Breece Pancake killed himself with a shotgun in Charlottesville, Virginia on Palm Sunday in 1979. He was 26 years old at the time and had just completed a graduate writing program at the University of Virginia. Four years later "The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake" was published, a collection of twelve stories that posthumously established his literary reputation as one of the finest short story writers in twentieth century American literature.

Pancake grew up in the hollows of West Virginia and each of the carefully wrought stories in this collection deals with the seemingly desperate lives of the working poor in that part of the country. They are remarkably crafted stories, written with a deep sense for the locale and the people from which they are drawn. They are also models of precision, the kind of stories that deserve to be read over and over, studied for the way in which they use foregrounding and the mundane details of everyday life--albeit everyday life that quietly screams with the desperation of poverty, deadening work, drinking, promiscuity, and brutality-to draw complex portraits of people who endure, even when endurance is no more than a substitute for hope. As he writes in "A Room Forever," the story of a tugboat mate spending New Year's Eve in an eight-dollar-a-night hotel room where he drinks cheap whiskey out of the bottle and eventually ends up with a teen-aged prostitute: "I stop in front of a bus station, look in on the waiting people, and think about all the places they are going. But I know they can't run away from it or drink their way out of it or die to get rid of it. It's always there."

The best of these stories are "Trilobites," "The Honored Dead," "Fox Hunters," and "In the Dry." But there really isn't a weak story in the bunch. Every story is captivating, every one an exemplar of what good short story writing should be. At the end, the only thing that disappoints, that leaves the reader discomforted, is the thought that Pancake died so young, that these are the only stories we have by a truly remarkable writer.

In this volume, the writer's surviving voice really hits home and stays there. Like that perfect song that stays in your head and carries you through the day, Breece Pancake's words and wisdom echoe through the reader's mind forever after reading them. In this life, there is always something around to remind of a Breece Pancake story. From the time weathered fossils in the creek beds to the rare West Virginia 120 m.p.h. strait stretches, after reading this volume I see Pancake everywhere, no matter where I am in the world. Like the trilobite preserved beneath the earth that hides it, these stories are a tangible (and for some reason widely unknown), history of a time and generation that, like the tragedy of Pancake's suicide, is destined to be repeated if ignored.

There are times when things come together in such a way that you know it's perfect. It can be a phrase of music, a blending of colors and sounds in film, or, in this case, the words of a story. This book tells stories that fall together in a timeless way, but are still firmly rooted in a specific place and time.

Having grown up in West Virginia, there were parts of these stories that spoke to me from a sort of "native" perspective. But more to it was the emotion that was the core, the skin and the stitching of each of these stories.

It's a good book to own. To read from when you feel like being taken to another place for a while. And to carry a piece of that place with you once you put the book down.

James Halon takes the spy thriller to a whole new level with his novel The Malagasy Tortoise. Engineer Jim Morgan has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time and making the most of it. Fancy clothes, secret weapons, Bond girls, Morgan doesn't need them (well almost!)as he battles the forces of evil. Humor, witty dialogue, brilliant description, and imaginative situations keep this fast paced book clicking along.

James Halon has done an excellent job of mixing elements of intrigue, action packed adventure, and infatuation.Jim Morgan, like so many men, is carnially motivated by love - or lust (I'm not sure he knows the difference). His motto seems to be love the one your with. His overactive libido leads him into one disastrous scenario after another.
On his quest to find the rare Malagasy Tortoise in Madagascar, he finds himself torn between his recently reunited love, Eunice and the young, sultry, CIA agent, Sophie. Perhaps, the mysterious Tina Johnson would be a good distraction from this dilemma. What is a man capable accomplishing in the name of love? Jim Morgan, an engineer by trade, finds himself smack in the middle of a CIA covert operation. Car crashes, burning buildings, Russian prisons, is any woman worth the tortures he finds himself enduring?
This book is a great read for any audience. It's difficult to find characters portrayed so honestly. James Bond, he's not. Jim Morgan tries to be just as suave and sophisticated with the ladies. Instead, his charismatic wit and humor seem to be his strong point. In the end, like Bond, Morgan finds his share of love / lust.
This reader can't wait for the next, Jim Morgan Adventure!

