It's real hard to actually say whether a particular Wodehousian novel is better than any other, but this one really takes the cake (and eats it too!) A marvellous story of the mayhem, chaos and utter confusion wreaked by the suave, amiable Psmith, this book leaves you gasping for more (even if you don't smoke a gasper). For Wodehousian fans, if you haven't read this one, well, what on earth have you been doing all these years!?! And for people who have no idea who or what or when a Wodehouse is, there's no better place to start than this bundle of craziness.

PSMITH! The darker side of Wodehouse which is, if anything, even more hilarious than the sunny side of the street. Psmith (said to be modeled after Rupert D'Oly Carte who was known to Wodehouse in their earliest years) has a ginger beer wire monocle, a silent "P" in his name, an optimistic and energetic approach to life, including practical socialism (what's yours is mine) and big broad flexible outlook as well as ears that stick out like windmills. One of the great Wodehouse lines that comes to mind often is from this book. Psmith explains to the long-suffering narrator friend that the most recent creditor seeking vengeance after yet another great Psmithian disaster will be unlikely to find him, since Psmith gave him a false name. When the narrator, aghast, asks why, Psmith insouciantly explains, "Ordinary business precaution". If you've loved Bertie and Jeeves, meet Psmith! I wish Mr. Wodehouse had steered him in the direction of the Wooster household just so we could see just how elaborate a scrape he could draw Bertie into, and how Jeeves would have prestidigitated his way out of it

Written at the request of his daughter Leonora, this is the best and most popular book by the prolific P.G. Wodehouse. Psmith was his greatest creation, and if you've read the other three Psmith books first (and you should), it's very touching and funny to see him fall in love and make the ultimate sacrifice: masquerading as a sensitive poet and a jewel thief all at once. Highly recommended.

This is the first book I've read in E.F. Benson's "Lucia" series, and it is fun-filled ride indeed. For Benson novices, Lucia Lucas is a middle aged, recently widowed (in this novel), perfectly nice upper middle class woman who just happens to have the mind of Machavelli. Missing her obvious calling for World Domination, she is instead content to rule the social life of her small English village with an iron fist. As "Mapp and Lucia" begins however, Lucia has long since deposed any serious threat to her social dominance in her immediate vicinity, and decides fresher pastures are in order. She packs up her things (including , of course, best friend and right-hand-man Georgie) and moves to Tilling, where she expects she will be made society Queen in no time flat. Unfortunately for Lucia, Tilling already has a Queen, one Elizabeth Mapp, and she has no intention of relinquishing her crown.

The scene is thus set for a true Battle Royal, only in Tilling the battelfields are luncheons and dinner parties, and the weapons fruit gardens and lobster recipes. The results are very very funny, as the genteel of Tilling spend a breathless year thoroughly enjoying each swipe, snub and put down. The hilarious climax has our heroines floating out to sea on an overturned kitchen table, with Lucia's last audible words promising delicious gossip just as soon as she gets out of her current mess.

Benson draws his characters exquisitely well, I found myself flat out liking her. She is an Englishwomen of the 1930's, past her prime but still youthful, who just happens to be blessed (cursed?) with the personality of an Alpha Male. The resulting battle of wits with the formidable Mapp is fascinating; Mapp is clearly not her intellectual equal but through a mixture of deviousness and and cunning manages to pull the carpet from underneath Lucia's carefully laid plans time and again. The supporting characters are equally well written, with best friend Georgie and Mapp's crony Diva especially amusing.

All in all, a funny, entertaining and biting satire that is well worth reading whether you are already a Lucia fan or are picking up a Benson novel for the first time. Highly recommended!

This is the highlight of the series, pitting Lucia against her less able, but equally ruthless counterpart, Elizabeth Mapp - two ladies who both consider themselves social queens of the village of Tilling. The ensuing war includes Fete's garden parties dinner parties and climaxes with the crafty Miss Mapp attempting to steal the recipe for Lobster ala Reisholme and being caught by Lucia, they are then caught in a flood and whisked out to sea on a kitchen table. Oh my!

