I read this book and enjoyed learning about the laws. I found that all of them apply in different situations. Some reviewers wrote about their missgivings about the obvious contradictions in the text, or refuted the author's assertion that they all applied. One wrote, paraphrased "You wouldn't say the law of gravity applies today, and then the next day, say the law does not apply." The reviewer totally misses the point. The law of gravity wouldn't exist, for example, in outer-space. I found the laws to make sense depending on the situation, and on where you are in the social/corporate/military/political chain of command.

As a Christian, I found the book more interesting as I tried to apply the laws within the context of the Bible. There are some, you simply could not accomplish as they conflict with Bible teachings. Although the author, Robert Greene, may believe the Bible to be the work of men who used these very techniques to gain power. In some cases, he would be correct. i.e.- the Catholic and Roman church leaders throughout history, etc..etc..

Good book, and well-thought-out concepts.

If taken as doctrine and systematically adopted, this book could alienate you from your friends, peers, and family. (Although your superiors may elevate you to the heights of power.) Read in conjunctiuon with a little Ayn Rand, you may never look at people the same way.

Sociopathic concerns aside, the book reads like a poetic argument. Examples, parables and folk tales give historical justification for even the most viscious tendencies. The 48 Laws themselves are insightful, although - like any argument - one sided.

I give the book the highest rating possible, as it offers some truly valuable insight. Having graduated college with a degree in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, I wish I'd read it earlier. It provides an excellent framework for the analysis of (ambitious) human interactions.

One must (hopefully) disagree with the author from the outset that what sets humans above all others is our ability to deceive, and what separates humans from each other is their ability in doing so. Read the book with that in mind, and you'll come out a better person.

This is indeed the best non-fiction book I have ever read. Praise to Greene who had properly put his thought clearly into the most linear'ed' and segmented idea organization you can ever found.

Each law is supported by its Judgment, Trangression & its Interpretation, Observance & its Interpretation, Keys to Power, and its Image .

Read insights into some of the ancient war moves e.g. Bonaparte, Alexender the Great, etc; political and modern day strategist like Henry Kissinger. Even better, read the ways of how some of the famous con men in history; e.g. Yellow Kid Weil preyed their victims.

The first law: Never Outshine the Master is the best start for me as after reading it, I understand better one of the Malaysian's most scandalous political action.

The Judgment of the first law reads:
"Always make those above you feel comfortable superior. In your
desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite-inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power."

In my opinion the is a heart-wrenching, though provoking book for mature readers. Usally I don't read dramas but when i picked it up I couldn't put it down. The main character Patty Bergan really becomes a part of you. This book focuses on love and hate set in World War II in a swall town in Arkansas. Patty has just turned twelve. She is a young Jewish girl who is nelected by her parents and alone until she meet an excaped, German prisoner of war from a compound near by named Anton. Even though this is set during wartime America this book remindes us who read that there is good amoung evil, and that even in the darkness, there is light. For a lot of people this book can be somewhat painful because of the victimization of children-- wheater the brutality is physical or emotional. Anton excapes from the local prison and Patty, knowing the rick, helps him to hide. She lived with perpetual fear of maternal rejection and redicule-of her vicious, child-beating fatherand of coming in a poor second place to her pretty, petted sister. She also knew the rick of her norrow-minded Arkansas town opposing her humanitarian treatment of an excaped German prisoner of war. Patty learns to look at Anton, not as Nazi, but as a frightened young man. Patty knows that if anyone were to find out her life would be over, but cannot overcome the power of love. With Anton, Patty finds the love she has longed for and the appreciation her parents never gave her. Such a friendship can be dangerous. In Green's scenario of paranoia and government promoted prejudice, there is no room for compassion or the budding of a romance. Even pure friendship is tained by vicious minds. The ending was sudden and shattering. I would recomend this book to anyone.

