Where was this book when I was planning my trip to Oahu?? I actually ran across it upon my return and immediately ordered it to plan my next trip.

This is one of the most concise and easiest guidebooks I have ever seen! It actually doubles as a great coffee table book loaded with gorgeous pictures and information on every area on the island.

The book literally takes you on a tour around Oahu, dividing the island's shores beginning with the South Shore. Filled with graphic organizers of parks in that particular shore to weather-it is handy to glance for quick info. A detailed description of sites accompany pictures and info on traveling. There is just so much info jammed in the pages, it is hard to list all of it but it is organized neatly! The maps are right on the money!

In researching travel books about the island of Oahu for an upcoming vacation, I found this publication to be outstanding. I checked out several titles from the public libraries, tried to plan a one week itinerary, and found myself confused and unsure of what we would be doing until I picked up Driving & Discovering Oahu by Richard Sullivan. It was just what I needed! He divides the island into manageable sections, includes pertinent maps, bus info, and sightseeing musts, all amidst breathtaking photographs. This is a real gem!

Debbie Somchay somchada@email.rosary.edu

I found this book by accident on the internet while researching places to go and see while planning our Hawaii vacation. I ordered it and used it during our vacation. This is a great book with fantastic ideas of interesting and beautiful places to see and things to do. It also has detailed maps and beautiful pictures. We really enjoyed our vacation on Oahu and this book definitely was very helpful. We are planning another visit in a couple of years and I have already ordered the Maui book to help me plan. Planning is really important because their are so many things to do and if you have the information to make your personal choices ahead of time--you will get the most enjoyment of your visit to the islands. Aloha!

Faith Sullivan has the ability to write about her characters in such a way that everything they feel is transferred to you, the reader. I'm not one to show a lot of emotion while reading a book, but this one had me both laughing and on the brink of tears.

The story is told from eyes of 6-year old Lark, who lives in a train depot with her strong mother and semi-abusive, gambling addict father, during the depression. The book has several storylines, with the main one being between Lark and her mother who long for a house of their own, the Cape Ann model in particular. Her father's continual gambling debts threaten to sabotage their plans until her mother starts a typing service from their home in the depot.

Lark has to deal with learning catechism for her first confession and communion, her bed-ridden, pregnant Aunt Betty, befriending a WWI hero who has lost his sanity because of the war, and her two best friends, Beverly, who lives in poverty, and Sally, whose mother suffers from depression.

This novel is a humorous, poignant look at a child's world where everything is changing quickly beyond her control and causing her to call on reserves of strength that only growing up can bring.

The Cape Ann is the story of a mid-west, depression era family's life, told through the eyes of their daughter, Lark Erhardt. As the book opens, Lark is only six years old and already starting to understand how complicated life can be for the people around her. Faith Sullivan draws you into the daily lives of the citizens of Harvester, Minnesota so completely, that you become part of the novel, observing life's happiness and sorrows and the power struggle between Lark's parents. This book is beautifully written and the characters are so well drawn and developed, they come alive on the page. A wonderful, poignant, touching story of a loss of innocence, that will stay with you for a long, long time.

This is a beautiful, haunting book. Lark is a child who grows up with all the questions and interests that most children have in adults. Why is my mother this way? My father - what does he mean? Just trying to figure out life is much too difficult and this book will make you remember your own childhood and smile. Lark realizes she is never told everything and she and her two best friends are enchanting and real enough to make you laugh and cry at once! Pretty little Sally with the "strange" mother, poor sassy Beverly who grows up fast and learns the ways of the world from her struggling single mom.

Lark's mother is a woman "ahead of her time" and it causes her no end of trouble, but she thrives on life and living it to the fullest!

You must meet these characters. You will never forget them.

The second book (in what I hope is an ongoing series) is THE EMPRESS OF ONE. It particularly carries on with Sally and Beverly and not enough of Lark. At the end, we catch up with Lark, but the book ends leaving us waiting eagerly for the next installment! Not enough stars for this one. Please, Ms. Sullivan ENCORE!

Despite the unusual setting and overall decent plot, I cannot recommend this first book in the Clan War series. I haven't read any of the others, and based on my experience with this book, I probably won't.

I'll start with the good, though. The setting, Rokugan, a parallel-world medieval Japan, is fairly vivid. Knowing very little of medieval Japanese culture myself, I have to trust that it was a close enough approximation for the purpose of the story. Also, the plot is pretty decent, though very, very straightforward. I especially enjoyed the last few pages, after the battle.