If James Bond was an Engineer and wore sweatshirts instead of tuxedos his name would be Jim Morgan... Well, maybe not. Morgan is a refreshingly unique character unlike the typical male protagonist. James Halon has conjured many wonderful characters in this book that take the reader on a bizarre quest for a rare tortoise. A quest that reveals multiple lovers, deadly spies and plenty to laugh at along the way. I look forward to Jim's next adventure and future dreams.

The book I read was "The New Kid on the Block.It is the the best poem book ever.The best poem in the book is "The New Kid on the Block".It is the best poem in the book because it is funny and exciting.And it has a funny ending.

You should buy "The New Kid on the Block".Because it has lots of funny words and weard ones.You would like the pictures too.You would laugh so hard your toung will fall out!And it will laugh with you.So buy this book today!

Our third grade class likes all the poems because they are funny. We think this book is great. You might like to read the poem, "Be Glad Your Nose is on Your Face."

I read this book when it was first published and I was 10 years old. I remember being the first to check it out of our public library when it arrived, and I read and reread it. I still have several of the poems memorized, 'Homework' being my all-time favourite, and I hope I never grow old enough to stop laughing at these worderful, imaginative poems that have brought many smiles to my family.

as a collection of recipes this book is among the best there are. As an overview of American coocking however it has some serious drawbacks.the book very much reflects Beards personal taste and omits quite a few American classics (chicken/corn-soup among others). On the other hand many recipes are not strictly American but simply European recipes that became popular in America. They are good - no argument there-but i would hesitate to call them American. Most seriously, Beard completely Ignores the Native American influence on American coocking.He gives plenty of Native American recipes, but it is clear he really doesn't know their background and tends to view them as Mexican.His introduction, short as it is, also ignores the Native American contribution. This being said, there is very much to enjoy in this book.

While reading this James Beard classic, I was amazed at how many recipes truly have become our favorite foods in America. I have been making some recipes for years without even considering that all along, James Beard could have in fact brought them to our awareness. It is equally amazing how many of these recipes made their way over to Africa.

My grandmother purchased one of the first copies and I now have the pleasure of owning it. This truly is a cookbook you will want to read over time. Reading the entire cookbook could be quite daunting were the recipes and notes not so delightful to read!

Each chapter begins with a note from James Beard and continues in a sort of cook's diary style with many recipes on one page. You will find recipes for cocktail food, salads, soups, eggs, cheese, fish, shellfish, poultry, game, beef, veal, lamb, pork, ham, bacon, sauces, vegetables, grains, pasta, beans, lentils, pies, pastries, cakes, cookies, puddings, ice cream, dessert sauces, fruit, bread, sandwiches, pickles, preserves and candy.

If you didn't grow up in America, you will find this cookbook all the more fascinating. You can literally read this cookbook like a novel. I found it fun to sit outside and just start reading it from the beginning, skipping over recipes I didn't find interesting and being amazed at how many recipes I was familiar with and had actually made at some point in my life.

A recipe will often start just so casually, you forget you are reading a cookbook, then suddenly you are reading the instructions and the recipe ingredients are listed on the right or left. This is written in a very personal style and you can truly hear the voice of James Beard in his writing.

If you read a few pages of this book a day, you will find that within a year, you will know so much more about cooking. I also think it is handy to have to look up various aspects of cooking. I can hardly do this book justice by reviewing it, you just have to see it to believe it! I did especially enjoy reading about the 1-2-3-4 cake and finding a recipe for Crullers. I had lost my recipe quite a while back and didn't know where to find another one. You will also enjoy finding many recipes using saffron.

I can almost bet my cooking teacher in high school had this book on her shelf, it does look a bit familiar now that I look at it closely. It is also incredible how much cooking has changed in 20 years, and how much it has stayed the same.

