Joe and John Henry are best friends. They both enjoy playing together and share a common love of swimming. It seems as nothing can separate these two, except race. John Henry's skin is "the color of browned butter" while Joe's skin is "the color of the pale moths." Although the boys see nothing wrong with one another's skin color, the small, rural, Southern community in which they live, sees things differently. FREEDOM SUMMER shows the lengths that racist people went through to prevent integration under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and how the friendship of two young boys transcended across racial barriers. The story is written in a manner that young children will be able to understand and relate to while the bold, colorful illustrations complement the story. Deborah Wiles has done an excellent job tackling the serious and touchy topic of racism in way that young children will be able to comprehend.

Reviewed by Latoya Carter-Qawiyy
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Making this a compelling story for young people isn't easy, but Miz Deborah (as she would have been called then) and Mistah Jerome have done so very well. Just as the Germans must not forget Hitler, we cannot forget the institutionalized racism of our past (which, sadly, remains with us more than National Socialism does with Germany), and Freedom Summer tells that story in a way that is both powerful and positive. As someone who lived through those times and finds this tale haunting, I only wish that Freedom Summer had been written 15 years ago, when I could have read it with my children. This is what children's literature should do.

This extraordinary book was awarded the 2002 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer and New Illustrator Award because of its graceful portrayl of the deep pain caused by racism and bigotry in the lives of children of every color. Wiles and Lagarrigue together create a world of joy and turmoil through the succinct text and rich images of the two young boys (one white and one black) together at play and then in confusion over the depth of race hatred in their world. For those who have treasured the books of Keats, whose work also broke through the barriers of race and ethnicity for children, Freedom Summer will be a welcome addition to a home library.

Yes, indeed, Tibob is an eternal child. He has a magical way of turning poetry into reflections and controversy of the self.The spirit of writing has somewhat taken his power. He has become the "sacrilege" of its own inspirations. Through his functionalist poetry, he has been born and is looking for better ways to be reborn. He is a fighter; he lives his own dangers. He is known to work around things. He does not expose the center of things to any eye. If, for any reason, some one does not understand this book, it's simply because that person haven't read it a million times yet. Thanks to Tibob's book, I have found myself and I feel reborn. As a good reader, I have digested what my writer has suggested. In conclusion, I truly recommend "Theoesie ou La Nouvelle Alliance" to be read by whoever is in search of him/herself and who has the patience to do so through painful thoughts. Tibob is the truest functionalist poet to ever exist. He is the future of man's identity since he has ways to create what has not yet been named.

"He who holds the pen can outline my life". Words are like stones, once written, there is no control over who reads them and understands them. After reading this book for the SEVENTH time, I have managed to redifine myself in ways that can lead to many ways, to get my equilibrium in safe mode. Once is just not enough to read this book. you will not be able to put this piece of work on the shelf, like one of the many books you may have read. Let me be the one to tell you that the materials in this work of art are collector's thoughts, written by a gold driven, out of the ordinary man, or should I say the man who is "GOD", "TIBOB". His work is therapeutic to anyone in search of him/herself. From the first time I read this book, I always knew there would be a time when I would feel in need of some soul searching and that "THEOESIE OU UNE NOUVELLE ALLIANCE" would be the only place I'd have to look. It is almost impossible to explain what this piece of work has done for me. Only this book can tell you things about you, that you didn't even think existed. This young writer's work will continue to bring life to all, even those who have gone before us. His Literature is what our children will learn and apply. His style is what our children will imitate. His charactor is and will be every young man's role model. At the end, there can be only one, "the eternel child of Haiti". Long live this great writer!

J'ai savouré ce livre avec allégresse. Sincèrement. L'ensemble des textes est un petit chef-d'oeuvre littéraire. Une poésie qui ne laisse pas indifférent. Cette façon d'exprimer reflète la sensibilité profonde du poète. Tibob explore avec la magie des mots une écriture rythmée qui nous transporte dans l'émotion de cet univers secret du coeur, cette richesse humaine. Il a fait un travail intense pour laisser une empreinte de ce cri de du coeur, de lui-même. En Tibob, l'on peut reconnaître l'essence du vrai poète. Compliments.