The summer of my German soldier takes place in Arkansas, during WWII. The story is about a girl named Patty who feels that her parents are mean and cruel to her because they don't appreciate anything she does for them. The only person who she can find acceptance in is her housekeeper, Ruth. Patty's small town in Jekingsville, becomes the site of a POW camp for German soldiers, and one day the soldiers are allowed to visit her father's department store to purchase some hats. Patty, who was working that day, met one of the German soldiers named Anton Reiker. Soon after, Anton escaped from the prison camp and hid out at Patty's house in her abandoned attic. Later her family found out what Patty has been up to.
If one of the characters were to run into trouble it would be Patty. In the book Patty makes wrong choices that get her in alot of trouble. Knowing that she is Jewish she's not allowed to talk to any of the German soldiers that come to her hometown. She disobeys and does it anyway. she helps the German soldier that escaped from the prison camp. Later in the story the FBI catches up to what Patty has been up to. Her hometown then turns against her and calls her a trader and sees her as a bad person.
My favorite character in the story is Patty Bergen. But, if I were in her place I don't think I would have done the same thing she did by helping the German prisoner who escaped the campsite. For example, it's like me hiding out Bin Laddin in my attic. I could never turn my back on my country and help him. Patty is a twelve-year old brave girl who takes the risk of hiding out a German prisoner. Her parents always brush her off to the side. Patty feels left out in her family kind of like an outcast. I can kind of understand were Patty is coming from for her to help that German soldier. Since her mother or father doesn't pay any attention to her she feels like she needs someone to talk to or any one that has interest in her and would care about her. She obviously doesn't care who it is because she starts talking to a German prisoner and he's in his twenty's. The thing that I like about her is that she's a good-hearted person.
If I were to relate to any of the characters, I think it would be Patty. I had an experience kind of similar to what Patty went through. My parents always told my sisters and me we weren't allowed to have a boyfriend until we were eighteen-years old. I was the one who disobeyed my parents. When I was about thirteen-years old I had a boyfriend anyway. I would lie to my parents about where I was going or whom I was going with. After a while I felt guilty, and I felt like I had to confess. I waited to long to tell them and they ended up finding out. After that it took me a while to earn my trust back from them. So I think it's best for parents to be open with their children. Don't tell your kids you can't do this, you can't go there, or you can't hang out with a certain person because they don't like them. Later in life their parents will realize they should not tell their kids "no" just for the heck of it or just to be strict. I could see who was a bad person to hang out with, or a bad place to go.
I enjoyed reading this book, but it took me a couple of chapters to get into it. I had a favorite part and a least favorite part. My favorite part was when Patty met the German soldier at her father's department store and supplied him with a place to stay, clothes, and food. My least favorite part of the story was when Patty's father beat her because he didn't like her friend Freddy. I don't think children should get beaten by their parents, especially a young twelve-year old. I could see if it was a little kid getting disciplined, but spanked on the hand.
I think I would recommend this book for someone else to read. It's a good book. The kind of person I recommend to read this book is a girl or boy who enjoys reading romantic stories.

I just read "Summer of My German Soldier", by Bette Greene. I thought that this was a really terrific book. It is the story of Patty Bergen, a Jewish girl in the South during WWII, who makes friends with a Nazi soldier. She makes friends with him because she her parents are mean to her and she wants companionship and love. This was a wonderful book with characters so real that I could feel what they were feeling and think what they were thinking. After reading "Summer of My German Soldier", I had tons of questions about the book and about the author. I wanted to know if any of it was based on a true story. I also wondered if Bette Greene's life influenced her to write the book in any way. So I did some research on the internet, and I found out that there's a webpage about the author and the book! It's at bettegreene.com and it has tons of useful and interesting information. Plus, you can email Bette Greene about her books! I recommend that you read this book and look at the website to get answers to the questions I know you'll have.

This may start out as a whodunit, but far more important is the why. Although author Terry Kay has switched to the detective genre here, he still has an eye for social consciousness, a prominent theme in his previous works. In his book, The Year the Lights Came On, it was electricity that determined a person's worth. In To Dance With The White Dog, it was aging that challenged us. In The Runaway, it was race. In The Kidnapping of Aaron Greene, Kay asks the question: How much is a nobody worth? And he does it with mystery and suspense, with a little romance thrown in. This is an enjoyable read.

Since ..WHITE DOG I've been a Terry Kay fan, and I wasn't disappointed this time either. I believe Mr. Kay is a highly underrated author. Barnes and Noble doesn't even have this book in stock. John Grisham could learn a thing or two from the ending in this book. At the end you felt as if you'd gotten your moneys worth, that the author has respected his readers intelligence and stayed true to his story...didn't cop out with a cheesy ending. If you haven't read other words by Mr. Kay, give them a shot, you won't be disappointed. A very versatile author, and I always look forward to his books.

