A nice collection of short stories from up-and-coming authors. If you are like me you enjoy discovering the new voices in fiction and that is what this collection offers. Good, solid story telling that is an interesting mix of southern genre and intriguing contemporay tales. Several stories I found particularly strong and mature, the kind that linger. If you appreciate short stories you will enjoy this book.

What a wonderful collection of new voices to represent the literary South. Faulkner and Williams would be proud.

found this to be a quirky but solid collection of the type that a friend of mine once dubbed "Southern Realism" because of its strange, dark and moving elements. Oh, yes, there's humor and lightness, but it's like the quote on the cover, which is what made me want to buy the book to begin with: "These folks all write like Archangels With Avenging Pens".
I read a lot of Southern Fiction and can't get enough of the "New South". It's exploratory and revealing and always entertaining, with characters you simply have to believe in because who could make them up? This book abounds in these qualities. There's a good variety here, too... the stories deal far outside what most people would think of when they think of The South, but which is, indeed, the South.

I have to admit that I was impressed with the litany of honors that these writers had won. I hadn't heard of most of them, so I guess there's a lot more going on in short story writing than even an avid short story reader like myself realizes. It's a good read, and if you have a leaning toward North Carolina writers as I do, you may end up wanting to add this to your collecton as I have, next to "Rough Road Home" and "Christ-Haunted Landscape" and "Best Stories from the South".

Lonewolf, chosen from birth to lead his people, is a "stargazer"-he has visions of things to come. Unfortunately, he is unable to stop the inevitable death and destruction of his people in 1863. Desolate after losing his wife, child, and family, and rejected by his people because of his visions, Lonewolf seeks solace from the stars. He is transported through time to the modern-day world, where he meets Willow, a police officer who is half Navajo. His powers, when combined with hers, can help save the life of one very important and deathly ill little boy.

This book was a real page-turner for me because I was never quite sure where it was leading. It had its painful and touching moments, but there was also humor. I bought the entire time-travel idea (and liked how it was resolved in the end), and I admired both of the strong lead characters, who would do anything for the people they loved. STARGAZER is a rather short book and the story takes place in the span of six days, so the relationship between the hero and heroine developed quickly, but it worked for me because the author made me believe they were incomplete without the other. The love scenes are of the sweet variety, but there was enough sexual tension to keep me happy.

Laura Baker weaves a tale of heartache, history, mysticism and love as she tells the story of Lonewolf, a Navajoy stargazer, and Willow Becenti, a woman who believes in the future, not looking into the past. When I discovered Laura Baker I stumbled upon an author who can tell a story that keeps me spellbound from the first page to the last. I'm anxiously awaiting her third book this fall!

I'm not a time travel or Indian romance reader but this book joins my best of 1998 reads. It's a really well crafted story that gives a very good mixture of the history of the Navaho's doomed position in the 1860's and their native myths and belief's with a wonderful romance between a 1860's shaman and a modern Indian police woman.

The photography in this book is stunning, as is most of Andy's work. The real heroes of the Wall at Stormking are the Dykers, mainly Max Nowell legendary stone worker from South west Scotland.

Imagine that you're a giant playing with pebbles in your backyard. There's a big puddle nearby, and a lot of weeds. You idly pick up pebble after pebble, placing them gently one on top of the other, winding what ends up being a wall through the weeds until it gets to the edge of the puddle. That's the deliciously disconcerting feeling you'll get as you page through Andy Goldsworthy's "Wall."

A document of the design and construction of Goldsworthy's wall at Mountainville, New York, the book details the finding of the original, now-falling-down stone wall and the decision to recreate and embellish upon this. Andy Goldsworthy was called in to design the new wall. While he begins by following what is left of the old wall, his work is looser, more elegant, almost scroll-like as it winds down the hill and plunges directly into the water of the lake. There is a calligraphic quality to this wall that's visually arresting and, quite simply, beautiful.

Along with the wall, Goldsworthy can't resist playing with nature in other ways and these photographs are thoughtfully included as well. We see the line of chrome yellow leaves he's stitched together and placed on the wall, the holes he's filled with crimson leaves and water, and the tree whose bark he's lined with, well, other trees! It's astounding to see how Goldsworthy's brain works and what handsome design statements result from his creativity.

As one of the wallers involved in the building of Andy's wall at Storm King, I can honestly say that this book gives a really good insight into the ideas behind his work and some of the technicalities involved in its construction. The photography is wonderful and the text informative. This book is well worth a look, and so is the wall itself.

This is a really fun little graphic novel, loaded with great artwork and a decent storyline. I wouldn't recommend it as a first-time read for anyone unfamiliar with the X-Men - taken out of context from the overall series - it might be a somewhat confusing introduction. But for those who know the characters and have a general idea of what is going on, believe me, this one delivers the goods.

