House

I am lucky to have found the hardback in this and will treasure it. I consider it a must-have for anyone's library and to share with friends and family. I was born and raised in West Virginia. In my life of 46 years, I have lived in 11 different places (I'm on my 11th) and was (and still am) homesick for my childhood home every time. This book is for those of us who will never leave "home" or "family" behind. This book is for those who carry their true home deep within their hearts wherever they may find themselves in their lives. It is a touching poignant journey down a most colorful and enriching collection of paths.

As you read through these essays, you come to realize that home is less about decorating a building and more about building a life. Memories, family, nature, the things that help you find your place in the world, all extolled and admired. Beautifully written, brilliantly edited, a great gift.

This very inexpensive paperback with a stunning cover contains nearly 50 stories of a precious house and/or special town/city that impacted the author and her/his family deeply. I had read many of these essay stories in the magazine, so I was aware that many of these narratives are gems. I am trying to read only one a week, because I find it hard to laugh and cry at the same time, and that's what these stories do--grab at the fabric of your life--one a week is enough emotional wrenching. My favorite so far is about 5 stories in, about a dweller in a Massachusetts seatown who moves out west but cannot forget his sea town--beautifully written story. Buy this overly-enexpensive book, do NOT give your copy to others or it will never return, and buy many gift copies for those you love.

I really loved this book. The characters were charming and entertaining. The suspence kept me reading the whole night. I hope Goran writes a sequel to this book!

A great gay novel,,,,,One of the best I've read,dramatic,tearful,with a great sense of romance,,,5 stars in my book,,,,can't wait for pt.2

It was a very well written book.,I couldn't seem to put the book down,,,the characters were people I could identify with...

Mary Pilote's "House of Bone" is a well crafted mystery in the true British genre. With just the right characters to lead us in interesting (and devious) directions. The plot is finely woven and the characters are develoed well. A page turner that will leave you looking forward to Gemma Blake's next adventure.

The characters in House of Bone were so vivid--they seemed to be in the room with me, or rather I was drawn into their world. Mary Pilote's book is literary, sophisticated, absorbing, and entertaining. Everyone I've lent my copy to gave it glowing reviews, as well. One friend called at 11 p.m. to say, "I'm LOVING it!" I'm looking forward to the next book in the series and being drawn once more into the dramatic and deftly drawn world of Gemma Blake.

"House of Bone" is a great read. Mary Pilote is a good writer, her characters are very real, and the plot moves swiftly.
It kept me glued to my seat. I finished it in two days!

'The House Of Breath' reads like a sacred text, as they turn the pages the reader feels like they are blowing the dust from a casket of long hidden jewels.

Narrated by a man returning after a prolonged absence to his long abandoned family home in Charity (a small, river-bound Texas town) the book invokes the ghosts of the past to tell the tales of desire, loss & melancholy that make up the (largely secret) history of that family.

Weaving a dizzy spell over all is the richly evoked river delta landscape. Goyen uses the most mesmerizing, lush descriptive prose to magically and brilliantly conjour up a sense of time and place. The overall effect is like living through a waking dream. You choose to read slowly to soak up the atmosphere and prolong the poetic experience:

"(the river) was ornamented with big drowsy snapturtles sitting like figurines on rocks; had little jeweled perch in it and sliding cottenmouth water moccasins. It crawled, croaking with bullfrogs and ticking and sucking and clucking and shining..."

Comparable to Cormac McCarthy at his most lyrical, readers of Calvino, Banville, Flannery O'Connor & Faulkner amongst others, will swoon over this southern masterpiece.

I'm ecstatic to find this book by one of my favorite Southern writers reprinted in a more definitive form. I had no idea that there were passages removed in all editions besides this one and the very first.

"The House of Breath" is less a novel than a stunning poem in prose, and it's beauty brought me many tears and shivers. The book's drifting and echoing voices will continue to call you back to them after a first reading. I go back to the book every time I feel abandoned by the universe and in need of a rapid, rejuvenating catharsis. It seems I use it as a holy text now that I think about it!

Maybe this novel has been so sadly forgotten because it was eclipsed by Truman Capote's similar "Other Voices, Other Rooms", which came out around the same time. Goyen did not possess his fellow-Southern writer's flair for self-promotion, and perhaps the better writer went unnoticed because of it. Please don't let this wonderful writer slip by another decade without the readers he deserves.