Jerome Clark, a respected UFO historian, "takes a break" from UFOs and explores other areas of the paranormal with this book. Clark's two-volume, award-winning "UFO Encyclopedia" is already considered to be the standard reference source on the UFO phenomenon, and with "Unexplained" he provides the same fine writing and thorough research that his readers have come to expect. As the reviewer below mentioned, if you liked the "X-Files" you'll love this book, as it looks at some famous "urban legends" that were explored in episodes of the series. There are sections on the "Jersey Devil", the mysterious "Brown Mountain Lights" in North Carolina, Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and other bizarre animals, strange objects falling from the sky on sunny days (jelly, rocks, fish, etc.), and all sorts of other oddities that make our lives a little more creepy. Have planes and ships really vanished in the Bermuda Triangle, or is it just a myth? Are there really mysterious "Men in Black" who try to intimidate UFO witnesses and researchers? Was the "Mothman", which terrified residents of a small West Virginia town in 1966, a real creature, or just a strange coincidence? If you read this well-written, well-researched book you'll find out. True to form, Clark is fair to both the "believers" AND the "skeptics" in each topic - he lists the arguments of both sides and leaves it up to the reader to decide. A great book to read late a night - even if you don't believe these stories, it'll still give you the "chills"! Recommended!

This is an incredibly detailed book with some extremely interesting stories. Some sections are more fun than others. Jerome Clark, the author, went to great lengths to cover topics such as Chupacabras, UFOs, Black Dogs, Lake Monsters, the Dover Demon, the Jersey Devil, and the list goes on. If you have any ammount of interest in the paranormal than come read this book. Regardless if whether or not you believe in such things, you should still buy this book. It might give you good creepy feeling after you finish. There's over 600 pages of creepy stuff in here.

Jerome Clark has written what I feel to be the definitive guide to all things paranormal. His book is filled with hundreds of entries that cover all aspects of the paranormal world, If it's paranormal related - you name it.. it's probably in this book.

What made the book a great read for me is that Clark has obviously researched for himself the various topics in his book, this is NOT just another rehash of the same old tired stories. While clark does a lot to dispel some of the myths and urban legends associated with some paranormal events, he also keeps an open mind and relates some of the strangest mysteries of our world with true an accurate details.

This book is by far the best of my paranormal collection, and a valuable tool for all paranormal enthusiasts and investigators. If you want the REAL facts of a paranormal event, then this is the book for you.

Singers from other genres should not be deterred by the fact that for this book, Hines interviews singers from the Operatic genre, which is his partcular milieu; good vocal technique is good vocal technique, and I would recommend this book to anyone seriously interested in effective and efficient vocal production.

If you're looking for a book that will give practical advice for an advanced singer, your search is over. Jerome Hines has interviewed some of the Metropolitan Opera's brightest stars, and each one shares their vocal techniques, solutions for common problems, and musical background. If you are serious about studying voice, this book is an invaluable resource to you.

Hines, at a time when he needed vocal advice himself, asked his operatic peers to tell him just how they sing. Their unguarded answers are greatly revealing, and greatly useful to the aspiring singer; that's why this book has been in demand for decades.

For everyone who has ever struggled with some of the hidden battles of singlehood I would highly recommend this book. It is very straightforward and honest in the emotions that it brings to the mind of its reader. I found that the authors were very vunerable in sharing thier own experiences as singles. The book is balanced in that it deals with emotional challenges as well as looking into some deeper psychological explanations as to why some people may be having a hard time finding contentment as individuals. I really enjoyed the variety of methods/excerises used to help guide the reader into deeper understanding of the various topics presented. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is single especially Christians singles.

