P-S

It's not fair to call Lovecraft a horror writer, as from his pen have come some of the most beautiful pieces of literature ever. Tales of the macabre, the ancient, the unspeakable. His narrative style draws you in immediately, engulfing you with the rich atmosphere of the Cthulhu Mythos. Some of Lovecraft's best works are collected in this volume - The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kaddath, The Shunned House, as well as numerous short stories. Whether you're a nouveau fan or an old aquaintance, pick this book up

This is the best Lovecraft edition for those who have been acquainted with Lovecraft and like his writings. Definately the best of the Arkham House collections and is the first of the Arkham House books to get. Probably not the best for those unfamiliar with Lovecraft just because of the cost.

This collection includes my favorite Lovecraft story "The Shadow Over Innsmouth", as well as the wonderful stories "The Call of Cthulhu" and "The Dunwich Horror". Some of the other better stories include "The Music of Erich Zann" and "Pickman's Model". Robert Bloch's introduction is a nice supplement to Lovecraft's writings. Highly recommended, but I also recommend buying additional Lovecraft because this collection does leave out some Lovecraft gems(i.e. "At the Mountains of Madness").

In spite of the smug dismissal of an ealier reviewer, there is absolutely no gainsaying the originality of Lovecraft. Yes, he is formulaic. So is Poe. Yes, his weltanschauung is morbid and overwrought. So is much of Hawthorne's and Melville's. He doesn't achieve the architectonic precision and interconnectedness of Tolkien, but that was never his ambition.

What he does have in abundance is a marvelous descriptive felicity allied with a prose rhythm that is perfectly calibrated to elicit terror and awe in the reader. Yes, he overwrites. But he's never boring.

"The Shadow out of Time" paved the way for my appreciation of Borges. And "To the Mountains of Madness" is one of the great visionary works of 20th century literature. Period. To compare Lovecraft unfavorably to the rodomontade of Sandburg or the dessicated exquisses of Djuna Barnes shows how far removed from a living pulse are the critical canons of the academic establishment.

P.S. I've Taken a Lover was truly delightful to read. I started reading it on a Saturday morning and finished on Sunday evening! I got nothing else done the whole weekend. White's story is about a meek housewife, Elizabeth; I would consider her a doormat, milk toast, wallflower kind of woman. Her life is spent in service to her husband and "his" house. But Elizabeth has a dream to become a writer that she buried long ago. Her controlling husband doesn't think she is capable of doing anything beyond taking care of him, his house, and his needs. I think any woman who has even a mildly controlling husband can identify with Elizabeth. And that is the real attraction to this story; the reader can identify with the characters and feel their pain, joy, hope, and laughter. Elizabeth writes a steamy novel under the alias Lolly Horn and her husband and his predatory secretary have her committed as a mad woman. This is the story of a woman reaching for her dreams regardless of the consequences and obstacles. It is truly inspiring, humorous and enjoyable.

P.S. I've Taken a Lover kept me sleepless most of one night--until I finished it at 4 a.m.

White's inventive story is about Elizabeth, a beaten-down, menopausal housewife whose husband has incarcerated her (and her alter ego, Lolly) in a mental institution. Lolly is a sexy writer of steamy romances, and everything that Elizabeth herself is not. Or is she? Elizabeth wonders if she is indeed going mad and Lolly is just a figment of her imagination. Unrepentant Lolly seizes the opportunity to finish her next sizzler. Besides Elizabeth/Lolly and her nasty husband, the story also features his predatory secretary and the mysterious man who becomes Lolly's secret lover.

This finely woven story masquerades as a comic romance but contains an allegorical tale of woman, reaching out for her dream. This is a great read. Kathryn North, author of Proud Mari

Entertaining and accurate--and what a TRUE heroine! With Scrupples! Having lived 15 years with a psychopathic doctor... I could identify with Elizabeth Gilmartin. Every woman deserves to be all she can be--every human deserves it! LIONHEARTED PUBLISHING has picked another winner AND continues to ELEVATE THE STATUS OF WOMEN. Lucas's writing style is a delight and hooks you. I couldn't put it down--I'm not normally a romance reader. I thank my friend for putting this book in my hands. Every woman should live her dream and no one should rain on another's parade. Ditch those "I know better than you do, dear" husbands and live! A. Vandeventer

The selection of books that i have read on Kabbalah were steeped in esoteric mystical babble that had no apparent relevance to myself or the average person in the street. Finally, there is a book that is quite profound and practical, written by an eminent Kabbalist who is not afraid to ruffle the feathers of the religious establishment or challenge the status quo, which often upsets my fellow rabbinical colleagues. The Essential Zohar is "down-to-earth" spirituality for anyone who seeks to know the essence of life. I have to admit, i was a skeptic before i opened the book. After reading it, one cannot help but see the power, depth and penetrating wisdom that flows from the pen of Kabbalist Rav Berg. But don't take my word for it. Read it yourself and you decide. Truth resonates on its own.

