A must for all who enjoy fishing from the shorelines of Cape Cod. Loved the format with directions and tips. Well done and great buy for the money.

I have just read Richard Archer's newly published "Fissures in the Rock: New England in the Seventeenth Century." This wonderfully informative and entertaining work details how the people of seventeenth century New England, while often differing from one another when viewed close in, were at the same time, in the larger sense, participants in a common culture.

In this comprehensive and well-researched study, Professor Archer describes relations, often rocky, between the colonists and the native Americans; the spiritual, social, and political role of the colonists' religion; how women and men experienced, individually and together, their family life, along with their life cycles; what it was to trod the moral fringes of that society; how the culture functioned economically; and the several types of New England towns, which I found particularly enlightening.

To illustrate these areas, the author gives us the lives, some darn good stories, of such colorful individuals as George Walton, Herodias Long, Robert Keayne, Ann Hutchinson, and John Cotton, to name a few.

With a satisfying concluding chapter, extensive footnotes, bibliography, and appendixes, this work has something for everyone.

When on a dare last December I read Morison's "The European Discovery of American: The Northern Voyages A.D. 500-1600" I felt another shoe waiting to drop. Well, here is that other shoe. I highly recommend that everyone try it on.

If you have ever doubted the impact that a parent has on their child, you will never do so again after reading this book.

This book is not written about the rich or famous. It is about the ordinary, struggling, storm-tossed life of an anonymous man and his five children. They all deeply loved one another; but, the circumstances of life have conspired to alienate them. Like many of us, they never said as much to each other as they should. They each allowed opportunities to show the depth of their feelings to slip away. Now, the life has been lived. The window of time has closed. So many things have remained undone, unsaid, un-experienced.

This book is a chance to look deep into the lives of several people. To relate to each of them. To resolve to be affected by them, and to strive to do more while you can.

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK WHEN I FIRST GOT MARRIED AND IT WAS RUINED BY WATER DAMAGE. I WAS HEARTBROKEN AND I AM SO GLAD TO FIND IT AGAIN. I AM CONSIDERED A GOOD COOK BY MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND I HAVE NOT COOKED THE SAME SINCE I LOST THIS BOOK. I AM GLAD TO HAVE FOUND IT AGAIN AND WOULD RECOMMEND IT TO ANY NEW OR SEASONED COOK.

"A Flicker at the Edge of Things" first strikes the reader in the disguise of an urbane and devastating critique of what is truly important in literature today. That is to say, it appears to be thoughtfully upsetting the applecart of both modern and postmodern canons in poetry, film, philosophy and criticism. But as I've said, that is only a disguise, for underneath beats a passionate art for fusing the genres of personal essay and classic philosophical inquiry. Nobody in English has ever thought and written this way before (although Schwartz is too decent to admit this). Yes, there have been French writers who have suggested such ambition--Derrida and Kristeva come to mind--but none of them possess the literary skills to mask their ambition in the persona of a truly unobtrusive, unpretentious reader. And then, as if levelling the playing field of contemporary literature were not enough, Schwartz goes on to sublimely recommend and backlight some of the great poets and thinkers of our century who are too often kept in the dark. I wouldn't dare spoil a reader's delight by revealing them ahead of time, but in any case, here is the real jolt, here is what truly beats beneath the svelte garment of Schwartz's prose: The nature of the SOUL is fully revealed in our time. Though Schwartz may modestly veil it in terms like "transcendental lyric," make no mistake: this is raw soul brought up from the deep and placed virtuously on our plates. All those who are hungry may eat.

It is a shame that this book is out of print as it is one of the best books ever published on American civilization. Many people think that New England gave us only Emerson and Thoreau. In point of fact the cultural life of Boston and the environs was much more interesting and dynamic than one would imagine, particularly if one has not read this book. This is a series of vignettes rather than a seamless history. It is a kind of Plutarch's Lives of New England cultural figures.

What I particularly enjoyed about it was not the usual stories of people everyone has heard about, like Emerson, Alcott, Thoreau, but also people like William H. Prescott, whose story is perhaps the most inspiring. Though blind, he was able through the use of sighted readers to write some of the best histories of Spain under the Hapsburgs that have ever been written (anyone who is familiar with the archives in Madrid and their chaotic nature will want to make Prescott a particular hero). The section on Hawthorne is also very fine due to what Brooks has to say about Boston vs Salem. They are very different places as anyone who has ever been there can testify.
I hope this book comes back into print. It should be readily available to the ordinary reader.

This beautifully written book often matches the eloquence of its 19th century New England subjects - Hawthorne, Emerson, Parker, Thoreau, etc. You read this book and quickly grasp the genesis of contemporary ideas (whether you agree with them or not). It will also make you yearn for a simpler, more genteel time. I would recommend anything by this author.

This captivating, informative and fresh volume betrays an excellent working knowledge of the subject. From a lifelong Maine resident who published a tourist guide for about ten years (nearly three decades ago), please accept my sincere thanks. Such an evening of "pure joy" this account of Fly Rod (and those newly-revealed photographs) brought to me! Even 8 months after reading it, I remember with pleasure this account from "old Maine." The volume is still displayed, so guests also can "enjoy the read!"

I always travel with Fodors. They have a very easy setup. They have listings for nightlife, hotels, recreation and shopping. Restaurants and hotels are divided up according to price and reviewed. Maps are given of popular tourist areas. It's great for planning ahead.

I'm ordering a replacement copy of Fodors Exploring Boston & New England (97 version). It did such a good good of supplementing our tour guide's very good materials, that she was going to get her own. She was nice, so we gave her ours. Wonderful blending of short synoptic items, great selection of points of interest, and excellent photographs with additional two-page extended essays on pertinent subjects ranging from early Americana to Native American gambling institutions. Very attractive and lively layout, good indexing, and very informative. The text is not burdened down with lots of places to stay, eat, or pay for entertainment. But suggestions abound in separate compact sections at the back of the book. Good maps. Very convenient size. A great book to point you in the right direction, then to bring back the memories. Both my wife and I give it a 10: which means it does an excellent job of satisfying both right- and left-brain appetites for information on this marvelously rich region.