This book was such a blessing to me.... It was pratical and gave many scenerios, insights and examples of how to have victory in your singleness. What I enjoyed most about this book is that it used many biblical principles and it was easy to read! I highly recommend this book to anyone that is searching for that inner peace and need directions as to how to walk in your singleness. Thank you Valerie and Jermone for allowing God to use you!!!

This book is outstanding, from cover to cover. When I purchased this book, I was only expecting to learn more about ministry to singles. But, Valerie Clayton provides excellent insight and counsel on topics such as: forgiveness, bitterness, self-esteem, perfectionism, betrayal, grudges, feelings of being trapped, etc. This book not only relates to singles, but to every Christian.

Last, but not least, I recommend this book because it is thoroughly Biblical. Rather than just having the appearance of being "Christian", and sprinkling the script with a few proof texts once in awhile, Valerie Clayton's genuine faith and confidence in God are evident throughout. She believes that Christ can truly make a difference in people's lives.

A fairly ample volume on technique. The poet wishes urgently to impress upon the reader of his Handbook that, yes, despite what you may have heard, there is technique involved in writing poetry; that most poetry is metrical, and rehearsed. It is not, he says with some asperity, a matter of spontaneous effusion.

The late Mr Jerome seems to have been a man with a salutary skepticism about the fashionable, to the point of being sharp and even sarcastic. Jerome is a formalist, as is every poet when you come right down to it (a poet is someone who makes, who is concerned with form, who shapes the language; and the most resolute of anti-formalists has an obsession with form, is perhaps more vexed by the problem of form than your average metrician). Jerome is blunt in this book. He shows us an excerpt from the work of Paul Blackburn, and gives us his verdict that it is forgotten as soon as it is read. He asks whether a poem by Denise Levertov -- not one who fought shy of the unconventional line-break -- wouldn't have been better off as a single-paragraph prose-poem. He rearranges Amy Lowell, and concedes that his rearrangement can't really help matters.

Oh, yes -- what, pray, do you imagine Judson Jerome's attitude toward E. E. Cummings was? He seems to have been quite "pro." Jerome insists, rightly, that in his most radical rearrangements of type, Cummings was not casual and not "spontaneous." He governed his language quite well ... and, Jerome reminds us, Cummings wrote many sonnets -- and verse as intricately metrical as anything by Sidney or Herrick.

The Poet's Handbook is no mere reactionary protest or polemic against the Beats (or against what Donald Hall has called the McPoem). It's a positive and salutary reminder that poetry is a craft, that it is conscious, that it is art and artifice. That although we are all poets in a certain sense (whether we make metaphor as adults or babble sounds for our own pleasure as children), there are certain things that can be learned, and are worth learning.

Addendum : Mr Jerome identifies the meter of W. H. Auden's early poem "Petition" as accentual tetrameter. We disagree; it is consistent and correct iambic pentameter.

"It is the form, the shaping of the language, which makes the poetry endure." That, to my way of thinking explains what poetry -- and poets -- are all about. "Poetry requires more showmanship than honesty." Those statements are in a chapter titled "From sighs and groans to art."

It's this kind of cutting to the chase (or, in business terms, bottomlining) that makes Jerome the guru of contemporary poets-in-training. He simply tells it like it is.

In "Well of English Undefiled" Jerome discusses the English language and what it means to the poet. "One thing a poet learns," he writes, "is that there is no such thing as a synonym. Each word has irrepressible individuality." Finding which word is right for your poem involves much more than knowing definitions. It also involves understanding the impressions words make.

This is a book for all poets. The material in this book will revive you, sharpen your intellect and your skills, help you merge mechanics with art to create enduring and memorable poetry.

If you buy only one manual about writing poetry, make it this one. You won't be sorry.