Unfortunately, I cannot say I enjoyed the writing. The characters were quite wooden, and the conflicts forced. The Lion (Toturi?) character was fairly entertaining to read, but the Scorpion king (ha), sort of a nobler Richard III, was not. I think the author let the setting run away with the novel a bit too much, and didn't rely enough on his own ingenuity.

I was on the search for some Japanese style fantasy books and came across L5R. I did some research and found it was based on the RPG of the same name. I was hesitant because so many series based on games are rather dull and not the good. Many seem to just sport quantity over quality to make a few extra bucks, but I was still interested. I bought the first in a series of 7 books "The Scorpion". I was very pleased with it.

While this is still a series of books based on an RPG and the quality is apparent, It strives above many of the other series, based on games, that I've read.

I thought the writing was smooth and coherent, and had enough interesting events to keep me reading to the end. One of my favorite aspects of this book was the world. A pseudo ancient Japanese land with samurai, ninja, dragons, and magic, It was very fun to read and made me feel almost as if I was watching a good Kung Fu movie.

I think people who like reading fantasy books based on games or those who enjoy those classic Kung Fu movies and/or anime will like these books. While it might not be a work of genius destined for the history books, it was fun to read.

As a fan of Shogun, King Rat and the other Clavel Novels - I was excited to learn that a fantasy novel had been written using the Asian Culture. When I picked up the book, I knew zero about the card game "Lord of the Five Rings" which the book is based upon.

The story provides the readers with a great historical background for the card game. I learned this after I read the book and began to speak with the people at my local hobby store.

The story is fast paste and provides surprises at every corner. Written in a great style the one annoying thing for some people may be the use "Japanese" words in the middle of a sentence - with no glossary provided. Granted many people know the words that were used - but there are those out there who would like a glossary to provide a definition.

I loved this book and loved the story line - I cannot wait until the other two books in this series are completed.

Many people accuse the Fitzgerald translation of deviating too much from the Persian original. Personally, I don't like to see poetry translated from one language to another in verse either, because I will always feel that something has been missed.

However, if it is not translated in verse, then it is no longer has the quality of the original poetry. So what shall we do here?

I think that Fitzgerald has done an excellent job in translating Khayyum. It is said that good poetry has a balance of two things - beautiful language and meaning. Ftizgerald has achieved this.

If you are looking for a more "literal" translation, to get exactly what Khayyum said and thought, then you are better to look to a word for word, unrhyming translation, that has taken care to keep the authentic quatrains only - not all the ones ascribed to him. The "Persian Heritage Series" has produced a good translation like this.

Also beware of "commentaries" telling you that Omar Khayyum was a sufi, mystic, or whatever... and that his verses have special meanings outside of the literal interpretation. It is true that poets in Persia used such imagery as "may" (wine), "maykhana" (tavern), "saqi" (cup-bearer), "yar-e nazanin" (lovely maiden) etc. etc. to bring across meanings of God, and heaven, though this doesn't mean that these things are always implied.

One of the qualities of poetry is that it is ambiguous. It must be recognised that people like Omar Khayyum and Hafez were living in times of religious persecution. If you said something against the established sect, then you could be accused of "kufr" (blasphemy) and punished accordingly. Khayyum himself was accused of kufr, as was Hafez in his time through a line of poetry he had written. Hafez protected himself through the ingenious adding of another line of poetry, clearing his name. Khayyum protected himself because he was a guest at the royal court.

:)

This beautifully illustrated edition of Omar Khayyam's classic poem is a gem. The illustrations complement the lyrical imagery of the poem. Two editions of Fitzgerald's translation are included, with the second including additional quatrains, and representing a mature and slightly darker reading of the poem. The introduction contains a lot of interesting information, but don't be misled. Far from being a work of skepticism, this beautiful poem reflects deep-thinking belief.

One should be wary when purchasing or reading a copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. The various translations are VERY different. They are based on different original manuscripts, which do not contain exactly the same material. The FitzGerald translation is much more of an interpretation of Khayyam than a translation, although it is a wonderful piece of work in and of itself, it is victorian baroque romanticism not Sufism. From my own personal experience (I've read much of three of the translations, the ones by FitzGerald in the 1850s, by a professor from Cambridge made in the mid 1900s, and by Robert Graves in the 1960s) I would suggest that you go with the most modern translation (which is no longer the translation by Graves). The Graves translation definately is a work of both deep philosophical ideas and of beautiful poetry.