This is the first book that I've read by Terry Kay - I held me entralled from beginning to end. Wonderful characters, great plot line and a clear message that people never REALLY see you. I felt strongly for Aaron Green - and thought the ending of the book (the whole book) was brillant! Kudo's to you Mr. Kay, looking forward to your next novel!

Nothing is as interesting to me as human behavior, and it was a pleasant surprise to find that Mr. Greene feels somewhat the same. He's taken a great deal of time to break down and analyze this concept of race relations in the "Ape" films. I found his writing to be witty and revealing. An easy and enjoyable read about a difficult and confounding element of our society.

At 17, when I saw PLANET, we were constantly aware of racial issues around us, and in the news. It's been an important film series to me, and it's message remains powerful. It's wonderful to have Mr. Greene's book as an addition or companion to the 'Ape' films. I am looking forward to see what Mr. Greene will come up with when Tim Burton's version is released.

Politics and popular culture are handled in this book with an adept feel for the times the films were made. I wish the text books I read in college were as "hip" as what Mr. Greene has laid before us. I might have remembered more. I found his observations at times humorous and provocative...but always interesting. Well done.

In film and telelvision, very few things happen by pure accident. Although Greene may seem at times to "read too much" into 'Planet of the Apes', in reality he presents a clear and very detailed analysis of the series and films in relation to the time in which they were produced. The connections between the two cannot be overlooked, and whether or not you agree with all of Greene's points, it is necessary to have all possible ideas presented in this type of study. This is exactly what we do with Shakespeare, for example--analyze his "art" in historical context. Whether Shakespeare intended all of the possible connections is, ultimately, irrelevent. Television and film, as a modern art form, can be examined in the same way. This book is a fine example of such analysis. Greene is a talented young writer and I look forward to more of his work.

Movies are, more often than not, more of a comment on the times in which they were made than the times they represent. Rod Serling and Michael Wilson established their incredible careers writing stories about how human beings treat one another. So it's no coincidence that the futuristic Planet of the Apes films reflect the turbulent times in which they were written and produced - the late 1960s and early 1970s. At the height of the civl rights movement and the dawn of the Black power movement there was alot to say about how people treated other people with different colored skin. And while there are certainly other social issues being addressed in the Apes films, Greene has placed his finger squarely on the pulse of, perhaps, the major ideological force behind the films and their popularity. And he does so with a great sense of what makes a book of this sort entertaining as well as informative. I found the pacing to be excellent and the presentation far from dry. This is no textbook or dusty college paper! In fact, Greene educates and illuminates while giving lots of juicy stories, interviews, and backstage politics. He insightfully diagnoses each film for its symbolic content (both subtle and blatant) and for my money, he's spot on - from the casting of Charlton Heston in "Planet", to the use of School busses in "Battle." It has increased my enjoyment of the films many-fold. Read the book, then watch the films again and you will experience Planet of the Apes with a fresh perspective - one you haven't had since the first time you saw them. Personally, I am glad someone took the time to write about a body of work that means so much to so many people. I look forward to the update after Tim Burton's version debuts.

Publishing this novel in 1978, Greene says in his autobiography (Ways of Escape, pp. 256 - 257) that he had actually started it ten years earlier, abandoning it when his friend and former colleague, Kim Philby, defected to Russia. He did not want this book to be considered a roman a clef. Like Philby, Maurice Castle, the main character in this novel, is a double agent, and Greene goes to great pains to bring him to life and try to make his inevitable defection to Russia believable. Having earlier lived in South Africa, Castle had fallen in love with Sarah, an African woman. Another double agent had helped her escape from South Africa so she and Castle could be married. Now living in England with Sarah and their son, Castle continues to provide information to the Russians as payback for the help he received years before.

The cloak-and-dagger intrigue here is rooted in the Cold War, and Greene's own sympathies with the Communists, well known, are noticeable throughout the novel. When a leak is suspected in Castle's section of British intelligence, a secret plan is devised to eliminate the culprit quietly to avoid another Philby-type embarrassment to the government. It's of only minor consequence to the higher-ups that they kill Davis, an innocent man. The Russians' rush to "save" Castle, whose work for them has really been of only minor importance, seems more like wishful thinking than reality. Codes created from duplicate copies of old books, messages left in a hollow tree, and warning signals made with rings of the telephone now seem to belong to an age much earlier than the mere 24 years which have evolved since the book's publication.

