I loved this book. The elegance of the author's description of places and people, interwoven with historical events, brings it all alive. The characters become real. In fact, I cannot stop thinking about "Gussie's" and Scott's happiness, not to mention Willy's. I would love for Lyvyrle to write a sequel. It grieves me that she has decided to quit writing because I have only just "found" her. I have read, besides Gamble, Endearment and Then Came Heaven...and absolutely have loved all three. Maybe after the author has some time off, she will hopefully reconsider. I love the way Lyvyrle develops her characters and their love story. And it is wonderful that she allows her characters to have such insight (and thus gives us insight at the same time). And I love the fact of waiting until marriage for the ultimate sex act, but at the same time evolving the couple sexually. The "awakening" of Agatha, for example, profoundly relit my pilot light! I plan to read all of Spencer's books and probably reread a good many of them! Please don't quit, Lavyrle -- there's got to be many sequels to write.

I have read many books by this author, and one problem that I have with them is that I usually don't like the female lead character. Quite often, they're too sharp-tongued and hard-edged for my tastes. And I have to admit after reading the first couple chapters of this book, I thought I was in for more of the same. But once I got to the scene where Agatha and Violet are sewing with the dancers, I knew this was going to be different. I absolutely loved the character of Agatha, along with all the other main characters. Agatha has a heart of gold, and yet she is able to stand up for what she believes in, even if it means risking her chance for love. You can really feel her pain, but yet you don't feel sorry for her either. A perfect lead character. As for Scott, I knew right away that he would keep me laughing through the whole book. I also like the way the author threw in Jesse and Abigail DuFrayne from her book "Hummingbird", even though I did not like that book very well. This was one of the best I've read from this author. It will be very difficult to find an author that can write romance as well as Lavyrle Spencer can.

When I first started this book I could not imagine how Scott and Agatha could ever be together and still keep it believable, or that I could even like Agatha's character. Maybe I just didn't believe a man like Gandy could fall for someone with her many imperfections. Because I am a big Spencer fan I kept reading. By the time I had finished this book I was completely in love with Scott(no big suprise) and Agatha now seemed as beautiful to me as she was to him. I felt their pain and joy as if it were my own. I had cried,laughed out loud and everything in-between, when I was done I sat and stared into space, speechless, in awe and immediately began to read it again. The magic of Lavyrle Spencer is that her characters don't jump into bed and start shouting I love you the first day they meet, she gives them (and the reader) time enough to make their love real and believable. Her characters are very often just average or even flawed in the looks department, helping us to remember that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is in my opinion the best of Spencer and that is saying much when you know the quality of her work.

I love romance stories but as a Christian always felt guilty when reading the "dirty" ones. When I purchased this book I did not even realize it was a Christian romance and had never read a Christian romance novel. I just thought it was a western/romance type of book. When I started reading and realized it was a Christian romance, to tell you the truth, I thought it would be boring as I was used to the steamy scenes in mainstream romance. Boy was I wrong! I laughed and cried with Rosie as I finished this book in only one day and immediatley ordered the other books in the series and not one has been a disappointment. I will never go back to mainstream romance books with their filthy scenes. I now can read about people falling in love in a Godly way. God Bless everyone who reads this.

Sometimes with series books, the characters are so perfect and predictable, I really don't care enough about them to read any of their further adventures. Not so with Rosie and the other residents of A Town Called Hope. I gobbled this story up as fast as I could and then waited anxiously for the sequels to arrive at my library. As soon as the Prairie Trilogy was in print--with Prairie Fire and Prairie Storm--I bought it for my friend for Christmas. She fell in love immediately with Catherine Palmer's characters, just like I did. Now she has bought Prairie Christmas and is a huge Catherine Palmer fan.

Catherine Palmer has created a cast of characters that will live on in the reader's mind long after the pleasure of reading Prairie Rose and its successors are over.