SAM KNIGHT, CALGARY HERALD Calgary Herald; BOOKS; Pg. K11 November 21, 1998, Saturday, FINAL EDITION Blood Trail is a well-worked thriller on a simple literary level, but it is rendered much more powerful by the basis of truth on which it is constructed. It is a fictional, but theoretically possible, story about the tainted blood scandal that has infected more than 30,000 Canadians with either hepatitis C or AIDS through blood transfusions. The plot concerns a father whose son gets AIDS as a result of a transfusion he needed after being injured in a hunting accident. Zak then unwittingly passes the virus to his wife. His father, David Farr, is driven to trace the blood and discovers a conspiracy leading through the Arkansas prison system to its former governor and present president of the United States. No prizes for guessing who. "I honestly believe that records exist with Bill Clinton's name on them," said the author in a Herald interview. "He must have been fully knowledgeable." Recently "Michael Sullivan" revealed his true identity -- Michael Galster to give his cause more credence. He had used the pseudonym fearing for the lives of his wife, five children and himself. Galster has worked since the late '70s as a prosthetist in Arkansas and has had contracts with the state penitentiary, where he first suspected blood was being taken from prisoners and sold throughout North America. In 1978-79, inmates with jaundice came to his prosthetic clinic with bandages on their arms. He was shocked to find they had given blood, despite having infected livers. In his ignorance Galster assumed there must be a means of cleaning the blood before it reached the market. "The second red flag came when prisoners came to me asking for percodan, a narcotic," explained Galster. This was the currency with which prisoners were paid for their blood. The appalled Galster recalled the case of Danny Sanders, an inmate who, in his craving for the drug, injected himself in the knee with saliva which brings on a potentially fatal infection. Sanders ended up having his leg amputated at the hip and his family brought a legal suit against the penitentiary. Galster charted the existence of the health contractor, HMA, which conducted the blood operation. According to his research, it employed doctors who had been struck off the list for various misdemeanours. HMA was closed down after an inquiry in 1981, but Galster claims its plasma-collection unit continued to work right up until Clinton moved to the White House in 1991. Of course, records are scarce. Clinton has taken all his personal papers to the White House and the commission that first fingered the HMA lost all its records in a fire in 1990. Even if the facts still have to be investigated fully, Blood Trail is well worth reading purely as a thriller. The story is fast paced, the characters well defined and the action, often drawn from Galster's own experiences is explosive. Add all this to the medical scandal, which no feeling human being can ignore, and the result is compulsive reading.

While I am not normally a big fan of fiction, the fact that this novel is based on a political scandal that is still largly buried in the US media intrigued me (for the truth about "Blood Trail, search Canadian media web sites or worldnetdaily) As a political/medical thriller, it is above par. The writting is a bit pedestrian and the characters, with the exception of the lead character David Farr, lack depth. However the book takes you on a wild roller coaster ride filled with suprising plot twists and excitment.David Farr is out to get those who, by knowingly let tainted blood be shipped for medical use, infected his son with the aids virus. Along the way he must breakthrough a vast cover up while trying to outwit the pursuing "dixie mafia" intent on keeping the story buried by any means nessacary. The fact that this novel is loosely (very loosely) based on actual events makes it all the more frighting. Still more frighting are the attacks, threats and harrasment the author recieved after this book was published, even though it was written with a pseudonym.Definitly worth reading.

Reading BLOOD TRAIL I, as one who would believe the worst of Bill and Hillary Clinton, was fascinated with the fictional story being told. All of the bad things I believe the Clintons are capable of were laid out in fictional detail. I don't want to ruin the read for anyone...but the last couple of pages were an "afterword" by the author (who, by the way, used a pen name to write this book)that revealed that the premise of the book was set in truth. Even supporters of the Clintons have to think about their support of them after reading this book and its disclosures that are being kept quiet by this country's media.

This fun romantic fable is set in New York City where Cornelia Lord is a debutante with a quirky determination to right an old wrong done by her family. Kevin Doyle is the doorman of her building, but also an aspiring artist. Then there is the bad guy, Tucker Fisk, plotting to cheat the Lord family out of their fortune by marrying Cornelia.

The craftsmanship of the author is apparent. There's not a wasted word as the story flows smoothly along, capturing the reader's complete attention. I, myself, got so involved in reading it that I once went right by my stop on the subway and didn't even notice till I was way uptown. The characterizations are wonderful, even for the secondary ones. I especially loved Kevin's sister, Marne, a tomboy firefighter; Roni,a woman who drives a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park; and Cornelia's father, Chester Lord, the personification of a poor rich man.