For many, poetry is a purely subjective art form, impossible to judge and critique. Unfortunately, most people write terrible poetry. For the rest of us, there's Judson Jerome's impeccable handbook. Taking the view that poetry is a mechanical skill much like pottery, Jerome gently but facilely teaches how to construct a poem that *works* -- that is credible, accessible, and accomplishes what its author had in mind. This is very much a nuts-and-bolts book. It does not take the view that poetry is mystical or spiritual, thankfully (I'm sure there are dozens of books that'll offer that). Instead, it teaches the language and technique skills one needs to make poetry that isn't embarassing or fruity.<

Friends and Lovers was an excellent novel. It kept me totally enthralled from start to finish. Eric's other two books Sister Sister and Milk In My Coffee were excellent as well. I have to give credit where credit is due and Eric Jerome Dickey deserves it all. I finished the book within a matter of hours and I was upset when I got finished because it meant that I was no longer involved in the lives of Tyrel, Shelby, Debra and Leonard. I strongly suggest that Eric and his agents discuss a possibly movie deal for Friends and Lovers because I would love to see it on the big screen, Nia Long and Shemar Moore would be perfect for Shelby and Tyrel!! Keep up the good work Eric and as long as you do I will remain a loyal fan.

P.S. If we can't get a movie deal, will you at least consider a sequel. Maybe it could be about Debra finding a new love and Shelby and Tyrel having marital problems

"Friends and Lovers" is my absolute favorite book of all times! I absolutely loved it. Before I bought the book, I hadn't read many books by African American authors, much less authors that were men. Terry McMillian was the only one. When I went away to college a fellow student asked me why I only read books by white authors? I didn't have a good excuse, so I set out to read and support African American literature. I was at the bookstore buying a book when I saw "Sister Sister" I thought of my friends words and bought the book. I tore that book up in about 4 hours! *lol* I went back to the bookstore the next day to get "Friends and Lovers" but it wasn't out yet. I had to keep re-reading "Sister Sister" I finally did get "Friends and Lovers", and it was worth my wait. I finished "Friends and Lovers" the same night. It was such a good book. Debra, Shelby, Leonard, and Tyrell were like people I knew. I passed the book on to my 15 year old brother, who in turn passed it on to our mother. We all love it! I just got finished reading "Milk in my Coffee" and I loved that too! Eric Jerome Dickey can do no wrong when it comes to telling a story!

I really enjoyed this book. Each character was given their due time and time to shine as well. Tyrel was a handsome find. His character was portrayed with such depth as was every one of the people involved. He & SHelby's relationship seemed rocky yet so solid at times. Leaonard he was a man of standard and he had been like Tyrel's brother in being such a good friend... Tyrel was dealing with a married woman who did him no justice.. Leonard let him know that and so the story goes.... they both wind up with some really special ladies and i dont want to hurt the plot any for those of you who havent read it but Eric has put such spin on this book that it will have you reeling from the beginning to the very end.. Eric Jerome Dickey has a real flair for writing and i hope that you all enjoy this book and many of the others. I have read them all.

I read this book a year ago in philosophy class when we were studying Thoreau. I must say, of all philosophers, Thoreau is one of my favorites. This play examines feilds such as family life, relationships, government, policy, and my favorite - education. After I read this play I had marvelous thoughts about how wonderful the education system would be if only Thoreau's ideas could be played upon! I strongly recomend this book to anyone who is sometimes accused of being an "idealist" or a "dreamer" - but also to those who hold a strict perspective on government and education. Keep an open mind and enjoy the thoughts that flow through Thoreau's mind!

Review of ¡°The night Thoreau Spent in Jail¡± Henry David Thoreau, born in Concord, Massachusetts, in early 1800¡¯s, rejected paying taxes because the U.S. government exercised its authority to the slaves, Mexicans, and pageants through the fugitives slave law, the Mexican War, and so on. The play, ¡°The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail,¡± written by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, is based on his spending one night in jail. The circumstance, a cell in the prison, allowed him to recall his past and discover himself as a pencil-maker, a school teacher, an author, a handy man, etc. Each scene implies his various talents as showing him not just as a great philosopher or a writer, but as a human being.