Many times I've heard about the Zohar in my life, stories and contradicting concepts.
Reading the Rav Berg's book made so much sense to me and put all the pieces of the puzzle . Now I know that It's not only about the Bible and religious matters, it's much more th a n that, it's really all that is around us, It's the "Whys" that I personally had in life.
Rav Berg put it all in a language that everybody can understand and you the reader can decide how deep you want to go with it.

This was the third book that I have read about Kabballah. Almost immediately you feel a connection to the author when you read this book. You can tell that Rav Berg is an extraordinary person. The detail of each chapter is remarkable there are many levels of meaning contained within the paragraphs. The concepts are not difficult to understand but the depth of the material had me re-reading sections several times. I highly recommend this book if you have read a few other books. I would start off with The Secret or The Way to give you an overview of kabballah.

I have just finished "Heaven Is A Beautiful Place", by Genevieve Chandler Peterkin...it is a wonderful, wonderful story of South Carolina history at its best...you are 'right there' with tales Mrs Peterkin tells of Lillie Knox, Zacky Knox, her mother-in-law Julia and Mama...cringe at the ghost tales of Alice Flagg and others...the romance and marriage to Bill, then the birth of their only son, Jim...grieve at the lost of that young son...her faith in God that grew stronger and stronger as troubles came.

It was hard at times to lay the book down, while at other times you could not wait to see what happened.

I am now going to pass my copy of "Heaven Is A Beautiful Place" on to my 89 year old mother, who likes to read, as she says, 'something real'...

This book is a must read for all ages! I had a feeling of sadness come over me as I finished because I realized my adventure with Mrs. Peterkin was over.

I was not going to read this book, figuring it was yet another trivial book by a local person with famous connections (Julia Peterkin, a novelist who won a Pulitzer, was the author's mother-in-law). Was I wrong! This is one of the most riveting books I have ever read. Peterkin is a gifted storyteller with amazing stories to tell, stories that are right up there with the best fiction. I want to compare her to Flannery O'Connor, to Nabokov, to Kipling, to Dickens, to any fiction writer whose stories linger with us for the rest of our lives. Yet these powerful stories are true and open a window into recent times. Some of her stories prove that truth is stranger than fiction. They are in turns hilarious, outrageous, tragic, moving and illuminating.

Please, get this book. I don't know Peterkin but I wish I did. I picked up the book by accident and never put it down till I finished. Beg, borrow or steal it, whatever it takes to get it in your hands.

I'm writing this review because the rumors that a new edition with stats for d20 play are getting harder and harder to ignore. Even though the book is old and sometimes hard to find, anyone who seeks it will probably not be disappointed.

Delta Green revitalizes the Call of Cthulhu milieu in two ways. First, it plants the setting squarely within our time, developed from a backstory that starts in 1929 and gets downright spooky in 1947. Eldritch horrors still stalk humanity from beyond - only now the entities that menaced the 20's are content to scheme behind the scenes. Unfortunately for the Earth, some humans are content to betray us all for the ephemeral promises dangled before them. These men are not the frothing cultists and brute savages of Lovecraft: they are scientists, priests, and four-star generals. Plus there are new foes and surprises to keep jaded players guessing.

Second, there is finally a good reason for unusual characters to find themselves allied against the dark. Will a cop balk at sharing forensic evidence with a detective, a journalist, and a Marine? Not anymore. All the PCs are members of or friendly to Delta Green, an illegal conspiracy operating within the federal government. Of course, it's not the ONLY illegal conspiracy operating within the federal government. While Delta Green has adopted the sensible tack of trying to blow away every Mythos problem they encounter, its opponents are convinced that some mysteries can be studied, contained, or even harnessed for their own use.

That's just an overview. There is so much to Delta Green that any gaming group interested in conspiracy-style RPGs could find something useful. There are sections on U.S. government agencies, modern firearms, and mind-blowing adventures that are not for the faint of heart.

With Delta Green, CoC players can feel more confident with a nice gun in their hands, and the assurance that a backup team of ex-SEALs in on the way. Their characters will still die or go insane, but at least they should enjoy the ride.

