MR

The title of this,Estleman's second Holmes pastiche,pretty much tells you what to expect .The Stevenson classic is sufficiently well known to have coined a term ,"Jekyll and Hyde personality",that even non-readers are familiar with and thus we get no suprises in the outcome of the novel.Readers will know the true identity of the evil Edward Hyde and the pleasure to be derived from this book is in how the great detective finds the truth and the adventures he and the redoubtable Watson go through en route to the satisfying conclusion in the laboratory of the good Dr Jekyll
The book has pace and the Hansom cab chase in chapter 11 in particular is a model of crisp narrative leavened with neat touches of humour There is even a bar room brawl to keep the plot stirring merrrily

The affection for Doyle and Stevenson is evident and the book is a thoroughly satisfying page turner with enough nous not to outstay its welcome at a tad under 200 pages
Read it if you like Holmes,good Victorian thrillers or just like having fun with a lively tale

This is one of the best "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" follow-up books I've ever read. It really catches the spirit of Old Victorian London, and the storyline is most of the times credible. Even though you know the ending and you know Dr Jekyll's secret, this book still manages to be exciting, and it is very well-written indeed. The only argument is, when you know the original "Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" well, many of the facts in this book are alredy known to you, and it's a bit boring to read them all over again. But still, a very good book, and I recommend it to Holmes and Jekyll fans alike.

Although I have read some "pans" of Loren D. Estleman's works, I thought "Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Holmes" was very well done in the re-telling of a familiar mystery, applying the familiar methods and byplay which Holmes and Watson exhibited in Doyle's "canon." First of all the time - 1886 - of Stevenson's novel would have been also that of Holmes. Although the original tone and spirit of Doyles' works have been carefully imitated, there is also much originality in the action and wit in this writing. The final dramatic confrontation between Holmes and Jekyll/Hyde is rather finely done and the final chapter of the meeting of Holmes and Robert Louis Stevenson adds very much to the reading. For those who do not prefer the many Sherlock Holmes pastiches and prefer the "canon", I would suggest they read "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Holmes" before passing judgment.

Richard Schickel's memoir of life and movies during WWII, is a book that not "only a film scholar could write", but one that only THIS film scholar could write. To those of us of, as they say, a certain age, it offers a fascinating re-evaluation of the films of WWII, as well as a compelling portratit of growing up in America at the time. Indeed, if the book has a flaw for those of us old enough to remember the films in their original release, it is the lack of precise dates of release of many of them. HOWEVER, one does have to ask (and my rating of 4, rather than 5, stars offers my answer), who, besides me, Schickel, and our co-age group, is the book for? While his insights into all the films he cites are meticulous, the vast majority of them are not only obscure to most film goers, but DESERVEDLY so.
The writing is, as one would expect, always compelling; the portrait of America, film, and the intertwining of the two to an impressionable public, is flawless. Indeed, the subject not only should have been covered, but needed to be. But, will the average film buff, let alone the average reader, be as enthralled as I was? Alas, I tend to doubt it, but I'm grateful it was done, anyway.

There are many book about American films made during World War II. What sets this book apart from most of those is that Schickel focuses on the movies he saw at the time of the war as a child, giving us a double perspective: the child watching the film then and the adult watching the films again now.

Thus there are some gaps. The young Schickel, unsurprisingly, avoided the Preston Sturges comedies, and so these do not play a big part in the book. However, what we do get is a believable and convincing look at how the public perceived these films (Hangmen Also Die, The Human Comedy, Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo) at the time.

A nice thing is that Schickel, although he makes it clear he finds some of these movies mendacious, never takes a snide, wise guy attitude but remembers his childish delight in these films, while as an adult he can pick out the flaws.

The book is not just a look at films of 1941-5. It is also a memoir, so there is material about growing up and becoming a film critic. I found this interesting, as Schickel is one of my favorite critics. (His book on D. W. Griffith is superb.) However, people only interested in wartime films, and not also in Schickel, might be advised to get it from the library.

Richard Schickel's exceptionally well written memoir is mainly about his World War II boyhood. Aimed at getting to the truth of the matter, "Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip" has a lot to say about the "Greatest Generation" which Tom Brokaw recently made into a media and popular culture industry. But Schickel prefers reality, making him the natural enemy of banal sentimentality. He'd rather face real unglamorous guts and gore than give in to jingoistic romantic mythology. By the way, the book's title derives from the earliest recollection Schickel has of a song from World War I that his father would sing to him at bedtime.

The thirteen chapters of "Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip" very personally cover Schickel's middle class, Wisconsin American boyhood and his family experiences. It was his grandfather who had "spoiled" him with all kinds of indulgences and who showered him with books. Hanging on his Grandpa's every fascinating word had obscured, until later, Schickel's realization that the man intruded on every aspect of his family's life. But it was his father who introduced Schickel at a tender age to the magic of movies, making him a lifelong addict.