Rosenbloom Cotton Mills is ana unusual name for an unusual girl. Brought up in an orphange, Rosie is no stranger to hardship. But when she impulsively leaves the orphange for the Kansas praire, she takes on more hardship than she originally anticipated, including a dour widower, his young son who has never gotten to know his father, and a homestead desperately in need of a woman's touch. Rosie faces each challenge with a smile and with the knowledge that God is her father and his love in her heart. The humor in this book is expertly balanced with the hard praire life that Rosie comes to love. In the midst of her hardships, Rosie comes to understand the true meaning of not only God's love for her, but her love for Seth. Palmer is a great Christian romance writer in the tradition of Oke and Glover, and I recommend her highly.

We would go hungry without this book! This is the cook book we use far and away more than any other. We have even started some family holiday traditions from the recipes i.e. the green beans with pears - amazing! You never have to worry about making a recipe because they are all fantastic. It is a regular gift from us and we have been told many times it's the receivers new favorite cook book as well. Buy it, it is any cook's must have!

This is probably my all-time favorite cookbook (and I have many, many cookbooks). The recipes range from simple to prepare meals for a busy weeknight to elegant meals for entertaining guests or clients. My family's favorites are the Chicken Romano (very easy, very elegant) and the Mizzou Barbecue Sauce. I whipped up an extra-large batch of the BBQ sauce last year and gave it with my grandma's brisket recipe to our friends and neighbors. They raved about how good it was (and well it should be given that Kansas City is famous for having some of the world's finest barbecue). The cookbook also has inventive and tasty vegetable, dessert and pasta recipes, as well as a brunch section which I use every year for a Christmas brunch. I highly recommend this book. If you love to cook, you will not be disappointed.

I stole this cookbook from my mom's kitchen after trying a couple of the recipes she prepared. The all-out favorite recipe is the Gazpacho Blanca. Make double or triple batches as friends will come back for more and will want to take some home. Other great recipes: Parmesan chicken, Spinach provolone soup, Curried chicken spread, and strawberry spinach salad.

I was intrigued by the title of Karen Mueller Bryson's book, and who wouldn't be? The English speaking world has been mightily affected by the metaphor of Oz. "Hey Dorothy You're Not in Kansas Anymore" does not disappoint.

A young woman loses her father in a freak accident. She is one of a family with enough peccadilloes among them to keep any reader fascinated. She decides she will sleep her pain away, her mother decides she will run away with a cult, and brother decides to bury himself in his achievements and try to ignore the whole mess. The pain in this family is palpable but so is their zest for living. Those who loved "Bridget Jones's Diary" may like this book even better. It has the snap of the new genre called chick lit to which "Diary" is a prominent member; like "Diary" it explores the pain that twenty-somethings often experience in a society that isn't keen on letting them grow up.

What makes this novel better is that Our Dear Dorothy is just more likeable than Bridget. She is not quite so needy, quite so miserable, is just less of a cookie-cutter character all around.

What makes this novel move along so quickly is the authors background as a playwright. The dialogue is quick and convincing. The grounding is much like a theater production. The settings are sufficiently presented but do not dominate.

Mostly the humor is so natural. I laughed out loud three times in the first two chapters and chuckled even more often. All in all, it's a good lesson that the absurd may be found in the most agonizing of situations and that it works ever so well as a healer.

(Carolyn Howard-Johnson is the author of "Harkening: A Collection of Stories Remembered.")

HEY DOROTHY, YOU'RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE
By Karen Mueller-Bryson

This book is a humorous account of grieving (or lack of) by one family as told by the daughter Dorothy. Unable to grieve over her father's recent death, Dorothy tells the story about her life with her brother (Jude) and her mother (Mrs. Robinson), and how they all cope with the father's death in their own different ways. It is a 'tongue in cheek' satire mixed in with shades of the movie classic Wizard of Oz.

In the adventures of Hey Dorothy, You're Not In Kansas Anymore, you can't help yourself laugh at the humorous overtones as the family disposes of their father's remains; and, how the mother tries to destroy a well-known coffee shop (called Buckstars) that she thinks is evil and trying to take over the world.

Karen Mueller Bryson has written a delightful story. If you want to read a refreshing, light comedy, you will want to add this book to your personal library.

