Cooking for the Week : Leisurely Weekend Cooking for Easy WeekDAY Meals by Diane Morgan, et al

This is one of the better cookbooks I have seen. The book is well written, the recipes are clear and easy to follow, not to mention delicious.

I recommend this book to anyone who has asked themselves what to do with leftovers or said that there is nothing in the house to eat.

This book will get you thinking in a new, better, way about menu planning.

My wife and I recently purchased this book with the hopes of being able to plan ahead for the week with a gourmet twist. This book has exceeded our expectations in every way possible. The meals are not only fun to prepare, but have gotten rave reviews with everyone we have shared them with. The book contains a broad selection of menus with varied meats as the theme. This versatility has really kept us trying each set of meals. We have currently tried the first two weeks and are excited about the remaining eleven. The chocolate cheesecake for week one is outstanding. If you like cheesecake, this recipe alone is worth the price of the book. The pepper crusted tuna with grilled asparagus and grilled potatoes will keep you coming back for more. If you are a person who enjoys cooking good food, but also enjoys a very busy and active life, then this book is for you. Enjoy and bon apetite.

This is a great cookbook for busy people who like to eat delicious, healthy, creative meals. The recipes are easy to follow, with short ingredient lists. The preparation is simple but elegant. And the main idea behind this book, that you can "cook big" on the weekend and still not be doomed to eat exactly the same thing as leftovers for the rest of the week, is a lifesaver for me. The pictures are beautiful and the layout is easy to read. My only concern is that the binding will not hold up to years of use in the kitchen. I checked this book out of the library and liked it so much that I am now buying a copy.

Horwitz made Morgan's trek through Ohio come alive; a fine contribution to the literature for which he should be justly proud.

My son came to the house to assist me in some latent yard clean-up; last vestiges of the April 9th tornado. He opened the book, was transfixed and never found time to help his father. Testimony to the book's captivation.

Mr. Horwitz has crafted a superb account of the South's only significant incursion of the western war into the North. Not only does his book fill a void in the literature of Civil War Military history, his book is a fascinating depiction of the times. It conveys how people felt, acted, and thought during our nation's greatest conflict. This book is compelling and insightful reading about General Morgan, his officers,principal antagonists,soldiers, and civilians. Mr. Horwitz is to be commended.

The book is a classic example of narrative, or romantic, historical writing, with the sense of immersion in the period, of immediacy, that is so refreshing in an age of hype, political correctness, cant, and bad writing. Horwitz is certainly in good company; two landmark historians, Gibbon and Parkman, share his style.

This book is a must read for those appreciating the beauty of the written word. Seth Morgan used his sense of language and clever vocabulary to create a stunning look at the underbelly of life. Seth doesn't gloss over the street scene but rather he makes it human with his own humor and observations.

This is a terrific book. Get it.

The sad passing of Seth Morgan so early in his career as an author has caused Homeboy to be forgotten for the being such a literary gem.

It's a loss for us all that we'll never know just what Seth could have done in future works had he lived on but we do have Homeboy. Read it, you'll love it.

This book, along with A Confederacy of Dunces and Mysterious Skin, is at the top of my list of late 20th century American novels. I love the way Morgan riffs on all our preconceptions about life on the street and the down-and-outs who inhabit that netherworld. I fell in love with his raw, twisted, soaring, trembling, searching characters. His genius has him creating a way-way-way cool language which gives that world a shiny, slick-stained life of its own. At the same time he imbues all his homeboys and girls with a shocking humanity... shocking only because most of us never recognize that humanity when we pass these fringe-dwellers on the street. This is a book which challenges the reader to actually believe that, no matter how much our personal histories, predilections, addictions, and traumas set us apart from each other, our basic need for love and acceptance binds us together in a much deeper, powerful way. Oh, and the wild-eyed plot kicks butt, too - climb on board and take the ride!

