MR

"Inside Mr. Enderby," is wonderful and off beat. "Enderby Outside," follows the off kilter story of Enderby and the absurdity that is his life. "The Clockwork Testament," as the title would suggest, has shadings of Burgess' very well known book, "Clockwork Orange." The "Testament," is surreal and twisted while funny at the same time. The final story, "Enderby's Dark Lady," is wonderful and surprising to the reader with value not only for fans of the dyspeptic poet but lovers of Shakespeare as well.

While slightly dated, these stories have a bite to them that speaks volumes of truth for anyone who has been an academic, a professional writer or just a little bit out of touch with the world around them. Enderby is often misunderstood and though he makes his living in a "communication" field, he has a lot of trouble getting his point across to others.

Not only are these books funny, but as is often the case with Burgess, the satire is thinly veiled and pointing at both society and himself.

Leave it to Burgess to create a poet so quirky, so outrageous and neurotic that you have to laugh at every page of his misdaventures. Whether offending strangely clad women in a gay bar or defending himself with a toilet seat, this man lives and was not just created. Clueless about the machinations around him and the pathetic hangers on that want to steal some of his glory, in his poet Burgess paints a disspiriting picture of the 1970s literary scene in London. His world is nightmarish, if leavened by a poet's vision and uncontrollable, irrepressible creativity.

Highly recommended and certainly one his best.

In these novels, Anthony Burgess has done more to de-mystify the creative process (and those who persue it) than any other modern writer. His protagonist, F. X. Enderby, professional English poet, is as flawed as any character ever created. From his almost constant malapropisms down to his bodily emissions, he is every person with true human frailties. He stumbles his way through everyday conversations (often both misunderstanding and misunderstood) while at the same time offending almost everyone he comes into contact with. He is incapable of handling life in the "real" world and is shamelessly exploited by those who do.

In spite of his human failings, Enderby produces things of great beauty. The delicately worded, well balanced verses offer a wonderful counterpoint to Enderby's social ineptitudes and lack of common sense.

There is also a fairly strong political angle in the books which readers in today's society should heed. Censorship, that demon of modern P.C. sensibility, is discussed here intelligently and honestly. Bear in mind, these books are fairly old and some of the racial and sexual comments made in them will reflect this. However, I think you will find a certain balance in their use; everyone gets it in the end. Including Enderby.

_Dear Mr. Mackin..._ is one of the funniest books I've ever read. I was laughing out loud the whole way through.

What Mackin does is write letters to companies about their products, usually regarding their advertising or packaging. ...He then prints the company's response alongside. It's most often a form letter with an enclosure of coupons, but sometimes not.

For light, funny-as-hell reading, you can't do better than this gem of a collection. If anyone knows what the 2000 body parts that LEVER2000 cleans, I'm sure Rich would love to know.

This is one of the funniest books I've ever read! Everybody I show it to wants a copy for themselves and everyone I've given a copy to loves it! A lot of the letters Reverend Mackin writes were clearly written with a sense of humour but there are quite a few that leave you thinking, "Hmmmmmm..." What exactly does the word Nog mean? ... Do I have 2000 body parts for Lever2000 to clean? This is a very entertaining book for all to enjoy.

If you just read 'No Logo' or 'Culture Jam', and you feel as if you need to be reminded of possible reasons to laugh, then this is the book for you. Highly recommended.

Dr. Molea puts you there, in the moment, and at times it's perhaps just a bit too real. There were moments when my heart raced and other moments when I wanted to cry. It's a story that any addict can certainly relate to as can anyone who has a parent, a friend, a brother or sister with an addiction. More to the point - it's an all too human story.

This book was reviewed by the Mid-West Review of Books and rated "very high". That was an understatment. This book was so engaging and the story so compelling that I found it hard to put down--even more so after finding that it is based on a true story. There is much more information and rescources on the web site: ... I can't wait for the authors next book!

In Duck Blood Soup, author Joseph Molea (a nationally recognized addiction medicine specialist and director of HealthCare Connection, Tampa, Florida) draws upon his medical expertise and professional experience to write an eerie and suspenseful novel of drug addiction among those charged with the highest responsibility and power over human lives -- physicians. At times shocking, but always gripping and intense, Duck Blood Soup is highly recommended as being a first-rate, cover-to-cover saga that can't be put down until the very end.