I purchased my first copy of this book when it was first published in 1980. After 20 years, and much use, it has fallen apart and I'm ordering a new one. It is one of the most useful cookbooks in my library of over 100 books on cookery and I turn to it every week for a "new" idea - 20 years later, Mr. Beard's cuisine is ageless.

This great collection of Ian Fleming's three James Bond thriller novels, From Russia, With Love, Doctor No, and Goldfinger is the best deal anywhere if you're looking for cheap classics. Even though it's not avaliable anymore, ... so if you get an oppurtunity buy it instantly.

From Russia, With Love is about a Soviet conspiracy involving a code machine called the Spektor, a lovely Russian female named Tatiania Romanova, and a professional killer who is affected by the moon. The girl sends for Bond, pledging her love and at the same time luring him into a trap that would seriously damage the Service's image. Great read and the best Cold War thriller out there.

In Doctor No, James Bond is sent to investigate two agents who have disappeared in Jamaica. He soon discovers the clues linking him to Doctor No, a Chinese/German doctor who has an island base in Jamaica, where he disrupts U.S. missile firing. James endures through his toughest physcial test of his career, and some consider Dr. No to be the best 007 novel ever written.

Goldfinger is in my opinion the best 007 novel of all. While investigating a cheat at cards by the name of Auric Goldfinger, James is informed that he is also involved in smuggling Great Britain's gold reserves to India, where the Russians wait for it. As James is captured, he discovers Goldfinger's master plan--to raid Fort Knox itself! With the smartest villian, the toughest henchman, and the most thrilling climax of all the James Bonds, Goldfinger is the by far the best masterpiece ever to come from the desk of Ian Fleming.

This wonderful trilogy is an enthralling epic of the Cold War, and I recommend it to anyone who has either read Ian Fleming before, or is thinking of starting very soon.

This is a great book, and after reading this I watched all the movies again, and they can't even compare. If you enjoy James Bnd you will enoy this, I mean I am only eleven and I couldn't tare my eyes away. I enjoyed the action, suspense, romance, and even the detail, Iam Flemming is truly a master writer, and can only portay James Bond. The movies are nothing comapred to this, this is a must get.

These three books together are, in some ways, the epitome of James Bond. However, I must correct one of the reviews. These books *are* sequential. These books are 5, 6, and 7 in the order that Fleming published them. The 8th was The Spy Who Loved Me and the 9th was Thunderball, the first book in the Blofeld trilogy. Aside from the 10th book, For Your Eyes Only (a collection of short stories), the story picks up in On Her Majesty's Secret Service and ends with You Only Live Twice. These three Blofeld books are available in the James Bond Omnibus, volume 2.

An indispensible resource for scholars and fans. No other biography so captures the man and his work. On top of that its a damn fine read, and I would recommend it to anyone who seeks to tackle either of Joyce's last two novels.

I was prompted to read this by Tom Stoppard's glowing recommendation of it in "Travesties." Ellman certainly brings the liveliness of James Joyce's life to life, describing everything from his practical jokes to his desparate financial straits -- meticulous to the point of noting the times when Joyce entered the lottery. I'd read the original 1958 edition, and I'm curious how the revised edition would stand against that now-honoured text.

For more Ellman, I highly recommend his collection of essays, "a long the river run."

Richard Ellmann's biography is by far the most comprehensive and readable book on the life of this Irish genius. Ellmann takes us through Joyce's quarrels with his family,church and nation, "the nets," his courtship and family life with Nora, and most importantly, shows the biographical link between Joyce's life and work.This book is a treasure.

This is basically a bio of jimi hendrix's father. There are alot of things you will learn about jimi as a child.