The author's crisp clear style of writing sparkles with the electricity which is a running theme throughout the book. Cornelia is obsessed with an obscure inventor who supposedly created electricity; Kevin does neon sculpture; there's a mental hospital surrounded by electric wires where electro-shock treatment is given. And then there is Cornelia's unique ability to see electric aura's around people. Along the way, I also learned something about neon sculpture. There's humor in the book too and I found myself smiling outright at times. It's always quite visual and I kept picturing what fun it would be as a movie, especially the last madcap scene. Recommended.

I have seeen this book reviewed several times, and didn't know exactly what to expect. The story is different, not a traditional romance, or a story that seems to easily fit into any one genre.

Many media reviewers called it a Cinderella story in reverse, in which a poor doorman falls for a wealthy debutante, but it is really more of a Rapunzel fairytale set in modern day Manhattan -- and a very rich fairytale with some interesting bends on the usual good and bad elements.

A 20-year-old debutante, beautiful but dysfunctional, a child of wealth and privilege, behaves so erratically that her insecure father and her too-slick-to-be-good fiance keep her like the princess Rapunzel, locked up on the 21st floor of an apartment building for seriously rich residents overlooking Central Park, held captive by a psychiatrist and a bodyguard so she won't run away and hurt herself.

Cornelia is not crazy at all. Of all her moneyed friends, she is the most sane. She is obsessed with an inventor (a real person, I checked) named Nikola Tesla, who discovered modern electricity even though Thomas Edision got the credit and financial gain. Because of a secret I will not reveal, Cornelia believes it is her duty and destiny to make things right with Nikola Tesla, who wanted to broadcast free electricity to the whole world but was shut down by the robber barons at the turn of the 20th century who had all invested in Edison. Now, 100 years later, Cornelia has devoted her life to this cause for both personal and altruistic reasons.

The only person who can see what a wonderful girl Cornelia is beneath the flaky behavior is the new doorman at her building Kevin Doyle, who is somewhat eccentric himself. He is a neon artist who has sculpted a perfect St Sebastian complete with neon arrows, but the art world is hardly ready for this. He is forced to take the doorman job, like his father and uncle before him. He resents the rich and is not impressed with what he hears of Cornelia Lord, who seems to be the girl who will always have everything, just wasting her advantages.

But when he finally meets Cornelia, he is fascinated with her, and sparks fly when he saves her from a very funny collision between a Central Park horse-drawn carraige and her father's limo.

It is difficult to describe the layers of this book, except to say that it is well-written, extremely witty, and had me going from the first chapter when Kevin starts the new job he hates and builds throughout to the most inventive story and dynamite ending I think I've seen in years.

"Don't try to classify it, just enjoy it," I saw in one review and that's the best advice I can give. I stayed up until 2 AM to finish, because you really, truly get to care about this quirky couple, and even the dithering, drinking father and driven fiance who is the boyfriend we love to hate.

The book is not for everybody--if you're looking for a genre, mainstream romance you may be disappointed because this ain't Danielle Steele! But if you're up for a wild ride with something funny or intriguing in every paragraph, it will go on your keeper shelf. I can't imagine what the author will do next, because I can't immediately think of a book to compare it to. It's a little bit Arthur, a little bit The Graduate, and I suppose a "cult" book in the same way that the YaYa Sisterhood was a cult book--but it's not like that either. I give up. Just see for yourself.

Crazy for Cornelia is a trip, but in a good way. You just have to suspend your ideas about what a love story is, because this one keeps throwing you curves.

The dust jacket makes it sound like a romance about the rich, which it isn't. It's more a wildly imaginative variation on the old Cinderella fairy tale which becomes a magical experience once you get into it and go with the flow.

It's about social class, and the need to trust, and hypocricy in art,medicine, business, and a pretty clever satire of American culture today.

It starts from the point of view of a frustrated artist named Kevin Doyle who has found an art school on the back of a matchbook and, instead of making beer signs, has sculpted a neon saint. But Kevin's mother has died, and he goes to work in the kind of building you see in movies of New York City, with a staff of doormen and apartments full of musty old antiques and residents.