I cannot say enough about this adaptation. Prunella Scales produces the voices excellently. For those who do not know Lucia and Mapp - They are Elizabeth mapp and Emmeline Lucas - two ladies whom both consider themselves social queens of the village of Tilling. The ensuing war includes Fete's garden parties dinner parties and climaxes with the crafty Miss mapp attempting to steal the recipe for Lobster ala Reisholme and being caught by Lucia, they are then caught in a flood and whisked out to sea on a kitchen table - it's hilarious when listened to. The conflicts between these two are scarier than Snipes and Stallone in full flow.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone with Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive Illness) or anyone who loves them. Though targeted at medical professionals, most of the information presented is well within the grasp of an intelligent and motivated layperson. I'm not a doctor of any sort, but I *do* have Bipolar Disorder, and take an active interest and role in my own health-care... this is a terrific book, and it summarizes what is known about the causes, treatment, and management of this disorder as of about 1990. (Hopefully, there will be an update soon!)

This book is everything you need to know about manic-depressive illness that your doctor doesn't have time to tell you. Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison has a passion for the subject and the knowledge to back it up.

As and individual afflicted with manic-depressive illness, I have read almost every book Jamison and others have published on Manic-Depressive Illness and can honestly say that if it has her name as author, it is an excellent resource on manic-depressive illness. She is thorough and concise yet easy to understand.

This book has it all. Everything you want to know, technically, about manic-depressive illness is in this book. For a personal account, "An Unquiet Mind" is a must, also written by Dr. Kay Jamison Redfield. She is an expert on the topic personally and professionally. What a wonderfully sensative combination.

Thanks again Kay!

This is THE classic text about manic-depressive illness. However, I would not recommend buying it, as it is 10 years old and much has happened in our understanding of the illness in the past decade. Save money; borrow it from the library.

Instead, I recommend Dr. Francis Mondimore's "Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families", which is up-to-date, thorough, full of practical advice, and written for laypeople; and any of Kay Redfield Jamison's books, especially "An Unquiet Mind."

I have bipolar II and both family members and I have found Dr. Mondimore's book to be VERY helpful.

Charlotte Bronte was the productive sister. Emily Bronte graced us with one powerful, brillient masterpiece. What about Anne, the forgotton Bronte sister? The Tenant of Wildfell Hall proves Anne Bronte has no trouble matching her sisters in talent. Brilliently executed, this novel engrosses your mind, leaving it immune to distractions.

This novel begins through the eyes of an English countryman, Mr. Markham, and continues switching to the viewpoint of Helen, a mysterious newcomer to Mr. Markham's small gossip-ridden community, and then back to Mr. Markham. The entire book is in first-person narrative- an excellent oppertunity for Bronte to flex her descriptive muscles. I found the characters to be well-developed and symbolic, especially Arthur Huntingdon. At first we are led to despise him, even wish for his death, yet as the story unfolds we pity him, even understand why Helen once loved him.

Bronte's message is clear- society torments women. This book is bold in it's suggestions, considering it was created in 19th century England. I suggest you buy it; it is a book to read more than once

'The Tenant of Wildfell Hall' is written by the least remembered Bronte sister. Many people at the time, including her sister - Charlotte, thought that this book tackled inappropriate subject matter, but I disagree. It is a passionate book about a woman's struggle to free herself and her son from her dissolute husband. She flees to a broken down mansion where she attracts the attention of a young farmer. In order to clear the gossip surrounding her dwelling in Wildfell Hall, she offers him her diary to read, which takes up the main part of the narrative. This book is extremely readable and deserves much more attention than it actually receives. The female protagonist is a likeable woman, whose plight obtains sympathy with the reader. It has been described as a feminist book, before its time and when Helen Huntingdon shut the door on her husband it 'resounded throughout the whole of England'.