Carol Finch's story takes place on a stress management ranch. Our hero's sisters have arranged for their regimented, in-a-rut older brother to be taken there for an enforced two week vacation. Without his electronics and his routine, he is lost and is *not* a happy camper. Soon though, his long-dormant instincts revive, much to his chagrin. This fish-out-of-water story humorously tells of one man's return to life and the unlikely woman who instigates it. It's an amusing, romantic and well-written tale.

A working ranch in Montana is the setting for Molly O'Keefe's story about a social worker from Los Angeles who brings a South Central gang wannabe there for a summer out of his normal enviroment. This program is her brain child and she's determined for it to succeed. Little does she know that she'll be the one seduced by the ranch and its inhabitants, specifically its emotionally scarred foreman. The main characters had emotional depth and the secondary characters were nicely developed. The humor, sexual attraction and romance were well done. This is apparently Ms. O'Keefe's first book and it is an excellent beginning. Here's hoping she keeps on writing and gives us more stories about the Cook family of Montana!

Is this the first book by Molly O'Keefe? If so, I eagerly look forward to more work from this writer. Her vivid characters will remind every reader of some individual from her own life. It's nice to see a writer effectively inject so many humorous scenes amidst the sexy ones - and the sexy ones really got my pulse racing! I hope she keeps writing about the Cooks - I'd love to see what happens with the two younger brothers in the family! Yummy!

For readers both old and new, this book is a must-read!

I liked the Carol Finch story best of the two, though I liked them both. Mr. Predictable has a kind of hero I really like. He is uptight and needs to let go to his real feelings. Only the heroine can get to him, and once he lets go, he is really hot.

In Molly O'Keefe's Too Many Cooks, I liked the plot of the hero's family working as matchmakers - I'm a big fan of matchmaker plots. I like the way the heroine was very big on helping people, especially kids. Like the hero of Mr. Predictable, she was also a character who needed to lighten up, and falling in love with the hero really helped her. I like this with either hero or heroine as a theme.

Very sexy, funny book!

I read this book in 1999 (previous edition) and while I've not read the latest edition, this book provides as much information as possible - an attempt in bridging the gap between what you should know and "employment law". This book is no guarantee that in fighting back you will win - but it does tell you what you should know when getting canned. Far too few people truly understand their rights under employment law and big business knows it and the workforce populus in general is frequently taken advantage of because of it. If you live in an "at will" state - as an employee you have very few ways to fight back.

Read, know your rights, act and react appropriately, and stand your ground. But remember, losing your job may simply be a matter of economics or politics - good companies will treat you with dignity, bad companies will trash you - and they don't care! Remember these few maxims: 1. Sometimes HR is a four-letter word! 2. Company loyalty does not exist. 3. Plan for your retirement yourself because no one else is going to do it for you. 4. Anyone who is not management doesn't share in the profits but pays for the loss in profits. 5. Management and executives will "always win" - its a sad fact of business life.

The average employee will never see a golden parachute in their lifetime - - again.

This was a great book to see the signs of trouble at work and whether you should fight once fired. Especially in present times, when company loyalty is gone people need this.

I found this book by accident while browsing at Borders. At first I thought it was only for people who had been fired. In fact, it is an invaluable set of tools for figuring out if your job is at risk and for handling any termination process so that you "win" even if losing your job. This author, whoever he is, really understands the physics of the workplace and the psychology of those on both sides of the tabel. It is a book I will re-read several times.

I had read a great review of this book, but after receiving it, we were concerned that Mr.Night was a little scary-looking for a small child. So prior to a week-end visit from our grandson, I went in search of the "Good Night, Mr. Night" doll (Yottoy Productions). We presented him with the doll, and showed him how Mr.Night's stars glowed in the dark. He was very taken with Mr. Night, and dragged everyone into a dark room to show them how his stars glowed.
The next day, still unsure, we presented him with the book. Not to worry! Our 3 1/2 year-old grandson was mesmerized by this book (as was his 1 1/2 year-old brother!), and immediately said, "Read it again; I like it." Bedtime for the 3 1/2 year-old is normally an ordeal (and it started out that way), but after reading "Mr. Night" together, he closed his eyes, rolled over, and was asleep.
The next day, after hearing the story 5 times, he read it aloud to his mother--almost word-for-word--when she came to pick him up. This is a wonderful book for any child--whether they have a difficult time going to bed or not. And don't let Mr. Night scare you--children must see what we can't. (I do think it worked best to present the Mr. Night doll first.)