If you don't mind spending a few heart-pounding hours stuck inside the filth and sewage of the lower end of Northern California's food chain, then you are sure to be rewarded when you read this unforgettable portrait of a cast of lowlifes. Consistently "used, and abused, served like hell," (Grandmaster Flash's words, not Seth Morgan's) the characters in this work, from a junkie strip club barker to a overpierced hooker, from the stereotypical cop with a mission to the snuff-film making drug-dealing fat man, bring to life a world most people (including me) never see. For all I know it doesn't even exist, but Seth Morgan makes it seem as if it does. Not only does the plot sizzle but Morgan's use of language adds something new to the literary world. Pick this book up if you can find it and you'll be sucked into the fastest moving story this side of Morgan's own biography.

I agree, this was a book that kept me on edge. The historical content was excellent, and the story line kept the book all too real, to the point that I felt geniune angre and heart ache through many portions of the book. I too would very much like to continue the story, and I am quite anxious for the next bit of history! As I told everyone about this book, it feeds my passion and stirs a hunger!

In this sequel to her powerful novel, 1916, Morgan Llywelyn revisits the Irish struggle for independence. Although Ned Halloran, the main character in 1916, continues to be an important character in this book, this is the story of the events of 1916-1922 as seen through the eyes of Ned's friend, journalist Henry Mooney. Via a journalist's eyes the reader is treated to a very personal view of the events in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising and Ireland's struggle for independence.

As a journalist, Henry is privy to a lot of private information - some he isn't even able to print. In 1921 the events become more than just dates and places and the people involved more than just names. They become very real to the reader as Henry finds himself smack dab in the middle of much of the action. His friendship with Michael Collins is at the forefront of the story, but as Henry tries his best to remain neutral after the treaty is signed, it is clear it is going to be very difficult for him to do so.

There's romance for Henry as well. He falls for widow Ella Rutledge, an Irish native of English ancestry, a protestant whose family allegiance lies with the British. Will he ever find true happiness with the beautiful, intelligent young woman when her family feels like they do?

I was surprised to see that Llywelyn used Henry as the protagonist instead of Ned, but I applaud her for doing this as in so doing she was able to give a more objective point of view - something that might appear very difficult to do.

Even though the reader may be aware of many of the historical events, he/she is still stunned at the brutality and the atrocities of war in a story which it is difficult to know which side to sympathize with as horrible, unspeakable acts of brutality were carried out by both sides. It becomes clear it isn't as simple as Catholics vs. Protestants.

By the time the reader finishes these two novels (1916 and 1921) they are certain to have a better understanding of today's Irish "Troubles" -- although understanding doesn't mean condoning the violence.

One can only hope that Llywelyn is planning to continue this series as has done such a spectacular job and as Henry tells Ned, "History tells what happened; literature tells what it felt like."

In 1921 the author achieves the highest spiritual level of the ancient celtic trade of the Bard/Shanachie. Her passion in storytelling for such a serious subject and easily the most important era and turning point in Irish History and Politics in no way prevents her from telling every side of the story.

From the King of England's speech in the North of Ireland at that time to how the democratic will of American Congress in relation to subject of Irish Freedom being ignored in the interest's of international relations at the meeting of The League of Nations.

All these historical facts are firmly embodying a fictional story of romance, passion, pride, determination and the universally and purely human struggle for freedom. This combination of fiction and unrelentlessly well researched facts spins a yarn that would be fit for a High King at the Halls of Tara.

The events all take place around the Life of a Journalists who has the integrity and is man enough to put his own feelings aside to report fairly and honestly his assingments to his employer's who own the papers he writes for. This in itself serves as a micrcosm for the way in which the overall story is told. A must read for sure. Also a much needed refreshing look on such a sensitve subject that is so full of conflict.

I was introduced to Therese and Carol, the two protaganists in Highsmith's lesbian romance The Price of Salt, my Sophomore year of college in a Gay and Lesbian Lit. Class. The professor told the class she had picked the book becuase it was well written and it presented an interesting twist to a gay love story, no one dies or goes straight at the end(imagine that). This alone is not neccesarily compelling enough to get someone to read Salt, after all, today's gay and lesbian love stories often end in positive and fulfilled ways. But for Highsmith's Salt, written in the 1950s, this was a stretch. The reader will enjoy the subtleness of the prose and the indepth look at the confusion and chaos that can occur when two women come together and realize their mutual attraction and then love for each other. In addition, the novel is a dynamic look at 1950s America as the characters adventure out of New York and off into the Great American Wide Open. I encourage gay and straight readers to venture forth with Therese and Carol. Salt allows a beautiful look into the world of finding one's soul mate and falling in love. Becuase, above all, Highsmith has written a love story, not just a lesbian work of fiction.