Reviewed by Bobby Ruble

A magical delight of a book. Funny and satirical. Impressive for a first novel. Filled with memorable characters like Mervyn O'Roy and Dorothy's mother, Mrs. Robinson. Dorothy's misadventures tickle the funny bone as well as answer that age old question: What happens to Dorothy when she grows up? This satirical look at the modern adventures of a grown up Dorothy, give us hope that life can be a romantic romp for those who are willing to suspend their disbelief. She calls herself ordinary. But Dorothy Gale Robinson proves she is anything but ordinary in this tour de force. Her caring and concern shines through her modern sense of cynicism with laughable consequences. A satirical look at the Wizard of Oz, gives us the joy of following this Dorothy on her equally riotous adventures. Settle down in a comfy chair, pick up this book and read to your heart's content.

I just finished reading "Amazing Gracie" last night and can't stop thinking about it. It still brings tears to my eyes as I think of the impact she had on Dan and Mark and all those she came in contact with. As I read the book and would finish each chapter, I kept thinking "surely this whole book can't maintain this wonderful level of humor and warmth" but I'm happy to say I was wrong. It never let's you down and you find yourself wrapped up in it like it's a mystery and you can't wait to see what will happen next.

I cried, I laughed out loud and I cheered for Dan, Mark and the girls. This book is full of hope and love and is an easy read for animal lovers of all ages. We will definitely be giving this book to friends and family for gifts and recommending it to everyone. Since Dan and Mark live in Kansas City, we had the pleasure of meeting them at a recent book signing and they are sincerely nice guys which makes the book all that more of a treasure. Makes Kansas City proud to have these 2 and their canine companions as residents.

What an amazing story. I fell in love with Gracie the moment I looked at the cover. I have never been so touched by a story before. If you love animals, then this is the book for you. Gracie and her sisters will make you laugh and cry throughout the book. Dan and Mark were and are truly blessed. I can not stress enough just how wonderful this book is. I am going around telling everyone to buy this book ,I have never done that before!! This book makes one realize just how blessed we are to be owned by a dog!! Wonderful reading!!

This is a wonderful book about an amazing dog named Gracie. In my opinion it is a must read for anyone. It is a book that will make you laugh and cry. Gracie's story will show you how animals can touch our lives and how blessed we are to have them in our midst. You will not be able to put this book down! Another thing, the royalties from this book go to The Gracie Foundation which is a non-profit emergency relief fund for neglected and abused animals. By reading this book, you will not only see how Gracie changed a man's life but you will help to carry on her memory by helping animals in need. Please take my advice and buy a copy right away- I don't think you will be sorry.

Evan S. Connell's "Mrs. Bridge" is one of the truly outstanding works of Twentieth century American literature, a restrained, yet brilliantly wrought fictional portrait of upper middle class married life in the decades surrounding World War II. Connell tells the story of India Bridge in 117 short chapters, each a spare vignette of her enervated life in the perfectly manicured "country-club district" of an affluent Kansas City suburb. Linear in its narrative and meticulously realistic in its style, "Mrs. Bridge" follows India's life from marriage, to the birth of three children, to the rejection by those children of the repressed life of their parents as they grow into adults, to lonely suburban widowhood. While it is, at its heart, a grim tale of one woman's life of repression and, ultimately, loneliness and resignation, Connell's flawless and restrained narrative ultimately leaves the reader feeling exhilarated at the sheer literary achievement of "Mrs. Bridge".

Ostensibly the story of a marriage, Mr. Bridge is noticeably absent from much of the narrative. A successful lawyer, he is a man who is unable to express love or affection for his wife or his children, a man who is focussed on becoming "rich and successful," the epitome of the status-conscious husband and father whose identity lies in material possessions. "The family saw very little of him. It was not unusual for an entire week to pass without any of the children seeing him. On Sunday morning they would come downstairs and he . . . greeted them pleasantly and they responded deferentially, and a little wistfully because they missed him. Sensing this, he would redouble his efforts at the office in order to give them everything they wanted."