My daughter is almost 4 and now sleeps with this book. The images are soft as what it is saying. It is peaceful and so well done. We have checked it out so many times we decided to buy it. You should too!

Being an earth-based, organic, natural-fiber sort of family, I wasn't sure the the anthropormorphic Mr. Night was going to be popular with my children (ages 7 and 3), but the reading of this book (now memorized by all) has become part of our nightly ritual. My son received a "Mr. Night" doll as a gift and was so taken with him (boys DO need dolls, but that's another subject....)that I ordered the book. I was pleasantly surprised. The story shows a day in Mr. Night's life, and a small boy's loving relationship with him. In a few succinct pages, Mr. Night gently puts all the living beings of the Earth to sleep and prepares the world for its night of rest, then goes off to bed himself. The boy is aware of Mr. Night's doings, and feels a special connection with him that results in his own peaceful nightly slumber. The story clearly illustrates the ongoing cyclical nature of day and night, and makes the reader feel at one with the powerful forces that shape our world. The illustrations are vivid and colorful, and clearly show the change from light to dark to light again. I highly reccommend this book for children of all ages.

"It's embarrassing when you can't even find a charity that will take your old computer as a donation."

"You probably aren't computer literate if you think installing a patch is how you fix a flat tire."

Martin Hopper has created a humorous book that rolls with the ever-changing world of computers. This is a humorous book with creative illustrations to match.

This book should be on everyone's desk at work. When you take your coffee break (I know--I know, who has time for coffee breaks), but make the time, and take this book with you. The humor in this book about computers and more will have you laughing at your own computer foibles.

I bought this book for my boyfriend, and he keeps it on his desk at work. He thought the quotes hit computers right where they byte!

I thought that this was a great book for kids in 6th grade because we learn about Canadians and WW2. I felt sorry for Sara Warren because she is trapped inside feeling like she has to choose between Mr.Ito and her family because of the War. This is a wonderful book for our time going through the war against Iraq. The front cover is all ready a great description of the book.

In my state we have something called Readind Competition.It's where you have to read a book and answer qustions about it. I raed this book for it and loved it.It's sad and exiting so please buy it it's worth the money!

This story "The Eternal Spring of Mr. Ito", was about the hardships a girl named Sara Warren and her friends and family faced while World War II was going on. Sara Warren lived with her parents in England, but because Germans were bombing England, her parents sent her to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to live with her relatives. She stayed with her Aunt Jean, Uncle Duncan, cousins Mary & Jamie, and their friends. Many horrible and unexpected things happened.

This was a really interesting novel. To me this novel explained life and all the horrible things that happen. Mr. Ito was a very special man to Sara.

To me this novel means a lot. It means that even when things are at their worst, there is still hope. And that little hope may be strength and courage to move on.

The significance of this novel within the theme of Heroic Adventures was expressed a couple of ways. Sara stood up for herself and the way she cared for things and helped people made her a hero. She looked beyond everyone's face and saw something different that made her want to help people. Sara displayed heroism in a way that she cared for her plant, and everyone around her. She especially cared for the Itos because of all the trouble they were going through. Sara was very strong when things were at their worst.

The genre I would include this story in is realistic fiction. Everything in the story was true. World War ll really happened, and sadly people do die. Comparing this novel to the last novel I read, I like this novel much better. Their similarities were both about heroes and a girl that tries to save the day.

I would absolutely recommend this book to others because it is very interesting. I guess I could say that I learned something from this book. That is that once you read this book, you can't put it down!

Having just finished Mr Standfast I felt it a good time to review my thoughts and emotions stirred by the book.
Mr Standfast, the third Buchan novel in the General Hannay series, is a fascinating study in the era in which it was both set and authored. Being published in 1919, the events of WW1, the topic of the book, were no doubt fresh in the authors mind.
The book is not easy for the 21st Century reader with many words not frequently in current use. Keep a dictionary handy. It is however a stimulating read with a great historical
backdrop. Whilst at times farfetched and Biggles like in it's gingoistic tone, the reader is drawn into Hannay's affection for his cause. Overall, a thoroughly recommended read.

