself a "mother f..." (although he stops at the "f") the effect is far too "modern" for comfort. You see, given a sound recording, we can only assume that the action is taking place in the nearly prehistoric past. I do not know the tone of Sophocles' Greek; but I do read that it is elegant and decorous. Therefore, I can only assume that this translator is doing his source a great injustice.

On the other hand, the dialogue MOVES. There is an excitement to this performance, although the Creon of Adam Kotz lacks some force. Michael Sheen is good in the title role, as is Nichola McAuliffe as Jocasta, Heathcote Williams as the Chorus Leader, and John Moffatt as Tiresias and the Narrator at the start of the recording. The Chorus itself is cut down to four voices, but they are handled nicely with stereo separation and are quite comprehensible. The music is meager but effectively used.

All in all, a very good if not perfect attempt at making one of the greatest Western plays accessible to a wide audience.

The "Clay Marble" was a good book. It told us about what was happening in Cambodia and around the world. I disliked the beginning because Dara was not trusting herself confidence. I also did not like when Sarun wanted to be in the army. I liked when they got to the border, and Nea offered them rice and anything they needed until they got their own. I liked at the middle of the book when Chnay was nice to Dara, and helped her find her family. They also described the sick things really nasty in the book. The narrator discribed charaters as dynamic and static

The Clay Marble is a very amazing book. It's very sad but then very interesting. I like reading books that are based on true stories and thats why i really enjoyed the book. This book made me think of life differently. It's even cooler how the story keeps changing to exciting parts to very sad parts and it doesn't keep you bored one bit. The main character Dara goes through a lot of sadness and triumph. Her family travels to a camp that they think will make life better for them. But they come to find that life throws many arrows at you. In the end things get better for everyone, and more calm. This book will really make you think before you take life for granted.

I think that Mingfong Ho wrote the best book ever, when she wrote "The clay Marble." Set in Cambodia, this book is about a refugee girl named Dara, trying to overcome the obstacles of the war, so that she could live a normal life. When she Jantu, Dara believes that dreams really can shape lifes. My favorite protagonists are Dara, Jantu, and Nea. I think that the worst antagonists were the armies and soldiers. Mingfong Ho doesn't allow the most moving characters to be static- instead they are dynamic. I definatly think that "The Clay Marble" is at least a five star book.

I Wish I Had A Red Dress is a nice follow up to Ms. Cleage's previous novel. Joyce is a young widower juggling her career mentoring young women. She also has a budding romance after a 5 year period of being alone. In my opinion, the book addresses the difficulty of women and men to hear and respect each other;s opinion. This is evident by the dialogue Joyce has with her best friend's husband Bill as well as her interaction with the newcomer, Nate. It is definitely evident in the interactions between the young women at the Sewing Circus and their various boyfriends/lovers. The book also examines how young women define their independence and sexuality. The young women Joyce helps are encouraged to redefine themselves as free women and to review their lives and their relationships with men. My only critique of the book is that some reference should've been made to Joyce's sister Ava, the main protagonist of the previous book. How can Joyce talk about all the people and characters in her town and totally ignore her sister Ava's whereabouts? Despite that minor flaw, this new novel stands on its own. Ms. Cleage's writing style is straightforward and refreshing and I highly recommend this new book.

"I Wish I Had A Red Dress" It was a fast read.

CLeage Takes us back to Idlewild... this time she is traveling without Ava, Imani none of the main charaters in "What Looks Like Crazy On An Ordinary Day".

We are now focusing on Joyce Ava's older sister who in the first book lost her husband and her kids. She still has the Circus trying to keep everything under control with the girls.

The Circus is for women only which consits of teenage girls who are single mothers. Joyce is trying to help them to see that they do not have to put up with there abusive baby daddies.

Just when Joyce is just fed up with trying to get money for the circus in walks mister tall dark and handsome.......if you want to find out who the mystery man is make sure you pick up a copy of this book.

Cleage writes with an intelligent edge about a modern day black woman, Joyce Mitchell, who has gravitated towards teaching those less fortunate than herself how to promote themselves to be free women. The girls meet at the "Sewing Circus" their affectionate name for the gathering place. With a sense of distinction Joyce is there through the ups and downs of their daily lives, always ready with a cup of tea and an ear to listen as she helps her friends along. But life has something special in mind for Joyce; someone spectacular is about to walk into her lonely life.

Smoothly written with a rhythm that undulates from each and every chapter, our protagonist Joyce, not only finds delight in the strong black woman she is, she is able to share that ability with those that might have never had a chance to grasp a brighter future.

Cleage is also the bestselling author of WHAT LOOKS LIKE CRAZY ON AN ORDINARY DAY. She brings a strong sense of heritage to her writing. This book makes a fervent statement. I found it well worth the time. Kelsana 5/14/02

Near the beginning of the movie "Crimson Tide", there is a debate among crew members as to what is the best submarine movie of all time, "The Enemy Below" or "Das Boot." If you understand that debate, then this two volume definitive history of the Battle of the Atlantic is for you.

Using de-classifed documents previously not available to past historians, such as the documents concerning the breaking of the German Naval Code, and the subsequent use of the code breaking materials in anti-submarine warfare, along with a detailed analysis of the statistical numbers, Clay Blair rewrites the main conclusion of most previous histories of the U-Boats. Simply put, he concludes, with irrefutable logic and detail, that the U-Boats never came close to severing the Atlantic supply lines. They were too few in number, and when their numbers rose, they were technologically inferior to Allied anti- submarine initiatives and weaponry. Even in their best months, the U-Boats never sank more than 5% of Allied merchant shipping, and frequently were well below that figure.

