From an anorexic snake to a myopic kangaroo to a bloated akita, from the tricky diagnoses to the hopeless cases, this captivating paperback tells of the perilous situations that have occurred at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine. Is it really right to spend all this time and effort on animals when some people lack food, shelter, and proper medical care? The veterinarians who unveil their heart-warming and emotional stories in this 194-page book, Animal ER, by Vicki Croke (copyright-1999) show us that the world is meant to be shared by animals and humans.
Each chapter of this brilliant book displays and describes a different animal/pet and its unique problem. Biology plays a major part in this book because it's about the science of studying and curing living things. It exposes the drama of life in the emergency ward of a veterinary hospital, which is a biology-related occupation. The first chapter summarizes the atmosphere of the Intensive Care Unit at Tufts; it's sad and yet successful too. The next eleven chapters of Animal ER present various animals and their life-threatening problems. Some require complex surgical procedures, while others are solved by unexpected and simple means. The last chapter returns to the Intensive Care Unit and reveals what the animals teach the veterinarians. The main idea expressed at the closing of the book touched my soul as tears rose to the surface like a newly found spring. Vicki Croke wrote that the animals who are cared for seem to teach simple lessons about life. "Animals continue to surprise me with their patience, their level of tolerance, and their strength," Nishi says, "but most of all, with their ability to forgive" (194).
I would strongly recommend this brilliant book to my friends or those people who are thinking of going into the veterinary field of study. Since I've never had a pet, I cannot relate to the owners of these sick animals; however, I can see this book as a slice of a veterinarian's life. It captures the essence of the Intensive Care Unit during first examinations, x-rays, surgery, and post-operative care. It is clear to see, as they treat animals, that Nishi Dhupa, Dr. Mark Pokras, Dr. John Berg, and other staff members at Tufts have the "healing touch". So even though some people don't have their primary needs met like food, shelter, and clothing, animals have a right to our care and concern.

Animal ER is a marvelous book for anyone who has an interest in animals or the world of Vets. Most of this book showed how these vets work everyday, but it also touches on the emotional side of the proffession. Vets have to decide when to put an animal to sleep and when to give them extra treatment . They also have a responsibility to comfort the owners. Find out more about the world of the vet by reading this fantastic nonfiction.

When my sister lost her beloved Great Dane, I mourned for her too. I'm a cat person, and this big black incredibly sweet baby was the first dog I ever loved. When I visited my sister last year and she showed me this book, explaining that the author had been there in the Tufts Vet ER with her when Azaria was brought in, I was amazed. I continued to be amazed as I saw my sister's very special love for my doggy-niece through the eyes of a total stranger. It would have been very easy to dismiss how painful losing a pet can be, very easy to miss the ties of love between a pet and her owner. My sister loved her dog, quirks and fears and vet bills and all. I loved her too. Thanks, Vicki. Your gentle presentation of their story is the finest tribute Zari could have had.

I read this book on the plane back from London and kept couldn't put it down even as I wove my way through US Customs. I had never heard of Medwed before and just shoved it in my bag before I left. I'm certainly glad I did as it was great fun. I'm now ordering some of her other books and just hope they're as good.

This is a book for anyone who remembers their first love...or perhaps the great unrequited love of their life..and wonders if things could have turned out differently. Even though happily married to our comfortable "Ben", we can't help but recall the more exciting "Simon" in our lives. Having read Medwed's first two books and enjoyed them, I ordered this one, and am so glad I did...it's definitely the best of the three. I simply could not put it down until I discovered how things came out for Lee, the heroine. there is some of Medwed's humor in the book, but its real value is the nostalgia it should evoke in its readers. I'm a senior citizen, and plan to recommend this to my daughter, approaching 40, as well. And I think the Bens and Simons of the world will enjoy it too.

