On-the-tape

I was enraptured with this book - from the prose to the seasons - so vividly described in the Vermont countryside.
Moreover, it goes to the heart of living, loving and leaving
a legacy, even something as simple and profound as a tale well told.

"Mirror Lake" is an exemplary debut novel which explores the full range of human emotions. Christopher Burns offers a powerful reading.

In this story we meet two men who would probably have never even taken notice of each other had it not been for a dangerous quirk of nature. The younger of the two, Nathan Carter is still in his twenties. He's come to Vermont following his father's death. When his jeep runs off the road during a blinding snow storm, 79-year-old Wallace Fiske becomes his care giver. But Wallace gives more than nursing, he tells Nathan his story which centers on his marriage to Nora.

Is Wallace embellishing the truth or is he relating his past life as it actually took place? When Nathan begins to try to discover for himself what really happened some half a century before he discovers a number of surprising things about himself.

Greene's absorbing tale is both entertaining and thought provoking.

- Gail Cooke

Mirror Lake tempted my own desires as each character pulled a different emotion. I connected most with Nora, a woman captured by the beauty of nature while enjoying a life lived off the land. An uncomplicated woman at first, her life becomes more three dimensional with each page - many moments dealing with love and grief.

My most loved aspect of the book is the description of drink and scenery. It allowed me to close my eyes and relax into a winter slumber in the middle of July.

I have a hard time reading something new without falling asleep. It usually takes me several attempts before I can acutally get into a book before I nod off. Needless to say, this makes reading a novel a very long process. This was NOT the case with this book. I read Nina in 3 days which I have NEVER done before! I had no problem staying "awake" to read the first chapters and by that point I was so engrossed in the story and characters it was hard to put it down. I am looking for a window of opportunity to read this one again BUT I am 3 weeks into another book that I can hopefully finish before Hassingers second novel is released...

Remember when your English teacher told you that the mark of a really good piece of writing was when the language was so masterfully employed as to be utterly beautiful and at the same time completely transparent, throwing the story into hyper-real relief without calling attention to itself? Your teacher was referring to Nina: Adolescence.

The recording of this fabulous first novel from Amy Hassinger is sublime! Do yourself a favor and listen to it!

This charming Christmas story will warm your heart -- Ruth Bell Graham teams with Richard Jesse Watson to tell the story of a young boy away from home at Christmas. I love this book.

Zeb is a young mountain boy who is caught alone in a sudden snowstorm. He ends up taking refuge at a cabin his grandfather had helped to build many years before. The old woman living there shelters Zeb, who has a badly swollen ankle, while they are snowbound. To pass the time she offers to tell him the Christmas story. Such is the simple premise of "One Wintry Night," but Ruth Bell Graham tells about much more than the story of the nativity of Jesus.

I find it meaningful that before the story begins we read the first eleven verses of the gospel according to Luke. These are, of course, essentially the same versus that Linus recites in "A Charlie Brown Christmas," which certainly makes it one of the most recognizable Bible verses for young children. It ends with the declaration of the angel of the birth of a savior, and it is ultimately that aspect which Graham is trying to explain. After all, the whole point of the recitation by Linus was to explain to Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about, and this proves to be Graham's goal as well.

Consequently, the old woman in this story begins the tale with the creation of the universe, and she spends more time talking about the story of Adam and Eve than the story of Jesus, which is told from the perspective of a boy named Aaron and his little sister Anna. Zeb is used to underscore the lesson by asking questions that set up each part of the old woman's narrative.

Richard Jesse Watson provides the illustrations, which are beautiful but sort of unnecessary to the story being told (I actually found myself ignoring them the first time through the book simply because I was caught up in the story Graham was telling; but they are some nice illustrations here). The story has in-text citations for scriptural references, including one from the book of Micah, which is usually a good sign. "One Wintry Night" does a nice job of putting the Christmas story in a larger scriptural context, which should certainly be appealing to some parents looking for something along these lines for their children.