Although this book was first published in the early 1950's the majority of issues that both Therese and Carol confront are still applicable today. Sure, times have changed and we all want to believe that within the past five decades we, as a society, have become more enlightened about homosexuality but unfortunately there is still more room for improvement.

"The Price of Salt" is a moving story about the developing love between Therese and Carol that heightens during a road trip through America. What I was impressed with most was how the author paid little attention to the love scenes and rather focused on the emotions and desires that they shared with each other. Let's face it, most lesbian love scenes in books are less than fulfilling or satisfying and frequently are better left off the manuscript entirely. Also, there was no mention of the word "lesbian" throughout the entire book which is probably accountable to the time period it was written but nonetheless notable and admirable.

Overall, this book is a good read and I would recommend it to others.

I picked up the British edition of The Price of Salt (it's titled 'Carol' over here) purely on the strength of Patricia Highsmith's reputation; I hadn't bothered to read the back cover to see that was a (gasp!) story of lesbians. Having purchased the book I decided to read it despite my ambivalence to the subject matter. Well, I feel delighted to have read such a compact, moving story of human emotion. The Price of Salt, while greatly different from her other works, is perhaps Patricia Highsmith's best achievement. It certainly is her most personal and emotional.

The Price of Salt is a story of a young woman, Therese, who is captivated at first sight by Carol, an older married woman. Not having realised any lesbian feelings before, Therese is completely stunned by this sudden rush of emotion. Happily, both women do 'connect' and develop a relationship. Unhappily, Carol exacts a very heavy personal price (..no spoilers here) for pursuing this lesbian relationship. While the unhappy (ie, due to homophobia) element of The Price of Salt is perhaps somewhat unlikely to happen today (the book was written in the early 1950s), one can only feel compassion for Carol and Therese.

Highsmith stresses the emotional elements of the relationship, not the sexual elements. So if filmed The Price of Salt would be rated PG. This should make the book appealing to a wider (straight and/or male) audience. It could serve as an excellent primer on homosexual relationships for parents/friends of gays who "don't quite get it". However young gays, especially lesbians, might find the lack of sexual references to be off-putting. That is, it might make the book seem watered-down or unrealistic (remember the film 'Philidelphia' where we only see gay men kissing?). But one must remember if Highsmith had chosen to make The Price of Salt a bit racier the book would not have been published.

Bottom line: kudos to Ms. Highsmith. And gentlemen, give this book a chance .. ok?

I read the original book when it was first published in '90. I also had the pleasure of being a collegue of Ms. vandevanter when she was living and working in CA. When I knew her, I considererd her rude, brash, undiciplined, crazy,contemptuous of the "RULES." Words such as hero, post traumatic stress disorder, or combat nurses were not in the popular media in the mid seventies. There were no heros, just people who did not fit into neat civilian boxes. Ms. Vandervanter's book was about the first nurses story published. It laid bare how torn a soul becomes when subjected to the daily horrors of war and then the hate of your own countrymen on return. It then chronicals how many years it takes to rebuild-a process I'm sure was helped my this book. Ten years have gone by, millions of words have been written about Viet Nam but this is still the first and the classic book about nurses in combat. I look forward to rereading this book and have two Viet Nam era nurses waiting to read it. Keep this book in print as reqired reading about the "glory"of war.

October 4, 1999 I read this book in my senior year of high school and i've recently visited the women's memorial in D.C. and i'm telling you the emotions that i felt were none like i've felt reading Home Before morning. I feel as if I was right there with Lynda Van Devanter and visiting that memorial was such a great accomplishment for me. I really admire you gals. no one could do what you have done!!

