I liked this book a lot. I like to read about how resourceful the Borrowers are when they use stuff humans don't need or misplace. It had really nice pictures, too. I recommend this book to kids five years and older.

In this, the fourth book in the Borrowers series (after The Borrowers, The Borrowers Afield and The Borrowers Afloat), the Clocks have moved into Little Fordham, and are starting their new life. Unfortunately, unknown to them, the greedy Mr. Platter has built a rival model village. Having seen the Borrowers, he kidnaps them to add them to his own model. How can such small people escape from a prison built by such huge human "beans"?

Ah, Mary Norton (1903-92) was a genius! Her Borrower stories are an excellent combination of suspenseful adventure and heartwarming drama. My children and I love this book, and highly recommend it to you!

As a child in the 1950's, I read the original Borrowers in 4th grade. I read and re-read the one in the school library, til school closed for the summer. As luck would have it, I found the book and it's subsequent additions that summer in a book store. They were the only thing I ever BEGGED my mother to buy me. I took home The Borowers, The Borrowers Afield, and The Borrowers Afloat, and I still know parts of them by heart. When I was 18, the Borrowers Aloft came out, and my mother sent it to me at college. I was 36 when the Avenged came out, and I RAN to the bookstore. The stories are as fresh today as the first time I read them. I'm now in my 50's, and I can't imagine a life without Homily, Pod and Arriety Clock. Homily who is courageous, even though she'd rather not be. Pod, who is a simple man, taking care of his family. And Arriety, ready for life, ready for adventure, a young Victorian Feminist, if there ever was one. She taught me that a girl could be anything she wanted to be. They bravely faced a daunting world, and they're only 6 inches tall. I now own well over a thousand books, and really believe that it was this small family that lead me to my love of reading.

"The Crystal Gryphon" is one of my favorite Witch World novels among the many five-star fantasies in this series by Lifetime Grand Master of Fantasy, Andre Norton (Alice Mary North). Like "Year of the Unicorn," 'Gryphon' takes place in the Dales and wastelands of High Hallack, as opposed to Norton's original Witch World settings of Estcarp and Escore, where Simon Tregarth and his family did battle with out-worlders and evil magic.

The story alternates between Kerovan, lord-heir in Ulmsdale of High Hallack, and Joisan, high-born maid of Ithkrypt in Ithdale of High Hallack, who is wedded to Kerovan by proxy when she is only eight. At first, there are few changes to her life as she will remain with her own kin until of suitable age:

....

It is so easy to get caught up in Norton's fantasy world. She puts her reader right into the midst of the feasting, mayhem, and magic. It's almost like being set down into the midst of a medieval Book of Hours.

Speaking of magic, when Kerovan's mother was about to give birth to him, she was forced to take shelter in a ruin of the mysterious Old Ones. She was rumored to be of the Old Race herself, and Kerovan was born with hooves instead of normal, human feet. His eyes were the color of butter amber.

Kerovan and Joisan grow up separately, having never met although they are married, and then their world is torn asunder by a strange invasion from the sea (see the original Witch World cycle for more detail about these invaders and their crawling, flame-shooting machines). In the Year of the Moss Wife, when Joisan should have gone to Ulmsdale to take up her wifely duties, she instead learns how to wear mail and wield a light sword. She wears a tiny gryphon in a crystal globe under her mail--a gift from her unknown fiancé.

Meanwhile Kerovan has problems of his own. The keep at Ulmsdale is betrayed to the invaders and he must make his way across the war-torn Dales to Joisan, whose own home has been destroyed. When he finally finds her, she mistakes him for one of the mysterious Old Ones because of his physical peculiarities.

How Kerovan and Joisan gradually come to regard each other, and how they attempt to defeat the dark magic that is arrayed against them forms the main story-line of this wonderful, but incomplete fantasy.

There are two sequels to "The Crystal Gryphon" (1972): "Gryphon in Glory" (1981); and "Gryphon's Eyrie" (1984, written with A. C. Crispin). None of Norton's co-authored books are as good as the ones she wrote by herself, but this is a series that is well worth following to the end.

This book, along with the other two 'Gryphon' books, rank as my favorite fantasy books of all time. The worst thing about this whole series is the name 'Witch World'. If you can get by that, you are in for a great time.

