A well written and engrossing story of a society and people depicted through an account of the life and experiences of a notable and idealized prominent tribal character, Okla Hannali. The main character's experiences and views embody and illustrate the ideals and principles of a developed yet, beset people. The character parallels the people's adaptation, acquiescence, manipulation and eventual conquest by accommodation of the factors which beset them.

The Choctaw evaluate and accommodate the pressure of the immigrant American drive to acquire their native lands. The tribal people adapt by shifting their territory and preserving their society in a new area. They master the new lands and restructure their society again in the area newly adopted.

The reader feels empathy with the Choctaw. The book gives new understanding and experience of the people. Their blended culture exists today in the area described in the book. It is real.

As a life time lover of books, I now give book reviews. Years ago, I found "Okla Hannali" in a state lodge book store. I first reviewed it for a group of federated women. Some of them were teachers, and I was invited to give it to two high schools. In all, I probably gave it a dozen times and it was always well received. There was laughter, and at the end when the old chief died, there were tears. Recently, one of my daughters-in-law, who is part Choctaw, discovered it and tells me it is being taught in a class at the University of Oklahoma at Norman.

My old copy of this book is held together with a rubber band because I've read it so often, and haven't been able to find another copy anywhere. Sensitive insight into the Choctaw experience during their removal to Oklahoma. A must read for anyone interested in American Indians or American history: highly recommended for those simply looking for the story of an endearing man.

This is a collection of cheesecake recipes to treasure. George Geary's recipes are so tempting and imaginative that you'll want to roll up your sleeves and start baking each and every one of them.

I took George's class at the Morgantown Food Fest. In his class he taught technique after technique for successful cheescake baking. And he writes about all these techniques in this book. I'm enjoying his book, and the savory cheesecakes have been a big hit in our family! I highly recommend this book.

This book is awesome! I recomend it to anyone looking for a cheesecake cookbook. I am a novice cheesecake "baker" and found his tips in the beginning VERY helpful! This book should be a staple in everyone's kitchen!!! Love it!

It is very unusual for antebellum New York to get any sort of treatment in popular culture, which is a shame, because the whole space between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War features dramatic changes in the city's popular landscape. Institutions for maintaining public order and safety that we take for granted today were less organized and often appropriated by the underworld for its own purposes.

Scorsese's upcoming movie, GANGS OF NEW YORK, looks like it will offer an interesting look into this time. Readers looking for a little less bombast can take in Rick Geary's tight little graphic exploration of THE MYSTERY OF MARY ROGERS. Geary tells the true tale of a corpse that captured the public imagination in a manner similar to any of today's celebrity victims. He renders useful maps and recreates the known facts of the case with haunting sillhouettes and faces that are remarkably expressive in their cartoonishness. Geary also tosses in a tidy little chunk of social history -- so that we understand the context -- and chronicles the sensationalism that followed this case. As a final service, he puts forth the prominent theories about the case, noting its inspiration of Poe's mystery.

Graphic (as in illustrated) non-fiction is somewhat of an oddity, often represented by simpering auto-bio. True crime stories tend to show up in the BIG BOOK OF ... series. This, however, is a neat and stylistic volume that would put Anne Rule to shame.

With The Mystery of Mary Rogers, Writer/Illustrator Rick Geary continues his "Treasury of Victorian Murder" Graphic Novel series, this time exploring the facts in the death of Mary Rogers, a well-known "Segar (Cigar) Girl" (She worked in a large Manhattan Tobacco Shop).

Geary's books are laid out incredibly well; most "Mainstream" non-fiction writers could learn a thing or two from him. He presents THE FACTS in the case, and since the murder was nevr really solved (At least officially...), he avoids any supposition; At the end of the book, he gives the reader a few scenarios that MAY have happened, never presenting any one of them as the actual solution. Geary's writing style is very informative, and his illustrations have a depth and resonance that belie their "Cartoony" look.

Overall, this book is a pleasure to read! The hardcover is a very attractive package at a low price, the text is informative and illuminating, and the artwork is superb. In a perfect world, Geary would be a fixture on the best-seller lists.

In 1841, Mary Rogers, a well-known resident of the city of New York, was found floating in the Hudson River, dead. The investigation was hampered by jurisdictional disputes and the primitive forensic science of the time, and is officially still unsolved. It was a great stir in its day, and everybody had opinions about it; Edgar Allen Poe based his "Mystery of Marie Roget" on it. Geary gives us the known facts, and proposes a solution in line with the modern thinking on the subject. His evocative artwork makes this book a visual treat. I'd love to see him tackle the alleged murder of Sarah M. Cornell by the Reverend Ephraim K. Avery; it occured at nearly the same time this case did, and is still officially unsolved.