The resident who isn't stuffy is Cornelia Lord, who acts so crazy she has her own papparazzo following her around taking photos to put in his tabloid column and make her look like a spoiled rich girl. He doesn't need to convince her father Chester and slimy fiance Tucker, who both want to get her in the hands of psychiatrists.

Kevin the doorman rescues Cornelia from her at least half-well meaning family in a plan so audacious, I won't reveal it beacause it's LOL funny and unexpected.

This book is addictive. You start to identify with the seriously

misunderstood rich girl and the heroic artistic-doorman as they explore an electrical connection between them that has to do with the man who...never mind. I'd be doing you a disservice to give away more.

Cornelia is the daffiest yet most root-worthy heroine I've seen in a while;her vulnerability conceals a toughness and resolve to fight an injustice thatshe feels partialy responsible for, and the fairy tale format of the book is a veneer which the author cracks with new spins on old cliches at every opportunity.

The ending will convince you that love really does conquer all. And, by the way, the author is a man, another surprise. Have fun with this one.

This is my 7th novel that I have read by this author and I am never dissappointed. Every book that I read by this very diversified author is never the same as the last one. From horror to sci-fi and beyond, this author delivers! STINGER reads like a fast-paced horror/sci-fi that would make an awesome movie. The small town of Inferno,Texas is the crash sight of a most unusual alien life-form that takes over a little girl. This good alien is soon followed by the bad alien bounty hunter that is so colorful and scary that I dont want to ruin the surprise. As usual, the author introduces many interesting characters that band together to fight the bad alien and its collective minions. Two rival gangs of teenagers were my favorite characters because the author shows the reader that the prejudice's between mexicans,Indians, and whites are all a waste of ill-feelings, that in the end, we must all band together and endure. A must read!!

Robert R. McCammon (retired so I've heard) falls somewhere between Stephen King and Dean Koontz. Too often his books are overlooked, but McCammon has a powerful story-telling style and can produce and action scene like nobody's business.

STINGER is one of McCammon's finer works. It tells the story of a small desert town where two aliens have landed. One a peaceful energy being...the other a deadly bounty-hunter. The town characters are introduced...the town is sealed off from the world by an energy field...AND THE STINGER IS TURNED LOOSE!

Where it might not keep you shaking in fear, this book will deliver so much action that the last 200 pages fly by with kinetic force that few authors can achieve.

So where do we stand? McCammon is not as frightening as King. He's more logical and fast-paced than Koontz. And he should not be overlooked for the fine novels he's turned out.

I also recommend Robert R. McCammon's - BLUE WORLD, THEY THIRST, SWAN SONG, and BOY'S LIFE!

Robert McCammon is a pretty good author, I like him better than Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, or Whitley Strieber, but less than James Herbert, Lovecraft, or Kim Newman. "Stinger" is probably his best works, take my word on this and ignore all of those "Swan Song" sycophants. "Swan Song" is ridiculous trash compared to this; Usher's Passing is no match for the unique powers of this tale either. Certainly the ludicrous pulp garbage of "Bethany's Sin" or the egregiously bad "Wolf's Hour," hardly even resemble the author who wrote such a great novel as "Stinger." If you are going to check out McCammon, check out "Usher's Passing," and "They Thirst," but most of all, check out "Stinger." It reminds me a little bit of two low-budget movies I saw-- "Tremors" and this other movie about little balls that shoot spikes and the alien hunters. This book does not have alien balls that shook spikes, but rather the poignant story of a dead end town torn apart by gangs would be gripping enough, but then they throw in two alien life forms, one unbelievably malevolent, the other, scared and in possession of a little girl's body. Check this book out, it is great, ignore the corny cover!

This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History is both a comprehensive history of the 1950-1953 Korean War, and also a window into contemporary events on the Korean peninsula. It is also an historical document itself, for Cold War and U.S. Army historians alike. First published in 1963, before the end of the Vietnam War and the end of military conscription, it points out why the United States is best served by a professional army.

The narrative begins on Sunday, June 25, 1950, but then deftly returns to the preceding 50 years of the Japanese colonial period. Fehrenbach treats the war in two phases: maneuver phase (June 1950-1951); and stalemate (1951-1953). Really two wars, the conflict settled into an agonizing contest of diplomatic wills, where small units scrapped for pieces of mountainous terrain while negotiators quibbled over the POW issue. Fehrenbach highlights the stories of non-commissioned officers and field officers during key battles to illustrate the changing fortunes of the war. The author's command of military history makes the battle narrations particularly poignant. But Fehrenbach also recounts the stories of United Nations prisoners in North Korea and the United Nations POW camp on Geoje Island.