I finished reading this book less than a week ago and I couldn't put it down. Anyone that likes a good fiction/fantasy has to read this book. The story was facinating and the characters were great. I can't wait to read the other two books in the series, Gryphon in Glory and Gryphon's Eyrie.

There is little doubt that the United States will soon be engaged in a land, sea and air war with Iraq. The current operational information given to us civilians will have a "green light" for action by mid-March. I would hope that anyone giving serious thought to serving in our Armed Forces would take the time to read what it takes, in the form of personal courage to being an infantry-man or Marine.
This encyclopedia is full of the descriptive citations which detail hazardous situations. The thought of having to sacrifice
one's life to save fellow soldiers is vividly described in this fine work.
I would hope that this book is bought and circulated through every high-school library in the USA. It not only describes what it takes to become a "war hero," but it transcends four hundred years of American guts and glory on the battlefield.
There are numerous accounts of individual heroism that literally bring tears to my eyes. The price these men and women have paid is unbelievable.
I, for one, am glad the Major Norton has taken the time to remind us of exactly what it takes to become an American war hero.
I highly recommend this book.

I have just finished re-reading Encyclopedia of American War Heroes, by Major Bruce Norton, USMC, (Ret.), and I must say that I will read it again and again. This book describes the heroic deeds of American men and women in mortal combat from 1600- to present. Some names will not be new, but there are many individuals cited who are not generally known to the American public. This is the kind of book that will be on every American veteran's coffee-table for years to come. While we have been inundated, lately, with images of "heroes" (police and fire-fighters) surrounding the 9/11 trajedy, this work covers 300 years of heroic achievement by our Nation's military. Many of the citations will make the reader pause and think about what it takes to be a "real" hero. The incredible exploits of men such as Chamberlain, Coffman, Day, Fox, Millett, Paige and Williams will bring tears to eyes of any proud American veteran. Major Norton has done a valuable service in creating this marvelous book. I hope that there will be additional volumes to come. A great and valuable book.

This book should be in every school library. Honoring war heroics doesn't glorify war but pays respect to those who do the most to bring war to a just end. Reading this book is like going to a party and finding all your favorite people are there, you also meet people that you didn't know, but find that you like. And there are a few ladies there too. All the legends are there, there's John Paul Jones, U.S. Grant, Sgt. York, Audie Murphy, Chesty Puller, and Roger H.C. Donlon. There are also plenty of unknown legends, heroes that are known to their peers but not well known to the public. This book includes the stories of highly decorated men like Lloyd "Scooter" Burke, Ola Mize, Lewis Millett and Matt Urban. These men survivied a sustained record of valor beyond the glow of the public's praise. Like any party there are no shows. Any military buff will note ommissions that they feel should be included in this book. Men that I felt should have been included are Vietnam's most decorated heroes Robert Howard and Joe Hooper. These tough as nails NCOs gave it all to win and then gave care to their captured enemy. Another no show at this party is Mike Thornton. Mike Thornton is the only enlisted Navy Seal to recieve the Medal of Honor and it is because of him that the Seals can claim to have never left a man behind. No Seal walks taller than Mike Thornton, I suppose. Another no show is Doc Bruce Norton, the only Navy Corpsman to be a team leader of a USMC Force Recon Team. This book is a national treasure.

Maggie Phillips is a fantastic therapist and teacher. I really believe this book is not only a very suitable and pratical book for therapists who wishes to improve their neuro-emotionnal therapy practice, but the result of several years of personnal research and intelligence !

I had an opportunity to review this book prior to its publication; that's how I first came to know Maggie Phillips. She is a highly accomplished psychologist and psychotherapist, and in this book she expertly integrates the best of traditional practice with cutting edge therapeutic processes. She also offers useful strategies for when to choose and how to combine hypnosis, EMDR, ego-state therapy, somatic therapies, imagery, and thought field therapy. An evolved perspective on energy psychology, "Finding the Energy to Heal" is required reading for therapists who take their craft seriously. --Fred P. Gallo, Ph.D., author of "Energy Psychology", "Energy Diagnostic and Treatment Methods", and "Energy Tapping."

This is an excellent book, outstanding, thank you Maggie. For the first time I understand what this Energy Therapy business, I've been hearing about, is all about and where and when it is advantageous to use it.