Castle is well drawn, for the most part, though he seems a rather clumsy agent-about-to-defect, someone who, though supposedly devoted to his wife and child, has not thought far enough ahead to guarantee their ultimate safety and happiness. Sarah, unfortunately, is an undifferentiated, flat character, and Castle's devotion to her must be accepted, rather than felt, thereby limiting the impact of the ending. Parts of the book are very moving, and Castle is often a sympathetic character, but I thought the book lacked the philosophical and structural tightness of his earlier, more famous novels.

This book presents a very believable portrait of espionage during the cold war. No guns, no gadgets, no glamour. Just a drab monotonous life infused with constant paranoia and ending in tragedy. Quite a contrast to Our Man In Havana, although the main characters share much of the same insecurities (as most Greene characters seem to). The hero is a completely sympathetic character who loves his wife and child and hates the cruelty that the world has shown his wife and will surely show his child. And although he has become jaded and old he idealistically decides to punish the West for its racism by spying for the East (ironic considering the level of racism in the East). In the end he looses what he had, he looses what he loved, and he gains nothing. This was the first Graham Greene novel that I read, in high school, 15 years ago. It hooked me and I have read most of his other works since then. Many other authors have created stupid banal characters living the seedy life, but only Greene (in my limited reading) has created human, complex, intelligent characters.....living the seedy life.

The New York Times called this the best espionage novel ever. I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, this is one of the best novels I've ever read, period. A great strength of this book is that you really care about the protaganist. He's very much your average, decent guy with a wife, step-kid and dog. He puts in his hours at the office each day, then goes home to them every night, just as millions of us do. There are no fancy gadgets or outlandish threats to the solar system in this story. Thus, the drama, centering on believable characters, is all the more palpable. Once the story takes off you can feel the tension and anticipation buidling up all around you.

The plot is both simple and ingenious. British intelligence suspects a mole is passing info on sourthern Africa to the Soviets and moves to eliminate the suspect, leading to a great plot twist. Throw in what is for my money some of the best dialogue ever put on paper (e.g. the hilarious conversation about malteazers candy) and the result is an absolute classic. I've read several of Greene's novels including the renowned The Heart of the Matter, and The Human Factor tops my list. If you crave a novel that you just can't put down, this is surely it.

This book may tell you to be mysterious and to use deception to capture your prey but in many ways it encourages you to be your true self. The advice you get from other dating books basically boils down to: dress sexy, don't make waves, smile incessantly. Greene, on the other hand, says that if you want to be a bold and impudent Dandy, go right ahead and you will "please by displeasing." I used to be very timid and like so many other polite and self-effacing people I was nice to everyone (no matter how they behaved) not out of any genuine goodness on my part but because I feared rejection. Likewise, if you want to be the highly feminine Siren or the impish, fun-loving Natural, that's your prerogative.

Yes, Greene refers to the targets of your seduction as your victims. So what? He also instructs you on how to maintain the enchantment in a long-term relationship and how to quickly and painlessly end a relationship gone sour.

Some also accuse Greene of writing a manual for gold-diggers, but he also says that by learning these tactics you can prevent someone else from manipulating you. And even if you are employing strategies to get the guy or gal you want, who cares? Does political correctness and new agey sensitivity have to intrude in your romantic relationships? Live the way you want to live and love the way you want to love! Anyway, seduction takes a whole lot of time and effort. Whether you decide to stay with your loved one or not, remember that most people are starved for experience and your creating a beautiful exciting experience for them was a wonderfully loving act.

This is the most sophisticated book I've ever seen on seduction and it makes dating self-help books look amaturish! ...