This book shows the Bible to be one story...the story of a loving God saving a fallen people. It's a GREAT perspective. The illustrations are beautiful, and the story very well written. I read this to my kids every Christmas, one chapter per night...They're always begging for more! It's wonderful for Christmas, but the story is so much more than just a Christmas story! Highly Recommended!

I just bought this book as a gift for a friend. I'm so glad I did, because I ended up reading some of it. Really good stuff. I would recommend this for a study group. It has great questions at the end of the chapter, lots of encouragement and hope!
Also a great gift idea for moms with kids at home.

No matter where you are in your journey of motherhood, this book will have something for you. I can't speak highly enough of the challenge and encouragement that I came away with, after reading this book. The author is very down-to-earth about motherhood and how we can really enhance our families and homes, always backing up what she says with scripture. This is a book I will keep on my shelf and read again someday.

I am only 1/2 way through it, but it is wonderful!! Do the lessons and you will be amazed at how uplifted you will feel:). It does make a differnce in my daily life.

The quality of this book is what first grabs you. The paper is thick, glossy and has weight, it reproduces 19th century photographs beautifully. The text is ancillary and never intrudes upon the primary focus here, which are the photographs of Lincoln, his family and the people who shaped his extraordinary life. The text illuminates and expands upon the photographs, giving dates and other pertinent information.

If you're looking for a full-scale biography of Lincoln, look elsewhere, this is primarily a visual treat and one of the better photographic compilations on any President.

Kudos to the publisher Knopf and all involved on the quality of this book. The reproduction of the 19th century photographs is first rate. The sepia toned image of the great man inside the front cover is exceptionally gorgeous - just breathtaking.

John Updike said Knopf publishes the most physically beautiful books in America, and this book leads me to believe he's right.

This is not a comprehesive, scholarly biography of Lincoln, nor does it pretend to be. But the text reads well, and the Lincoln photographs are beautiful, all-inclusive and presented in sound written context. The large size of the book works particularly nicely here. Well done!

Philip B. Kunhardt is to be highly commended for this outstanding photographic history of Abraham Lincoln. Not only are the photographs captivating, but the narrative of Lincolns life and the important events during his lifetime are interesting and enhance this book. Many interesting stories go along with the photographs of Lincoln from his 40's to his last days, however the most interesting part in my opinion is the month by month account of his presidency and the important events that occured. So much about the man has been written, but until this book was published not as many photos of President Lincoln were circulated or published. Just as important, are the events and stories which swirled around Lincoln. From his habits and humor to his history changing decisions are written in clarity and interesting form. His life and his loves are given with compassion, and his impossible losses of his sons and his mentally unballanced wife Mary Todd Lincoln is given unflinchingly. The last chapter of the book is about the assassination and the controversy surrounding Lincoln's remains, a very interesting and informative chapter to close with. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in U.S. History or 19th Century U.S. History.

I have read many personal accounts of incest (and other forms of sexual abuse). I am also a survivor of incest (and other sexual abuse as well), and I am a dancer. This book very accurately depicts the effects of child abuse on art, memory, and expression. Linda Cutting achieves this through an honest memoir of her own experience of memory recovery in adulthood, and it's effect on her life and art. Often her words spoke my own experience, particularly in her descriptions of having a flashback. Severe child abuse alters the structure of our minds, but through truth we can transcend. This book is superbly written. With very little description of the actual incest I was transported into her world. I could see her as a child, and the life she lived in. My heart reached out to her. If I ever want someone to understand what life is like for an adult survivor of incest this will be top on my list of recommendations. After reading this book I felt as if I had sat down with Linda, and she had told me her story. I thank her for having the courage to share her story with us. Her book is a great help to other survivors and for anyone who seeks to understand the life of an artist who is also a survivor of child abuse. This book helped me to get in touch with my own strength and empowerment to stand tall despite my past, and to continue my artistic work.