Fehrenbach consistently argues and illustrates, that American troops were generally unprepared both psychologically and physically to fight against the North Koreans and Chinese. He also argues, that this lack of preparedness resulted in the deaths not only of soldiers in the field but prisoners in the camps. He also criticizes the Doolittle Commission, which recommended changes in the leadership structure following the Second World War, and budget cutbacks for serious inadequacies in training and equipment.

This Kind of War, marketed as a 50th anniversary edition, is riddled with typographical and grammatical errors, which distract from the flow of the text. Fehrenbach's argument is also burdened with anti-communist diatribes, which punctuate his valid discussions of leadership and training inadequacies, but distract from the story flow. Although some discussion of the political squabbles between liberal containment hawks and anti-communists is warranted, Fehrenbach descends into jingoism with single sentence slogans.

This Kind of War is an indispensable introduction to the Korean War, which balances all aspects of the war. It also is a political document, which is still used by contemporary officers to punctuate the need for preparedness in the ranks. It also contains easy-to-read maps, a concise chronology of the war, and a catalog of equipment each side used. It also is insightful as a guide to the diplomatic history of the DPRK-US relationship, still currently being played out.

This book was republished in the late-1990s, and I suspect it was tidied up a bit to reflect modern society. The book I read was the original 1963 edition that I unearthed in an ancient library in the middle of Mexico. By "tidied up a bit," I mean that I imagine the references to the Chinese "hordes" of "little, coffee-colored" men have been deleted or altered to reflect the dainty political correctness loose across the land.

But, maybe not.

I was almost 6 years old when the Korean "Conflict" broke out. I wasn't paying much attention. Like most Americans, I grew up knowing little of the event because it has mostly been erased from the American consciousness. There are little, or no, reunions of Korean vets or POWs. It, like Vietnam, was a miserable mess, and the United States didn't win. However, unlike Vietnam, which the North Vietnamese won, nobody won in Korea. It was just a bloody disaster, bloodier than most people know. Over 2 million people died, 40,000 of them U.S. servicemen.

Our author, a thoroughly military T.R. Fehrenbach, does a complete job of writing history. Sometimes the details, however, are a bit much. Take this paragraph, for instance:

"When R/B (roadblock) is open, follow this priority for movement south: (1) 38th Inf (2) 2nd Recon Co, Div HQ, MP Co, 2nd Signal Co (3) Divarty (divisional Artillery) (4) 2nd Engr Bn (5) Rearguard - 23rd RCT (23red Inf, 15 FA Bn, 72d Tank Bn - Co C, Batery B of 82d AAA."

OK, thankfully, that type of paragraph is rare, at least in length. But there is a lot of military jargon in this book. Great for soldiers and staunch military buffs, I guess, but it's a little much for your average reader.

Of note also is Fehrenbach's hairy-handed chest-thumping. He's a real man's man, and if you didn't know it, he tells you, over and over. But, it's military history, so what do you want? Jane Fonda? Pee-Wee Herman?

The war went something like this: The North Korean hordes came crashing down into South Korea in June 1950. They and their tanks pushed the totally surprised and unprepared Americans and South Koreans into a southeastern niche of South Korea called the Pusan Perimeter. Fehrenbach attributes this in large part to the lackluster U.S. armed forces at the time, full of guys who didn't know what they were doing or why they were there. Military training after World War II became soft and sissy. Just ask Fehrenbach. He'll tell you.

After some heavy-duty attitude changing and reinforcing, the U.S., augmented by other United Nations troops, pushed the North Koreans back into North Korea and then on up to the Yalu River, the border of Manchuria. At that point, the Chinese, those little, coffee-colored Commies, got involved. They pushed the U.S./U.N. forces back down to near the 38th Parallel, about to where the original border between North and South Korea had been before the war.

At this point, about midway through the three-year war, everybody dug in. It became a war quite similar to the trench warfare of World War I. Peace talks began. And they dragged on...and on...and on...while people continued to die in droves along the front. There were artillery barrages and countless see-saw attacks on hills with names like Bloody Ridge, Pork Chop and Heartbreak. All for naught.

This is a good, solid history. It apparently is considered the definitive book on the Korean War. It was a sad, tragic war that ended without a formal peace. It ended just about where it began, except for all those corpses, parching in the sunshine. Fehrenbach hits all the bases: The Inch'on landings. Truman's sacking of the headstrong Gen. MacArthur. The conflicts of world opinion. The troubles with POWs, both North and South. The tough Turk troops with the long bayonets. Eisenhower's election in 1952. The list goes on.