Naturally, Schickel uses movies as a vehicle for reexamining his World War II generation because he is both Time Magazine's distinguished movie critic and also a prominent documentary filmmaker in his own right. Indeed, his documentary film "The Birth of Soviet Cinema" is still very popular for analyzing in serious film programs on American college campuses the propaganda of Soviet film since World War I.

I liked Schickel's "Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip" because he revisits my boyhood World War II, and all wars, to critically separate naïve mythology from hard-nosed reality. Schickel accomplishes this by reexamining Hollywood war movies steeped in romantic propaganda, contrasting them with unpopular, obscure documentaries and little known actual footage from war photographers that had been very carefully edited for American newsreels.

"During World War II, in the midst of my burgeoning life, I was surrounded -- as we all were -- by death on a scale unprecedented in human history. Yet it was constantly lied about. In the movies particularly, tragedy was almost always subsumed in triumphalism, mortality broadly hinted suggestions of heroic immortality. Thus begins Schickel's introductory section, "Prologue: Wartime Lies."

Examining how history repeats itself is another good reason for reading "Good Morning, Mr. Zip Zip Zip." .Although Schickel's book mainly talks about the mid 20th century, we are clearly experiencing similarly orchestrated mythology in our present "greatest generation." But at least one big difference is that before Americans plunged into war, Adolph Hitler's armies had ravaged western and eastern Europe and the Japanese had overrun China, Indochina and menaced Australia while advancing closer to us.

Franklin D. Roosevelt didn't have to invent lies about clear and present dangers to the United States -- especially after the Japanese military had bombed Pearl Harbor. But George W. Bush got his war in Iraq by lying about Sadam Hussein as a similar threat to America thus demonstrating, the Big Lie can still be made to work today as it did in Schickel's World War II.

Schickel tells us about his intense anti-Joe McCarthyism as editor of his college's newspaper. But, oddly, he doesn't mention the prominent World War II communist, novelist and screenwriter Howard Fast ["Citizen Tom Paine," "Sparticus"]. After creating and heading Voice of America for the War in the 1940s, Fast had become the first American political prisoner, jailed for refusing to answer questions for the House Un-American Activities Committee. But Schickel's book also doesn't say much about Oliver Stone's post-World War II war films ["Platoon," "Born on the Fourth of July"] that starkly contrast with the pablum of John Wayne's and Ronald Reagan's filmography.

In Schickel's (and my) final conclusion in the chapter titled, "The Evil of Banality," he writes, " ... But it is all I have to offer -- a small flickering light burning amidst all the false remembrance, forgiving sentiment, smug triumphalism, that rolls in like the morning low clouds that form over the distant and mysterious sea, distorting an already dimming picture."

I wished this book would have had a longer chapter analyzing the natures of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the impact this short book has had on culture and society. The lists of movies and theatre plays are good, but there are some faults. (Wrong production year of Fredric March movie, storylines of some of the movies are not entirely correct.) A few times, I wondered whether the authors really had seen the movie or not. When you publish a book like this, you must look up your facts closely! The Stevenson biography was interesting and exactly the right length, though the Deacon Brodie chapter could have been considerably shorter. All in all, a good lexicon for Jekyll & Hyde-fans.

Saw Dr. McNally on TV discussing society's fascination with the "evil within". Great book, well-paced yet in-depth enough to satisfy the thoughtful reader. The chapters tracing the common theme of the two sides of humanity through the movies and media were particularly eye-opening for me. Also, the exploration of Robert Louis Stevenson's evolution of the story was fascinating. Great writer- will have to pick up the Dracula books now!!

This book is a great companion piece to the author's earlier studies of the historical Dracula. For anyone who is a student of literature or of Stevenson in particlar, this is a great resource. I had the good fortune to take one of Prof. McNally's classes, and thus be exposed to his work. They provide a well-researched historical context and examination of the origins of these Victorian classics.

If you haven't read any of McNally/Florescu's previous works on Dracula, do so now and pick this one up while you are at it. For anyone who is fan of Dracula or Jeckyll/Hyde, the two Dracula books and the Stevenson study are "must haves". Stop reading my review, and go buy the damn books!

This is a great book, only if your a 2nd grader. :o)

Mr Small lives under a daisy, which I really like about him. Mr Small can't find a good job for himself, so he asked Mr Robinson to find him one. After trying four jobs, he gets his biography written by Roger Hargreaves.
I really like the first picture because he is carrying a pin bigger than him ...

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Mr. Small was one of her picks.

My daughter was very small when she was younger, so this book interested her. What exactly did it mean to be small?

Mr. Small is so small that he makes even the smallest child seem like a giant. He is the size of a pin, and lives in a small house under a daisy in Mr. Robinson's garden. A large meal for him is half a pea, one crumb, and a drop of lemonade.

