Among it's era, Spiral Bridge stands tall as the best book in the series. It was a rather unique volume with the first 50 pages being a volume in itself and the remainder a subsequent to the opening. By page 50, the chapter "Dead End" is well named. The brothers were at a stand still in solving this case. After a brief 15 pages of little activity they head to Kentucky undercover at a construction site under assumed names using "jailbird language". I absolutely loved this book. It captured your imagination. They were in the great outdoors among the enemy (Sleeping With the Enemy) working side by side with the very criminals they intended to bring to justice. The book is packed with action & suspense. RATED B+

Frank and Joe set out to find the group of criminals who kidnapped their father while he was working on a case of sabotage for Tony Prito's father at a construction site in Kentucky. After Mr. Hardy's miraculous escape, Frank and Joe, along with their friends, Chet, Tony, Biff and Phil, arrange to have themselves hired on at the construction site to work undercover. Unsure of who they can trust on the crew, the Hardy's and their friends face numerous dangerous situations before they bring the criminals to justice. This was probably the last of the hardcover volumes that I really enjoyed and none of the higher volumes come that close to being as good as this one. The book was surprisingly well-written and was interesting right from page 1; although, the final 100 pages, once the Hardy's get to Kentucky, are particularly good. I really liked the fact that the Hardy's friends were included in the book and were used very well. I think that most Hardy Boys fans would enjoy this book.

book review
by torrey v. chrisman
The book I like is the hardy boys. Its about to brothers that go on detective cases. They have 53 books in the series and they live in the town of Bayport. They have a bud named Chet.
I like this book vary much. It has spy work and spenceful stuff like going to a rocky shore and climing it. I would give this book a ten because it is vary cool! by the way the brother's name are Fred and George. That's why I like this book. I am now reading book 45, it's called mystery of the spiral bridge.

THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON, INCLUDING VARIANT READINGS CRITICALLY COMPARED WITH ALL KNOWN MANUSCRIPTS. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson. 3 vols. Cambridge, Mass., and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, nd. [A single-volume reprint of the original 1955 3-vol. edition]. ISBN 0-674-67601-7 HBK.

Prior to the appearance of Johnson's great variorum edition of Emily Dickinson in 1955, an edition which was the first to offer readers accurate texts of her complete poems, it was not possible to arrive at a just estimation of her tremendous achievement, an achievement that places her at the forefront of the ranks of the world's greatest poets. Because of the highly idiosyncratic nature of her poems, all earlier editors had felt obliged, to some extent or other, and in order to make them more acceptable to the public, to normalize them by adding titles, smoothing her rhymes, changing words, regularizing punctuation, and relineating them; some editors even went so far as to remove entire stanzas. It becomes a tribute to the power of her poems that, despite this savage treament they somehow survived, and there are many readers, even today, who have grown to love these mutilated versions without ever realizing just how far removed they are from her originals.

Although Johnson himself wasn't entirely free of the slash-and-burn approach to ED's texts - since he apparently felt that readers weren't yet ready for the peculiar lineation that we find in Emily Dickinson's own handwritten versions of the poems - he should nevertheless be credited with having brought the worst of it to an end, and for having given us texts that are closer to the originals than ever before. He is also to be credited with having established an approximate chronological order for the 1775 poems in his edition, and for having provided us with a convenient way of referring to these untitled poems by giving each of them a number, the well-known 'Johnson numbers' which are still standard today. Each numbered poem has been transcribed exactly as it is found in the manuscripts, though with his editorial choice of variant and with lineation normalized. Below each poem comes a list of variants, information about the poem's manuscript source/s, and its publication history. The poems are preceded by 70 pages of Introductory material, which include 20 pages of very interesting photographic facsimiles in illustration of ED's varied writing styles, and the book is rounded out with an Appendix, a Subject Index, and an Index of First Lines.

The present version is an undated reprint, in one volume, of the original 1955 3-volume edition, and is a substantial book of over 1300 pages weighing in at a hefty 4lbs plus. Given the fantastic price of the book, I was amazed to discover that, although bound in full cloth, instead of the pages being sewn in signatures it has been given a glued spine which is nowhere near strong enough to hold the weight of all these pages. Although I'm pretty careful with books, the brand-new copy I examined split at the spine the first time I opened it. Anyone who is interested in the Johnson variorum would be well advised to search for a copy of the much better produced earlier and stitched 3-volume version. Although the present book deserves more than 5 stars for its content, it deserves far less for its poor physical makeup.