Mrs. Bridge, too, is powerfully repressed, unable to articulate her feelings of dissatisfaction, a woman who is beholden to the expectations of respectability and obsessed with appearances. "She brought up her children very much as she herself had been brought up, and she hoped that when they were spoken of it would be in connection with their nice manners, their pleasant dispositions, and their cleanliness, for these were qualities she valued above all others." Thus, she ultimately drives all three of her children from her life, her unthinking obeisance to social convention destroying any thread of relationship that she might have had with them. Her oldest daughter, "curiously dark", flees to New York City, where she pursues her more unconventional dreams. Her second daughter, an accomplished golfer, enters an ill-fated marriage with a college dropout who cannot provide the country club life that she has been weaned to expect. Her son joins the army, asserting an act of individuality that Mrs. Bridge never seems able to accept or reconcile.

It is, most notably, however, in her relationships with her peers-with the other affluent housewives of the "country-club district"-that the grim and vapid nature of Mrs. Bridge's life becomes most apparent. In particular, her friend Grace Barron becomes a kind of outward manifestation of India Bridge's discontent, someone who lives a life of equal desperation, but not so quietly as Mrs. Bridge. Grace Barron "was a puzzle and was disturbing" to Mrs. Bridge. Why? Because she actually questioned the life she led, moving outside the banal, the conventional, if only in her discourse. As Grace once said to Mrs. Bridge: "India, I've never been anywhere or done anything or seen anything. I don't know how other people live, or think, even how they believe. Are we right? Do we believe the right things?"

Unlike Mrs. Bridge, who talked of "antique silver, Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, the price of margarine as compared to butter, or what the hemline was expected to do," Grace Barron talked of "art, politics, astronomy, literature." Ultimately, Grace cannot cope with the ennui, the claustrophobia of her life, and she does what Mrs. Bridge ultimately lacks the fortitude to do; in a sense, Grace is a sort of "double" who acts out the dark alternative to Mrs. Bridge's repression. And when Grace does act, all that comes to Mrs. Bridge's mind is something Grace once said to her: "Have you ever felt like those people in the Grimm fairy tale-the ones who were all hollowed out in the back?"

Evan S. Connell's "Mrs. Bridge" is one of the truly outstanding works of Twentieth century American literature, a restrained, yet brilliantly wrought fictional portrait of upper middle class married life in the decades surrounding World War II. Connell tells the story of India Bridge in 117 short chapters, each a spare vignette of her enervated life in the perfectly manicured "country-club district" of an affluent Kansas City suburb. Linear in its narrative and meticulously realistic in its style, "Mrs. Bridge" follows India's life from marriage, to the birth of three children, to the rejection by those children of the repressed life of their parents as they grow into adults, to lonely suburban widowhood. While it is, at its heart, a grim tale of one woman's life of repression and, ultimately, loneliness and resignation, Connell's flawless and restrained narrative ultimately leaves the reader feeling exhilarated at the sheer literary achievement of "Mrs. Bridge".

Ostensibly the story of a marriage, Mr. Bridge is noticeably absent from much of the narrative. A successful lawyer, he is a man who is unable to express love or affection for his wife or his children, a man who is focussed on becoming "rich and successful," the epitome of the status-conscious husband and father whose identity lies in material possessions. "The family saw very little of him. It was not unusual for an entire week to pass without any of the children seeing him. On Sunday morning they would come downstairs and he . . . greeted them pleasantly and they responded deferentially, and a little wistfully because they missed him. Sensing this, he would redouble his efforts at the office in order to give them everything they wanted."

Mrs. Bridge, too, is powerfully repressed, unable to articulate her feelings of dissatisfaction, a woman who is beholden to the expectations of respectability and obsessed with appearances. "She brought up her children very much as she herself had been brought up, and she hoped that when they were spoken of it would be in connection with their nice manners, their pleasant dispositions, and their cleanliness, for these were qualities she valued above all others." Thus, she ultimately drives all three of her children from her life, her unthinking obeisance to social convention destroying any thread of relationship that she might have had with them. Her oldest daughter, "curiously dark", flees to New York City, where she pursues her more unconventional dreams. Her second daughter, an accomplished golfer, enters an ill-fated marriage with a college dropout who cannot provide the country club life that she has been weaned to expect. Her son joins the army, asserting an act of individuality that Mrs. Bridge never seems able to accept or reconcile.