I have a few more complaints. There are lots of photos, but the photo captions don't tell you who is who, which is ridiculous. There will be a photo of a bunch of guys talking. The caption will say something like: Gen. Walker confers with Col. Smith. It leaves you wondering. Which one is Walker? Which is Smith?

And Fehrenbach really can preach. A little less preaching would have been nice. He's always telling us how things should have been done, according to the Gospel of Fehrenbach. Maybe the book would have been shorter than the 700-plus pages in my edition if he had just put a lid on it.

But, I quibble. Good history, and I recommend it to you. As much as you will ever need to know about this terrible Forgotten War.

This is one of the best books about war ever written. It's not history, exactly, since the author is too personally involved and lacked the historian's perspective when he wrote it. And some parts of the war are completely omitted or glossed over. But Fehrenbach's description of the first year of the war, and his analysis of how the United States got itself into the bind of Korea, are superb.

Fehrenbach's writing is hard nosed and his opinions-forcibly stated-are probably politically incorrect by today's lights. He pulls no punches in his descriptions of America's unpreparedness, why it was allowed to happen, who was responsible, and its bloody, very nearly disastrous consequences. He is equally frank in his descriptions of the sacrifices and heroism that narrowly averted catastrophe.

Fehrenbach writes in an old-fashioned style. I have heard others complain that his style makes the book difficult. I did not find it so, but admit it is not always easy to read. At his best, Fehrenbach's prose is sublime, approaching the grace of well crafted poetry. That is not necessarily a good trait in a "history", but it makes the writing at times haunting, lyrical, and unforgettable. The essential truths he tells will stay with the reader long after the details have gone.

The book The Miracle Worker by William Gibson is written exceptionally. It is about Helen Keller (def/blind child) and how she is taught how to communicate.
Her teacher was a woman named Annie Sullivan. The story is told from Annie's view in the first person. Throughout the book Annie tries different methods of teaching Helen how to communicate. Finally, one method of hers works. At this point Helen understands that objects have names. By memorizing the hand motions (sign language) previously Helen knows the names for everything.
Because Helen can't talk, hear or see William Gibson describes everything she does in great detail. This gives the reader many visuals in their mind while they are reading. You can almost see Helen feeling things and you can also get a picture in your mind of what she looks like. At the beginning of the book, we don't really know what to think of Helen and Annie because of some of their actions. Helen as anyone could imagine is not well behaved and is a mess. Annie is very strict with Helen and other than getting very upset when Helen disobeys her she is a pretty quiet person. However, as the book goes on we learn to love both of these characters because we understand where they are coming from.
I would strongly recommend reading this book to gain a greater appreciation for the lives of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

Based on a true story, The Miracle Worker is a poignant drama exposing the childhood struggles and feats of Helen Keller. Keller's life story is widely regarded as one of the most inspirational triumphs of the human spirit in American history. This modern drama is a near perfect rendition of Keller's early years on a homestead farm in Tuscumbia, Alabama.

As the play begins, Kate Keller discovers that her child, Helen, cannot hear nor see her. A period of time elapses, and the family is trying to decide what they should do for Helen. After a bit of reluctance, Captain Keller consents to writing to Dr. Chisholm, an oculist who might be able to help her. It turns out that the oculist cannot help Helen, but he does contact Alexander Graham Bell, who in turn refers the Kellers to the Perkins Institute for the Blind. The Institute sends to the Kellers Annie Sullivan, a teacher who will attempt to communicate with Helen. Annie's first day with Helen is rough, as Helen ends up locking Annie in her room and throwing away the key. Eventually, Annie is able to finger-spell into Helen's hand, but Helen doesn't quite understand what the words mean. When Annie tries to discipline Helen, Helen gets mad and won't let Annie touch her. This prompts Annie to ask for two weeks alone with Helen in the Kellers' garden house. Once again, after great reluctance, Captain Keller assents. The two weeks pass and Helen still hasn't learned what words mean. Annie asks for more time alone with Helen, but the Kellers refuse and insist on bringing her back into the house. The reader is left wondering what will happen and reads on, awestruck, as Helen begins to make tremendous progress.