As an amateur military historian, I found GGIW to be one of the best written books on and about the Corps that I have ever read. While Len Maffioli will serve as the epitome of a Marine Staff NCO, I know, too, that Major "Doc" Norton has done a masterful job of putting Len's life on paper. The amount of research required by Norton was, no doubt, incredible. Students of the Marine Corps, students of WWII; those who are interesetd in the POW experience and the Korean War, and those who want to learn about the War in Vietnam, should add this book to their library. My hat is off to MGySgt. Maffioli for his heroic service to his country, and to Major Norton for having the wonderful talent of making it all seem so real -- from the page to the brain. Whoever said Marines can't write? Well done... Semper Fidleis. A retired Marine fan in South Carolina.

"Grown Gray in War" is the biography of Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant Len Maffioli. Maffioli served in combat on Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima, during World War II; was taken prisoner by the North Koreans during the Korean War, and later escaped from the Chinese Communists after 6 months as a POW; then saw combat again during Tet, in Vietnam, in 1968. --Thus the tiltle of the book. This is Major Bruce H. Norton's 5th book on and about Marines. It was also a winner in the San Diego Book Awards for biographies in 1997. Skillfully researched and well-written, this book should, in my humble opinion, be required reading for Marines in all grades. To accurately describe the event's of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, is a tribute to Major Norton's skill as a Marine historian. A great read!!

THE STORY OF LEN MAFFIOLLI, ONE OF ONLY 18 MARINES TO ESCAPE FROM A CHINESE POW CAMP DURING THE KOREAN WAR, IS WITHOUT QUESTION ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE READ ABOUT THE MARINE CORPS. WELL WRITTEN BY MAJ. B. H. NORTON, THIS STORY DOCUMENTS WWII, KOREA, AND VIETNAM IN REMARKABLE STYLE. HATS OFF TO NORTON AND MAFFIOLI FOR PUTTING TOGETHER A SUPERB STORY. TEN OUT OF TEN!!!

Wow, the first and only novel by this author is mind blowing. The story has stories of it's own. And each one is as interesting as the book as a whole...a must read...

I can't recall any other novel that is at once so lyrically beautiful, dryly witty, and intelectually erudite. The highlight, for me, was the seamingly endless cavalcade of minor characters, each entirely believable and strangely familiar. Though the book is a timeless classic, revealing eternal verities about human nature and the nature of society, it also captures the particualr insanity of Reagan-era America rather perfectly. Whistling Song easily makes my list of ten books I'd wish to have with me were I marooned on a desert isle.

This is one of the most inspired and inspiring books I've ever read. Hands down one of my three favorites (along with McCammon's "Boy's Life" and Reiken's "The Odd Sea"). Beachy writes with total abandon, seamlessly weaving the story together even while alternating time periods. I am bewildered as to how this book escaped everyone's view. Every sentence is unforgettable. Any attempt to further describe "Whistling Song" would do it a terrible injustice. Read it for yourself.

I completed this book on a flight from LA to NY on 10/11/2000. This was my first reading experience by Jean Rhys. I learned that Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis included Jean Rhys on her roster of favorite authors. That's why I bought the book. I was curious to learn what 'tickled her fancy'. At first...the book was 3 stars...but after a day or two had passed I realized that the book had quite an impact on me. I had just finished an A+ book (The Notorious Dr. August)...so, maybe that's why I didn't give this 5 stars. It explores loneliness, living on the edge, dealing with death, depression, the cheeriness of childhood, and the search for love. So, you can imagine why Jacqueline Kennedy loved this author. I felt the main character, Julia, was easily identifiable by Jackie. Mr MacKenzie was her Onassis and Mr. Horsfield was her own Mr. Tempelsman in many ways. Although, I saw Julia as a sort of prostitute "in cognito" style. I did gasp when I read 'She's gone'. 'Gone'. That was the word. It struck me because my own sister-in-law called me with those exact words when my mother passed away. And when she wrote 'Nothing matters. Nothing can be worse than how I feel now, nothing.' I gasped again because in my eulogy to my mother I started it with those two words "Nothing matters"...as that was how I felt initially. Therefore, if you know anyone dealing with grief this book should help during some trying moments. Overall, the book leaves you slightly depressed at the end. It went full circle. There were some extraordinarily good lines in this book. One favorite: Every day is a new day. Every day you are a new person.