If Lovecraft was alive today this sourcebook would make him green with envy! This takes the Call of Cthulhu game to the contemporary level. There's more than enough plots and characters to juice up a modern (postmodern?) Call of Cthulhu game. I especially like how the creators have made so many versatile options. You can make this supplement as intricate or as simple as you want. I definitely recommend this as a sourcebook to all Call of Cthulhu role playing fans.

If you can find it, buy it. I can't believe they haven't re-printed it. A work of genius.

The past few months have been terrible for James Zoole. His apartment's been robbed twice. His best friend Pete passed away. He was laid off from the play in which he had a lead role (and rehersals hadn't even started). His girlfriend Kate dumps him on New Year's Eve. And, Bobby Seale, his cat, died. What a way to bring in the new year!

Feeling angry and sad, Jimmy decides to hole up in his apartment and to not answer the phone, knowing that if he'd been robbed twice, the burglar was sure to come back again. Enter Vito Antenucci, a bisexual burglar who returns for a third robbery. They struggle, and Jimmy knocks Vito out, then ties him to the kitchen counter.

Throughout this New Year's Eve together, Jimmy discovers what he's been avoiding in his life and begins to understand that he and Vito aren't that different from each other in what they want from life. To Jimmy's surprise, he begins to find friendship with his captive.

A few unexpected interruptions from people in Jimmy's life help to liven up this dark comedy from one of the writers of "A Chrous Line." It's full of strong characters, even those with only minor roles such as Jimmy's Aunt claire, a rich spinster who sublty tries to control Jimmy's life, and Crazy Carmine, a drugged-out sex fanatic who's been trying to get into Jimmy's pants for years. It's the developing friendship between Jimmy and Vito that drives this story, though. I wanted them to get together at the end, either as friends or lovers, it didn't matter.

I laughed out loud while reading some of the passages. Though it was written in the 1970's, the humor is defintiely NOT dated. If you're looking for some light, fun reading, then this is the perfect book for you.

I honestly can't remember where I bought my first copy of this fabulous book, probably a thrift store or flea market, but I most definitely remember where I was when I read it. I was on the Blue Line in 1987, taking the train to high school. I started it on the bus and by the time I was on the train I was so entranced that I missed my stop. I missed it by 3 stops! I was laughing out loud. People were looking at me like I was insane. All I wanted to do was tell them what I had just read. I was actually crying from laughter! It was sooo invigorating! Such and extremely original story!! I couldn't wait to share with all my fellow readers. It was years before I was able to get another copy to actually give away. I now have my original copy with all its tape just barely holding the cover on and another copy that I loan out. If you are feeling down, or not, this is a book that will absolutely make you at least grin as you read. I highly recommend this book to everyone!! Young & Old, Bold & Shy!! You can't go wrong.

This book is just one of Kirkwood's many, with insight to human behaviour. He could get you spell-bound with his phrases, descriptions, dialog. Talked on phone one time with him, and he talked just like he wrote. When he died, I almost stopped reading. His 'dead cat' is just one which displays his ability to make you 'see' the characters, and know them. He could make your stomach hurt from laughing, reduce you to tears, and make you realize just how precious we all are. His 'dead cat' should be taught in schools; perhaps it would encourage more compassion and humor into our daily, often-stressed lives. Mr. Kirkwood had a unique way of telling a story. One could almost reach out and feel the room, Vito, Jimmay...Bobby Seale (his real cat), and his selfishly-loving Aunt, whom he almost shot via Ma Bell. Tremendous book. I have had to tape my copy together; it's been shared so much. I would like to have his entire collection in my library. Must have read each one twenty times. I really miss his passing, and his gifts to humankind, in the name of satirical comedy-drama. What a guy! We've all had one of THOSE days when even getting up in the morning seemed like the wrong thing to do. He was so able to put these feelings in print, and make some sense out of it all. We shake our heads, and say, "Yep, been there, Jimmy." I truthfully want to fill my library with all of his books, which will be hard, since a lot are out of print. Shouldn't be...he gave so much to us. Laughter is wonderful, and Mr. Kirkwood did his all to produce some belly-laughs, and some tears. And lots of insight to me. I understand my human contacts a lot better now. I am not alone when I say that James Kirkwood left a great legacy... himself. I watched him get a Grammy on t.v. from Kirk Douglas, for A Chorus Line. I was as thrilled as he was. I don't think anyone could put this book down after reading the cover. Too hilarious and touching...one of his many masterpieces. Ganoog is Ganoog. I'm finished.