As my title says, the Four Adventures are real classics that spawned a whole library of imitators. Written as they were during the First World War and immediate post-war period by someone who both hob-nobbed with the political movers and shakers of the time & may have participated in some intertesting Intelligence work on his own (see Peter Hopkirk's LIKE HIDDEN FIRE for some of the "facts" behind GREENMANTLE) they capture a time a place and a people at the height of British global dominance. Given that the first three tales were written during some of the most desperate days of World War I it is no accident that there is some pro-British propaganda, but as the excellnt introduction to this edition points out, Buchan is remarkably kind to both friends and foes, and while the Bad-Guys are truly Bad, they also have their redeeming qualities. THIRTY-NINE STEPS has been made into a number of movies, none of which do it justice. GREENMANTLE is my personal favorite & reading it again for the umpteenth time last year I was struck by how remarkably prescient Buchan was as to the problems we now face with an Islamic Middle East. Mr. Standfast actually wraps things up nicely, with some excellent descriptions of fighting on the Western Front, and I always felt that THE FOUR HOSTAGES was a bit of a tag-on that really wasn't needed (the same can be said of the fifth and long out of print Hannay adventure THE ISLE OF SHEEP, which has been sensibly left out of this volume). If you like adventure stories with a strong male hero, a nice mystery, clearly defined Good and Evil, an appealing heroine (in the last three Adventures) and a good sense of history by someone who actually made part of it, this volume is for you. Readers of Alan Furst & the like will see where contemporary authors got their ideas & timing. This is a wonderful look into a now vanished world that still has clues to our troubled present.

'Nuff said about the 39-steps; read the book. If I had written the 39-steps, I could have died without regret.

Buchan delved the emotional depths of strong, silent men, in the wild mystical motion of Greenmantle & in the static unshaken forces of endurance & will of Mr. Standfast. In these two tales, he brought the irresistible force & the immoveable object, the two opposing forces of nature, the storm & the rock, the Yin & the Yang, into being, in his writing.

Strangely, it is another, black, South African, the great Nelson Mandela, who typified in real life, the qualities of Buchan's fictional Boer, Peter Pienaar.

The three hostages was a cop-out, an afterthought, the dabbling of an artist who had reached the top of the mountain and was now relaxing & drawing pretty pictures for his grandchildren.

This is a coming-of-age story of a young man who is lost in the idealism of the early 60's, and having lived the era, I feel the pathos of this character, as well as the humor in the life he leads. The protagonist Walter Marshall,is nineteen years old,innocent,a devoted Catholic with a reverence for his struggling mom, a deep patriotism,and a lingering insecurity about his place in the world. The book is laced with great, laugh-out-loud humor. The characters are rich and believable.And the book has a very surprising ending. And believe it or not, some of us really were that innocent back in those days!This was a nostalgic look back for me. But this book is an enjoyable way to transport yourself to the uncertainties of this era if you weren't around to experience them. Get it, and enjoy!

I had to read this novel for my Us History class, and I'm not the most interested reader when I have to force something upon me to read. My teacher gave us a choice of about 30 books and as I read the brief synopsises of the books she said that this book had humor, love story, and about a man who was just learning about himself in the early 60's. My teacher seemed to enjoy it and so I said what they hey! I read the book and it just took me with this poor young 19 year old kid who was not sure what he's doing but he was doing it quite fast and was just trying to please everyoen in the process. Just to see was transpired it was so interesting and I couldn't put it down. The funniest parts I thought were when he was in confession with the priests. I really recommend this book to anyone! I'm reading another one of his books because I was so impressed but his style of writing I had to read more! I'm reading "In The Night Season" so far so good! This is just one of the many books I've read this past year that I chose that have been so good. I just feel I'm on some type of streak! Hah!

This novel mixes an innocent protagonist, an older and socially-inept girlfriend, organized crime, radio personalities, and "love at first sight" to become one of the funniest books I've ever read. In the tradition of his story, "Aren't You Happy For Me?" Bausch really throws the reader a curveball.

The hero wants to grow up to be President. In the meantime, he's taking radio broadcast classes at the local community college while trying to make time with an attractive German student. The hero's girlfriend is a wealthy girl, slightly older than him, overbearing and obtuse and totally insensitive. When Our Hero's school gets into trouble with the local loan shark, he steps in to save the day. This novel was my introduction to Bausch and still my favorite of his long fiction. Read it.