I read this book close to 10 years ago in a college history class. It was on a list of choices and I picked it because it was the only book about the experience of a woman in wartime. I'm glad I did, because the book still ranks in my mind as one of the most interesting points of view of the Vietnam experience in print. There are hundreds--maybe thousands--of books about the memories and heroic deeds of the male soldiers in various wars, but what about the women who had to put them back together, nurse them back to health, and often send them back to the front to be wounded again? Since reading Home Before Morning I actively seek out the stories of the doctors, nurses and other "support" personnel involved in military actions.

I read so many books that I often don't remember the names of authors or even the titles of the books, but this one has stayed with me. That is a testament to the writing ability of Van Devanter and the emotional pull of her story. I'd recommend this book to anyone considering a career in the military, medical field, or anyone interested in women's history. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes.

Elaine Morgan, the successful Welsh screenwriter, has made a second career out of defending the Aquatic Ape Theory, first proposed by Sir Alister Hardy in the early sixties. Sadly, "The Scars of Evolution/What Our Bodies Tell Us About Human Origins" does not have many of the qualities that made her earlier books, "The Descent Of Woman" and "The Aquatic Ape" so much fun to read.

"The Scars of Evolution" continues the ongoing saga of the Aquatic Ape Theory, which hypothesizes that our proto-human ancestors spent a significant period of time in an aquatic or semi-aquatic environment. The evidence in favor of this theory is mostly indirect, but it is appealing, unless you are a paleontologist with a career invested in more traditional explanations (Danny Yee's interviews are more detailed, and a running debate is on one of the Usenet groups).

Morgan, who is a delightful writer, seems to be devoted to sounding more scientific in this book, and the delight and fire shown in her two previous books on the subject is subdued. It's a shame, and also a mistake. She isn't a scientist (although she's amazingly well-read), and will never attain credibility in the hidebound world of paleoanthropology, so what she loses in readability she is unlikely to recover in advancing her cause. If you haven't been exposed to this semi-obscure controversy over human origins, "The Scars of Evolution" will give you the gist of it--but if you want to enjoy the experience, start with "The Descent of Woman".

Elaine Morgan, the successful Welsh screenwriter, has made a second career out of defending the Aquatic Ape Theory, first proposed by Sir Alister Hardy in the early sixties. Sadly, "The Scars of Evolution/What Our Bodies Tell Us About Human Origins" does not have many of the qualities that made her earlier books, "The Descent Of Woman" and "The Aquatic Ape" so much fun to read. "The Scars of Evolution" continues the ongoing saga of the Aquatic Ape Theory, which hypothesizes that our proto-human ancestors spent a significant period of time in an aquatic or semi-aquatic environment. The evidence in favor of this theory is mostly indirect, but it is appealing, unless you are a paleontologist with a career invested in more traditional explanations (Danny Yee's interviews are more detailed, and a running debate is on one of the Usenet groups). Morgan, who is a delightful writer, seems to be devoted to sounding more scientific in this book, and the delight and fire shown in her two previous books on the subject is subdued. It's a shame, and also a mistake. She isn't a scientist (although she's amazingly well-read), and will never attain credibility in the hidebound world of paleoanthropology, so what she loses in readability she is unlikely to recover in advancing her cause. If you haven't been exposed to this semi-obscure controversy over human origins, "The Scars of Evolution" will give you the gist of it--but if you want to enjoy the experience, start with "The Descent of Woman".

Many years ago I read Elaine Morgan's Descent of Woman and was surprised at its quality and amused at her parody of the speculations by the traditional anthropologists, as found in the best sellers by Morris, Audry, and Lorenz, on the origins of us humans as humans. The anthropologists had seemed unimaginative and not altogether logical in their speculations on the environment and behavior of our immediate predecessors-- in a word, they seemed klutzy. Now I read Scars and realize that Ms. Morgan was not doing a parody but sincerely developing an alternative explanation centered on the Aquatic Ape Theory. This more mature work has facts that will grab you and ideas that will stick with you. Ms. Morgan is a writer and the book is written for all of us, so it reads well. But what makes this an outstanding book are two things: 1.She systematically puts together many facts and ideas, some highly speculative, some inarguably true, some striking, some pedestrian, into a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts and therefore logically dificult and perhaps impossible to refute. 2.She systematically addresses each alternative argument and each argument that has been used to attack her ideas and counters it. Do not be misled; this slight, easy to read book by a non-professional anthropologist is important. The anthropologists in this area have a history of internal strife marked by dogmatism and contentiousness. You can bet they react in this way toward Ms. Morgan, although they prefer to ignore her, a non-professional anthropolgist. But after Scars they may not be successful, and anything you can do-- such as asking questions of anthropologists and questioning the answers you get-- will be a plus. For her ideas deserve full and careful consideration and a scientific search for evidence that will support or abolish them.