A simple story of reflection and rememberance, The House of Breath is a remarkable, evocative and poignant recollection of a youth's life in the house where the tumult of childhood is remembered. The narrative has passages that are as beautiful as any ever written. Numerous readings can only make these passages more stirring to your soul.

This book was an absolute exciting read! I love the adventures of Sidney and Graham as they both found themselves caught up in murder, deceipt, romance and high speed chases through the streets of Las Vegas! I never wanted it to end, but what an ending!
Keep these stories coming Blair Wing. You have another new dedicated fan for keeps!!!
Victoria Schneider
Laguna Beach, California USA

Blair Wing has done an outstandng job with her debut solo novel. The characters are vivid, the plot is sound, and her dialogue is crisp. House of Cards will pull you in and shake you all about. A great way to begin a writing career!

Blair Wing does an excellent job on this book. The characters are full bodied and the plot keeps you turning page after page. I highly recommend!

I recently read Barzun's book "Critical Questions" in search of some better understanding of my reactions to some contemporary art. I have rediscovered one of the most incisive thinkers and clearest writers I have ever had the pleasure to read.

I have a strong memory of reading "The House of Intellect" as a college student. It is one of the very few books that I can remember from those long ago days when I was only learning to learn. "The House..." had a positive and long lasting effect on my desire to study and study well.

I am in the process of rereading "The House..." Barzun points to example after example in the world around him (50 years ago) of prominent critics and public opinion molders who are merely aping current fashions in thought and who are simply bending and arranging facts to support their pet opinions.

You will learn from Barzun why "The House..." must have scholarly discipline which alone can offer us a shot at truth. Those who are labor in the intellectual vineyards are failing themselves and the public if they allow themselves to shortcut their research, report merely what is acceptable or just plain manipulate their facts.

The points Barzun makes are just as true today as they were in the 1950's. The trends in faulty thinking and reporting on certain topics continue up to 2004. Reading Barzun at least will help you to view what you read and what you hear with a more reliable filter.

I came upon this book when reading reviews for Barzun's more recent "From Dawn to Decadence". The very positive reviews about "The House of intellect" are absolutely right...this is a masterpiece. Where "From Dawn to Decadence" is a wonderful historical panorama, "The House of Intellect" instructs how the intellect should properly be used. He starts with a criticism of the misuse of intellect by the educators of his day, and then moves on to cover the proper use of intellect in all our modern affairs. Most insightful was his admonition to understand how truly dangerous ideas can be! Finally, he even applies intellect to the romantic side of mental life, including affairs of the heart. Ideas, intellect, intellectual, ideologue--don't be confused about what these mean. Read it...it will change how you think!

This is a book that should be bought two at a time (one to lend to friends). Serious students should return to it every few years along with George Orwell's essay on politics and the English language and C Wright Mills' appendix on intellectual craftsmanship in "The Sociological Imagination".

Barzun approached his special field of cultural history in a refreshingly irreverent manner. "You may like to think of culture - I often do - as an enormous pumpkin, hard to penetrate, full of uncharted hollows and recesses for cultural critics to get lost in, and stuffed with seeds of uncertain contents and destiny."

Early in his career he produced a connected series of books, starting with 'The French Race" (1932) and 'Race: A Study in Superstition" (1937 and 1965), moving on to "Darwin, Marx, Wagner" (1941) and "Romanticism and the Modern Ego" (1943). The major themes that connect these studies are (a) the appeal to race, class or nation to supply a new motive power for social change and (b) the an attempt to inject new life into the idols of Progress and Fatalism.

A subsequent theme in his work is the parlous state of learning and especially the widespread lack of understanding of the "house rules" for productive intellectual activity. The relevant books here are "The House of Intellect" (1959), "Science: The Glorious Entertainment"(1964) and "The American University" (1968).

The message of "The House of Intellect" is that its inhabitants, the intellectuals themselves, have trashed the house. The blame cannot be placed with the crassness or greed of big business, the shallowness of a consumer society, or the ignorance of the uneducated. The major malign influences are distorted perceptions of the nature and function of Art, Science and Philanthropy. These things have their value and their place, but Barzun shows how they have become diverted from their proper ends to impose in a destructive manner upon the conditions of scholarship and the life of the mind.