In the past, I have generally hated the X-Men's adventures in the Savage Land, or whenever they would go to outer space or get into really super sci-fi type situations. I always felt the X-Men stories worked much better when they were grounded in very normal, down-to-earth settings, because it made the X-Men themselves stand out and seem that much weirder. But this book is an exception to the rule. It's a big, crazy, larger-than-life adventure, part of which takes place in the prehistoric Savage Land, and part of which gets hyper technological, and it works out OK.

The artwork is tough and gritty. Jim Lee draws a mean, shadowy, ugly Wolverine who kills lots of villains and looks like he needs to take a shower very badly.

And Lee's women - whoa. This book contains more gratuitous cheescake shots than any X-Men graphic novel I've seen, but it's all very pleasing to the eye. Especially the scenes with Rogue, whose bare skin can kill anyone she touches and thus, understandably, was always the one major female character who kept herself completely covered at all times. This was the first storyline in the series where they finally drew her as a scantily-clad, sexy heroine. A real treat for male Rogue-fans who'd been reading the series patiently for years.

This storyline also chronicles the transformation of innocent young Psylocke into a mature woman trained in the art of Ninjitsu, and she becomes an ultra-violent, sexy bad girl. And then there are cameo appearances by other Marvel superheroes, namely Captain America (from the Avengers series) and The Black Widow (from the Daredevil series). All in all, it's a satisfying, action-packed, well-drawn, crowd-pleasing comic book in trade-paperback format.

X-Men Visionaries Jim Lee trade paperback Is a great X-Men graphic Novel by Jim Lee! the book reprints Uncanny X-Men issues #248,#256-258,#268-269,#273-277 are reprinted together in this wonderful Marvel book collection! This book contains the early Uncanny X-Men issues that made Jim Lee famous! All the issues are written by Chris Claremont with artwork by Jim Lee. These issues lead to the popular Claremont/Lee colaboration on X-Men#1 in 1991. Most of the artwork was done by Jim Lee. Uncanny X-Men #273 was done by various artists. Buy this book if your fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation!

This is a great X-Men: Visionaries Jim Lee graphic Novel! This is Jim Lee's early work on the Uncanny X-Men series! This Marvel Tradepaperback reprints Jim Lee's early years when he was the comic book artist on Uncanny X-Men. In this book reprints Uncanny X-Men#248,#256-258,#268-269, #273-277. His early work on the Uncanny X-Men in the early 1990s, lead to to the critically aclaimed Clarmont/Lee work on X-Men #1 in 1991. All the Uncanny X-Men issues are written by Chris Claremont. Most of the artwork is drawn by Jim Lee. Unncany X-Men#273 is drawn by various artist. Buy this book if your a big fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation.

I have had this in book form, not CD and gave them as new baby gifts, but can't find them anymore. Any suggestions as to where I can get them?

Wow! What a wonderful book for kids . . . and adults! For the first time, I'm finally beginning to connect the Bible and world history in a meaningful way. I never knew that popcorn was around when Noah was on the ark, that Jesus ate cookies and ice cream as a child, or that Daniel was a contemporary of Aesop and his fables. This book helps me and my children put the Bible in its world context and, therefore, to understand many of the customs and habits of people in the Bible. An enlightening experience! Great for homeschoolers, Sunday school teachers, private school teachers, and kids of all ages. Get it!

This is a pleasant collection of travel-related visual bric-a-brac, mostly from the teens, twenties, and thirties, presented without much comment or context. The material speaks for itself, and is worthy of collection, but a few better-focused volumes would serve this subject matter better.

Another reviewer has suggested that the brochure covers in this book are examples of good design, as a designer I can say that most of them are mediocre, though some of the illustrations are excellent. However, collect two hundred and put them in a well laid out book and they become fascinating and informative. Who can remember that in 1950 Liberal, Kansas was the 'Pancake hub of the Universe!

Authors Margolies and Baker write an interesting short history of these brochures and their choice of material is comprehensive. A bibliography is provided and a very detailed source list. If you have travelled around the country in the early part of the last century and like to look at printed Americana this book is certainly well worth having.

Travel literature used to be stunningly beautiful, and See the USA captures the best of the best in a very hip layout. Cowgirls, Southern belles, beach babes promoting tourist Meccas all look luscious and inviting. This book ought to be required reading for any student of the graphic arts. Check it out!

This book has wonderful pictures and gives an excellent overview from ancient to post modernism art. The descriptions are pretty brief though, and do not go into great detail on any particular artist. However, it's an excellent book to get a general idea of the evolution of western art. The book covers significant art movements, and some minor ones as well.

This is a textbook from my college art history class. A lot of cool pictures. A good general overview of western art history. But don't expect a detail description of famous artists like Picasso, Monet, etc.

This is a great book, contanis many color pictures and excellent information. I recommend you to buy this book. It's perfect!!!