Anne is the Bronte we never read in school and most of us don't read afterwards, which is a big loss for those who don't, because she's at least as talented as her two older sisters. "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" can hold its own against "Jane Eyre" or "Wuthering Heights" any day in the week, but it was panned in its own time, in large part because of its "unladylike" topic of alcoholism. Anne Bronte knew alcoholism first hand through her brother Bramwell who drank himself to death, and her revulsion of the alcoholic personality is central to this book. The heroine of "Tenant", Helen Graham, is a headstrong and independent young woman, who marries Arthur Huntington against the advice of her family. She is one of those who loves not wisely but too well, because Arthur, a selfish and irresponsible womanizer, cares about nothing but satisfying his own wishes and desires. Helen wants to help Arthur turn his life around, which Arthur couldn't care less about, and his drinking and adultery right under her nose eventually repels her to the point where she despises him as much as she once loved him. It is only when she sees him attempting to influence her young son to become a chip off the old block, that she realizes her responsibility as a mother to save her son from his father trumps her duty as a wife to stand by her husband. With the help of her brother, she runs away with her son to the anonymity of life in a small village. Here she meets Gilbert Markham, who falls in love with her, but realizes that their relationship has no future as long as her husband is alive. Arthur's ultimate death from alcoholism not only frees Helen from an abusive and degrading marriage, it also leaves her free to find happiness with Gilbert. Anne Bronte pulled no punches in writing this book and that is probably what so perturbed readers of her own era; too bad for them, because they were unable to appreciate this book for what it is, one of the unrecognized classics of English literature.

This book is not only beautifully written and perfect for all ages, "The Princess and the Goblin" is also morally strong and uplifting. Children of either sex will be interested in it, with a loving and beautiful grandmother, a strong and intelligent young girl, and a young boy who is intent on protecting his loved ones and uncovering the evil goblin plot. I have read this countless times, and each time I discover something new. The sequel, "The Princess and Curdie," is also worth reading. I love this book!

So you love C.S. Lewis' Narnia Chronicles? There people who don't are few and far between. One of the biggest influences on C.S. Lewis was this man, George MacDonald (1824-1905). It was MacDonald's talent for telling fairy stories that inspired Lewis in writing his own. Like Lewis, MacDonald has a remarkable ability to tell a delightful and enchanting story for children, layered with strong Christian themes and imagery by means of allegory and symbols. 'The Princess and the Goblin' is one of his most beloved works for children, and an excellent introduction to his style and success.

'The Princess and the Goblin' features a heroine ' a princess called Irene ' and a hero ' a simple miner's son called Curdie. While working overtime in the mines to earn money to buy his mother a red petty-coat, Curdie chances upon the goblins who live in the mountain, and discovers that they are hatching an evil plot against the king and his palace. Meanwhile the princess makes a discovery of her own ' high in the castle she finds a wonderful old lady who is her great-great-grandmother. The problem is, nobody else knows of her grandmother, and nobody believes her. But the princess does believe, and it is by her faith in her grandmother and the magic thread that she receives from her, that she is able to rescue Curdie. Together they rescue the entire palace from disaster at the hands of the goblins.

In telling the story, MacDonald has an enchanting conversational style, wonderfully suitable for reading aloud to enraptured children ' an ability perfecting in telling stories to his own eleven children. But 'The Princess and the Goblin' is more than just a story. Before pursuing a literary career, MacDonald was a Congregationalist minister, and so integrates important underlying Christian themes. Believing in the great-great-grandmother despite the fact that many cannot see her, is a symbol of believing in God. MacDonald uses this to show how the Christian faith involves believing without seeing, and that not everyone has to 'see' something for it to be true. The grandmother's lamp and magic thread are the guides on which the princess must depend, much like the Word which is a lamp on our path. It may sound tacky, but it works.

Children are not likely to grasp the deeper underlying themes that MacDonald is working with. Nonetheless the story has a clear message for children. The clear conflict between the royal powers of light against the goblin powers of darkness is unmistakable. Moreover, the princess is presented as a model of virtue, and MacDonald frequently asserts the importance of moral virtues such as always telling the truth, keeping your word, and admitting your faults ' moral virtues that are equally important for princes and princesses of God's kingdom. Courage, honesty, grace, dignity and beauty are timeless ideals for children of all times to strive for. If you love Narnia, you're sure to like this one, and you'll find yourself quickly grabbing the sequel, 'The Princess and Curdie.' 'The Princess and the Goblin' was one of J.R.R. Tolkien's childhood favorites, highly regarded by C.S. Lewis, described by W.H. Auden as 'the only English children's book in the same class as the Alice books', and generally considered as a classic example of nineteenth century children's literary fairy tales. So if you haven't yet read this book, it's about time you did. With admirers such as Tolkien, Lewis and Auden, if you become a MacDonald's admirer you'll find yourself in good company!