Island Soul will truly touch your soul. When forced to move to Norway, this American author from Texas undertook the huge challenge of learning the Norwegian language in an attempt to understand the culture and people of her new land. She writes of her neighbors, the merchants, the children, the fishermen, as well as the new who have emigrated to Norway from many parts of the world. Her anecdotes and characterizations are laced with humor, compassion and great insight. Her descriptions of her new surroundings are vivid and beautiful. Patti Jones Morgan is a master of the metaphor, as her essays are crafted with beauty and heart.

I have a feeling that many people who read "Island Soul" would like to move to Karmoy, the peaceful little island off the coast of Norway which, with its people, is the star of this story.

Maybe that's a post-9/11 reaction. But in the midst of all that's going on around us, Karmoy seems like the Shangri-La of the 21st century.

Patti Jones Morgan has a nice eye in spotting the idiosyncracies, the lifestyles, the joys and the trials which make up the culture of the people of Karmoy, and she has a nice style in relating them. And she does it with a quiet but funny sense of humor, which befits both the island and her book.

And friend, if you've ever traveled overseas for any length of time, as I have, you'll appreciate her struggles as she works ever so hard to master the Norwegian language. Uff-da, as the Norwegians say.

The book is worth a read, maybe on a rainy day over a cup of coffee. After all, Patti writes accurately enough, "Sometimes a mere hot cup of coffee indoors out of the rain tastes like nectar." And the book will add flavor to the coffee.

One more thought: Patti wrote the book in 2000. She would have no way of knowing the eerie feeling she generates when she tells of a seemingly innocuous incident in the Oslo airport when she was patted down during a routine search for drugs. "My heart skipped a beat," she writes, "as I visualized the agent's reaction if she found my little plastic bag of white powder."

In view of the news today, again I say, "Uff-da."

But I also say hooray to Patti for coming up with an interesting and insightful book about the people of and the peaceful place called Karmoy.

Island Soul: A Memoir of Norway, by Patti Jones Morgan, is the delightful and poignant story of one woman's expatriate love affair with her host country. Relocating from Houston, Texas to Norway, the book evokes the phases of the transition experience and describes both the challenges of culture shock and the joys of cultural learning. Filled with insights for anyone relocating internationally, the book speaks especially to the importance of language study, to the role of animals and children as cultural bridges, and, most importantly, to the possibility of new relationships when hearts remain open. I recommend this book highly.

I bought this at a used book store, no where did it indicate that there was a sequel, until the last chapter. Then I went out to find the sequel only to find it was never published (last chapter said "Possession, coming in 1997.") Don't bother reading it, without the sequel available. The heroine is in danger, the antagonist is in the middle of her evil plot, end of story, no sequel . . . no point in reading.

this book was great! in fact, i wouldn't buy another book until the second one came out. i've been looking for possession(the sequel) for months now. but i can't seem to find it anywhere ... it said that it was coming out in june of 97, but none of the book stores seem to have it. if anyone knows where i can find possession, *please* tell me. don't leave me hanging like this book has. to this day, i still haven't read another book.

This was a great book. I love to read and this was a book that I found difficult to put down once I started it. Unfortunately, I was not aware there would be a sequel that I would be forced to wait for. Since reading this book, I have faithfully searched bookstore after bookstore searching for Possession. My advice to anyone thinking of buying/reading this book is this: Don't read Obssession until you get your hands on a copy of Possession. Otherwise you'll be putting yourself through unnecessary torture.