Fans of Mameve Medwed's two other funny and warm novels--Host Family and Mail--definitely will feel thrilled to return to yet another one of her well-written, humorous stories. If you have never read Medwed's novels, you might want to start with The End of An Error, which is about the road not taken--take it and see where main character Lee Emery ends up! Of particular fun in this novel--the exploration of authorship and how it can enrich/ruin/change your life. (If you're interested in this topic, you might want to read two other funny novels that address this subject matter: John Colapinto's About The Author or Christina Schwarz's All is Vanity).

I visited the MOBA at its cinema basement location in Massachusetts, and was enchanted. I am so glad that this book came out to help make the collection visible to a larger audience. Like bad poetry (see "Pegasus Descending" by Waldrop), bad art at its best is unbelievably hilarious. Some bad art is merely bad, but the utter sincerity with which the works in this collection were painted accounts for much laughter. If by some chance you can't tell why the thing is so bad, there are helpful titles and captions by the authors to explain it to you. My favorite is one called "Pals," in which a sad clown with five o'clock shadow is comforted by a monkey that has "Bette Davis Eyes!"

The Museum of Bad Art is a long overdue book, and I was so happy to finally get a copy. This is the one art exhibit I would gladly pay to see in person.

This is incomparable bathroom reading of the highest order. Do not read in public as your laughter will undoubtedly mark you as insane.

After losing my Golden, Cody, after twelve years I have been walking around in a daze. This book helped me sort out my deep feelings of grief and absolute despair. These dogs are spirits in our lives, true soulmates. They are there for us through thick and thin and go far beyond being man's best friend. I could easily associate with Marlin's deep love and deep sense of loss. I wish I could sit with her over a cup of tea and just talk Goldens. A deeply passionate book.

This is a pictorial history of the author's love affair with her Golden Retrievers. The "story" is about 30 pages and the pictures about 50 or so. The story will grab you in your gut and hit you right in the heart of how you feel about your current (or former) Golden Retriever. The story about the cover photo is especially moving. For a non "how-to" book, this one is THE BEST!

My daughter bought me this book for Christmas two years ago. I haven't been able to read more than a few pages before I have to put it away. It is too moving. I know I will return to it after my 13 year old Golden has gone.

I have just acquired a copy of this book from a second-hand bookseller, and am astonished to find that it's out of print and there has apparently never been a paperback edition. I followed the Strangler case as each new murder was reported in the UK press, and it remains the archetypal horror story for me because it proves conclusively that one isn't safe even (above all) at home. I also read Gerold Frank's account of the affair very soon after it was published in the UK and re-read it last year; I have the "confessions of the Boston Strangler" in French translation.I have never been even half-way convinced that DeSalvo was guilty, and I always doubted that only one killer was involved. (The "psychological explanation" cited by Frank as to why the killer suddenly switched from older to younger women struck me as perfectly ludicrous 30 years ago, and many recent books on profiling have merely strengthened this view).

It would be easy enough to write a book which simply challenged the official solution, but that is not what Susan Kelly does. She provides overwhelming evidence not only to demolish it, but also to explain how and why it came about in the first place. This is a book with an index, a bibliography, acknowledgments which help the reader by indicating the author's sources (most acknowledgments seem only to explain who made the coffee and watered the plants while a book was being written) and careful indications of when exact quotations from transcripts are being used. It assumes no previous knowledge of the case or the "cast", and its procedural details are much clearer than Frank's. Also, Susan Kelly is literate, and she has a dry, ironic sense of humour.

I checked the book's listing in Amazon because I wanted to know what other people thought of it. I had hoped that, unbeknown to me, the Boston Strangler affair had been rewritten and DeSalvo belatedly exonerated. Apparently this is not so. I would be interested to know if anyone (apart perhaps from F. Lee Bailey, Esq.) has challenged Kelly's arguments and, if so, on what basis - though I doubt whether that could be done. If it can't, I hope the book will soon be reissued and properly publicised. It would also be interesting to have someone re-open the only murder case in which DeSalvo was certainly involved - his own.