Besides educating the public about an important cultural icon, The Miracle Worker also promotes handicap awareness. I believe that this play can be used as a tool to teach children about accepting people with disabilities. As a disabled person myself, I testify to Keller's strength and every time I think of Keller, I am continually reminded at what I have accomplished in life despite tremendous difficulty. I'm sure that anyone who has ever been faced with an unusually tough set of circumstances will cherish this story, regardless of age, sex, or interests. As I said before, it's all about the human spirit -- if Keller's story doesn't inspire you to accomplish more in life, I doubt that anything will.

I read Miracle Worker in class with my classmates and teacher. I find Miracle Worker a very touching story, about Helen Keller and Annie Sulliven. Some of the other characters are: Captain Keller, his wife Katie and his son, Helen's half brother, James. In the beggining of the book, Helen is a wild animal, but we see how this all changes, with Annie's help. By looking at Helen's actions throughout the book, we see what a great mind Helen has, and if she knew how to speak she would have tons to say. It is a very good book

This is Verne's classic story of the trip of Phileas Fogg (who is obsessed with time), Passeportout, Aouda, and Detective Fix around the world on a wager. The book is filled with beautiful time and space imagery throughout (I would bet that one could write an entire thesis on all the time and space references in the novel). Thirty-three years after its publication, the world first learns of the space/time continuum (although I'm certain Verne was not anticipating Einstein). Fogg bets his fellow club members that he can circumnavigate the globe in a mere eighty days. He leaves immediately with his valet Passeportout and is pursued by Detective Fix, who thinks he is a bank robber. Through many adventures, including the rescue of Aouda from immolation, they all return to London. Interestingly, a few years later, after a number of improvements had been made in railways and roads, a U.S. journalist named Nellie Bly (the pseudonym of Elizabeth Cochrane) decided to attempt to break Fogg's "record." Leaving New York on November 14, 1889, she was able to circumnavigate the globe in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes, and 14 seconds. But, she didn't rescue a Hindu princess! It should be noted, however, that one has to be very careful concerning the translations of this novel. There are some terrible ones being sold. Perhaps that's the reason for the few poor comments by earlier reviewers. There is an excellent translation by William Butcher that appeared in 1995.

Before there was any kind of high-speed travel an English gentleman named Phileas Fogg betted 20,000 pounds that he can travel around the world in 80 or less days. He starts his journey in London. On his way he meets a beautiful Indian Princess. Fogg also gets mistaken for a criminal. During his whole journey he has a detective following him trying to arrest him when the warrant arrives. In the book you follow Fogg's adventures through four continents when he is racing against time. The book is fast-paced, action-packed adventure with both romance and danger.

The characters in the story were introduced very well, especially Phileas Fogg. In the beginning of the book you get to know that Fogg is a very private gentleman. He never goes to any social places except the Reform Club. A remarkable thing about Fogg is that his life is centered around the clock. He is very precise and always on time. Every day he follows the exact same schedule. Phileas Fogg does not have a wife or any kids.

The setting of the book was very jumpy. Since Fogg travels through many continents and countries the setting changes all the time. You still feel you know a little bit about every place that he comes to, even if he only stays there for a couple of hours.

When I started reading the book I thought it would be a really good book and it really did meet my standards. I would recommend it to any one who likes adventure and action. Since it is written in so many different versions a person almost any age can read it.

I think this book is a superior book because it is full of action. This book is about a man named Mr. Phileas Fogg, and his faithful servant, Passepartout, that wager a bet that They can travel the whole world in eighty days stopping at Suez via Mont Cenis and Brindisi, then to Bombay, then Calcutta, Hong Kong, Japan (Yokohama), San Francisco, New York, back to London, all within eighty days, and by steamboats, and trains. However, a nosy detective, Detective Fix, tracks them down, and tries to arrest Mr. Fogg because he believes that Fogg stole fifty-five thousand pounds. As one may guess, this greatly detains Mr. Fogg, and it seems like he may not make the trip around the world after all. However, the Fix never seems to catch up with Fogg, and Fogg triumphs over most of the obstacles that come his way, like missing boats, missing trains, missing people, and Fogg even meets and rescues a beautiful Indian Princess called Aouda. However, Fix finally catches up to the detective, and everything seems lost for Fogg until Fix discovers that Fogg was not the robber, and Fogg is released. Even so, Fogg is one day late, and in doing so, misses the train that would have taken him to London precisely to win the bet. He ordered a special train, but even in doing so, still misses the bet...or so he thinks. The ending of the book is a very unexpected one. Read this book and find out!