With all the rock-god hype linked with Jimi, it is easy to forget that he had a solid foundation at home with a loving dad, who sincerely cared about what happened to him, and always tryed to do the right thing for him under the worst circumstances--extreme poverty, thinly veiled racism, and an alcoholic mother who he loved dearly, but could not return his love. Jimi's dad was the rock he needed to absorb his values.His innate sweetness
and legendary humility testify to a humble, hard working everyman trying to do the right thing for his son.A must read for the Hendrix fan. to me the it explains Jimi's mindset, when in London in his early career, the (then) T.V. star LULU said to the press that the experience was a"flash in the pan". Instead of the usual biting comeback, Jimi said "i just think that it was nice of her to say anything about us at all"I suspect that comment cut her worse than anything else anyone could have said

This is The kind OF Book to have for Father's Day.it Shows Overcoming Odds&Battles but Standing Up&Doing the right thing.You Always Hear About Jimi Hendrix The Artist but Never The Man butr thanks TO His POPS You Get The Full Scope on Him&HIS Pops.AL HENDRIX is a GREAT MAN&HUMAN BEING.

Harrison, a Cambridge student (and prospective journalist) meets Charles Rainier on a train. Rainier is an MP, and his past is somewhat mysterious, in that two years of his life are "missing": he has forgotten what happened to him between sustaining wounds in the trenches in France and waking up two years later in Liverpool. Harrison becomes interested in Rainier and in his past, and tries to help Rainier recover his memory.

In one sense, "Random Harvest" is a very dated novel: it was first published in 1941 and reads very much as a period piece, the dialogue feeling very stilted in places, almost a pastiche of upper class English speech of the period. But despite that, I thought that it had a lot going for it, not least because Hilton manages to keep the plot interesting for the reader by peeling away the mystery of Rainier's past gradually.

More interesting than that however, were Rainier's views on inter-war Britain - his character reflected a seeming loss of self-confidence, a deep dissatisfaction (almost an irritation) with the Empire, disillusion with the result of the sacrifices of World War One, and exasperation with socio-economic changes. This added another dimension to the novel.

In all, an enjoyable read. I'll even forgive the howler in the first pages of the novel when the two main characters wonder how the England cricket team will do in the next Test Match, despite the fact that they are travelling through England in November! And despite the fact that England were not playing abroad......

G Rodgers

I had first seen the wonderfully sentimental movie, which is one of my favorites.

The book is not so sentimental. In reading the book, I was unprepared for how well-depicted would be the pain of the protagonist's psychological plight, how thought-provoking this book would be about society, and how much an individual could realistically be shown to be at a loss - no matter his external circumstances.

This is very much about someone who senses that once his life had meaning to him, and he had happily occupied a niche in the world - and can't rediscover it. The author is so wonderful in conveying this desperation.

Mr. Hilton also wonderfully conveys the highs and lows of both the well-born establishment, and the utterly displaced, of inter-war England.

And amazingly, he brilliantly evokes the wonderfully dreamy feeling of being in love. The scenes in which Smitty finds the small town, climbs up to the small lake in the hills, what he sees when he awakens, and the following several days, must be among the most moving in fiction.

I also love how the author shows the differences in personality between the earnest, sweet, easily alarmed, humble Smitty and the somewhat cynical, immensely able, practical-joking, self-deprecating Rainier - much of the difference seems engendered by the way they're treated and their places in life.

I love how subtly the author shows Mrs. Rainier's reaction to Rainier's discoveries - it's just brilliantly done. And the book's ending could not be more satisfying.

This is a more thought-provoking book than Goodbye Mr. Chips - and as much as I enjoyed that, this is a better one. I loved this as much as Hilton's So Well Remembered - which is high praise.

Random Harvest is my all-time favorite story. It might well be called The Wonderful Story or The Beautiful Story. Who hasn't read James Hilton's Good-buy Mr. Chips or Lost Horizon? This book, in my view, is his best work. It was this work that convinced me Hilton had to be a mystic although I don't know that. I do know that on one level, the earthy one, this is the best romantic novel I've ever read. On another level, social or historical, the work is a bringer of hope- written during WWII about WWI and ending on the eve of WWII the story speaks directly to our own uncertain post 911 era. But most importantly this is a work of spiritual completion. It can be read as the story of two people, or for Jungians in particular the coniunctio (union of opposites), the reconciling of the male and female within each of us, and in another context the "Marriage Feast of the Lamb"... This is, indeed, "The Wonderful Story."