One day, he decided he wanted a job. So he went to see Mr. Robinson. That was difficult because he was so small. When he knocked on the door, Mr. Robinson did not hear him. And Mr. Small could not reach the doorbell. Luckily, the postman came along and rang the doorbell for him. Mr. Robinson almost didn't notice Mr. Small after opening the door.

Mr. Robinson was glad to help Mr. Small find a job, but things didn't work out well at first. Mr. Small fell into the mustard jars while filling them. He kept falling into candy jars while selling candy. He kept getting shut in match boxes while packing them with matches.

Finally, Mr. Robinson found just the right job for Mr. Small. . . . and you'll have to read the book to find out what it was. But you'll like the answer.

Overcome your misconceptions about what a small person can do well with this fascinating, imaginative story.

"Murdering Mr.Monti was at once a morally bankrupt but intriguing glimpse of middle age crisis for a woman. Brenda Kovner puts into action most women's curiosities about sex and most women's desire to make things right.

Because of these, the character also becomes unbelievable. Lacking credibility, is Brenda's meeting of Mr. Monti in her home and realizing he was one of her one night stands. Neither skips a beat. Surely, realizing that Mr. Monti would be her son's father-in-law and vice versa needed some delineation of guilt, consternation, or something to punctuate the moment.

Likewise, her intent to engage in extra-marital affairs, manage her adult childrens' lives, and to dispose of Mr. Monti, although charmingly written and accurate in their insights, make Brenda seem too obsessive even for her age and cultural stereotype.

Morally, she is bankrupt. Even the excuse that she is doing this for her family doesn't help--no one in her family asks for her interference. Quite the opposite exists, her family knows she is a busybody and prefers for her to stay out of their lives.

I give this novel a four rating because of the unbelievability of the Brenda Kovner character and because of the weak joke it makes out of fidelity and honesty

Brenda Kovner prides herself on being a "Can-Do" person who is in control of every aspect of her (and everyone else's) life. Her cheerful optimism as she blunders along making everything worse is absolutely hilarious. The chapter dealing with her assignation with a William F. Buckley-type who's into Japanese erotica is possibly the funniest sex scene ever written

It's been a while since I've laughed out loud while reading a book. It just gets better and better. What insights! My only question is..when will Brenda Kovner be back???

This is the worst children's book I have ever read. My fourth grader had to read this book for school. He had a very difficult time realating to the story. I read it myself to see why he couldn't identify with it. The author smothers the pages with supposedly "cute" little quips that only add confusion to the story for a child reading at this book level. Sifting through these quips make it very difficult to stay with the very simple plot. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

The puns are great! This book definitely did'nt let me down

My daughter loved this book! She read it in 3rd grade and it inspired her to read the rest of the series in 4th grade! She finds the plots very interesting and fascinating.

i am someone who likes the letter format of books and this book has it. if you like books in letter fomat than this is a good book to read and at the end it has information on thedore roosevelt. i rated this 5 stars

My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. What a wonderful way to provide a glimpse into the past. My daughter, age 10, had no difficulty in telling fiction from non-fiction. The design of the book is incredible. We were particularly impressed by the use of web prompts through out the book. A visit to the Winslow Press website is a must. There is nothing else out there like it on the web.

My name is John Olsen. I am a very big Theodore Roosevelt fan. I collect T.R. items and have study many of his writings. Jennifer Armstrong has written this book so convincingly well that I almost thought T.R. had actually written these letters. As explained in the beginning of the book, one of her major resources for the book was Roosevelt's own "Letters to His Children." So, while T.R. never had a pen pal who was a young coal miner, I am almost certain that it could have easily happened. T.R. was exactly that type of person. He was a big kid himself and would have been thrilled to have written to such a person as the young coal miner in the story. The book is filled with references to many of the exciting events of the life of Theodore Roosevelt, one of our greatest Presidents ever. Furthermore, there are detailed explanations of numerous words relating to mining and Polish culture. I strongly recommend this book for those who want to get their pre-teens excited about history and Presidents. I rather like the "Dear Mr. President" concept as a means to excite young people about Presidents. I look forward to reading the others in this series. Just remember who this book was written for and don't overanalyze it. Enjoy it!!

This book is completely oudated and every lead that I thought I could use was completely useless. Apparently there is a new edition but it appears that this older edition has been outdated for years. Don't buy this book.

While I was still living in New York I used this book extensivly. That was about a year ago. Let me tell ya me and my friends had a great time using this book. We found great bargains and places to hang out. If I were in New York still I would by the new book edition. Not because this one is out dated but because I want more.

For Christmas, last year, we gave our youngest son, Kerry a trip to NYC. He has ask to go for years. This is one of the books that we got, to allow Kerry to map out his trip. We had a limited amount of money and he got to choose how we spent it.