This is the best book on seduction ever! Some reviewers argue that Greene doesn't make the seductive process clear enough and that these tactics will not work in every situation. Well, you can't seduce everyone, but I find that whether you suceed or fail usually depends on your observation skills and on how well you implement the tactics. You have to be innovative. No one book can tell you how to seduce every single person in every single situation. For example, one reviewer said that these tactics will not help you seduce someone you're already friends with. Yes you can--I've done it twice! The key is getting the person to see you in a new light:
Step 1. Put distance between you and your target. Don't tell her you're distancing yourself, just do it! If your friend likes you she will miss you. If she was just saying "Let's be friends" and doesn't care for you at all, she'll still feel your absence because your loss of interest will wound her ego--that's important.
Step 2. Be different. Alter your appearance, make friends with new types of people, sculpt your body, develop new interests, and date as many people as you can. Try to date only those who are at least as attractive as your target, otherwise she'll look down on you.
Step 3. Reintroduce yourself to your target. Don't approach her directly. It's important that she now come to you. If you haven't talked to her in a while, she may have forgotten about you. That's not necessarily a bad thing--maybe the old you was forgettable. But it's a good idea to have maintained an indirect connection with your girl. Maybe you are an aquaintance of one of her friends. Chat with that person occasionally (Don't mention the friend you'll be seducing!) and that person will probably give your target updates about you. Or maybe you work in the same office or have the same circle of friends. In that case, she can witness changes in you first hand. Remember, however, that if you have to see your target regularly it is all the more important to maintain an emotional distance until you're ready for the seduction to really begin. If your girl suspects that you're improving yourself for her or that you're trying to make her jealous, all your hard work will be destroyed.
Now you can reintroduce yourself in one of several ways:
a) Haunt her periphery by attending the places she attends without taking much notice of her, making her come to you.
b) Play the "coquette," seeming interested then disinterested, interested then disinterested.
c) arrange a "chance" meeting. I like this one.
d) befriend or date a friend of hers.

Once she starts to think she didn't know you as well as she thought she did and displays a little interest in the new you, you can start over again and use the tactics in Greene's book. Greene's book never outlined how to seduce someone you've been friends with for a long time. I devised this strategy based on the tactics outlined in "The Art of Seduction." Like I said, it's work twice for me. The first friend became so enamoured that I had to break up with her after only a few weeks. She was smothering me! But I am still dating the second girl and it's great. If you balk at the idea of doing all this just to win someone over, consider that she may not be worth winning over after all, or that you might not be much of a Casanova. But I think that all this effort will actually make you a better man (or woman since this strategy should work on a guy too.) Happy hunting!

There's an old French expression: "In every relationship, there is one who kisses and one who is kissed." But when the seducer applies the tactics outlined in this brilliant book, she (or he) experiences both the thrill of the chase and the joy of being adored.

Greene's book focuses primarily on the psychology of love, not on sexual technique, because it is better to create love than lust. A sexy body will entice, but even the best physique becomes boring with repeat exposure. Fantastic sex may bind someone to you for a time, but if it's accompanied by a lacklustre personality and a mundane lifestyle the loved one will go elsewhere. You can get sex anywhere, but you can't experience enchantment with just anyone. Of course, once you've seduced the mind and heart you can pick up a nice Lou Paget book. ;)

If you study--really study--the psychology of seduction, everyday life will become more exciting. You're mind will be constantly engaged. You'll have uncommon powers of observation. You'll feel powerful and alive! Yes, some of the tactics are nasty, but you don't have to use every one. Just use your own judgement. :)

Here are some of the great seducers you'll read about in this fantastic book: JFK, Lord Byron, Cleopatra, George Villiers, Casanova, Benjamin Disraeli, Duke Ellington, Natalie Barnie, Lady Hamilton, Empress Josephine, Marilyn Monroe, Madame Mao, La Belle Otero, Ninon de l'Enclos, Ovid, Evita Peron, Madame Pompadour, Rasputin, Lou von Salome, Stendhal, Tullia d'Aragona, Rudolph Valentino, Yang Kuei-Fei, Oscar Wilde, and Andy Warhol.

Considered by many to be the great American novel, Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the story of a boy, Huck Finn, and a runaway slave, Jim, as they travel down the Mississippi River on a raft. "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is the sequel to Twain's novel "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Where "Tom Sawyer" was more a care-free children's book, "Huck Finn" is a far darker less childlike book.

Judging from my rating you can see that I do not agree that this is in fact the great American novel. Twain seemed far too unsure of what he wanted to accomplish with this book. The pat answer is to expose the continuing racism of American society post-Civil War. By making Jim simultaneously the embodiment of white racist attitudes about blacks and a man of great heart, loyalty, and bravery, Twain presented him as being all too much of what white America at the time was unwilling to acknowledge the black man as: human.

However noble the cause though, Twain's story is disjointed, at times ridiculous, and, worst of all (for Twain anyway), unfunny. The situations that Huck and Jim find themselves in are implausible at best. Twain may not have concerned himself too much with the possibleness of his story; but, it does detract from your enjoyment of a story when you constantly disbelieve the possibility of something happening.

