The story revolves around four characters: Sara Goldfarb, a desperately lonely widow who wants nothing more than to be on a television quiz show, her junkie son Harry, his girlfriend Marion, and his best friend Tyrone C. Love.

As Harry and his friends come up with a plan to become powerful heroin dealers, Sara, the most innocent and loveable pathetic character ever, becomes addicted to diet pills, the only way she can see to loose weight so she can fit in her red dress for the television.

Each character slowly begins to descend into the hell of addiction, and as they do the reader is subject to the most brutal passages of drug abuse and false hope found in literature.

If you're one who responds to emotions in a book or a movie, read this book. It will not be forgotten.

But with a Selby novel, you know that things will not work out the way you think. What happens is a set of events whereby with each downfall we wonder how the character got there but know that the reasons are imperceptible from the last event.

On a downward spiral, this book shows human determination in the extreme. Each person, with only one thing in mind, do anything to sustain the dream, deceiving each other and themselves.

I almost wanted to cry after reading this book, coupled with the fact that I have read most of Selby's books, I feel as if I have read the best set of books ever written about human nature, and I am hollow in the knowledge that I will not find anything quite the same

The Murrays are not willing to take her in, but are proud and consider it their duty to bring Emily up, as she is a member of their clan. Her Aunt Elizabeth brings her the New Moon, and is cold and harsh and stern. But her sweet Aunt Laura, and kindly Cousin Jimmy provide Emily with support.

In Emily's imagination, loyal friends Ilse Burnley, Teddy Kent and Perry Miller, as well as her passionate love of writing, Emily finds hope and friendliness in her new World.

Emily is often compared to Anne of Green Gables, but they hold their differances. Anne is all liveliness and hot temper and sweetness; Emily is vivid, both light and dark, with enough mystery in her to allure.

This book is beautifully written and delicate, full of subtle wit and humour, and wonderful complexity as it describes Emily's adventures while living at New Moon. Emily is spirited and charming and ambitious, and the Emily series portray a unique child developing into womanhood.

Their off-the-beaten-path places are just awesome. From exploring a lava tube that empties out 20 feet over the water near Pu`uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park to driving (with a 4WD SUV) down into Waipio Valley; from touring the top of Mauna Kea (the highest point in all of Hawai`i) to hiking out to touch the molten lava flowing from Pu`u O`o; from seeing a "lava tree" at Lava Tree State Park to tasting some organically grown fruit at a roadside stand.....you'll find the details in this book. And their accurate maps and directions to the out-of-the-way places will keep even the most wayward soul from getting lost.

My wife and I cannot recommend this book enough. If you like to explore the places you visit, this book is for you. Well worth it's weight in gold....well, almost. :)

If you're the adventurous type, definitely rent a 4WD as the book suggests. There's a lot of wonderful places on the island that just can't be accessed without one.

We found the book's accuracy to be nearly 100%, even though it's been out nearly 2 years now. It was so exciting to see and experiece all the things in real life that I first learned about through this book. Don't miss the snorkeling at Kealakekua Bay. It's beyond the imagination!

The excellent restaurant reviews were also very helpful to us. 11/24/00

The best feature of the book is that is is organized as a set of driving tours from the Kailua-Kona and Hilo areas. Almost everyone visiting the Big Island travels by rented car and stays in either of these areas. The struc- ture is perfect for a tourist, right down to listing the mile-marker numbers where unmarked sideroads lead to beaches, volcano view spots, and other points of interest not on the rental car maps. It is loaded with color photographs, maps in many level of details -- including hiking trails -- and easy-to-spot icons of the things to see and do. We visited friends who have lived in Kailua for years who were surprised at how many new things they learned.

I have to stop now before I embarass myself. If you visit the Big Island and don't take this book with you your trip will be that much less fun.

Anne Shirley is the plucky, imaginative, red-haired orphan. Her parents die when she is baby, and so she spends the first 11 years of her life going between homes and orphanages, with no one really wanting to keep or to love her. By a mistake, she is brought to Avonlea--instead of a boy--to be adopted by Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, a pair of farmers who never thought they would be raising a girl in their old age.

You may want to skip this next part of my review, because I am going to sum up each book briefly. No plot spoilers will be revealed, but some of the contents will, and if you haven't read all the books, then maybe you don't want the content revealed ahead of time.

ANNE OF GREEN GABLES covers a span of Anne's first 5 years in Avonlea. She will age from 11 to 16. Her immortal antics that have made this book so beloved include her rivalry with Gilbert Blythe, dyeing her hair, and falling off of Mrs. Barry's roof...

ANNE OF AVONLEA spans two years. Anne is 18 at the novel's finish. She has become a teacher. Marilla adopts twins. Also, Anne has some more humorous and immortal moments.

ANNE OF THE ISLAND spans 4 years--Anne college years at Redmond. She will be 22 at the end of the novel. Anne discovers the real meaning of romance and love and courtship in this novel.

ANNE OF WINDY POPLARS also known as ANNE OF WINDY WILLOWS covers the 3 years of Anne's engagement to Gilbert. She is a Principle at Summerside High School where she has to deal with the Pringle clan, Katherine Brooke, and plenty of other interesting folks.