Thoreau had been inspired by the humanism speech of Ralph Waldo Emerson, who was the Sage of Concord. In order to follow Waldo¡¯s lecture, he declared himself free, and he tried not to yield another¡¯s will. He practiced his philosophy by teaching the nature to the students, trying to distinguish himself from others, surveying living things in the meadow, and refusing the taxes to the unfair government. He was so called, a ¡°transcendentalist¡±, and he kept emphasizing ¡°BE YOUR OWN MAN!¡± His saying, ¡°The freest man in the world! And you, out there, are chained to what you have to do tomorrow morning!¡± in jail showed his position against the civilization and the world. After spending one night in jail, Thoreau eventually decided to face the real lives instead of avoiding them.

Thoreau met another prisoner, Bailey, who had waited for the chance to prove his guiltlessness and had never spoken up for himself to avoid trouble. Bailey barely understood what happened in the world or what were right things to be done. He stands for the victims, who can¡¯t get along with others and be protected by the authorities, like Henry Williams, an escapee and slave trying to get to Canada. On the other hand, Deacon Nehemiah ball, the chairman of the Concord School Committee, stuck to insisting on having an obedient attitude, taking the strict policy. He is the symbol of the power and violence.

Thoreau¡¯s brother, John, understood, supported, and ran the meadow school with Thoreau, but he died young from lockjaw. Besides John, the young lady Ellen Sewell also understood Thoreau¡¯s transcendentalism. She attended his lectures and attracted his attention. However, she didn¡¯t dare to stand up to the authority. One more woman is there, Lydian Emerson, who is Dr. Emerson¡¯s obedient wife. She, who is warm-hearted, tries to make Thoreau get in the mainstream. Despite her sympathy toward Thoreau, she maintains her position, observing the majority. Sam Stapler, the constable in Concord, has difficulties because he persuades Thoreau to pay his dues. Finally, he carries out the law and arrests Thoreau.

This play is not just for those who started to know new spirits, which are the transcendental movement and the abolition movement in the late 1800¡¯s, but for all of us who are educated, rationalized, and law-abiding in the societies, so that we can justify their own determinations. We always assimilate social conditions to be alike. We often forget thinking about what we are doing as keeping pace with others. This play is insightful enough to extend their point of view about the world and think over our attitudes toward societies. It deserves the best compliment and is recommended to read. Why don¡¯t you stop wandering around in your cage to see your outside world?

this book speaks for itself...there is nothing more I can add to it...a simplification of Thoreau, for sure...if you want something weighty, get A Plea For Captain Brown or one of his other essays (usually included with Walden anyway)

But this play shows that you don't have to be weighty to be deep, and it doesn't have to be overly long to be profound.

This book will change your life.

Adler does exactly what he promises in the title. He tells you how to read a book. I read this book for a high school rhetoric class and though we read it in three weeks, I was so impacted by it that I have tried to apply his many suggestions.

He covers reading very thoroughly. Ideally, when we read a book, we first grasp what the author is saying (the who's and what's), then what he means, then how that relates to our life. These three steps fit into the first three levels of reading. The first asks 'What is the book saying?,' the second 'What type of book is it?,' and the third 'What does the book mean?.' There is another level which basically is a topical study- reading books to find what various authors say about a given topic.

Adler recognizes that we often don't get much from a book because we don't know how to read well. (He covers the relationship between reader and writer and their responsibilities toward each other)So for each level he gives rules and suggestions for how to read on that level. Often these are in the form of questions to ask that book.

Another thing Adler recognizes is that not all books are equal. Many books only need to be read on the first level, some on the second, and a few on the third. This also affects how fast one reads. The speed should match the difficulty, importance, and quality of the reading- even within the same book.

In addition to covering the four reading levels, Adler takes different types of books and gives specific applications of his suggestions to these books. You would not ask the same questions of a history book that you would of a play.

Oh and Adler provides exercises and a very good reading list to get you started on the road to good reading.

So Adler is very thorough and logical in his presentation and the reading is very enjoyable. His style is easy to understand and interesting at the same time. He covers some other topics here and there like reading education and the great books. This is an excellent book for both students (life long learners included) and those who just want to learn and enjoy books more.