An absolutely stunningly clear account of losing memory- and many of the complexities within this experience- and of reclaiming resilience, balance, and self. As Cutting loses her memory of the music she is performing (music she has memorized and played over and over) in the process of working through her child abuse history, her story is a highly interesting account of the complexities of "memory slips" in an adult. Cutting navigates her history of child abuse with incredible strength and determination, and ultimately with great compassion for her family. Beautifully read by Cutting- some of her piano playing is on this audio cassette which is one reason I would recommend the audio version. Her musical expression is an important part of her story. The audio may be helpful for both women and men who have experienced sexual abuse as children/ adolescents as well as for those who want to understand the impact of this kind of an abuse history. In addition, this audio may be highly valuable in exploring the specific psychological dynamics that can arise with those who are or have been musical performers. The depth of this audio is difficult to articulate- the exploration of family psychological dynamics is worth every penny.

In "Memory Slips", concert pianist Linda Katherine Cutting chronicles her gradual breakdown and healing as she comes to terms with the horrendous abuse, physical, emotional and sexual, that she suffered at the hands of her parents as a child. Included in this memoir is the erosion of her career due to memory loss; her hospitalization and treatment, the disintegration of her first marriage, and her slow, painful, climb back to life.

This book testifies to both the worst and best of the human spirit: agonizing, as one relives the abuse Ms. Cutting suffered, and heroic, as she fights to reclaim her life and music. The abuse she suffered becomes all the more real under the dignified, poised and restrained words she uses. A deeply wrenching and uplifting book.

Marsha Norman, 'night, Mother (Hill and Wang, 1983)

What a refreshing piece of work-- a sparse, clear-headed play that examines the ramifications of suicide and (for once) comes up with the right answer. The action takes place in two rooms, with two people, and runs about an hour and a half. The two characters, a late-thirties daughter and her mother, start with the idea that the daughter is planning on committing suicide later that night, and the resulting tension between them allows both an examination of the more stable, understandable reasons behind the desie to end one's life and the soul-baring necessary in any familial relationship (and present in only a few).****

Michael Russo

This play only has two characters, has one main plot, one setting, and is one conversation. One might think that this play, just by knowing these facts, must not be good becaue how can a writer capture an audeince's attention for 90 pages of one conversation, especially when the conversation is about suicide. Do not ask how, but Marshall Norman does it. He lets us into the world of Jessie and Thelma, and the reader is hooked on every last word.
When Jesse reveals to Thelma that she is going to commit suicide, Thelma does not beleive her. However, once Jessie begins to list her reasons, Thelma goes from disbeleif to realism in a heartbeat. The tone then changes from a mother having a night chat with her daughter to a mother trying to save her daughter's life.
Her mother ives her many reasons why she should not kiil herself, which are all reasons that Jesse shoots down. The reader can hear the panick in the mother's voice and the calmness of Jesse's without anyone acting it out or doing the dialogue.
The writing itself is poetic and beautiful. He is using death to show the beauty of life, which is amazing. The mother does such a god job at giving her daughter reasons to live that someone contiplating suicide might reconsider.
While I am not going to ive away the ending, I will just say that the author does a good job of slowing down the pace for the grand finale. The endign is not forced and the play does not end too soon or too late, it's just right. The small home is also the perfect setting for this remarkable play because the reader can really feel involved in the lives of these two people in a setting that they are similar to.
I have to give this play five stars. I read it in less than an hour because the pace of it is fast and smooth. The setting is great and the characters are so realistic they jump off the page and into your kitchen. If you want to know more about the meaning of life, I highly recommend this book.

What if your daughter or son came into the living room, and she or he told you that he or she was going to end her or his life? How would you respond? What would you do? And the question is what can you do?

Mama thinks that her and her daughter are having a normal night at the house until she finds out that her daughter has planned to end her life. At first, Thelma "Mama" thinks that Jessie is kidding when she says that she wants to shoot herself. When Thelma realizes that Jessie is serious, the conflict begins between the struggle of life and death which is out of Thelma's hands.