His comments on art later grew into a whole volume, "The Uses and Abuses of Art" and his views on the uses and abuses of science expanded into a whole book as well. The spirit of Philanthropy is expressed though the well-meant allocations of funds from the great foundations. However Barzun details how the net effect of this funding, especially that provided for conferences, is to dissipate rather than to concentrate thought, to take up time and effort on apparent novelties at the expense of solid and genuine but not superficially exciting or "relevant" work. A whole "grant application" industry emerged, engaging time and talents for trivial purposes, often enough dedicated to outright hokum, to the detriment of the proper function of intellectuals and intellect.

This book has "white dwarf" status because there is more in it each time it is re-read. Further online commentary on Barzun's achievement can be found with a google search Barzun + Rathouse.

Reading this book brought back memories of my wild days in college many years ago. Some of the stuff described in this book runs against the rising tide of "political correctness" that is running rampant through college and university campuses... but back when I was a college student and a fraternity member, kegs were king, "PC" meant personal computer, not politically correct and the Animal House mentality ruled Greek Row. House of Kidz describes in vivid detail what used to be then, but what isn't today. I'm older and wiser now but still look back on those days as the best fun I've ever had. House Of Kidz hits the spot!

If you ever wondered what goes on in fraternities, pick up this book. It's very funny and (often) disgusting.

It was just this wild, it was just this happening. This story could have been mine. These stories could have really happened. I have to commend Colin for his true to life portrayal of the college experience in the 1980's. For anyone interested in this experience I would highly recommend this book.

The House of Many Rooms begins with Saul, a normal Australian teenager, whose life is suddenly changed when the Princess and her band of followers appear in his backyard, followed closely by dangerous creatures.

So begins Saul's adventure, as he joins the Princess' followers and travels to different worlds, trying to save the mysterious House of Many Rooms from the Princess' evil cousin Stefan, who has usurped the throne.

The entire time I was reading this book I could not put it down, I carried it in my bag all day, waiting for the odd moment when I'd have time to read a few more pages. The characters were memorable and amusing and both The House of Many Rooms and the other two books in the trilogy have become some of my favourites.

I absolutely love this book. Saul, a sixteen year old boy, is living an ordinary, boring life until one night when the Followers, led by a Princess, come through a portal into Saul's shed. They are on the run from evil "warriors" led by Stefan, whose heart is set on destroying the House Of Many Rooms. Saul has to go with the Followers on their journeys until Stefan is defeated before he can go back home.

This books is great for people from ages 11-15.

Saul, a Australian teenager, thinks he is quite normal until a strange band of people -who look like people from Robin Hood's time- turn up. Leading is a girl who is actually a princess. Following them is a bunch of even weirder attackers sent by the Princess's evil counsin, Stephan. The band calls themselves the Followers.

The Followers take Saul with them to save his life, as he has been branded as one of the Followers by these attackers.

The Followers and their journeys between worlds helps Saul find himself, in more ways than one.

A excellent book, I highly recommend it.

'House of Reeds' is the second book of the 'Sixth Sun', and stands as both a self-contained novel and a continuation from 'Wasteland of Flint'. The first was set out on the periphery of the empire of the Imperial Méxica, and 'House of Reeds' focuses on the planet Jagan where the military power and diplomatic and commercial influence of Tenochtitlán is being steadily asserted.

It begins with the receipt of a disturbing message for Chu-sa Hadeishi of the light cruiser IMN Cornuelle, and light years away an unexpected reassignment for the Swedish-Russian xenoarchaeologist Gretchen Anderssen. On Old Earth, Anáhuac, a minor Méxica prince, Tezozómoc is about to become the pawn of political machinations.

All will arrive on Jagan to be confronted by intrigue, mystery and danger.

Rumour of a First Sun artefact will send Gretchen and her little band of troublemakers into the hinterland where the native lords are chafing under the increasing Méxica dominance. Chu-sa Hadeishi and his crew will find themselves playing an unexpected and deadly role in Imperial policies. The wastrel Prince Tezozómoc will discover the true price of his royal birthright.

'House of Reeds' is a cinematic and fast-paced story with weaving plot threads amidst the dramatic background of the alternate future history of the Méxica and the alien planet Jagan. In 'Wasteland of Flint' the hostile environment of Ephesus III provided an evocative backdrop; Jagan in contrast is an old, long-inhabited world, its sentient species weary and all too aware of their fall, living amidst the ruins and secrets of their ancient greatness. Whilst much of the action takes place in the Five Rivers region of Jagan or high above in orbit, Harlan effectively brings the world to life.