As a contribution to scholarship, Johnson's variorum was a magnificent achievement for its time, and helped greatly in establishing Emily Dickinson's reputation. But much has come to light since 1955, and R. W. Franklin's richer 1998 variorum (which unlike the Johnson provides details of the original lineation) may now be said to have superseded it. Details of the Franklin variorum are as follows:

THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON : VARIORUM EDITION. Edited by R. W. Franklin. 3 vols. Cambridge, Mass., and London, England: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-674-67622X HBK.

This is an excellent book for anyone who LOVES Emily Dickinson. Although it does not contain all the different versions of her poems, it is comprehensively edited to have the version of each known poem that is believed to be Dickinson's most complete and revised. This edition also seem to have the most complete collection of poems--1,789-- compared to the other "complete poems". However, if you are looking for an edition for studious reasons, this edition does have different numbering for the poems than the ones usually used (the editor claims them to be in the most accurate chronological order possible).
The binding of this book is VERY nice and has its own ribbon for marking pages. Definitely a nice book.

THE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON : Reading Edition. Edited by R. W. Franklin. 692 pp. Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-674-67624-6 (hbk.)

When it comes to choosing an edition of Emily Dickinson's poems, we need to be very careful. Selections of her poems have appeared in many editions, and the earlier ones - which are still being reprinted - often contain extensively edited and revised versions of her poems which do not give us what she actually wrote.

Her poems are so unusual, in terms of their diction, meters, grammar, and punctuation, that earlier editors felt obliged to replace her characteristic dash with more conventional punctuation, and to regularize and smooth out her texts to make them more acceptable to readers of the time.

In fact, it was only when Thomas H. Johnson's editions appeared that readers were finally given an accurate version of the original texts, with Emily Dickinson's diction and punctuation restored.

Johnson produced two different editions of the poems. The first, a 3-volume Variorum Edition (1955), includes all of her many variants, since Emily Dickinson often added alternate words to her drafts and in many cases seems never to have decided on a final reading. These variants, though extremely interesting to scholars, enthusiasts, and advanced students of ED, are not really necessary in an edition for the general reader.

What the general reader needs is an edition in which the editor, after closely examining the manuscripts and taking into account all relevant factors, gives what he feels is one sensible and acceptable reading, and this is what Johnson gave us in the second edition he prepared, his Reader's edition (details of which appear below).

R. W. Franklin has followed the same procedure as Johnson. In other words, readers can feel confident that in both the present edition and in the Johnson, they have been given (insofar as it's possible to get her idiosyncratic manuscript drafts over into typography) at least one accurate reading of ED's original draft.

Those who would like to look at the variants can always consult Johnson's Variorum (1955), or R. W. Franklin's more recent Variorum (1998). Better still, if they can, they might take a look at R. W. Franklin's sumptuous 2-volume 'The Manuscript Books of Emily Dickinson' (1981), which gives photographic facsimiles of many of her manuscripts.

Emily Dickinson is a very great poet. Personally I think that in some ways she is the greatest poet of all. In the present edition we have been given accurate texts of 1789 of her poems, arranged so far as was possible in chronological order of composition.

Franklin's is a scholarly edition, based on his Variorum, which should serve the general reader well enough for most ordinary purposes. Besides the poems it also contains a brief Introduction, two Appendices, and an Index of First Lines.

This beautifully produced and superbly printed Franklin (which contains 14 more poems than the earlier Johnson) will give you access to a body of poems that are so far above the ordinary run of poems that we really ought to have another word for them.

Just as a prism breaks up light into a band of colors - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet - and their infinite gradations, so do Emily Dickinson's poems become, as it were, a prism which captures the white light of reality, a reality which as it flows through the prism of her poem explodes into a multiplicity of meanings.

It is the rich suggestiveness of her poems, a suggestiveness which generates an incredible range of meanings, that prevents us from ever being able to say (to continue the metaphor) that a given poem is 'about red' or 'about blue,' because her poems, as US critic Robert Weisbuch has pointed out, are in fact about _everything_. This is what makes her so unique, and this is why she appeals to every kind of reader (or certainly to open-minded ones) and even to children.