After Leaving Mr. MacKenzie (1930) repeats the effective Jean Rhys formula: a broken woman of uncertain age, shattered by hypersensitivity, alcoholism, emotional abuse, vague mental illness, and other 'pathological cruelties of everyday life,' bravely attempts to face another day, suffering self-hatred and self-recrimination with each step of the way. The novel begins with anti-heroine Julia Martin in the last stages of a romantic affair with pompous, thick - skinned blowhard Mr. MacKenzie. MacKenzie has provided Julia with financial support since the termination of their dalliance, but now declines to continue to do so. Financially and emotionally destitute, Julia leaves Paris and returns to London, where, "hoping to rest," she unexpectedly discovers her extended family gathered around their dying mother.

Like Jean Genet, Rhys wrote a series of novels about permanent social outsiders and outcasts, and, like Genet, Rhys had only one dark if very human vision to express. Other novelists such as Erskine Caldwell and Muriel Spark similarly wrote novels of extremely narrow focus (Caldwell's Tobacco Road, Spark's Not To Disturb and The Driver's Seat), but were also capable of more varied, optimistic, and expansive works. The antiheroes in Genet's novels find a means of empowering and centering themselves through narcissism, violence, dominance, sexual expression, or mysticism; but Rhys' nonplussed female protagonists are perpetually at square one, never the better for their defeated plans or self-sabotaged efforts. Sadly, Julia finds relief only in brief moments of spontaneous rage or cruelty.

Rhys had an acute talent for portraying women in and under such conditions, but it's undeniable that Rhys' vision of harrowing experience, rote abandonment, and human indifference was projected outward onto every facet of her fictional landscapes. The curtains and wallpaper are always faded, the rented rooms shabby, the maids surly, the proprietresses petty and suspicious, the food tasteless, the milk rancid, relatives disdainful. In fact, Rhys created an entire universe of human desolation in each of her five novels, one from which none of the characters, young or old, male or female, wealthy or without means, are exempted; some merely play the game better and have more resources. One of the most satisfying elements in After Leaving Mr. MacKenzie is Rhys' brutal, very focused examination of those sides of human nature which Western societies prefer to privately deny and publicly avoid.

All of Rhys' anti-heroines are socially disenfranchised, emotionally wounded, needy, gullible, and financially insecure; but they are simultaneously often ill tempered, manipulative, callous, arrogant, amoral, and almost entirely self - absorbed. Julia Martin is Rhys' most hard-bitten protagonist, having none of the wisdom or humor that Sasha Jansen has in fourth novel Good Morning, Midnight, nor the innocence of Rhys' early ingénues. Somnolent and easily wounded Julia is acutely sensitive but only occasionally empathetic to the reality of others, unless, in the moment, she sees herself reflected within them. Julia is also a listless parasite and psychic vampire who lives off the emotions, energy, and money of the men with whom she has casual affairs; except for brief periods of work and a failed marriage, this is how she has provided for herself as an adult. In one grim but revelatory scene, the willful Julia indifferently tells the man she is about to lose that she can get another meal ticket any time she wishes, as she always has in the past. Is she speaking out of defensiveness, or simply telling the truth about her power and experience? For Julia, moments of happiness, enthusiasm, or pleasure are fleeting and as far away as the stars.

Readers may wonder exactly what is wrong with Julia; the answer is: almost everything. Self - hatred and clinical depression primarily, but Julia is also anxious, passive-aggressive, lonely, financially destitute, lazy, narcissistic, morbidly introverted, co - dependent, anemic, and probably suffering from borderline personality disorder. Julia 'can't be alone and can't be too close.' She is also aware and proud of her outsider status; confronting decent younger sister Norah, Julia smugly considers herself the better of the two, the one who has brazenly spit in the face of social convention and middle class morality. Sociopathically, Julia never considers that her rebellion has brought about the almost nihilistic sense of failure and low self - esteem from which she painfully suffers. Rhys, while never less than convincing, hangs so many internal and external albatrosses around Julia's neck that her unhappy existence seems almost fatally determined. Today, Julia would be receiving a maintenance course of serotonin inhibitors.

Feminists took up the Rhys cudgel early; indeed, superficially, Rhys' novels and short stories seem tailor made for the feminist cause. But Rhys' novels are no more primarily about the plight of women than Genet's were about the plight of criminal homosexual men. Rhys cast a wide net in conceiving her fictional worlds; her truths are universal truths that, for better or worse, apply to all. Readers will certainly recognize a kernel of themselves in Rhys' ambivalent, envious, bitter, forlorn, and greedy cast.