Throughout the 414 pages the weaving plot threads heighten the tension and danger. There is vivid characterisation, dialogue, combat, occasional humor and glimpses of the history of Anáhuac, and a shadowy threat to all humanity.

The characters of Chu-sa Hadeishi and Gretchen Anderssen are deftly developed, with more insight into the tension between the cultures of the Méxica, their Nisei and Scottish allies and the lesser peoples of Anáhuac. A cast of other characters ably support the main players: Magdalena, the competent Hesht comm-tech (the cover portrait does not really do her justice), Parker the English pilot and his quest for a smoke, the crew of the Cornuelle, and the agents of the Mirror -- the secret police of the Empire. The most compelling figure is Malakar, an elderly reptilian native of Jagan, a believable alien and a tragic figure, a counterpoint to the ambitious lords, for she remembers the lost heritage of her species.

Evoking vague memories of Jack Vance and Talbot Mundy, 'House of Reeds' proves Harlan a master storyteller.

Xenoarcheologist Gretchen Anderssen looks forward to some well deserved R&R especially quality time with her children whom she has not seen in what seems like eons. However, at the space transport, she learns that the Company needs her and her team to take a short detour to investigate rumors of a possible major find of a First Sun artifact on the planet Jagan.

Her Hesht companion Magdalena and her pilot David Parker feels they are being set up and their misgivings prove valid as the trio has landed in the middle of an armed conflict. The Méxicali has declared war on the Jehanan, assumed to have been native to Jagan by the Empire, to enable Tezozómoc, the Emperor's youngest son to taste blood. The dynamic threesome tries to avert war while seeking the secret to the HOUSE OF REEDS.

This exciting sequel to WASTELAND OF FLINT provides further adventures of the supremacy and control by the Japanese-Aztec Méxicali Empire on numerous sentient species with the confrontation occurring on Jagan. The story line is character driven, but not just by the intrepid fully developed archeological trio as the secondary cast adds depth in terms of military, planetary history, and non-human intelligent races. Though some readers may find the military tactics quite length (it is a military science fiction tale) fans will cherish this tale that brings alive the various races that populate Harlan's universe.

Harriet Klausner

Xenoarcheologist Gretchen Anderssen looks forward to some well deserved R&R especially quality time with her children whom she has not seen in what seems like eons. However, at the space transport, she learns that the Company needs her and her team to take a short detour to investigate rumors of a possible major find of a First Sun artifact on the planet Jagan.

Her Hesht companion Magdalena and her pilot David Parker feels they are being set up and their misgivings prove valid as the trio has landed in the middle of an armed conflict. The Méxicali has declared war on the Jehanan, assumed to have been native to Jagan by the Empire, to enable Tezozómoc, the Emperor's youngest son to taste blood. The dynamic threesome tries to avert war while seeking the secret to the HOUSE OF REEDS.

This exciting sequel to WASTELAND OF FLINT provides further adventures of the supremacy and control by the Japanese-Aztec Méxicali Empire on numerous sentient species with the confrontation occurring on Jagan. The story line is character driven, but not just by the intrepid fully developed archeological trio as the secondary cast adds depth in terms of military, planetary history, and non-human intelligent races. Though some readers may find the military tactics quite length (it is a military science fiction tale) fans will cherish this tale that brings alive the various races that populate Harlan's universe.

Harriet Klausner

Ripping time was monotonous and confusing. The House the Jack built provided a clear and workable outcome. Everything works out for the best(for most) and you cheer on Skeeter and his friends the whole way through. The way they finally resolved the plot was a bit rushed but it was a fine book overall. I personally can't wait until the next book in the series.

Bad puns aside, I had to force myself to put this one down, in order to deal with necessities like work, food, sleep. This is the second half of the novel begun in "Ripping Time" and the climax(es) are superbly done.

These two books would make an absolutely rousing mini-series.

A great adventure continues. Asprin and Evens agan have a story filled with action of a historical event. Never a dull moment. I read the story in one sitting enjoying every page. The reader is easly placed in the action through the verbal visualization of 19th century, Denver and the Time station. The continous twists and turns add flavor to the story. My only critizism is the epilog. I would like to have seen just a little more detail on what happened to charactors after their return.