It is, most notably, however, in her relationships with her peers-with the other affluent housewives of the "country-club district"-that the grim and vapid nature of Mrs. Bridge's life becomes most apparent. In particular, her friend Grace Barron becomes a kind of outward manifestation of India Bridge's discontent, someone who lives a life of equal desperation, but not so quietly as Mrs. Bridge. Grace Barron "was a puzzle and was disturbing" to Mrs. Bridge. Why? Because she actually questioned the life she led, moving outside the banal, the conventional, if only in her discourse. As Grace once said to Mrs. Bridge: "India, I've never been anywhere or done anything or seen anything. I don't know how other people live, or think, even how they believe. Are we right? Do we believe the right things?"

Unlike Mrs. Bridge, who talked of "antique silver, Royal Doulton, Wedgwood, the price of margarine as compared to butter, or what the hemline was expected to do," Grace Barron talked of "art, politics, astronomy, literature." Ultimately, Grace cannot cope with the ennui, the claustrophobia of her life, and she does what Mrs. Bridge ultimately lacks the fortitude to do; in a sense, Grace is a sort of "double" who acts out the dark alternative to Mrs. Bridge's repression. And when Grace does act, all that comes to Mrs. Bridge's mind is something Grace once said to her: "Have you ever felt like those people in the Grimm fairy tale-the ones who were all hollowed out in the back?"

Denounced in 1959 for not being a 'real' novel, Mrs. Bridge is judged differently these days--and rightly so. The novel is a compelling portrait of American suburban bourgeois life; reading it causes precisely the same claustrophobia Mrs. Bridge sometimes realizes she's suffering from. In a way, this is Sartre's La Nausee moved to Kansas City, but an easier read--almost deceptively so. Closing the book though doesn't really relieve the angst the reader shares with poor Mrs. Bridge in the final section (no I won't give it away)--this book is too real. Don't look for plot, don't look for cheap thrills, but do look for detail, look for the Real peeking into Mrs. Bridge's seemingly perfect life in the Imaginary.

I'll be brief: others have said plenty. Just one quick remark: Connell is a stylist of the highest order. His prose is crisp; style matches subject matter. Example: "It was necessary to be careful among people you did not know." Every sentence is carefully crafted to the point where grammar itself becomes a web of cleanliness, clear and transparent. It may seem nothing special, but Connell is a craftsman. All the more striking, both in grammar and in plot, are the few moments, aporia, where something else could have happened--such as when Mr. Bridge is breathlessly studying, in Paris, "a black lace brassiere with the tips cut off," a moment Mrs. Bridge returns to later with vague uneasiness.

I am glad I was recently introduced to Connell's work. It is a treasure trove, and it's a pity so few of his works are still in print. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some more of his novels to read: Deus Lo Volt! is next.

Where Blue Highways sprawled across the continental United States in a macro-view of America, William Least Heat-Moon reverses the lens and concentrates on (mostly) walking and (sometimes) driving a tiny subsection of the USA: Chase County, in the Flint Hills of eastern Kansas. The people he meets--the old timers who've seen the river rise and fall and mined the quarries, the feminist restauranteur, the female ranchers determined to succeed in the face of declining small-farm agriculture and chauvinism--are people who might make unlikely subjects for straight fiction, but Least Heat-Moon's gift is to make us care about their personal stories and worries anyway. The ecological, social, and political sides of Chase--and the personal issues and flights of fancy of the author's psyche--come into sharp focus under Least Heat-Moon's eye, which misses little; and his writing is clear enough to make you forget that you're reading something fascinating about something commonplace. The kind of book to make you wish the author was just a little more prolific

Having read BLUE HIGHWAYS several years ago I was excited when PRAIRYERTH came out and couldn't wait to read it. Even though itwas a huge book of about a thousand pages, my admiration for William Least Heat Moon was such that I knew I wanted to read this book.