ANNE'S HOUSE OF DREAMS covers the first two years of Anne's married life. She and Gilbert now live in Four Winds Point, 60 miles east of Avonlea. Gilbert is making a living as a doctor, and the Blythes have new and interesting neighbors. **My favorite book of the series.**

Note: there is about a 6 year break between AHoD and AoI.

ANNE OF INGLESIDE covers about 6 years. Anne and Gilbert have moved to Glen St. Mary, near Four Winds Point, and now have children. This novel covers the birth of Rilla to the 15th wedding anniversary of Anne and Gilbert. More about Anne's children's adventures than Anne herself.

RAINBOW VALLEY takes place in 1 year. It is about Anne's children, and more specifically their neighbors, the Merediths--Faith, Una, Jerry, and Carl--and Mary Vance, but Anne does come in at important points within the novel. Faith is reminiscent in many ways of the young Anne.

Note: there is about a 9 year break between RV and RoI.

RILLA OF INGLESIDE is a heroine in her right. She ages from 15 to 19 during World War 1, the setting of this novel's time period. Anne is by now in her 50s and is a background character, but Rilla is a delightful and outgoing heroine with or without her mother.

This series was meant to be loved and reread and reread. Read the books in chronological order, or read them out-of-order but you'll still find them as fresh and enjoyable and as humorous as the first time you read them.

***Montgomery wrote some books about Anne's neighbors in Avonlea (CHRONICLES OF AVONLEA, FURTHER CHRONICLES OF AVONELEA) and in Glen St. Mary (THE ROAD TO YESTERDAY). And so if you enjoy the Anne books you might enjoy those books as well---although any Montgomery book is a reccommended read.***

I'm back online to buy the boxed set for my sister, age 10. I hope she learns to love Anne, Diana, Gilbert and the host of other kindred spirits Lucy Maud Montgomery created as much as I do.

Sometimes her imagination gets her in trouble. For instance when Marilla asks her to get a pattern from Mrs. Barry she doesn't want to because she imagined the woods between the houses were haunted! The book tells about her life growing up in the 1930's. As she grows, she learns many lessons and meets many friends who help her to become Anne of Green Gables.

This book is wonderful. It is a great book for girls to read. I loved it because the character was funny, spunky, and could talk forever. She reminded me of my sister. Anne never gave up trying to reach her goals. She will keep you interested throughout the whole book!

It's not often you find such a spirited and lovable heroine as Anne. Captivating and captivatED, Anne is full of enthusiasm and fun, which gets her into all sorts of scrapes. This book is one that you are guaranteed to laugh over, cry over, and never want to put down! It is an ideal novel that you won't want to pass up! (Even if you don't read the rest of the Anne books, read this!)

Anne of Green Gables is the first book in the Anne of Green Gables series. It takes place, as most of L. M. Montgomery's books do, on Prince Edward Island in Canada. This particular story takes place in the town of Avonlea. It follows young Anne Shirley, an orphan brought to Green Gables to help Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert on their farm. Much to Anne's dismay, Marilla tells her that they wanted a boy to help around the farm, not a girl. However, Marilla changes her mind and decides to keep the dynamic young girl who would become Anne of Green Gables.

This novel is incredibly written, with well-developed characters and an intricate plot. I absolutely loved it. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great example of children's literature at its height.

He kept coming to mind as I was reading this incredible book, as the characters, stranded on an island with absolutely nothing, accomplished such amazing feats as draining a lake, making a home, building a ship, making an elevator, and a great many other things. There is excitement, suspense (what IS going on on this mysterious island??), and wonderful, likeable characters. Not a real well-known Verne book, but fortunately still in print, and one of his best and most entertaining.

(Incidentally, if you want a children's version of the same story, try to find "A Long Vacation" by Jules Verne, which is extremely similar in plot, but with younger characters and for a younger audience - very charming!)

By the way, please do read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea first, if you have not already done so. Evidently, Verne assumed that everyone had when he wrote this novel.

Great reading!

Mention Jules Verne, and books that spring to mind are 20,000 Leagues, Around the World in 80 days, and Journey to the Center of the Earth. The Mysterious Island is one of his lesser known works, which is something of a mystery itself.

The book surpasses one's imagination and never fails to surprise. From the initial pages when Capt. Cyrus Harding and his friends decide to escape from a prison camp, the story seizes the complete attention of the reader, and unfolds at a pace and in a direction excelling Jules Verne's characteristic stories. The spirit and ingenuity of man is demonstrated in almost every page, as Cyrus and Co. find themselves marooned on a deserted island, and armed with only their wits, transform their desperate situation into a wonder world of science and technology. The reader is drawn into the adventure and finds himself trying to find solutions to the problems and obstacles that lie in plenty for the castaways, as Cyrus and his indomitable friends surmount myriad problems in their fight for survival. They are aided in their ventures by an uncanny and eerie source that remains a mystery until the very end.

This book cannot fail to fascinate and inspire awe in the mind of any reader. One begins to grasp the marvels and inventive genius behind the simple daily conveniences and devices that are normally taken for granted. The line between reality and fantasy is incredibly thin, and for sheer reading pleasure and boundless adventure, this book will never cease to please.

PS: The book has been adapted into a movie, which is one of the worst adaptations of any novel that I have ever had the misfortune of viewing. It is criminal to even mention the movie and the original work in the same breath.