I was barely a teen in the Boston area when The Boston Strangler murders started. Recently DeSalvo's family asked to have the case reopened, no doubt due in part to this book. Their request prompted me to find more info, if any, about this case and I found this book in a library. Could not put it down. Expected the usual fact-packed but dry true crime book. Kelly has not only written a very readable and entertaining book, she has also made her case, namely, that there was more than one "Boston Strangler," and that DeSalvo was not one of them. Who some of the Stranglers might have been makes for a chilling surprise I won't give away here. Also, it provides a fascinating glimpse into the early career of F. Lee Bailey. Wish I could buy this book. It's a keeper.

I read this book several years ago--and I am shocked to see it is no longer available. This is the definitive examination of the case: author Kelly looks at all the evidence, the sensationalism, and DeSalvo himself, with a scholar's objective eye. Her conclusions are disturbing and cannot be ignored. If you want to have a genuine sense of the terror in Boston from those days, this is the book. Some publisher ought to put this book out and give it the attention it so deserves.

I read this book a couple of years ago and have recommended it to a number of people. It is a well written account of a young woman's experiences in a Lowell mill. Not only does it cover the mill aspect but a good part of her life. It gave me a better outlook on what life must have been like for my grandparents who came to work in the mills of Rhode Island. Because of their exposure to the mill atmosphere, they suffered from the ailments associated with that type of work (grandfather died at 34/grandmother had "white lung"). I had no idea until I read this book, just what the working conditions were at the time. A must-read for those people interested in the industrial revolution and its effect on the people who worked in that system. Also provides a reason for the union movement in later years.

This historical novel gives an excellent and moving description of early New England life.. with special reference to some of the largest cotton mills in the U.S. I wish this author would do more. To bad all good things have to end, but the story did. I was fortunate to have found an "uncorrected proof" copy to read.

The author was way ahead of her time with the popularity of Angela's Ashes. Of course this book was written without the humor but the plight of the Irish was far more intense.

Today the book stores are filled with novels not more than 300 pages. This book left me emotionally fatigued. Now I must wait a week before I even try a new one because I cannot forget Zaroulis' writing.

"The Water's Edge" is a historical novel set in the 1600's in England and the fledgling colonies of the New World. For those who enjoy a storyline that follows a family or group of families through their daily life this will be a great read. The book follows three families from England to the American colonies as they seek a better life. Using the vehicle of a historical novel Virginia Parker does a masterful job of showing the complex relationships between the Quakers, the Puritans, the Indians, profit seekers, and those whose primary purpose was religious conversion. The reader comes to understand the difficulties of life in the colonies and many of the problems and triumphs to be had there. Become a part of the families as you live their hopes, their dreams, and their realities. A well-done, recommended book for anyone who enjoys fiction based on historical events.

I have read the "The Water's Edge" written by Virginia Bailey Parker. It is an excellent story blending fiction with obvious historical information. Providing the family trees was a wonderful way to help keep and sort the cast of characters. Katherine, Mary, Abigail, and Ben were my favorite people. The book ended well, but too soon. I hope Virginia will write a sequel so I can find out where their lives took them.

I passed the book along for others to read. I am hearing that they also have become enthralled with the book.

Lovers of historical fiction, particularly stories of early colonial New England, should read The Water's Edge. The author has done a masterful job of blending serious research about the life and times of the era with a story that keeps the reader's attention throughout. One experiences the realities of medical practices of the times, the harsh experience of crossing the Atlantic and features of everyday life such as open hearth cooking. The characters of the three families whose stories are interwoven leave lasting images long after the book is closed.

A Decent book, very interesting read. The style in which the story is told is very engrossing as it is told from the first person. The one drawback to the book is that it is based on one persons recollections and biases. With the exception of the Plymouth mail truck robbery most of these crimes were standard criminal enterprises, hardly crime of the century material. Of the crime he boasts the most of, a Brinks hold up, Cresta ended up going to prison. This is the story of a man who thought he was smarter then he was and in the end, was too smart for his own good.

