This is a wonderful book/tape to use in teaching EFL to youngsters. My colleagues and I have used it in several courses that we have taught and it was always a success. Highly recommend!

Excellent reading. I was amazed how the author was able to capture the heart of mind of this magnificent coach. It is amazing how Coach O'Brien was able to turn the Bucks around. OSU is quite fortunate to have Coach O'Brien in their program. Kudos to Mr. Paulk. Ann Fields

This is a neglected but absolutely gorgeous novel. If you've read James Joyce's "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man," you'll find this novel of a young woman's coming of age in an Irish convent a fascinating contrast. Highly recommended.

I bought this book because my son (James) is very interested in the Middle Ages, King Arthur, etc. Since he is 7 years old and the book begins when Sir James is 7 years old, he really enjoyed it. The details on weapons, armor, etc. added a great touch and were not only interesting, but educational. The book contains some vocabulary which required explanation, but in general he was fascinated. The illustrations are excellent and we read a few pages at a time each night so we could discuss them in detail. I hope Mr. O'Brien writes more about the adventures of Sir James.

Nicely written and superbly illustrated by Patrick O'Brien, Mammoth is an entertaining and educational picture book filled from cover to cover with scientific facts about the mammoth, one of the largest creatures that ever lived, and an animal that died out around ten thousand years ago with the end of the Ice Age. Astutely illustrated in full color, and replete with information on what mammoths ate, how they lived, and how their fossilized remains have been discovered today, Mammoth is strongly recommended for school and community libraries as being an excellent and "reader friendly" introduction for children into the fascinating study of prehistoric animals.

This amazing pre-war coming of age novel has recently been re-released as "Talk of Angels : A Novel." O'Brien describes the life and loves (for people and for places) of her heroine, Mary Lavelle, a young Irish woman who goes to Spain as a governess for a time before her own impending marriage. The novel is terrific -- the prose style is flawless, and the interior life of the heroine complex but plausible. O'Brien specializes in describing the emotional whirlpool at the center of the transformative moments of her characters' lives, and this book is, I think, her best.

Caragh O'Brien's MASTER TOUCH glows with intelligence, beauty, charm and sophistication. It's the story of a mysterious, long-lost painting, an art restorer, and the man whose family secrets she slowly reveals. Caragh O'Brien paints her own masterpiece in this lovely, lovely book. With the demise of the Loveswept line, I'm hoping that it will not be long before she finds another publisher for her finely-crafted tales.

O'Brien is the living embodiment of what it is to be a polymath and a man of letters. The range of his work as statesman, academic and author is rivalled in recent history only by Malraux. This is a magnificent memoir of an exemplary life.

The most striking characteristic of O'Brien the statesman is his extraordinary courage - physical courage, not merely the willingness to express a controversial view - in expounding the essential moral difference between democracy and terrorism, and the need for a democratic polity to defend itself against those who would undermine it by violence. One need not agree with all of O'Brien's policy conclusions - an unyielding rejection of the deeply flawed Good Friday agreement, and a curious addendum in this volume that nonetheless Ulster Protestants might have to reconcile themselves one day to a united Ireland - to be thankful for, and to benefit from, his lesson that the advocates of revolutionary violence stand in defiance of the values of a civilised and liberal order.

The recurrent theme of the book, reflecting O'Brien's lifelong fascination with the subject, is the interaction of nationalism and religion. He is deeply critical of the cult of revolutionary nationalism in his native Ireland, and analyses with great insight the sources of nationalist mythology. He is similarly knowledgeable of the connections between Jewish nationalism and religion, and takes the - by now, unfortunately rare - position of a Gentile with a principled and liberal sympathy for the cause of Israel.

It is, in short, a consistently thought-provoking book by a man of courage, literary skill and outstanding intellect. Highly recommended.

This was a good book because it could happen. This book makeyou sad and happy during diferent times.I think everyone I know shouldread this book 9 times, that is how much I liked the book.It should really get 9 stars! END

This is the first book of Edna O'Brien's that I've read. She is now, obviously, the flavor of the month, so I thought I'd take this book off my shelves where it has been gathering dust for years. Obviously, O'Brien is influenced by James Joyce, but her poetic language is all her own and beautiful it is. One of the stories, though, actually put me in mind of William Faulkner, another writer who can delve mysteriously into the hearts of his characters. All these stories are heartbreaking and charmingly funny and all too real. The characters are living, breathing human beings. I recommend this book highly and hope it is back in print very soon.