When I began to realize we were never going to leave one county in Kansas I was already near the end of the book and wished that it wouldn't end.

I don't recommend this book to casual readers, for I think they will miss the beauty and fascination contained in these pages. But for those who love poetry and the sheer beauty of words mixed in with simplicity of spirit in story telling, there are few books that can come close to this one. I also have read RIVER HORSE and am hoping that William Least Heat Moon is writing his fourth book as I write these words!

I first picked up this book when a job change brought us into the Tallgrass Prairie region of Kansas. As it turns out, we settled in Cottonwood Falls, Chase County, Kansas! It was extraordinary to read PrairyErth, knowing that we would soon be experiencing this place first-hand.

There is truly nothing like living in this community and experiencing the sights, places and people described so richly in PrairyErth. William Least Heat-Moon knows this place well, and paints a picture that is as vivid and timeless as Chase County itself. As a "local", I've returned to this book time and time again.

Unfortunately, my job is now taking us away from here. If you've read the passage about Spring Street in Cottonwood Falls, then you know our home. This is truly a beautiful and extraordinary place; unique in the world. If you would like to experience the sense of community that my family and I have been so blessed with, give me a call.

I first read "Please Kill Me" and developed a fascination for this era of American social history. This book describes, through stories and pictures, the various stages of Max's and all the celebrity goings on. Very entertaining, also a high quality edition, of a period of decadence.

Anyone interested in the NYC rock'n'roll scene of the 1960's-'70's should get this book. Warhol's Superstars, the Velvets, Nico, Patti Smith, and so many more all have their place in here! Mickey Ruskin, the owner of Max's, pretty much kept alive 99% of the cities "starving artists" during those times! A lot of popular musicians got their start at Max's, from Bruce Springsteen to Debbie Harry (a former Max's waitress!). If you want to learn more about the "back room" at Max's and all the characters who hung out there, get this book! Lots of entertaining anecdotes from so many different scenesters! Most of these people lived on the edge! Other books I would recommend are "Man Enough To Be a Woman" by Jayne County and "Rebel Heart" by Bebe Buell (they were regulars at Max's as well)!!!

This book was great, excellent pictures and a great tell all of the time. Nothing was held back from this oral history, very detailed and fun. Yvonne Ruskin did a great job, I felt like I knew these people and since I have never been to Max's and now that it is gone it was alot of fun to see what it was like and sad at the same time because I wish I could of been there.

I picked up this book after reading the USA Today review, which was essentially an unconditional rave. I decided to give it a try, but figured I'd probably be disappointed, as few books live up to the praise heaped on them. But GABRIEL'S STORY was a pleasant surprise. It begins with vivid homesteading scenes - all the toil and the poverty of it. Makes me glad I wasn't a homesteader, and it made it reasonable that Gabriel would want to run away from it. The journey that he sets off on is truly engrossing, well-plotted, with beautiful language and great descriptions of the Western landscape.

It looks like the novel is being compared to Cormac McCarthy's work. There are some similarities, but GABRIEL'S STORY is a bit more hopeful than McCarthy's work. The world is still harsh and dangerous, but Durham seems to have more faith in humanity, in family and friends. Also, I thought it was interesting that the reviewer in USA Today said that he was a city-dwelling white guy that still got into this book about a black boy in another century out on the plains. I felt the same way. Yes, the main characters are black, but their racial identity is only part of the whole world of the story. They're black like James Joyce's characters are Irish or Faulkner's are Southern - it matters, but it doesn't change the fact that anybody can connect with them. Altogether a really good novel.

The prodigal son always comes home. Iin life, in parable and in literature.

And he has returned once more in "Gabriel's Story," a haunting debut by David Anthony Durham. In this incarnation, the wayward youth is a 15-year-old African-American boy in the empty middle of a continent, caught between youth and manhood, naiveté and wisdom, family and flight.