"The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is an important book in that it did affect much of the American literature that followed it. However, this is another novel which is more important to read for its historical significance than for its story.

I read this, since it was my school's outside reading assignment. The printing was so small, that I first thought it would be a boring read. But I soon figured that I was wrong. I found myself slowly slipping into the story as if it was all happening before my own eyes. The characters were very interesting. Especially Huck Finn seemed like a very likable person with a strong identity, wit, and a soft heart. He does not want to sit and let the world rule over him, but instead test his own ideas and proves to the world that he can be better than what the society expacts him to be. And although many say it is a racially biased book because of its frequent use of N word, nobody can deny that it was a commonly used word in the 1800 where the rogue institution called 'slavery' was considered healthy and inevitable. As a matter of fact, this is a book that actually tries to tell the world about the evilness of racial prejudice not promote it. One should read between the lines, in order to acknowledge Twain's subtle attempts. It was a thrilling experience and I recommend people to have for their own!!!!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain, was one of the best novels I have ever read. When I was a junior in high school, I had to get signed permission to read this novel. I never thought a book could be so controversial that something like that would be necessary. I am so glad that I read it then, and again during my freshman year of college, because I think it sends a powerful message. Written in the dialect of the deep south, Twain successfully gets the reader involved in the book. When I read this novel for the first time, I did not want to put it down. The character of Huck intrigued me. Though a young boy, he had more common sense than many people years older than him. He knew what he wanted and was smart enough to know how to go about getting it. When he befriends a runaway slave named Jim, social issues are brought up and Huck is forced to follow what his heart says, instead of what society says is morally acceptable. I enjoyed how Twain portrayed Huck and Jim's journey down the river and the adventures they shared. It was a symbol of their need for freedom. By sharing the same goals, Huck and Jim become true friends. They are beyond the color barrier and realize that a person is a person, regardless of what they look like or who they are. I think much of today's society could benefit from reading this book. It helps you put things in perspective and think about what is really important in life; what others think versus how you feel. If anyone is looking for a good novel to read, one that captures interest and provokes thought, Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is it.

Be True to your School is a very interesting book. I liked reading about another teenagers life without half of it getting censored out. Be True to your School was a journal of Bob's life during 1964. Bob is in high school during this time, he has a nice size little group of friends but isn't the most popular kid. Bob went through some really exciting and outlandish ordeals. Like most people Bob had a few things that he did almost every day. After most school days he would go to his room and listen to music for hours. At times Bob's life did get a little repetitive, but that's how life is.
I think the main reason I liked the book was because it related to my life as a teenager in many ways. I am sure people of all ages will enjoy reading this book. Other readers have confirmed my beliefs by saying things like: "It is a very wonderful read even if you weren't in high school during 1964.", and "Anyone who has ever been a teenager will love this book." Another readers quote sums up what you feel after you have read that book. "Thanks Bob I'll never forget you." In summary I think most everyone who likes to read will enjoy reading this book.

Be True To Your School is a great book. It is about a teenage boy, Bobby's life dealing with friends, family, girls and peer pressure.
At first it is slow, but then it gets interesting. I think the reason that it is boring in the beginning is because Bob only talks about school, tennis and his ex-girlfriend that he can't stop obsessing about. Bob loves tennis and also writing for the school paper.
The book gets interesting when he starts partying, working, and hanging out with other girls. One reader said "many people don't think that there are many similarities of 1964 and 2001, but after reading this I do(Amazon.com). I agree! Some similarities are that they party, listen to music, dance, hangout, and have family problems. The Beatles are also a big hit the year Bob kept his diary. He starts to drink a lot and his dad is always hounding at him to get a haircut. Everyone tried to look like a Beatle.
One reader states "this book was interesting to read mainly because it was from a guys perspective(Amazon.com). I agreee because you don't expect a guy to keep a diary. On a few occasions Bob and his friends lied to their parents so they could go out of town to "meet" up with girls. Bob's parents caught him and still let him go. I wish my parents were like that!
As the summer flies by, Bob meets an older married women and has a crush on her. Everyone's question: Is their relationship moral? I'll let you be the judge of that one.
Be True To Your School is not only for younger kids but for older people also. I'm sure they would get a kick out of it and it might bring back memories. I agree with quote, "If Bob Greene wanted to improve this book he should include some kind of wrap-up to that part of his life"(Amazon.com).
I would encourage everyone to read this book by Bob Greene. Remember, it's a juicy diary that was written by a sixteen year old boy who never planned on it being published. Once you start to read it, you'll never be able to put it down.