Emily Dickinson's poetry is one of the wonders of the world. Whether you select the Franklin or the Johnson edition, it will become a book that you will cherish, a golden book and endless source of pleasure and inspiration that you will find yourself returning to again and again.

For those who may be interested, details of Johnson's Reader's edition are as follows:

THE COMPLETE POEMS OF EMILY DICKINSON. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson. 784 pp. Boston : Little, Brown, 1960 and Reissued. ISBN: 0316184136 (pbk.)

I liked this book! It was thrilling and exciting, especially the part in the sunken sub!!! But it's unfair the series is ending now!! IT'S MY FAVORITE SERIES!!! I think they should dicontinue the Hardy Boys Series and keep the casefiles!!!!

It is a fairly good book.

Dead in the Water was great. I liked how the Nazi boat wasrevealed, and it's description. I found the Hardy Boys Casefiles AREcoming to a close, so I went to the HB Casefiles website and received their e-mail. If you don't want the Hardy Boys to end or at least want an explanation, e-mail them today. Thanks for reading my review.

P.S.

If enough people e-mail in, they might not cancel the series. END

I have read many, many books on Arctic Exploration and Franklin's "lost" expedition and found this to be one of the best. The photos are hard to look at and yet haunting. Franklin's mens saga is one of the great real life mystery story ever.

This book is very interestings because lets you understand how corageous were people more then hundred years ago. Life was completely different and you feel that difference. I would say, people went to an expedition, almost knowing they were not coming back. This makes you wonder.

This was a book I could not put down until I had finished reading
it. An excellent book with elements of history, exploration,
archaeology, forensics, and mystery, all concerning the courageous and tragic Franklin expedition. I was inspired to read this book after seeing Sir Franklin's
epitaph in Westminster Abbey: "Not Here, The Frozen North Doth
Have thy Bones. And Thou Heroic Sailor Soul Travels Onward
Toward No Earthly Pole."

This book is arguably the best ever Hardy boy book...kept me guessing all along. The begining is intreguing - but the ENDING! Oh my goodness, I just loved it!!

I absolutly loved this books! it is one of my favorites out of the entire series...Joes old girlfriend Iola...who was killed by a car bomb,...suddenly appears..in the woods while Frank and Joe are on a fishing trip....Frank and Joe follow her to a secret hideout...and try to save her...Will they save the day? read and find out...you will be very plased with this book and any of the other hardy boys books! I know I was!

This is one of my favorite books. Even though it was sad I couldn't help but read it over and over again. It's about when Joe spots his dead girlfriend in the woods of Maine while fishing and so he convinces Frank to help him find Iola. Turns out it's not really Iola but someone who had gotten kidnapped, a plastic surgery, and her memory brainwashed to think she is Iola and that Joe was trying to harm her. The whole fake-Iola thing is a conspiracy plotted by terrorists and assasins to kill the two Hardy Boys.