This book brings to life the hard, gritty and dangerous life of working on the railroad. While there's a ton of romaniticized railroad books, this one give the reader insights of what the working stiff had to endure. It does it, however, with an obvious love of railroading, and of the man the book is about.

"Set Up Running" is not a book of dry statistics of Pennsy RR trackage, assets, debits, or passenger-miles served. Neither is it a sensational narrative of harrowing accidents, up-set locomotives, or exploded boilers (although O.P. does have a few close scrapes, and the line of rail jacks exploding one after another as his massive 2-10-0 freight locomotive thunders down a track under repair sets the reader on the edge of his chair). No, this book is better than those sorts of books because it brings a man--actually two men--to life. We come to know O. P. Orr very well indeed through the eyes of his son, the author, John W. Orr, and we end up knowing John as well.

This book shows American history as it should be written--giant machines moving the citizens and the commerce of the land, a huge railroad corporation with all the bureaucratic "snafus" of any multi-layered business as those snafus are seen by and sometimes affect the career of an engineman, the impact of the Great Depression on one family as typical of America as any could be. Historical facts are all here, but they are facts as seen by two very real, very human people, a father and a son. Were all history books written so well, we would all understand history far better and read it far more willingly.

My own grandfather was an engineman, through his road was the Frisco rather than the Pennsy, and my own father was a great lover of trains, though his career paths took him in a different direction. I came along late in my father's life, and, by the time I had the ability and the leisure to write about him, he was gone and his history with him. "Set Up Running" is the type of book I wish someone could have written about my own father, and I know of no higher praise than that. This is a book for railroaders, historians, Americans, and every father's child. At the end, I hated to have to say good-bye to O.P.--and to his son John--but I left knowing much more about the first half of 20th Century America, and I really enjoyed the telling.

This is what too many railroad histories lack -- the human element. This is the story of a man and how he ran locomotives across Pennsylvania. It is also the story of his son, who loved trains and loved to listen to his father's stories. If you are frustrated by railroad histories that are nothing but an endless series of stock transactions, then this is your book.

This was my first experience with James Scott Bell. If his other novels are as exciting and fast-paced as this one, then it will definitely not be my last.

As a former fan of James Byron Huggins who has been turned off by his recent nonsense which has been passed off as readable fiction, I was refreshed to read a Christian sci-fi thriller that was believable, enjoyable, and lacking in space wasting sentimental drivel.

The idea of the Nephilim has intrigued me ever since my first year Biblical Hebrew class when we studied Genesis 6 and the idea of the Nephilim. A friend and I in that class discussed a Christian sci-fi novel based upon the Nephilim, but not in the manner in which Bell did it here.

"The Nephilim Seed" touched moral themes which are ever encroaching on our post-modern society, and I believe that Bell addresses those issues in a laudable, conservative manner. As science and technology continue in their present course, Christian values and morals will likewise continue to be attacked as outdated.

Jim Bell has knocked one over the far fences with this one! The characters fairly leap off the pages and the plot is, as in all of Jim's books, relentless. His theme is torn right off today's headlines as he has explored areas new to Christian fiction. Can a movie treatment be far behind? Get the "Seed", and bring it home. But a caveat...prepare to lose sleep for a few nights; it's that good.
So move over, Grisham..."The Nephilim Seed" cooks!

The Nephilim Seed is one wild ride through Scott Bell's illustrious imagination. I gave it 5 stars because I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do than race to the finish line of The Nephilim Seed. I was hooked on the first page; swept into every scene by characters so well imagined I'll remember them forever. I wanted to protect Lauren, hunt down her father, encourage her mother and go to the police academy so I could personally arrest Davis and all those involved in UniGen. If this isn't a movie--I don't know what is. Man! James, where's the sequel? Facsinating! P.S. Circumstancial Evidence, Blind Justice are great reads too.