I cant believe I haven't read this untill now, its such a great book! A princess lives in a castle all her life, never knowing of the great dangers that go on in the mountain. One day(being about 7 years old) she finds a stairway in her house that she has never seen and it leads her to her great, great grandmother. After she meets her grandmother she is shown the dangers of the goblins and meets a boy named Curdie who mines in the mountain with his father. Throughout the book Curdie and the princess have many encounters with the goblins. This is a great book I highly recommend it for readers of all ages.

I am not a native English speaker, so my vocabulary consists of what I learned in school (a long time ago), what I hear on movies/TV, and what I read. Books and films most often these days come from America, of course, so that is the version of English that I speak (albeit with an accent). Reading P.G. Wodehouse, this or any other book, shows that the English language is not confined to the transatlantic variant; it can be so much richer! Add to that the wonderful, sarcastic sense of humour the man had and you end up with a truly sensational reading experience. Of course, you do need to know a bit of the society of which he writes. It makes me wonder what youths in e.g. the U.S. today would think if they read this book.

I am still looking forward to many hours of delightful reading, as I have only read a few books yet. My own introduction to Bertie, Jeeves, and the others in fact came from the excellent British TV series starring Hugh Laurie (as Bertie) and Stephen Fry (as Jeeves). If you get the chance to see it, do so.

It's almost impossible to write funny about humor, and anyone who writes seriously about it is doomed to come off as a fuddy duddy. E.B. White, a funny writer himself, once said that analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog, in that the thing tends to die in the process and the results will be interesting only to the purely scientific mind. -Andrew Ferguson, Divine Comedy : P.G. Wodehouse's perfect pitch

Two things the critics generally agree on are that : (1) P. G. Wodehouse is one of the funniest writers in the English language; and, (2) it's almost impossible to explain why. Among the various authorities cited for the difficulty in analyzing humor are Evelyn Waugh and Sigmund Freud, themselves authors of hilarious fictions. Suffice it to say, and I mean this in the very best sense, the enjoyments of the Jeeves and Wooster stories are much the same as those of the great TV sitcoms. Wodehouse created these two great comic characters, surrounded them in each story with oddballs, plunked them all down in trying situations, and then had the inimitable Jeeves extract Bertie and his upper-class nitwit friends from their difficulties through various stratagems and diversions. Though Andrew Ferguson and others deny that there is any deeper meaning or political content to the stories, it is at least notable that the finest young gentlemen in all of England are hopelessly overmatched by life unless Jeeves steps in to save them. The resulting stories have a certain sameness to them--of course, just try watching ten episodes of Cheers in a row and see if it's still fresh and amusing in hour five--but read in moderation they are immensely enjoyable and their very familiarity becomes quite comforting.

GRADE : A+

Martin Jarvis' reading of Carry On, Jeeves runs circles around Jonathan Cecil's reading of anything (for more on Cecil, see Psmith: Journalist). He simply embodies the characters of Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, Biffy, Corky, and all the cast (albeit with the same typical attempt at an American accent).

Carry On, Jeeves contains eight of the ten stories available in the print version (the remaining two stories appear on My Man Jeeves), so completists will want that, but for pure enjoyment, you can't go wrong with this. Even the titles Wodehouse writes are funny, my favorite being "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy." They simply roll off the tongue.

The stories here include "Jeeves Takes Charge" (chronologically the first as it tells the story of Jeeves' entry into Bertie's life). The others, namely "The Artistic Career of Corky," "Clustering Round Young Bingo," "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" (about a young cousin of Bertie's who goes wild under his wing), and "Jeeves and the Hard-Boiled Egg" are all classics of the Wodehousian genre and show Jeeves at his problem-solving best.

This would easily appeal to the casual Wodehouse fan, and is perfect for long road trips or any other situation where a laugh is needed. Wodehouse exceeds all others in humor and, one assumes, will remain that way for centuries to come.