Very enjoyable. I agree with other reviewers about its
contents. My vote to play Phil Cresta in a movie is
Robert Di Nero. Looking forward to the movie.

I read until I finished (3am), because I couldn't put it down. It is a very well written, interesting, and entertaining story of an lifestyle that is often contrived or overdone by others in the genre. The no-nonsense, unapologetic tone is definitely fitting of the central figure, Phil Cresta. I give my highest recommendation, which doesn't show itself very often. I can't wait for the movie, and you shouldn't either. Get a copy, block some time (I doubt you'll be able to put it down either), and enjoy.

The first two novels in the series are entertaining but this is where we see Parker's potential for the first time. Spenser has become more complex than his predecessors like Spade or Marlowe, as we see here. His moral dilemma is the kind of character crisis i enjoy reading and Parker writes very well. The scene where he lures the bad guys into the woods is unforgettable. Hard to believe I was only a few years old when this book came out. I first read it at 12 or 13 years old.

Spenser's third book is his first foray into the "someone's fixing the game" story. He's put on the case by Healey (from "God Save") and is looking into the Red Sox and trying to figure out if someone's fixing the game. He drinks Miller (argh) and while he talks about "Susan Silverman" he's also seeing "Brenda Loring" (always the full name). Susan's given him a birthday and xmas present so it's been a little while since the last book.

Spenser goes out to Illinois and New York on some tracking, but the rest of the story centers around Boston. He confronts a loan shark and his watchdog, asks Lt. Quirk for help. He tries to help out the trapped instead of doing what he was hired to do, which is fun, to watch his moral code develop and strengthen.

Very strangely, though, Spenser sets up two people to be killed. Remember, Spenser is the guy who a few years later later won't shoot a truly bad guy who is a mortal threat to him - just because the guy is unarmed and on the floor. For him to be deliberately setting up the death of two guys is a little on the edge of his "morality scale". He's like a colt growing into a horse - he's at that slightly awkward stage, but you can see the huge potential just around the corner.

My thoughts - I like the "inside the action" stories, where you learn about something in detail. It's neat hearing about how baseball works at Fenway, and the locations are all right around Boston.

However, it's bizarre that book 2 was so solidly "Susan Silverman" while this one shows Brenda and only mentions Susan in bits until the end. Spenser still drinks heavily as he almost "doubts what he's doing" - he doesn't have the self confidence of later books. He's unsure about confronting the loan shark. He drinks Miller!! He sets up the bad guy so he can kill him. Hmmmmmmm.

This is the second Spenser book I've read, and it's definitely a home run.

Spenser's hired to find out if the Boston Red Sox' leading pitcher is on the take or not, gets involved with a few nice folks and quite a few who aren't as nice. The characters and their interplay with Spenser help make this a superior P. I. story. The pitcher and his wife, the madame of a New York bordello, a flashy pimp, a flamboyant sports announcer and his bubblegum chewing martial arts expert assistant, an on-the-edge mob boss and his hit man, a knowing and not altogether unsympathetic cop, Brenda from the first novel, and Susan from the second each provide good scenes moving the story along.

What lifts this novel above the average Spenser novel and the basic tough detective genre is Spenser's personal code, the set of principles that he lives by, and the struggle he faces when the only way to bring about a satisfactory resolution to the situation is to violate one of those principles.

This is, on one hand, a fast, enjoyable read and also, on the other hand, a satisfying look at what makes the main character tick.

Very highly recommended to casual P. I. readers as well as serious ones.

A different style of book with a unique approach to traveling in Massachusetts. The content is worth 4 or 5 stars. But this book does not allow printing! In the case of a travel ebook, this is unfortunate. Are we expected to take a PC with us on our travels? Until such tight restrictions are lifted, this book's value is limited.

"An interesting and charming book where Tougias writes free and poetic. He recounts his experiences in a concise and welcoming way." The Standard Times

"Different form other travel books in that it's a little bit travel, a little bit history, and a little bit personal diary." Dartmouth Chronicle