After Leaving Mr. MacKenzie ends with Julia enjoying a second Pernod in a Parisian café as twilight falls, a time of day Rhys refers to as "the hour between dog and wolf." Since Julia's life can be said to exist only between these two polarities - between the potentially threatening and the actively harmful - the metaphor is apt. Julia, both a continuous victim and a manipulator, if not an outright abuser, herself, is a creature by nature between dog and wolf. Highly recommended to those who enjoy gripping psychological fiction.

Rhys is best-known for "Wide Sargasso Sea," which is a wonderful book but the least important of her novels. I recommend picking up all four of Rhys' early novels but this is my personal favorite. Rhys is a brilliant writer who can say more in a sentence than many authors can say in a chapter--and she makes you feel more in a word than many authors achieve in a novel.

Having spent a lot of time looking for information on imaginative & fun (and sometimes luxury) travel with kids, I can tell you that this is a really unique book. It is comprehensive, carefully researched and well written with loads of practical tips. Some 'travel with kids' books might as well just be bland advertising copy, this one really provides good editorial content, with positive and critical comments. It is a pleasure to read and we will use it for a long time. Fodor's should publish more of these for other parts of the US/world.

I loved this book and would recommend it to any family wanting to travel in the northeastern United States. The writers offer tips and reviews on places of interest, resorts, and campgrounds in a wide range of prices. In fact, we have visited some of those places and found a brand new vacation prospect in Lake George which we will be trying out this summer! Definitely one of the most informative travel books on the market today -- entertaining even if you do not go to these places.

I've been searching for a book like this for several years and haven't found one that fit the bill until now! I had a great time reading it - so well written - and got more useful information than I'll ever be able to use in one lifetime! Thanks so much to the writers and publishers!

Although other reviewers speak of a "Gryphon series" of books, this is actually just one of more than twenty books set in Andre Norton's Witch World. The characters of Kerovan and Joisan were introduced in The Crystal Gryphon and brought back for Gryphon in Glory. Gryphon's Eyrie continues the tale, which is finally resolved in The Warding of Witch World.

Kerovan is partly descended of the Dalesfolk and partly descended of the Old Ones. The Dalesfolk entered the Witch World centuries in the past, settling in the highlands along the coast of the Witch World's "western continent". They found traces of the Old Ones, an ancient and apparently indigenous group of races who had mastered the Power, what we could call "magic".

Kerovan's mother bargained with dark forces to give her a child she thought she could control for her own ends. But he proved to be other than what she expected, and these books have followed Kerovan as he has sought his true place in the world, and the right heritage. With Joisan, who gives Kerovan unconditional love and support while resolving her own conflicts, Kerovan proves to be one of the strongest fantasy characters I've ever seen.

Norton takes strong female characters and makes them appealing for wide audiences. But she succeeds with Kerovan and Joisan as with no other husband-wife team. The first book is the best in the sub-series, and Gryphon in Glory is probably better than this one.

All of Norton's collaborations leave something to be desired when compared to her own original work, but Ann Crispin was always one of the better collaborators. She seems to have a real feel for the Witch World settings and pacings Norton made legendary in the 1960s and 1970s before she started sharing her world with other writers.

I hadn't read much of Andre Norton before I came accross this book, I didn't know about the Dales or the Waste, I got the book because I was in love with Gryphons and wanted any book to do with them. Though this was the third book in the series it was the first I read and the one that inspired me to get the rest of the series. This is the story of Kerovan and Joisan as they search through a new land on the far side of the waste searching for a new home and fighting the demons of their mind and past. Read on as Joisan begins to learn the depths of magic and Kerovan finally comes to terms with his destiny and all that this will bring to him.
Any one who loves Andre Norton must read this book, even out of the series it can stand alone.

The first two books (Crystal Gryphon and Gryphon in Glory) introduce us to Kerovan and his axe-wedded wife, Joisan. They follow this determined pair as they discover Kerovan's true nature and ancestry. Gryphon's Eyrie concludes the story in a deeply satisfying way as it brings kerovan to his true inheritance, Landisl's ancient home. Be prepared for a typically Norton wild ride.