This being the first book I bought on the subject has proven to be an amazing learning aid. Though some of the descriptions could be a bit more, ummm descriptive the book is still very easy for even beginers to understand at most times.
I would have appreciated a few more pictures but the ones in the book do prove quite usefull.
The author refers to different parts of your hands, these instructions are very hard to decifer at times but with enough time you should be able to figure it out.
The tricks included at the end of the chapters are also a bit shallow compared to other "starter" tricks that I have found in other books.

However I can not stress enough if you want to get a book to start with this is the one, just don't expect it to be the only book you will be buying to learn the ins and outs of card magic.

Whatever you are, an advanced magician or just a beginner, this book was written for you, even if you know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about card magic. This is a rare kind of book, I mean, no matter how skilfull you are you'll be interested to read every word. For the beginner, you'll learn the correct way to execute sleights which will make you able to do tricks you never thought you'd be able to do. For the advanced magician, this book is a classic, reading it will enable you to correct possible mistakes you do when executing a sleight, improving your presentation. Simply excellent.

I'm ashamed to admit that this wasn't the first card trick book I ever bought. This book walks you through every amateur sleight of hand any card-magician-to-be could ever hope to learn with a bounty of helpful illustrations, along with very deep text. While some of it is a little difficult to wade through, it is well worth the effort. The tricks, with rare exception, are excellent, and the way in which they are taught is very user-friendly. Instead of teaching seven or eight sleights of hand at once, this book teaches you one, then a few tricks using that sleight. Then it teaches you another, and then some more tricks.

If you're just looking into card magic for the very first time, or are an advanced magician, this book will prove to be both fun and informative - a must have.

Some nine books into his Napoleonic series, Cornwell pauses here to return to the beginning of Sharpe's association with the 95th Rifles. In 1809 French forces were sweeping the British out of the Spain in a full retreat to Portugal. Sharpe is a Lieutenant, and a lowly quartermaster at that, but through a series of mishaps and skirmishes, he finds himself in command of the tattered remnants of a Rifle Company cut off from the main British army. These men, led by the indominitable Irishman Harper, are demoralized, distrustful of Sharpe, and waver on mutinousness. We see his first clumsy attempts at leading men, as he tries to get them to safety. Their momentary alliance with a Spanish Major who is escorting a mysterious strongbox only leads to more trouble as the combined forces are dogged by a unit of French Cavalry intent on capturing the box. Of course, over time, the contents of the box are revealed and a thrilling city battle is fought. We also see Sharpe's first awkward falling in love, with the niece of some British missionaries (who provide some of the most comic moments in the entire series). It's a good prequel to Sharpe's adventures in the Peninsular Wars, and while it makes a logical place for newcomers to start the series, it might actually be more fun for those who have already gotten to know Sharpe and Harper.

Firstly this is an exellent book like all of the others in the sharpe series.It is hard to believe ,at the start ,that the Chosen men will one day respect and like sharpe,especially harper who really gets off on the wrong foot with sharpe,but will one day be sharpes best friend.sharpes objective is to find the armys missing banker,and is put under the command of major dunnet and captain murray who are both, along with most of the search party massacred by french cavalry, luckily sharpe and the chosen men survive.sharpe is left in an awkward position, with both other officers dead ,because the chosen men do not see him as a 'proper' officer.Fourtunately he joins forces with a group of spanish guerrillas, and finds he has another objective,to raise the banner of saint james to boost the morale of the spanish so they rise up against the french.
This storry is an amazing adventure and a great read and i'd reccomend it to any one!

I finally picked up "Sharpe's Rifles" months after having the series recommended to me by a friend. I wish I hadn't waited. Although I read a lot of military fiction, I have never read anything about the Napoleonic wars. Cornwell actually brings the battles to life, from the cries of the dying and wounded to the smell of the smoke of the battlefield. All of the cahracters come to life, and are exemplary of the kind of lives lived by the soldiers and officers of the era. It is obvious that Cornwell did his homework here.

Richard Sharpe is a well developed character, an everyman that developed not only into a super warrior, but also into a superb leader of warriors.

In this novel the author gets right down to the story, and wastes no time getting to the heart of the story. The writing is straightforward and clean.