Imagine me - there I was, for decades of my life, thinking I knew how to read a book. I'd advanced through elementary school and prep, into college and finally to graduate school when I discovered, to my horror, that I in fact did not know how to read! Perhaps that helps to explain my affinity to literacy programmes, with whom I will begin working again come this Wednesday.

But no, perhaps I overstate the situation. What I actually mean to say is that it was not until my graduate school days that I happened across the most excellent work How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading, by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. This staple had somehow eluded me; familiar as I was with both Adler and Van Doren, I had never encountered this text.

This book was written in 1940, as World War II was beginning and the Great Depression ending; it was revised in the 60s and again in 70s, with the assistance of Charles Van Doren, another person who had had some difficult dealings with Columbia, due to his involvement in the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. Van Doren moved away from the East Coast and landed in Chicago, near Adler, at Britannica, also again near Adler, and has the kind of intellect and unconventional circumstance that Adler admired. Adler of course had his own unique academic career, failing to get an undergraduate degree due to a physical education requirement that went unmet.

The book itself is divided into four main sections with two sizeable appendices.

The Dimensions of Reading
In this section, the authors look as types of reading and reading levels. They look at basic goals for reading, and discuss different types of learning. While they do not get into the theoretical complexities of learning styles as intricately as more recent educational theorists, they do make interesting and insightful distinctions between learning by instruction and learning by discovery.

This section is, in fact, full of rules. Rules for notetaking, annotating (highlighting, underlining, summarising, etc.), skimming, comprehending, etc. are all presented in an almost overwhelming sequence. There is so much to remember while reading (and I remember how smug I felt at having discovered many, if not most, of the rules on my own). But the authors beg for the rules to be consistently applied so that they merge together to become simple habit. They use the analogy of learning to ski - the rules are important, each in and of itself, but successful skiing transcends a mere application of rules until they become a natural impulse. So it is with reading.

Analytical Reading
This is crucial for true benefit and comprehension of any book. The authors talk about analysis in stages:

oPigeonholing a book
oX-raying a book
oComing to terms with an author
oDetermining an author's message
oCriticising a book fairly
oAgreeing or disagreeing with an author
oAids to reading

Approaches to Different Kinds of Reading Matter
In this section, the authors look at critical differences between different styles of books. It is obvious to even the inexperienced reader that reading a technical manual is vastly different from reading plays, poems, or history texts. Even the most educated of people occasionally stumble when confronted with high-level material from outside fields, such as asking the social scientist to deal with mathematical and scientific texts, or asking the physicist to deal with history and psychology treatises. One might argue about their divisions, but within the chapters they cover a very broad area.

The Ultimate Goals of Reading
Why does anyone read in the first place? Here the authors talk about developing beyond individual books into fields of learning, introducing ideas of synoptic reading and understanding the importance for doing so. Again charting rules of engagement for multiple texts, the authors discuss the importance of reading for understanding and deeper comprehension.

* * *

The first appendix consists of a lengthy list of the great books identified by Adler, modified over time by the various people involved in great books curriculum development. This is an admittedly Western-dominated list.
The list is certainly a long one. There are 137 authors, often with several works attached, recommended in this list. One can find this list in physical form in the Great Books series that is a companion to the Britannica. Itself only recently updated and revised, it consists of several linear feet of bookshelves, and even their recommended 10-year plan is ambition and doesn't cover the entirety of the series. The list is presented (as the book set is organized) in chronological order; this is not the best order in which to read the works.

The second appendix is actually a series of reading exercises for self-examination or group consideration. These are designed to be used for different levels of readers and different intentions. The authors tackle the question of arbitrary and cultural bias in manners of testing, coming to the pragmatic conclusion that, so long as academic and society advancement is tied to these kinds of testing and evaluations, it makes sense to learn how to do them, and however biased they may be in form or content, they still do provide a good measure, if not the best possible measure, for reading comprehension and retention.