We used Mr. Cheaps advice on hotels and found ourselves at this wonderful hotel, in the heart of midtown Manhattan. Our room was huge, by NYC standards, complete with a marble bath. So what if the complementary newspaper was in Italian. The Jolley is a chain owned by Italians. Kerry was mighty impressed. The location allowed us to use the subway, or walk saving us even more money.

These books are well written. This guy knows his towns. Lots of stuff that only locals usually know. Gave me enough savy to have a great time in NYC.

Kerry and I had four great days in NYC. In no small part thanks to Mr. Cheap!

A girl named Maggie dreads the day when she has to dissect in her biology class. Maggie decides to refuse dissect and rather receive a F for a grade. She afterwards becomes a vegetarian. This book has a point on dissection and it is a good example as an arguement against killing or dissecting animals. The author somehow seems to persuade reader's that killing animals is wrong.

My favorite character is Maggie. She is like me, scared of dissecting things. I hate Matt because he is a little brat. My other favorite character is Alicia, she is Maggie's best friend. the best part of the story is the end.

This book was wonderful. I myself am a vegan, and found it interesting that until Matt mentioned it, Maggie didn't think twice about eating meat. I think that we all need to know all the facts, and this book shows those facts in a good way, without forcing them upon you, letting you make your own decision. It is understandable that Maggie called her science teacher a murderer. After all, we all need to come to terms with our feelings, and in doing so, we may hurt someone else's, but it's something that must be done. This book is a wonderful story about growing up, learning about the world around us, and trying new things (like tofu!). This book teaches a lesson that needs to be learned.

We were always told in school to read the classics...and so, having embarked on an attempt to do this, I find it very uninspiring. Just as interesting as Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde novel is both unexciting and a waste of time. Maybe the modern day media has dullened my senses, maybe I have become anaesthetized to the twists and turns of this timeless classic. Then again, maybe it is hugely overrated by literature readers who get their cues from the 1940's.

Equally entertaining in it's own right, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde maintained my interest. However, since it is not the slang I am used to in speech and in text, the language was difficult for me to comprehend at first. But as the story progressed, I was able to keep up with the extensive vocabulary and sentence structures. The story line captivated me, being mysterious and well put together. Dr. Jekyll is a jolly man who is well liked and well respected, and with good reason. Initially, I was fond of this character as his lawyer, Mr. Utterson, described him throughout the book. Yet, when it is revealed what Dr. Jekyll did, my opinion of him becomes shady and unsure. This character is essential and puzzling in this story, causing one to wonder his credibility. Mr. Hyde, on the other hand, is a man who is easily dislikable. He shows no reason to be admired most notably when he does the unthinkable. Murder, mystery, missing links and possibly psychotic scientists ... and that's just the beginning. This book obviously had no trouble intriguing me.

"The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is assured a place in the history of horror fiction because it the literary classic that represents the archetype of the werewolf (the human with the hiding inside). Along with Mary Wollstonecraft's "Frankenstein" (the Thing Without a Name) and Bram Stoker's "Dracula" (the Vampire) Robert Louis Stevenson's novella is part of the gothic foundation of the modern horror story. All have in common the fact that they promise to tell a story that might best be left untold, which, of course, is exactly the sort of story we want to hear.

Given that Stevenson was writing when the genre of horror fiction was not recognized as such, it is surprising that "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is cast in the form of a mystery novel. Stevenson invites his readers to try and get ahead of the story, to put the clues together and come to the conclusion. Today it is nearly impossible to pick up this story and not know the "secret," but if you think back to the late 19th-century when this story was written you can get a sense for how Stevenson used the biases and limitations of his readers to his advantage in keeping them from what we might consider to be an obvious conclusion.

More importantly, Stevenson is writing several decades before the writings of Sigmund Freud revolutionized the whole idea of human psychology. Yet we can certainly find evidence of the conscious and subconscious mind of which Freud would write. Stevenson reinforces this metaphor with the block of buildings that divides this particular part of London, with one side representing the civilized world of a respected physician and the other side the squalor of the world inhabited by an inhuman creature who gives in to his every earthly desire. The novella also speaks to the topic of evolution, with Hyde being described as "ape-like," reinforcing the idea that our most human attributes remove us ever further from the category of mere animal.

Of the three classic horror novels, "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is the most accessible. Not only because of its shorter length, but also because its evil is more realistic, even in terms of our imagination. We might be unable to reanimate the dead or to become the walking dead, but we can certainly relate to the idea of unleashing the beast buried with us. Even if we could not, we can recognize the "werewolf" in the real world in the form of serial killers who try to show a civilized face to us in public. This is not to say that the novella is simplistic, for Stevenson offers a sophisticated narrative. If this is one of those literary you have never read because you already know the story, then you should take out an evening to sit down and finally get around to reading it.