Be True to your School is a very interesting book. I liked reading about another teenagers life without half of it getting censored out. Be True to your School was a journal of Bob's life during 1964. Bob is in high school during this time, he has a nice size little group of friends but isn't the most popular kid. Bob went through some really exciting and outlandish ordeals. Like most people Bob had a few things that he did almost every day. After most school days he would go to his room and listen to music for hours. At times Bob's life did get a little repetitive, but that's how life is.
I think the main reason I liked the book was because it related to my life as a teenager in many ways. I am sure people of all ages will enjoy reading this book. Other readers have confirmed my beliefs by saying things like: "It is a very wonderful read even if you weren't in high school during 1964.", and "Anyone who has ever been a teenager will love this book." Another readers quote sums up what you feel after you have read that book. "Thanks Bob I'll never forget you." In summary I think most everyone who likes to read will enjoy reading this book.

Andy Harris is the ultimate Christian young man. He quotes scripture, attends church religiously, leads Bible study but is that really him. Carla Wayland, his girlfriend, is totally in love with him and doesn't see or ignores his quirks. His ultimate quirk is his hatred of all homosexuals, especially the gay couple - Frank Montgomery and Stephan Jones. What drives him? Does Carla's mother - Judith - the town outcast because she stands up for her beliefs - have anything to do with it? This is a remarkable tale of what hatred does to people - to those who hate and to those who are hated. Greene develops the characters so true to life, you'll feel you are watching a movie. I highly recommend this book.

This was one of the first 'Gay' themed books that I read after coming out 8 years ago. This book was so powerful, I can still vividly remember the scene on the bridge in my mind. A scene that Bette Greene, the Author, described so well that the image, and the actions still haunt in the back of my mind today.

I so recommend this book to all.. Gay and Straight.. Young and Old... This is a fantastic story of Prejudice and Hate directed towards a group (a couple in this case) of people that are no different from anyone else, except they happen to love someone of the same sex.

A book MUST be just so incredible so as to still haunt your thoughts so many years after reading it. I nearly get driven to tears when I remember the scene with Steven on the bridge. I will not say anymore about it just incase you have not read the book yet.

Please.. PLEASE! Get this book! You will NEVER be sorry!!!

Bette Greene's "The Drowning of Stephan Jones" is a well-researched and well-written book about a timely issue. It is a novel based upon a series of real-life events, the perpetrators and victims of which Greene spoke to before writing. The novel explores the hatred of gays often propagated by those who are supposed to be our "moral leaders". Andy and his friends abuse, belittle, and humiliate Stephan Jones and Frank Montgomery throughout the book, and, ultimately, the wind up killing Stephan. There is a valuable lesson to be learned from this work, which will undoubtedly raise numerous questions in the reader's mind. Apparently, Mrs. Greene is willing to answer her readers' questions though, as she has established a website with the intention of informing her readers about her books and life. You can visit it, and email her from bettegreene.com.

