Of the many things that shape our lives, perhaps few are more important to the budding writer than the books he or she reads. "Books of Passage" takes us into the hearts and lives of twenty-seven of North Carolina's most beloved writers. From Hurlbut's Bible to the Autobiography of Malcom X, these authors share a moment and a book that transformed their lives and set their feet on a different path. Reading this book is as comfortable as settling down on the sofa for a chat with a friend. Add a mug of hot chocolate and you're in for a heavenly evening! -Sandra S. Provenzano

I bought this book because I understood that a few of my ancestors were quoted in it; as a genealogist, I look for every mention of my ancestors possible! But this book brought home the staggering (to me, I never said I was smart) fact that not all conflict between settlers and Native Americans took place on the plains. Many, many conflicts took place right here in the midwest, in Ohio, Michigan, etc. And this book provides an excellent description of the people and events of this period of settlement. It adds a dimension to my research, and is an fascinating study.

Interesting stories of life as it was before, during & after the war. Surprising these men could remember all the details in the book!

Perkins begins the book with some backround bird and woodworking information that will be useful for the beginner. He then gets into plans for 19 houses and 7 feeders.

Each project includes color photos of the completed house or feeder - these are not just the figments of a writer's imagination. There are detailed, measured, exploded color drawings of each house. His designs include several different methods of access for cleaning out the houses after each nesting period. I particularly like the "slide" designs - no tools or dropped screws to worry about.

Some of these houses are so pretty, I don't know if I would want to put them out in the yard. I suppose with a little imagination, you could scale his designs to meet the needs of a variety of species. He has a breif, one page chart showing entrance sizes for some birds. He also show "slot" as well as round entrance options on some of his designs. I still keep referring back to Scott D. Campbell's "The Complete Book of Birdhouse Construction for Woodworkers" as a more complete technical reference. (See that review on Amazon.)

Overall, this is a very good book on birdhouses, very inspirational for the imaginative bird "landlord." This book is profusely illustrated with color photos and drawings; it could be a "coffee table" book if you don't get it filled with sawdust!

Great guidlines for school design. Photos, descriptions, methods and standards all in one easy-to-use volume. How convienient! Go Hughes! Perkins and Kliment have done it again! Greatness!

"Building Up Zion's Walls by James Perkins is a great book for pastors and parishoners in churches looking to develop ministries committed to uplifting the black family. It is targeted to the African American church and community. However, I believe it is an effective tool for those serving or worshiping in cross-racial appointments as well. The book attracted my interest for two main reasons. First, it isn't just reflective; it provides a plan for the betterment of individuals. Second, it incorporates the collective input of so many dynamic leaders in the church today. Each chapter highlights a program taking place within experienced congregations and communities that have reputations for growing and developing ministry. I would highly recommend this book to anyone committed to strenghtening and enhancing the wonderful blessing of African American community life."
-reviewed by Rev. Joseph Daniels, pastor of Emory United Methodist Church, Washington, D.C. in UM Connection, March 15, 2000

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Margarette Perkins. It was very informative and prophetic.

In lieu of the economic climate of today, like the Enron downsizing, unethical mergers, people losing their 401K plans, pension plans going bust, and social security being tapped into by the federal government, this book was written way ahead of its time in the sense that these things are happening now. Not a day go by that you don't hear about corporate corruption with regard to employees' savings and investment plans.

One chapter that was very phophetic to me was Chapter 7 which is titled, "Reasons Not to Trust Man." From what I can see, this book was published in 1998, but look at what is going on with a company such as ENRON. And, this is 2002.

The author warned of these kinds of events years ago. As stated by Ms. Perkins, today we can no longer put our trust in the system. Our trust must be put in God and in ourselves to plan for our own financial future.

A definite must read for any individual seeking direction for their life regarding their finances!!!

This was a very readable book, that I have just completed. I read about eighty percent of it, only skipping or skimmimg a few sections. Admittedly, this would not make a good introductory book, and probably not even a good second book, on the period, but if you are interested in the period and have a working knowledge of it, I am sure you will find much of interest. The book begins with an evocative 150 pages or so of narrative historical overview, with the latest interpretations of chronology. Some of this material is then covered in a more thematic way, and also in an area-by-area manner, later in the book. There are also many sections on various social aspects. One such that I gained much from was the one on education. Interestingly, there was no separate section on women. The bibliography is 100 pages long, so the reading matter itself is about 1000 pages. The book was worth the money to me.

I liked this book because Cassie begins to think about politics--something most teenagers don't think about often. Plus there is adventure and music and real life-situations that make Cassie think.

This slender casebook of an academic search represents the first authoritative text of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wall-Paper since it was originally published in 1892. It includes book reviews and excerpts of literary and social commentaries that reflect the story's critical reception; it publishes lists of editorial emendations and variants of the story in important editions since 1892 and it gives a listing of textual sources for more than one hundred reprintings of the story in anthologies and textbooks.

The enterprise, itself, deserves recognition for its prodigious and painstaking scholarship and meticulous editing. A product of an undergraduate course on scholarly editing, Julie Bates Dock gave her class a "simple collation exercise" on Gilman's The Yellow Wall-Paper. Students and teacher alike became more and more enthused as they searched for relationships among various editions of the story. This enthusiasm resulted in a collaborative publication by Julie Bates Dock and three of her students.

In a chapter entitled The Legend of The Yellow Wall-Paper, Dock not only recounts how the story has become one of literature's perennial bestsellers, but also warn us that "in its twenty-five-year odyssey of rediscovery by literary critics...the story has picked up along the way an assortment of blemishes and distortions, from textual anomalies to skewed accounts of its publication history to misinformation about its contemporary reception." This should be enough to make any academic want to research its history.

The evidence of casual distortions that change the import of original texts as shown in the present case emphasizes the importance of textual criticism and traditional modes of criticism. Dock says, "...the use of documents is affected by critical trends and by critics' biases and expectations...The feminist critics of the early 1970s, intent on establishing women authors in the American literary canon, had a stake in portraying the story as a victimized piece of literature. The notion that Gilman suffered condemnation from editors and readers outside the story tidily echoed the narrator's victimization within the story." Dock then goes on to cite two examples where major feminist critics came to unexamined and hasty conclusions about the publication of the story.

Dock also provides evidence to argue that omission of a few words distorts Gilman's focus. For example, the words, "in marriage," in the sentence, "John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that (in marriage)." Gilman was against the institution of marriage, but not necessarily against men in general!

Legends that Gilman had to struggle to get her story published, that most readers thought of it as a "ghost story," that it received an especially distasteful reception from the male medical community are also put to rest, as evidence simply does not support these beliefs.

Dock also points out discrepancies in Gioman's own accounts as well, such as her inaccurate and varying dates and titles as well as her claim that Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, her own physician, altered his treatment of neurasthenia after reading The Yellow Wall-Paper. This is, as Dock points out, a case of "he says/she says conundrums."

The book is wonderfully embellished with photographs of Charlotte Perkins Stetson, W.D. Howells, Horace E. Scudder and Dr. Silas Weir Mitchell, as well as with other visuals.

The book also cites interesting excerpts from Gilman's autobiography, The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Correspondence. It explains or compiles painstaking commentaries on textual matters, selection of copy, publication history, authorial practice and preference, editorial emendations and many other publication matters as well as reviews of the story which appeared in various magazines. The Appendix provides a history of the printing of The Yellow Wall-Paper from 1892 until 1997.

This is a scholarly book, to be sure, but it is one that is also extremely interesting. In addition to learning the history of The Yellow Wall-Paper, we also learn much about Gilman's motivations, her aesthetics of writing and her own views on both marriage and men.