One can tell that one's book has been successful when parody versions begin to appear. The year after the first edition of How to Read a Book appeared, there was the spoof How to Read Two Books; shortly thereafter there was a serious monograph by a Professor I.A. Richards entitled How to Read a Page.

Happy reading!

With all the great controversy going in Grammar Schools on how to read books, one thing is still clear: most students can't read that well. Teacher often leave that big job on the shoulders of students to acquire all the subtle facets of reading.

Today's educators still place the responsibility of acquring expertise in reading on students and yet they never give them good text guides to help them gain those skills in good reading.

And since most technical writers can't write clearly because they often begin assuming everybody can read their minds, this book even helps this large group of people dispersed among the rest of us in society.

So this simply and direct book now becomes a must read for all High School or College students who need to know once and for all the basics skills for reading a wide variety of material they will face in their lifetime.

...

As a young professional single woman, I find Eric Jerome Dickeys writing style of the "90's" to be very fresh, provacative and totally realistic. His style of writing such as in "Cheaters", gets you very involved with the characters from the get go, which makes this book very difficult to put down! You can't wait to find out what is going to go down in the next scenario between Chante and Stephan, or any of the other characters for that fact. I appreciate EJD and his ability to write about such personal and sexual feelings. Coming from a man, this is rare, but he has mastered the art of combining pleasure, entertainment and lust into a meaningful story that we can all relate to. I really enjoy how he individualizes each character within their own chapters, as if they themselves have written it. This gives you great insight on what each character is thinking and how they see and feel about the situation at hand. It is as powerful as Milk In My Coffee, his last hit novel, which amazingly lent a positive and realistic imagery towards interracial realtionships. As a person involved in interracial dating, this really hit home for me and made me look at mistakes I have made in my own dealings. EJD is a great author because he writes REAL stories about REAL characters that everyone can relate to. Keep up the great work ERIC,...cos we all love ya out here and think you are da bomb! I will buy any book you write because I already know it will be great!

By now, I've read all of EDJ's books and am a hugh fan. Cheater's however, was the ultimate, my favorite, and absolutely off the hook. The story was completely engrossing from the first through the last sentence. I hated for the story to end, algthough he brought it to a very satisfying conclusion. As the book cover synoposis explains, the story revolves around the African-American dating scene in L.A., and the trials and tribulations associated with loving them and leaving them on the one hand and finding someone for a one-on-one relationship on the other. It also deals with personal growth and the consequences associated with two people who are either on the same page in terms of their goals and/or are growing together or growing apart (with respect to dreams, plans, aspirations). Lastly, it deals with stunted emotional growth and the personal hell people put themselves and others through as they struggle to deal with their inner pain and/or short-comings. Dickey's treatment of all of the scenerios he creates was truly gifted. The book is funny, serious, poignant, sexy, hot and irresistably engrossing. Dickey should no longer be compared to Terry McMillian (Exhale). He has raised the bar and created the NEW standard in depicting meaningful Africian-American relationships, and penning stories that help us see ourselves, enjoy ourselves and perhaps learn something about ourselves along the way. I'm looking forward to the movie, too! Thanks again, EDJ. I'm eagerly awaiting your next book!

Cheaters is the first book by Mr. Dickey which I've read. It's truly a SUPERB piece of work, and I literally can't wait to read everything he has written! Once I started reading this book, I would of never put it down, if it wasn't for those few hours of sleep I needed at night. Even with all the "cheating" going on, I found the main characters to be engaging, easy to relate to, and their situations mesmerizing. The detail in the erotic scenes captivated me; for the simple fact that Mr. Dickey kept it intense & HOTT! That was a refreshing change from other African-American fiction I've read which seemed to be, ummmmmm, devoid of sexual imagery. As if.......... Anyway, in closing, I would just like to thank Mr. Dickey for keeping it funky and also the enjoyable trip he took me on! PLEASE don't make us wait too long to see, CHEATERS, THE MOVIE!