Thelma stalls and tries to find out why Jessie wants to end her life. In the small amount of time between life and death, Thelma finds out more about her daughter than she ever did in her entire time with while she releases secrets and concerns that she never revealed to her daughter.

'Night Mother is a play that unwinds spellbound confessions and displays intense emotions that run through the course of people lives. Jessie and Thelma are powerful characters that makes me feel like I am there with them in the room. Jessie, in the first time in her life, feels like she has a sense of control, and death is freeing her as she sees life imprisoning her. The whole play is intriguing and complex. The ending will make you feel like you have realized that life is complex and question why you exist as a human being.

This book is a very detailed account of the Cuban Missile Crisis, as told by both the Russian submariners tasked to get through to Cuba and the American destroyers bent on stopping them. In 1962, the decision was made to station both land based nuclear missiles and nuclear armed bomber, as well as SSB submarines armed with nuclear missiles in Cuba. The land based portion, dubbed Operation Anadyr, would use cargo ships to deploy the land based missiles, bomber and troops. The Naval operation, Kama, was to be initiated by four Soviet Project 641 Foxtrot diesel attack submarines, sailing from the Kola peninsula bound for Cuba. These would act as an advanced guard, to be followed by seven Project 629 Golf class balistic missile submarines, each carrying three nuclear tipped missiles. The plan was for these submarines to be based out of Cuba, where they could threaten the southern US. Just prior to departure, each of the Foxtrot submarines received, in addition to their normal torpedo loads, one 10 kiloton T-5 nuclear torpedo. Admiral Gorshkov's orders were "You will use these weapons if American forces attack you submerged or force your units to the surface and the attack...." The fate of the world was thereby placed in the hands of four Russian submarine commanders.

The book skillfully weaves the ensuing tale, alternating the Soviet submariner's stories with the American destroyer's ASW pursuits as the crisis progresses. A showdown in which USS Blandy drops small charges to force one of the submarines, B-130, to surface, leads to frustration for the submarine captain. He therefore orders loading and flooding, in prepartion for firing, of the torpedo tube with the T-5 nuclear warhead. Fortunately, cooler heads prevail upon the captain to back down. This book lends new insights into just how close the world really came to disaster during that alarming time in history. The author was on board one of the American destroyers, USS Blandy, assigned to the USS Essex task force group, and thus tells tale that from a first hand perspective. Outstanding.

I bought this book because I was offended by the hype on the dust cover, which presented it as another Kennedy Court History in which the Cuban Missile Crisis is made to sound even more scary than it really was. It was a pleasant surprise to read a balanced account of Soviet submarine operations during the Crisis, which refutes many of the exaggerated claims still being made about the possibility of unauthorized use of tactical nukes. We learn that Soviet nuclear torpedos were escorted by armed KGB officers who actually slept on top of the weapons, and the Rules of Engagement were so onerous that a sub would have to be actually sinking before one could be fired. Just to be safe, the sub crews were given no training on the nukes and were kept ignorant of their capabilities. This isn't too surprising when one considers that a military coup was always the secret nightmare of communist govenments. If the tactical nukes assigned to Soviet Army units in Cuba were under similar restrictions, it is hard to see how they could ever have been fired -- the nightmare scenario still being cited by Robert MacNamara to justify the Kennedys' secret treaty with Khrushchev.
Another revelation is the very poor mechanical performance of the Soviet subs which suffered an appalling series of engine breakdowns. From the limited details given in this book, it appears that many of these failures were due to mistakes by poorly trained engineering personnel. (Fatigue due to the intense tropical heat and humidity may be a factor also.) Since these subs had specially selected crews and were just out of refit, the mind boggles at what the average Soviet diesel boat must have been like in 1962. Had Khrushchev actually proceeded with his plan to base Golf-class missile subs permanently in Cuba, the result could only have been utter disaster. The more we learn about the Soviet side of the Missile Crisis, the more it looks like the most badly planned and implemented military operation of all time.