Fleeing racism in Reconstruction-era Baltimore, Gabriel Lynch travels with his mother and younger brother to his stepfather's hard-scrabble homestead in 1870s Kansas. As with the Biblical story of the prodigal son, Gabriel finds the "outside" world less exciting and more threatening than he dreamed. He returns to Kansas wiser and chastened, prepared to take his place behind the plow and, more importantly, at the family hearth. "Gabriel's Story" is a classical bildungsroman -- a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character -- told in masterful prose reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy.

His is not just a startlingly poetic African-American voice (Durham is the son of Trinidadian immigrants), but a welcome new voice in the rich spectrum of American letters, where authors should -- and must -- be judged in different shades of black and white: The color of words on a page.

Page-turner, can't put it down, tour de force, and all those other cliches apply to Gabriel's Story. Actually, I could put it down, but only because I had to. Couldn't wait to pick it up again.

Gabriel's Story is an amazing adventure -- perfectly plausible -- of a teen aged African American in the 1870's who leaves his family's Kansas farm unannounced. He and a friend join a crew of cowboys headed for Texas....

How to tell more of the book without giving away bits and pieces of the story that is best discovered by the reader? Can't be done.

Suffice it to say that Gabriel sees and experiences more than he could ever had imaganed. He is handicapped by racism, his youth and inexperience, but boasts the distinct advantages of intelligence and a good heart.

If you're overly sensitive to violence, beware; but it all rings true to the times and is never gratuitous.

Now stop reading reviews of the book and buy it, you'll be glad you did.

I had to read a book for a book report due in a week. I was beginning to feel hopeless before I stumbled onto this in the library. Langston Hughes is an amazing Writer and poet. This was the first of his novels that I have read and I think it couldn't have been more perfect. This book is so rich in its characters and Hughes shows no mercy in telling of the bittersweet culture that engulfs the world of Sandy and his family. After reading this book, the beauty of this people was more evident than ever before. With words that are lovely and flowing and thoughts that are deep and abundant, Hughes is a person whom I wish was still with us.

I cannot stress enough how much I like this book, and all of Langston Hughes' writings. He is my favorite author, poet, playright and I always enjoy his work. No mattter what race you are (I myself happen to be white), you should be able to realize the social importance of all of Langston Hughes' work. This particular book really sheds light on the plight of so many black people that really isn't tought to young people. The progression that all the characters make in this book is really written quite well. I liked the fact that the book took place over a long period of time. Also, there are some events and plots that are unexpected, but definitely realistic.

Despite his considerable output of poetry, short stories and autobiographical work, this is Langston Hughes' only novel. It is the tremendously crafted story of Sandy, a black child of the 1920s in rural Kansas. In poignant tightly written chapters, Hughes' depicts various events in Sandy's life often slipping into the perspective of those closest to him. Sandy lives most his life with his strong-willed and deeply religious grandmother Aunt Hager. She is a benevolent woman who desires peaceful racial relations despite the overwhelming amount of racism and discrimination professed by both white and black community members. Sandy's mother Annjee is a loving and hard working woman eternally devoted to her husband Jimboy who is a good hearted man constantly on the move. Sandy's aunt Tempy is a well-off woman trying to immerse herself in white society and denigrating her own race in the process. His other aunt Harriett is a wilful woman who turns from the church for a different kind of existence. Through these expertly drawn characters, Sandy views their examples and he must make the choices that will effect his future. The novel is a tremendous chronicle of the struggle of a family to survive financially. It gives accounts of the psychological dilemma created by growing in a racially divided society and the diffuse joy in life that can be found even in troubling circumstances.

Maya Angelou wrote of Not Without Laughter: "This book was written when preachers had to be poets and poets were preachers, because they needed to be available to all the people all the time." The messages this novel gives are not subtle. But, through its varied perspectives and eloquently written prose, it envelops the issues it preaches with emotionally edifying ideas. It leaves the reader with a feeling of deep connection to all the characters, particularly the beautiful Sandy in whom we invest our hope and trust to fulfil his potential to become a good, intelligent and strong man who does not feel limited by his racial heritage despite any restrictions society may attempt to place for him. Although it may be a shame that Hughes never wrote another novel as he aptly demonstrated his skill in this one, Not Without Laughter stands as shining work be a skilled artist.