Testosterone is a transcript of the tapes made by graphic novelist Dean Seagrave about how he tracked down his ex-boyfriend, Pablo, an "emotional serial killer," and what happened later at a Taco Bell. It is a posthumous work by the fierce and original queer film maker-novelist-scriptwright James Robert Baker

Baker's literary conceit, the real-time spoken memoir, gives the book its strengths and its drawbacks. When the story goes, it really goes. You are there. Caught up in Dean's adrenaline rush as he tries record everything that is happening, or has just happened. On the other hand you are reading spoken words and that makes the text awkward and occasionally dull. Dean explains, justifies, rationalizes and then repeats the process again just as a nervous speaker does. The other problem with the narrative style is it confuses the time line.

A gay narrator driving around LA for 24 hours on a violence-tinged adventure is also the makings of Baker's Tim and Pete (1992). That novel, although sex-filled and death obsessed is, I think, better. It has some startlingly original characters, a wicked sense of fun and a kooky kind of innocence (Tim and Pete do end up back together). All that is gone here. There is no redemption, only victims and none of them are innocent.

Baker's need to assign the roles of victim and villain was a weakness in Tim and Pete. In Testosterone, he has moved on only slightly. Now AIDS sufferers are not victims of Ronald Reagan and the Republicans. They are the victims of American society, American Christian society in particular. I didn't think the hypothesis was helpful in 1992 and I don't think it holds up now. There is no empowerment in victimhood. And it strikes me as strange that Baker tries to make his point through fierce, thoughtful, take-charge characters. These guys just aren't victims. "A fag with a gun who needs a chainsaw" as Dean describes himself (pg. 137) is no victim. A man like that knows the virtue of self-reliance (and a machete).

The AIDS epidemic will always be a touchstone of queer culture, but Baker's voice-of-doom speaking from ground zero of the plague feels pretty dated in 2000.

There is a lot to admire in Testosterone. It is a good story well unfolded. It captures a fascinating environment and puts it vividly on the page. That the narrator sometimes gets in the way of these strengths may be just a quibble. I did expect a book with so much power to come with an equally powerful message. Testosterone is a disappointing final word from an artist with so much talent and so many strengths.

I loved this book. In fact, I think it is my favorite Baker novel. (Not an easy task in itself.) The book takes off and sends the reader sailing through a trippy, action-packed, emotional nightmare. The descriptions are so vivid and fast, it is almost like a graphic novel built entirely with text. Not an easy story -- you will flinch on occasion, but it is impossible to put down.

Once I picked this book up and started reading it I couldn't stop. Written as a transcript from tapes sent by Dean Seagrave to Jim Baker, it tells the story of Dean's love for Pablo. To even attempt to describe this story would ruin the joy you'll find in its entertaining pages. It's not easy to read, and sometimes hard to take, but I found it really worth the effort. This is a novel you won't soon forget. It lingers on the mind for days to come. You are either going to love it or hate it.

Baker committed suicide in November 1997. Too bad Baker is no longer with us. His writing is truly brilliant and so different. This novel packs a punch and won't fail to move and effect whomever reads it. That's for sure!

I read this series when I was in 8th grade which is 5 years ago now. I even picked them up again a while ago and loved them just as much as the first time. They were just wonderful. Definitely my favorite books ever. Julie and Matt's relationship touched my heart in no way imagineable. Thank you Jennifer Baker for these wonderful books!

I felt this book showed how two people loved each other and didn't let distance stand in the way fo their love for one another. I love it so much that I read all the other books in the series but for richer, for poorer. I got these books at a used books store and was sad to learn that these books are out of print. Is there anyway I could get a copy of for richer or poorer to finish the First Comes Love series by Jennifer Baker? please let me know by emailing me.

I really enjoyed this book and the next three books in the First Comes Love series. It is a great series all about Matt and Julie and their life and love. It is an excellent read.

I've read all the other books in this series. Usually, these books have insightful information about a child's developmental stages. This book tries to do the same; however, I think that the authors grouped too many age groups together. There's a BIG difference between ten-year olds and fourteen-year olds. Much of the information seemed dated (it was from the 1970s).

This book gives you both physical and emotional milestones of children in this age group separated by gender. It maps how to read your child's moods and changes. As well as physical changes in devlopment--like the inherent clumsiness of puberty. I read or re-read sections when I get to a new stage with each my 3 children. This book has warned me of danger spots--especially emotionally and calmed my concerns when I could see it was 'just normal'. I've read each book from 1 year to 14 and found them to be fabulous mounds of information.

Information is provided about the common developmental traits of ten to fourteen year olds. This book is intended to be used as a handbook for parents. It is easy to read, not a dry textbook. Your child is changing. (You know this SO well!) What might be next? Areas of development presented include physical, social, emotional, school life, interests, and ethics. I refer to my copy often as a sixth grade teacher and the proud parent of a fourteen year old.