I picked this book up because I was looking for something "fun" for Valentine's Day. This is a really creative book to get "good" and "bad" ideas for a romantic evening- with alot of humor mixed in for good measure. Two thumbs up!

This book was hilarious. And it made me feel dirty in all the right ways. By the end, I found myself exclaiming, "My word, I'm feeling both naughty AND nice. I wonder if that's what the authors intended?" One look at the title was enough to tell me I was right.

If nothing else, Boyd Geary is one sexy [person]. If that's not reason enough to buy this book, I don't know what is.

What an excellent collection of ideas to get you and your lover started once the dinner-and-a-movie routine has run it's course. I actually read all the right-hand pages first (that's the naughty stuff) but found myself drawn to the nice side, too. There's great inspiration here for rekindling romance, or sparking it in the first place if you have a hard time finding your partners soft spot. We don't take the book literally like an instruction manual but instead springboard off into our own fantasies. It's a welcome way to start a conversation with your lover over a "touchy" subject. Enjoy!

When I ordered this book, I thought it was a short textual history of the assasination of President James Garfield. It turns out that this book is in comic book format with the story being told by dialogue and cartoon illustrations. However, I really enjoyed the book and learned a lot about Garfield, his assasin, Charles Guiteau, and Garfield's slow death.

Guiteau was basically a loser in life and had even served time in jail. He was constantly skipping out on creditors and and he showed signs of mental illness. He was dillusional and thought that Garfield would apppoint him to an ambassadorship. He literally stalked both Garfield and Secretary of State Blaine in an attempt to secure the appointment. When it was not forthcoming, he stalked Garfield (this was in the days before the secret service) until he had the opportunity to shoot the President.

The wound caused a rupture in an artery but an aneurism sealed off the opening so he did not bleed to death. Garfield lingered for many weeks until the aneurism ultimately ruptured and Garfield died. The location of the bullet had not been located and the aneurism had gone untreated. Today, Garfield's condition would have almost certainly been diagnosed through an MRI and he may have survived delicate surgery which would have saved his life.

In reading history, we generally get a line or two about Garfield being assasinated by a "disappointed office seeker." It was enjoyable to learn more about this event, particularly in such an unusual literary format.

As a history buff, and a fan of Rick Geary's, I knew I'd enjoy this book, but I had no idea how much! The book tells the paralell stories of President James A. Garfield and his stalker (and eventual assassin) Charles Giteau, an abysmal failure in every aspect of life; indeed, his ONLY success in life was the murder of President Garfield, and he almost botched that up, too. Garfield lingered for months after the attack, dying perhaps more as a result of medical incompetence than Giteau's efforts.
Geary's wonderfully cartoony art is reminiscent of claymation; it gives a true illusion of depth and form. He is truly one of the underrated geniuses of the Comic art form. His meticulous research gives us many interesting facts, such as The President being allowed to walk around Washington D.C. unescorted (No Secret Service yet), Abraham Lincoln's son's association with Garfield, and too many others to count. Do yourself a favor- read the book!!

This entry in Rick Geary's series on Victorian murders examines the assassination of President James Garfield by Charles J. Guiteau, a megalomaniacal failure at preaching, the law, and almost everything else he had tried. The drawings are evocative of the time and place, and give a clear idea of the events. The lives of Garfield and Guiteau are traced, and Guiteau's mental illness is made quite clear; today, he would almost certainly be sharing a room with John Hinckley. I'd like to see this whole series reprinted: one of them is out of print and apparently unavailable.

The Last of the Ofos gives us a man whose resourcefulness and sense of adventure takes him across much of the 20th Century of the United States. Thomas Darko is innocent and worldly simultaneously, and brings a fresh but honest look at much human foolishness as he runs rum with integrity, searches for the woman who abandons him without sentiment, shows us the best and worst of those who idealize Native American culture and always returns to the life of simple self-sufficiency that gives him more satisfaction than all his adventures.

I loved the book and the dignity and truthfulness of the story. I stumbled across it in the University of Oklahoma bookstore and my curiosity was generously rewarded.

This is an illuminating and thoroughly enjoyable read. Compassionate, sympathetically written, by times heart rending. A tribute to the almost forgotten Mosopelea tribe. Professor Hobson touched all of my emotions with this. I look forward to his next title.

The Last of the Ofos is elegantly written and historically informed. Poignant and touching, but not cloying, this is a must-read. A wonderful book!

Granted, this book is a novelization of a movie, and a very faithful one at that, so much of the credit goes to the makers of the movie rather than to Brooks, but he does succeed in taking a marvelous story and telling it wonderfully, fully capturing the spirit of the story with his tone, as well as the events in it.