Highly recommended

When catasthrophe hit the grain harvest of the Soviet Union, the Politburo must decide whether to negotiate with the West for grains, or go to war, or suffer mass uprising. No one in the Kremlin wants the last possibility to happen, so two factions emerged, with the bare majority, including the Secretary-General, advocating negotiation. Through a Kremlin informant for British agent Adam Munro, the British PM and the US President learned just how desperate the situation in the USSR was.

Meanwhile, the survivor of a shipwreck in the Mediterranean aroused the interest of a British Andrew Drake. Drake descended from a Ukrainian nationlist, whose mission in life was to strike a humiliating blow against the USSR, and the shipwreck survivor provided him with an opportunity to do just that.

Somehow, the different threads spun by the author in the book came together, climaxing with the world being held hostage to an all-out war between the Eastern Bloc and the Western Bloc, or the greatest environmental catasthrophy yet.

The author did not stint on fleshing out his characters, providing them with ample description, motivations and attributes that the reader can just imagine the kind of actors and actresses that would be cast if this was a movie.

Plot development were fast and furious sometimes, yet deliberately slow and detailed at others, paced out well like the different variations of a symphony, but never a dull moment.

In the end, it will be up to our hero Adam Munro to save the world from the various catasthrophies, and the numerous twists in the end came round a blind corner, hitting the readers where they least expect (unless of course, they've been reading way too much thrillers like me who managed to guess a couple of them).

Another solid job by this author who I have always liked. This was another of his fast paced, easy to read stories with a good long story. I love the detail of the USSR government, you really feel like it in a non-fiction book at times. He has always used a lot of good factual details to make his books solid. Like the work of all good authors, you really grow to know the characters, like some and hate some - they have solid reasons for doing what they are doing in the book. There is a lot going on but the way he writes it you do not have any problems following the action. A great book that is well worth the time.

The Devil's Alternative is one of the finest thrillers ever written. In my opinion it ranks with The Negotiator as the best novels by Forsyth. What makes this book great is the realism. Forsyth knows his stuff, and has done a perfect job of researching the Halls of Power on both sides of the ocean. His depiction of the Soviet Politburo in action is one of the best representations in all of fiction. His use of technology (the tanker, etc.) is well done, with no inaccuracies. [Although it should be noted that the largest oil tanker in the world is the Jahre Viking, which is half the size of the Freya in the book] The characters, unlike most other thrillers, are not your everyday stock characters. Forsyth gives them a personality. The ending of this multi-layered thriller is also a gem, and no other author could have written such a perfect book.

In the future, instead of the two-party monopoly, there is a two-COMPANY monopoly. Instead of 95% of citizens/consumers voting for either a Democrat or Republican, they either buy only Starzellius products or only Tauton products.

The quality of life has deteriorated to the extent that it is worse for the rich and powerful executives of these two companies than for a middle class person today. Most people rarely get real meat or cheese. Most people can't afford cars. People are guilty until proven innocent.

The whole point of the book is to demonstrate how bad life could become if businesses had more power than government. However, the book never explains how life became that bad. Nor does it explain why these things wouldn't happen even sooner if government had more power than businesses.

Remember, this book was written in 1952, which was before the authors would have known that the unbearable future they foresaw after 200 years at the hands of businesses was already a reality in Communist countries.

Nevertheless, it is a very good and humorous story about what the future could hold if too much power were in the hands of too few.

This book was a collaborative effort written just before budding SF author Kornbluth died in his 30s. It is a satire on corporate America, depicting a dystopian world (ca. A.D. 2200) in which corporations, and especially their advertising departments, have come to dominate daily life, while governments have become merely their handmaids. Although I had been primed to expect a masterpiece (the book was included in John Clute's list of SF "classics"), and indeed it is a fun, well written and, at times, on-target satire, I'm sorry to say I also found it to be a little weighed down with populist/leftist, business-bashing, paranoid, Naderite anti-capitalism. It may be a classic in the sense of serving as a premier example of a large number of SF books of this type, but in view of capitalism's successes and the failure of the left's nightmare scenarios to materialize, that part seems a bit dated and hackneyed.