Wuthering Heights is a disturbingly dark book about love, obsession and revenge. It is a romantic novel full of twists and turns that nearly requires the reader to keep a running dictionary of characters, especially since names have a tendency to pop up in different places and on different people throughout the novel. I read this novel for a class assignment in Victorian Literature but it is helpful to know that the book employs many themes of the Romantic literary genre as well. Victorian ideas of social class are brought up as well as the fantasies of adolescence. Some of the Romantic ideas found in the novels include the idea of the tragic landscape. The landscape of the novel is foreboding and isolated, borrowed most likely from the gothic novel. The characters are extreme in their varying passions and the concept of the dream is used in a type of ghostly communication. One of the story's narrators has a dream of being visited by the ghost of Catherine, which causes a startling and dramatic reaction in Heathcliff. The belief that the reader cannot fully hate Heathcliff because of how he was mistreated as a child is also a Romantic ideal.
The story contains a great deal of darkness and some cruelty, which may turn readers away. Love is often extreme to the point of violence in the novel while the romances themselves are nearly incestuous in tone. Cousins marry and adopted siblings hold lifelong affections and obsessions for each other. The novel also illustrates an element of cruelty that can be slightly disturbing at times. Heathcliff, the novel's antagonist, goes as far as to string up the beloved dog of the young woman he courts after Catherine rejects him.
The main focus of the story is the rather twisted love story element that develops between Catherine and Heathcliff. Heathcliff is adopted into Catherine's family at a young age and the pair become close, though Catherine rejects him because he is poor and instead marries a rich neighbor. Though throughout the novel, other romances develop between the two highly inbred families, they are side stories in comparison to the main romance.
The love of Catherine and Heathcliff eventually develops into an obsession that lasts, and in fact becomes even stronger with the eventual death of Catherine. Her spirit seems to haunt Heathcliff and further fire his obsession. Even before Catherine's death this obsessive love broadens to include an equally obsessive drive to ruin the lives of all the people who mistreated him and stood between him and Catherine, including her husband and older brother.
These obsessions eventually lead to the last of the major themes of the novel, revenge. A good part of the book is spent upon Heathcliff's attempts to destroy the lives of anyone and everyone who mistreated him or got in the way of his relationship with Catherine. His need for revenge does not lessen as the book moves on and Heathcliff continues to take his revenge even upon the next generation, including Catherine's daughter and his own son. Whether or not Heathcliff succeeds in his attempts I leave to the reader.
Personally, I enjoyed this book a great deal, if for no other reason than the simple fact that it was quite different from the usual school assigned reading. I was pleasantly surprised by how well woven and engaging the book was. The calculating lengths that Heathcliff goes to in order fulfill his quest for revenge are nearly reason enough to read the book. The old style language of the book, which I expected to be a hindrance, was hardly noticeable. In short, if you can handle (or enjoy) the book's darker aspects, then I highly recommend this classic to you. (And I'm not just saying that because I have to! ;))Enjoy!

Perhaps it's the winsome imagery, perhaps the profoundly real characters one switches between loving and hating, or maybe even the dry humor that is the style of the British, but Wuthering Heights is my all time favorite book. How can words possibly do it justice...the only way to surely judge it is by reading it. Never before have I been so moved by a story; it might be Heathcliff's overflowing love for Catherine that drives him mad yet, ingenious in his revenge, or Cathy's shallow duty to society that denies her the power to be true to herself (I believe the main point of this novel is to not deny your feelings; go with what you feel rather than what should be), but I always find myself reading it on days I need to be cheered up or am really lusting after a good book. If one's not paying attention, you know, one of those days where you just read to take your mind off of something, it can get rather dull and confusing (the diction isn't as simple as say...Ethan Frome), but if you're concentrating, Bronte's words are so amazingly beautiful, it's hard to put it down. When read aloud it sounds like Shakespeare, and I like Emily's work a lot more than Charlotte's, for some reason. Gothic literature is so peculiar and wonderful: a class of it's own, and she really masters it. At the same time she avoids stereotypes and entertaining happenings (the spectre that appears to the somewhat insecure Lockwood early on foretells the chilling story, while at the same time hinting there is something deeply wrong about Wuthering Heights that needs to be corrected), actually writing the book with a purpose behind it. All the characters have very cool qualities about them; all have the potential to be irritating, but hey, we're all human. By imperfecting her people she has perfected the novel, and I'm so thankful I've had the privilege to read such a piece of art. This book forever remains with me; it's a part of me.

I read what the self-proclaimed "immature" reader wrote, and I beg to differ. I love this book not because I'm supposed to, but because I just do. The austerity of the language, which you term "dull", is what sets the whole tone for such a troubling work. I doubt that Bronte set out to write a classic romance; I believe she was denouncing the sins of her characters. This novel is multi-faceted with its never-ending parallels: two houses (Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange), two love stories, two heroes, two heroines, two narrators, etc. The inexplicable love that two heartless people like Heathcliff and Catherine share is fascinating to say the least. When Catherine cries out, "Nelly, I AM Heathcliff," I'm sure many a girl's heart has thudded in her chest. This book sweeps you away to a place and time far removed from us and gives us a view into a harsh and distant world. You don't have to like the book. But don't be so dumb or immature as to assume that no else does either. The longer you study literature, the more you'll see that some books have passed the test of time, because, well, they're just that damn good.