Originally published in 1952 - I must say I read the other reviews on this website and Mr. Finnan's review curiously very closely mirrors a review I had submitted previously about this particular volume. So I beg your pardon as my new review tends to sound somewhat like his. That is because I originally made many of the statements in that review~~~ In any event, depending on what day you speak with me, more often than not I regard this book as the absolute best among the original 58. It is often difficult to compare those books written before The Mark on The Door with those composed after Footprints Under The Window. That being said this book opens with an introduction to a mystery when a friend of the Hardy's asks their assistance with a small mystery regarding fossil hunting in Wildcat Swamp. Thus the title plays a part in the opening. We learn of a trio of what I think are some of the more memorable Hardy crooks: Jessie Turk, Gerald Flint & Willie The Penman. For the next several chapters as the Hardys & Cap Bailey prepare to leave Bayport they frequently encounter Flint & Turk on their way to Wildcat Swamp. By page 45 or so, the trio of fossil hunters arrive in Wildcat Swamp and enter was is my favorite part of the book and what I often find is phase two of the volume. The book seems to be broken into three sub volumes within the volume. The opening to their arrival in the swamp and the third phase after Underground Ambush. During this second part of the book the trio initially encounter a wildcat which lets the reader know that the beasts are forever lurking throughout the swamp - but strangely after that one attack on Frank, no more wildcats appear. Before long they meet Harry Sanders, son of the owner of the swamp who reveals its true name and that men have been interested in purchasing the property. The Hardys then encouter 3 phony forest rangers Snake, Snide and Willie The Penman in a memorable scene and shortly afterward are caught eavesdropping by darkness on the rangers. Trying to communicate with their father is cut short when their radio balloon is shot out of the sy by the rangers. The memorable scenes in this book are endless - Frank's clue regarding "Three Odd Letters", the encouters with the rangers, Chet's arrival and he and Cap's
subsequent ambush in the underground cavern. Enter the next phase in the book when the Hardys are ambushed themselves by the gang of outlaws. This book beckons back to the days of 1881 and the old west - not 1952, and draws parallels with "The Twisted Claw", another book seemingly written during another era. After their escape the brothers hop a train which eventually derails thanks to the gang and after a few more very well written chapters the Hardys assist in the capture of the gang. This volume was packed with adventure, action, a great mystery and plot. What young boy or grown man for that matter would not want to camp out in Wildcat Swamp and battle a gang of outlaws from the old west. This is "wish fulfillment" at its best. Again - I regard this as arguably the best book in the series. RATED A+

This review concerns the original 1952 edition and the revised 1969 edition, which is an editted, shorter version of the original. Frank and Joe must find out why the group of train robbers their father is after are determined to keep Frank, Joe and their science teacher from going to Wildcat Swamp to search for fossils. This book is excellent; it is one of the top three books of the series. The book is well-written and is loaded with action from the first chapter to the last. There is an interesting collection of memorable criminals and the Hardys frequently come into contact with them. Both editions are excellent, but I recommend reading the original, only because it prolongs your enjoyment. This is a great book that all Hardy Boys fans should read.

This book is called The Seceret Of Wildcat Swamp. It is about the Hardyboys and their science teacherCap Baily. I like it because it has action. Maybe you could make mystries from it.

Once again through the pages of racism comes another great novel, 'The Black Bourgeoisie.' The author Edward Franklin Frazier whom has written many other books such as: Negro Family in the United States, E. Franklin on Race Relations and Race and Culture Contacts in the Modern World has truly captured writing.

Through this novel Frazier deals with race among his own people. One can see through the words that it is a very passionate subject that he speaks of. Bringing the reader as close to his understanding as possible. Frazier does this quite effectively through the descriptive words that he uses. The novel tackles all the issues and questions that many black individuals need to know or are curious about. Why some black individuals act like they are better than some of their black people and the Oreo issue.

This book is quite the read and worth the time for black individuals as well as Caucasians. It is a novel that opens the mind to a different way of dealing with the issue of selling out and what the term actually means. Frazier leaves no doors unclosed, explains and ventures the race issue in America. Through the reading of this book one can learn a lot, widen their horizon and relate upon the issue of racism.

This book is a true eye opener of the underlying word of black middle class status. Even though this book was written over 40 years ago, it is very much relevant today. Now I know the "true" meaning to the word socialite. And believe me, it has nothing to do with "true" class.

If you consider yourself a black scholar, then this is a book that you should have read and owned. It covers the rise and myths of middle class black in America.

The 300 years of Kitchen Collectibles is sorely lacking in information about the last 75 years of kitchen collectibles. The majority of the book covers what I would call primitive kitchen items. The photos are grainy and lack detail. If you have a kitchen item that you need to identify..this book might prove useful.

Seldom is a reference book an entertaining read. Seldom is a good read easy to reference and find information quickly. This book does an excellent job of bridging both worlds. For the casual auction hound or dealer this book is invaluable.

I liked the book so much I was wondering what to give my mother for mother's day. She's one of those people who either has everything she needs or goes and gets what she needs when she wants it. The idea of giving her this book struck me as a good one. Reluctantly I gave her my copy. She clearly has enjoyed it, she allows me to look at it when I'm visiting. She hasn't been willing to loan to me though.

We have just begun trying to collect kitchen items. This book has great descriptions, lots of pictures, recipes and informative items about different kitchen gadgets.