The main character is Mitchell Courtney, a very successful ad copy writer who works for a leading ad firm. The "Consies" are an underground organization of radical conservationists who regularly stage protests and otherwise attempt to disrupt corporate operations (mostly being only a minor irritant). The Consie arguments boil down to one thesis: Nature's way is the right way! To Mitch, this is silly. Science is always one step ahead of the failure of natural resources. Mitch's latest assignment is to convince people that Venus as an attractive place to live (despite unbreathable atmosphere, intense heat, waterless chemistry and 500-mph winds!).

We meet some interesting characters, including copy writer Tildy (employed by Mitch's firm), whom Mitch describes as one of the world's great lyric poets, right up there with Keats, Swinburne and Wylie. "There are only so many people capable of putting together words that stir and move and sing. When it became possible to make a very good living in advertising by exercising this capability, lyric poetry was left to untalented screwballs who had to shriek for attention and compete by eccentricity." Tildy is artsy, poetic and sensitive, but lacks good sense and is easily seduced ("everyone knows about Tildy"). Mitch explains: "Keats was properly hooked by a designing wench, and Byron didn't have sense enough to stay out of the venereal ward. Swinburne made a tragic mess out of his life. Do I have to go on?."

Caught between Consie and (competitor ad agency) Taunton intrigues, Mitch experiences a surreal adventure after being kidnapped and sold into labor slavery. Seeing the bleak reality of these labor conditions makes him feel guilty about misrepresenting these conditions in his ad copy. He observes that the laborers can never got out of debt, since the system provides both easy credit and irritants that force them to exercise it.

He manages to escape by joining the Consies. He feels bad about using his new Consie "friend," Herrera, but decides not to help him for fear of reprisals to himself. He obviously has a weak conception of friendship. In fact, a major theme of the book is the unbridgable gap between the rich, smart, thinking, rational executives and the poor, dumb, feeling, instinctual consumers (Marxist class warfare). Mitch believes this gap could never "be bridged by anything as abstract and unreal as 'friendship.'"

When Herrera takes him into town one weekend, Mitch expects debauchery, but instead finds that Herrera spends hours simply reading old books and magazines in a secret library hidden in the back of a restaurant. Mitch expresses his discomfort, noting that, although some of these volumes would look good in his office, "I could not relax in the presence of so many books without a word of advertising in any of them." He feels this is a giant waste of time that could better be spent pursuing greater sales and profits ... the difference between an executive and a consumer.

After more adventures with the Consies and Taunton, he finally manages to reconnect with his ad firm. When Mitch tells his boss the story, he doesn't believe a word of it, assuming Mitch has been delusional. Mitch realizes his boss simply cannot accept "such frightful things as: the interests of producers and consumers are not identical; most of the world is unhappy; workmen don't automatically find the job they do best; entrepreneurs don't play a hard, fair game by the rules; the Consies are sane, intelligent and well organized."

Mitch eventually takes control of the firm, but by this time he sympathizes with the Consie cause and rejects everything his ad firm stands for. He reconnects with his estranged Consie wife Kathy and agrees to deliver Venus to her cause. As the story ends, they are aboard a rocket heading for Venus where they plan to set up a Consie utopia.

Its hard to see Mitch really buying into the Consie way of thinking (he's already lamenting the loss of his corporate perqs...now he'll be just one of the boys ... yuck!), so realistically there is probably more fighting ahead for these two, but perhaps love and art are more important than science and philosophy (Feyerabend). Love apparently conquers all at the end of this book. The sequel is Pohl's The Merchant's War.

This book assumes the immense power of advertising and basically the inability of regular people to resist its pull. Ad-makers want dumber people, who are thereby more susceptible to their tricks. Consumers are seen as essentially being forced to act in ways not in their best interest and the system is to blame, not themselves (i.e. standard leftist class-warfare themes).

I was talking to a co-worker who mentioned that Pizza Hut is now purchasing advertising on the side of a rocket. If Fredrick Pohl wasn't prophetic, I don't know who is. The addictive soda pop, the advertisements on the retina, chicken little, etc, are just too funny for words. Unfortunately, this wonderful book is out of print, so I can't tell my Generation-X coworker to read it, which is too bad because you can easily draw parallels to today's society -- and this was written in the 50's! If you get your hands on this gem, read it, it will be well worth the effort.