Rather, the U-Boat, he concludes, was more a propaganda menace, misunderstood by the Allied leaders who fought and ultimately conquered the U-Boats.

It is also a tale of courage and fortitude on the high seas. The fact that the U-Boats never came close to their goal does not diminish the ardor and courage displayed on both sides of this cruel war.

Volume 2 is a particularly fascinating study of a proud naval force literally disintegrating under the overwhelming onslaught of Allied anti-submarine warfare. As Blair himself admits, the final year of the U-Boat war is mostly glossed over in the histories, and Blair corrects that injustice.

Clay Blair has alredady established himself as an authority on submarine warfare, and as a former American submariner he knows of that which he writes. His two volume work "Hitler's U-Boat War" is in many ways his best work to date and must certainly be considered as one (if not the) definitives works on German u-boat warfare. Divided into two volumes, Blair gives a complete picture of the development, crest and ultimate demise of the German attempt to fight a war, actually two wars, at sea with limited resources. Vol. I, "The Hunters" details the development and crest of these efforts when the Nazi U-boats became the infamous hunters of allied shipping, while Vol. II, "The Hunted, 1942-1944" relates the dramatic counter measures used by the British, the Canadians and the Americans to combat and ultimately defeat the u-boat. There are other fine works on this subject, but what sets Blair's efforts apart is the overwhelming abundance of data included in his two volumes, and his conclusions that are well supported by that data. He concludes that the overall effect of German submarine warfare has been overrated, and emphasizes that this point is easily seen in the data. He also makes a case that Hitler's use of u-boats was a cheap consession to a German navy that he had little use for. Accordingly, very limited resources were committed to submarines or the navy in general. Throughout these volumes are a number of sub-plots and stories including the grand tale of allied efforts to get hold of vital German code devices. This is an interesting saga that remains engaging even with all of Blair's attention to detail. In Vol. I we identify with the u-boat commanders and crews, and lament the allied casualties. In Vol. II, the tables are turned and one cannot help but sympathize with the crews of the u-boats as they suffered defeat and near annihilation, and glory in the final allied victory. Each volume is presented in a manner that makes them a complete work, but the full achievement here can only be appreciated by reading the two volumes in succession.

If you were persevering enough to finish volume one (the hunters) of Clay Blair's great historical account of the German u-boats during World War II, you will be delighted by the reversal of fortunes of the u-boats in this volume. Where once the u-boat was invincible, each run becomes a 50/50 suicide run, worse odds that playing Russian roulette with a pistol.

Blair notes that it took him 11 years to complete his research and write this book, and it shows. You could not ask for a more complete assessment of u-boat activity during the war than Blair provides. However, it's not for the weak reader. Reading this book requires stamina, but the reader is rewarded in the end with getting a very good "feel" for the u-boat situation in general. It's almost as if Blair, by hammering in each individual sailing, sinking, or abort, gets you to see the "big picture."

I like the author's interjection of ancillary material from time to time: the possibility of losing Enigma decrypts; the land invasion of Europe; where the boats went when the end of the war was announced, and so on. I also like Blair's outspoken opinion on various contemporary subjects such as the overbearing Brits, the vote-concerned politicians, the "unfair" war crimes trials, and so on.

Exceptional reading; the author knows his stuff.

I have read everything Octavia Butler has in print. I adore her depth of emotion and insight that goes into every story she writes.

CLAY'S ARK is the exception. This is easily her worst book. But remember, Octavia's worst is still better than most author's best.

Simply put, if an artist is going to take me to hell, they better teach me something important. This book contains gang rape scenes of a young leukemia-victim girl, bloody fights described in excruciating detail, an relentless stream of utterly mind-numbing scenes of violence.

And, unlike PARABLE OF THE SOWER, which also contains many difficult scenes and images, you get virtually nothing from the story. No lessons, no hope, nothing. Octavia has written that she was very depressed when writing this book, sharing chapters with a friend who was suffering from a terminal illness. I respect that this reflects where she was, but that doesn't mean I want to go there with her.

And those of you wanting to read everything in the Patternist series should know that CLAY'S ARK barely touches on threads from the other books. I was sucked into reading it to satisfy my completist strain as well, and suffered for it.

Skip it. Period. Read all her other works.

Compared to most other SF novels, Clay's Ark could be considered a great book. However, compared to other books by Butler, it falls short. Not because of craft. The book's pacing and plotting are near perfect; there are no wasted words. But while, it is extremely readable, the book suffers in it's characterisations. Here is where my initial remark comes into play. Compared to most SF, characters like Blake are extremely interesting, but compared to the characters Butler creates in her other Patternist novels 'Wild Seed' and 'Mind of my mind'.

The moral dilemmas facing the main characters are not as balanced as in Butler's other work. The survival instinct of the alien virus is so strong, that the characters are partially excused for their actions. In addition, the story builds magnificently, but wraps up abruptly.

Bottom line -- if you have never read an Octavia Butler novel start with 'Wild Seed' or 'Kindred', but if you are already a fan, there is enough in this book to make it enjoyable.

This is a real page-turner, and thought-provoking, but after finishing it I don't feel it left me with as much as I have come to expect from Octavia Butler. It is still a very good novel, which I recommend without reservation, but it is not as outstanding a book as the Parable novels, "Kindred," or "Lilith's Brood" (Xenogenesis).