This book is wonderful! I have already spent hours thumbing through it, learning what some of the "weird items" really are and enjoying all the extra tidbits she has added to the book. Right now I'm heading to buy section to get her Housekeeping Collections.

Franklin is really pontificating on how he "earned" his black belt. Its more a soapbox for his ego than lending business acumen to the world. I found the book arrogant and misleading in areas. Other parts of the book do provide some real world advise, its just the cost is too high. I am glad that Franklin has a black belt -- I just don't need to be blinded by it.

This is great advice from an entrepreneur who has lived and streamlined processes that work in the real world.
It is clearly written in a conversational style and incorporates humor that makes otherwise dry business acumen palatable.
When I come up against a challenge I don't have the answer for, it's great to have an easy reference right at my desk that I can go to, find straightforward advice, and make expedient, well informed decisions.
This book has saved me time and money. It has certainly increased my confidence level and productivity.

This is a great business book, written easy to understand and easy to understand the ideas the author is trying to express. Here is one quote that I think is very good, "Sell customers what they want, provide what they need, and deliver more than they expect"

This is the fictional account of a very real love affair, told by "the other woman." The relationship, by itself was not an uncommon one, although the characters could have been created by Edith Wharton. They are east coast, upper-class, elite; patricians to-the-manor-born. It is really not an epic love story like that of Josephine and Napoleon, or Cleopatra and Antony, or even the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Fortunately, for history's sake, no one gave up a throne...or the presidency for this love. The three people who comprise the love triangle, however, are of epic proportion - Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt and Lucy Mercer. And each of these people, as individuals, and in their relationship to one another, had a major role to play in the course of world events, from the time that Lucy met Franklin and Eleanor, just before World War I, through the Great Depression, until the end of Franklin's life, right before the end of World War II.

While reading this novel, I initially thought it to be short on substance - more than fluff, but lacking in weight - perhaps it needed more historical detail. But after reading the book, I was left with a feeling of deep sadness at the poignancy of the love that existed between Lucy and Franklin, and between Eleanor and Franklin. Ellen Feldman has given us Lucy's voice, a woman's voice from a time long ago, (for some reason I remember Lily Bart from Edith Wharton's "House of Mirth"). And that voice tells us the history of a love which is the center of her life - so that the history of the world becomes peripheral. And that one historical viewpoint becomes unique and compelling.

I admire Ms. Feldmans work tremendously. I also admire her courage in writing a historical novel of merit about such famous, public figures. So much has been written about them already - yet few have touched on this subject. Ms. Feldman writes beautifully, with a quiet passion and a certain delicacy. Her characters are well drawn and true.

There is a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt at the end of the book that moved me very much. She says, "[If you] cannot meet the need of someone whom [you] dearly love...you must learn to allow someone else to meet the need, without bitterness or envy, and accept it."

I've been an avid reader of historical novels for the past forty years, and consider Ellen Feldman's Lucy one of the best. It is an informative, entertaining and richly detailed depiction of the love affair that Franklin D. Roosevelt had with Eleanor's social secretary Lucy Mercer. It is also a vivid and accurate account of that crucial period in world history between both world wars, and WWII itself. It takes courage for a novelist to write a book narrated by a historical figure, and Feldman does so with masterful restraint, thus creating a realistic and convincing portrait. Lucy comes across as a sensitive and caring woman willing to make any sacrifice for the man she loves, a man who returns her love, and realizes in the end that had Franklin left his wife for her the scandal would have ruined him, and history as we know it would be another story. FDR himself emerges as the giant he was, but susceptible to the passions that also made him human. And Eleanor bears it all with the type of stoical pride, dignity, and wit that made her the great woman she was. I once shook her hand, and still feel her warmth in my palm. It's an important story unknown to many. It's great to know, and recall, that in those pre-paparazzi, pre-TV, pre-tabloid bilge, pre-Ken Star, pre-base politician days people still respected the office of the presidency and didn't stoop to any low level just to make a few bucks, ruin a career, and embarrass a nation. Overall, this is a wonderful novel by the underrated Ms. Feldman. One can only hope she continues to write such fine narratives.

This book was wonderful. It kept my attention throughtout the story and made you wish for more. It made FDR seem like a real person with real feelings. I also become curious about Eleanor and am now reading a biography about her. This is wonderful!