And a wonderful story it is, too. A superb sequel to the original Peter Pan story, answering the question "What would Peter be like if he ever DID grow up?" in a very plausible, indisputable way. Further, it is a perfect primer on how NOT to be a father, and what effects it can have on the children of someone who's falling down on the job, as well as showing a good example of how to do it right for comparison. Additionally, it is, like the original Peter Pan, an excellent story of the magic of childhood, but this one discusses how an adult can (and indeed MUST, if they want to avoid becoming unbearable) hold on to some of that magic, even while growing up and becoming responsible. And that sometimes, even people who HAVE lost that magic still don't learn how to be particularly responsible.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is truly wonderful; do yourself a favor, and track down a copy. It will be worth the effort. Then settle in for a good evening's read. You won't regret it.

I thought this book was wonderful. Not only would Disney himslef be pleased but the original author of the Peter Pan books would also be pleased.

It is also classic Brooks. Filled with his enriched details and his way of writing that draws the reader into the book.

I have read almost all of the books that Brooks has written, including all of the Shannara books and the Landover series.

He is a wonderful writer and is able in his own way to make the reading of a book not only enjoyable but also very stimulating.

His way of bringing the reader into the novel is so wonderful that you can not put the novel down.

Brooks stayed true to the Peter Pan story and offered us a look at what Peter Pan might have been like had he actually grown up.

For a "What If" book, I give this book, not a 5 star rating but a 10 star rating.

Entertaining, engaging, and thought-provoking, with the best "trick ending" I've ever read.

I first read this book two years ago, and it changed the way I look at things around me. I can't describe the plot, because it really cannot be described. Read the first page, you're hooked.

This is the story of a 15-year-old girl Ai who was born with a rare gift that will enable her to pilot faster-than-light ships after suitable training. Unfortunately, she has a recurrent blindness problem for which she must get help from a family friend. (Where is her family?) We follow her off the planet on which she has lived for many years, on her interesting journey to get help.

This is one independent kid, and a funny one. On the way we meet wonderful, unusual, caring people, characters that shine off the page. It is a whimsical book, with wonderful insight into the adult perspective on world of people such as Ai. Young people will love the book because of Ai, but adults will love the book too, because of how G.G. can remind us of young folks whose beauty and eccentricities seem distilled into Ai so perfectly. The single-mindedness and tunnel-vision, the romanticism, the warm-heartedness and the generosity and surprising protectiveness that Ai shows, the resilience, the excitement, all this reminds us of the best that youth has to offer.

There are wonderful descriptions of life forms very strange to us, that inhabit a world that is stranger than most. There are characters that anyone who lived through the sixties would recognize, even in the distant future! Then, too there are incredibly comic episodes that describe telepaths struggling to understand regular people--just let me say, don't try to read this one while you're proctoring a test :) To top it all, there is a cameo appearance of the author as well. However whimsical it is, though, it is a satisfying, action-filled story.

This is a delightful book that stands alone. (I haven't read any other Geary Gravel books, and this one certainly gave me no clue that it was linked to any others.)

Arch

One can simply say 'the future adventures of our heroes of The Alchemists', but there's more...so much more. Those who've read Mr. Gravel exquisitely written The Alchemists will find much to delight in this seamless tale. Full of quotes, from the Autumn Masque (of his own invention) to Oz books, to Rimbaud, one can see this book as a perfect puzzle...everytime you read it you'll find more and more to wonder over.

I finally read the entire book. It is an easy read (even for me as a non-native English speaker). Whatever example they use, it fits perfectly our picture; years after the book was written. Whenever they bring up a real life example, it stroke me "yes, this is what makes my life miserable as well". Luckily they have many good answers, where I am confident that they work.

People had been telling me to read this book for over two years and I always put it off. First it was the Internet and eCommerce. Then it was Six Sigma. Now I have had a chance to read this book and regret my delay. This book is a gem of factual, example filled, and focused insight and understanding. This is a true manual for changing processes and

First the book provides a clear roadmap for process change. It defines the individual steps necessary as well as the interconnection points between the organization, its processes, measurements and other elements. While you may not agree with all of the points -- the completeness will give you more than enough ideas to be of value.

Second, the book is well populated with detailed graphical examples that illustrate the concepts and thier intent. The level of detail, the practicality and the realism of the examples allows you to study the issue, understand it and find parallels in your own business.

Lastly, the book is complete it covers issues related to process design, implementation, process owners, measurement and management. Many people write whole books on one of these aspects however Rummler and Brache have covered them all in a focused and informative text.

I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to implement process management, six sigma, or other related changes. The book provides the details often left out of texts associated with six sigma. It provides a completeness often missing from process management and design texts.

The only drawback to the book is that its writing style is a bit dry and the book, written in 1995 does not cover many of the process innovations enabled through the Internet. Otherwise this book is a real winner and well worth your attention.

Excellent book. This is a must read for anyone looking to implement process improvement. Very good examples and an easy to read format.