Finally, a wonderful account of the United States Navy in action during the Cuban missle crisis....... I was aboard the U.S.S. Lowry DD770 during this time, and the author caught the excitement of those times. It was the U.S.S. Lowry DD770 who identified one of the Russian subs and steamed side by side with her for three days attempting to make verbal contact with their crew. We played dixie land music. A band brought over from the U.S.S. Randolph. Several interpreters were also brought over in our attempts at contact, to no success.

How wonderful to read such an exciting story. Well done Mr. Huchthausen!

This book is magic. You will never think about a small band of Indians as statistics again. This book does volumes to make people of our society really feel what goes on in traditional societies. To feel jealous of their solidarity. To feel unloved by our own. It's great! READ IT.

First published in 1947 and available in a wide variety of editions since then, Farley Mowat's first and most distant book is still remarkably readable in the world of the 21st century. It concerns one of the stranger human sagas of the last century, that of the discovery and destruction of a remote Inuit society, the Ihalmiut, in Canada's north. The setting of the book is far enough away in time for us to marvel at how little things have changed since. The contemptuous attitude of European man for the aborigine seems hardly to have altered over the years. We are still hard put to understand the needs of the first peoples and how to answer them.

Farley Mowat has combined a fine sensitivity for the natural environment with a sharp eye for the details of man's place within it. It must be exceedingly rare in the history of anthropology that such an inexperienced investigator has taken such pains to get to the source of his information. Mowat lived among the Ihalmiut for over a year to write the book. During that time he witnessed the rapid deterioration of the small group which remained, and tried to examine the causes of their decline. With very deft prose for such a young writer, he points out the difference between the intentions and the actions of the European discoverers of The People (as they refer to themselves) and the consequences of such disparity. The Ihalmiut were exploited in much the same way as any other tribal band found wandering by the early explorers. However, as Mowat points out, this was an exceptional group which had survived the extreme rigours of a barren land (known to us simply as The Barrens) for so many generations, only to be felled by contact with the very race which might have provided them with so much assistance.

The Ihalmiut are long gone from their homeland but their story serves to remind us of our often difficult relationship with the land and the people on it. Perhaps, as a race of city-dwellers, we need to consider our place in the natural environment more than ever. Mowat's work is a just accounting of where we stand in relationship to nature. Nor does he suggest that we should all go and live in the tundra. Yet People of the Deer is a source of considerable inspiration for those now ready to reflect on the unbalancing effect of contemporary values.

A truly insightful story of the inland eskimo people of the Canadian Arctic. It details not only their day to day survival in a harsh land, but also tells of their myths, legends, and history. It also tells of the whiteman's interference with their culture and how that affect may ultimately lead to their extinction. The book sincerely takes the reader into the lives of the People of the Deer.

This is a great book, especially anyone interested going into the professional ministry. There are a lot of good stories, a church theatrical sermon, and some poetry. The stuff written about is real Christianity and not the fluffy feel-good stuff that many people think Christianity is about. A wonderful book.

RAGMAN AND OTHER CRIES OF FAITH is a deeply moving collection of works concerning the Christian faith, written by Walt Wangerin, Jr. about some of his experiences as a pastor in the inner city. The title work, "Ragman" is a story that is often used as a skit/readers theatre throughout the country and is basically an updated tale about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The book includes poems, plays, sermons, and many great stories because as Wangerin writes, stories are what make a pastor. The tales are all personal and most are moving. They examine a deep and living faith that sees the work of God everywhere: from a naked, homebound parishoner who smells like urine to the painful death of a young woman to a crazy woman shooting a gun at no one in the middle of the street. This is a great book for any pastor, for anyone who has done urban missions, or for anyone looking for a book that illustrates the very real ways God is working in our world today. Highly recommended.

The Easter story as related by the man who follows the Ragman is moving and makes an age old story new. Older elementary school children, middle schoolers and adults listened. We all heard the story.Although it seemd familiar, it held our attention. It was an eyewitness thought provoking news account of a very special Ragman.