How does one review Shakespeare? Well, I shall try... A history buff (more specifically, a medieval history buff) I am probably the only person who enjoys Shakespeare's history plays above all others (except "Macbeth"--always excepting "Macbeth"). After that intriguing (and sly!) introduction, the action of the play dies down for a bit, until Harry arrives in France and takes it by storm. THEN the play unfurls itself into what turns out to be Shakespeare's greatest tribute to England and literature and history's greatest tribute to "that star of England," Henry V, surely one of England's greatest monarchs. The star of three plays, Harry also stands out as one of Shakespeare's most interesting and fully-realized characters. If you are familiar with the Henry IV plays, it is fascinating to discover how Harry's past adventures (and misadventures) have contributed to make him the man he proves himself to be in "Henry V." This is truly one of Shakespeare's best plays, and Harry's "Saint Crispin's Day Speech" is one of the most inspirational and well-crafted speeches in literature, I think. (Hamlet's speeches were always so convoluted!)

Andrew Gurr's brilliant editing of Shakespeare's "Henry V" makes this essential to anyone seriously interested in this play. Gurr's introduction could almost stand on its own as a first rate scholarly article on the origins of Shakespeare's "Henry V" and the historical background in which the play was written. Domestic turmoil concerning the earl of Essex, threat of foreign invasion with the Spanish Armada, and foreign war in the Spanish Netherlands (where Sir Phillip Sidney met his untimely death) among other factors provide the impetus behind Shakespeare's most rhetorically soaring play. Of course the actual play itself is what would draw most readers, and Gurr's editing is brilliant. Based (I think) on the original so-called "Folio" version of Shakespeare's play, and including an easy to use page by page gloss, you could not ask for a better version of this play. Having written an honors thesis on this particular subject and having read Gurr's edition several times I can attest that this is the most useful and accessible edition of Shakespeare's finest play.

I just have to share this with everybody...
Henry was not the nice "Welshman to the core" of this play. After Agincourt, he ordered "the slaughter of all disarmed prisoners, noble or otherwise, and his foot soldiers watched, deeply shocked as two hundred archers stabbled, clubbed, or burned the captives to death."

Coupled with the fact that Henry didn't smile once during his victorious progress through London...I must conclude that the historical guy was an evil hardass.

The Duke of York was not stabbed to death, and did not dramatically barf blood like in the Kenneth Branagh film. "He was a big man and very overweight, and it is reported that he either suffocated to death in his armor or suffered a heart attack in the press of the fighting."

So the next time you read Shakespeare, especially this play or, my favorite ahistorical pro-Lancastrian history twister, Richard III....just remember.... Shakespeare is a damned liar. :-)

Thanks to Alison Weir for the information in "The Wars of the Roses".

I must admit that this book didn't pick my interest when I started reading it in My Spanish AP class in high school. Now after reading it I have to say that this book is wonderfully written and very educational.
Marianela is a girl who lives in The Mines of Socartes, she is the guide of a rich boy who suffers fom blindness Pablo. I loved Marianela's character since the first pages, she is so full of life, so innocent. All her life she lived out of the pity of others but it didn't matter to her. Pablo "said" he loved her and she lived in this illusion where she thought that she would finally be loved and not criticized by her looks.
Then, everything changed when Teodoro Golfin, a miracle doctor gave Pablo his sight. That's when everything changed. When Pablo saw what Marianela really looked like, he just started treating her horribly. Where did all his love go? I have to say that by the end of the book I hated Pablo with a passion. How can someone be so cynical as to tell a person how beautiful she is without really seeing the exterior appearance and then being disgusted by what he sees when he looks at how that person really looks? Sadly that's what happens with Pablo and it would have been better if he had stay blind.
This book bring some things that are really important. True beauty is on the inside, never judge someone by their exterior appearace because you might be surprised. True beauty is not something that you can see or touch, beauty has to be felt.
I highly recomend this book, it will touch your heart I promise

Pablo, a rich blind boy is madly in love with poor Marianela. Things go smooth until renowned Doctor Teodoro Golfín offers to cure up Pablo's eyes. Marianela, who thinks she is ugly is afraid that when he starts seeing, he'll see how ugly(on the surface) she really is. Her fears are confirmed when he falls for his beautiful cousin Florentina, who doesn't treat Marianela too well. She is so attached to Pablo that if she doesn't look beautiful for him, she won't be any use to him. A very destructive point of view which she sticks to. It's a tragic ending but it's common in most Spanish-language stories.

Seeing as though I couldn't get the real Marianela quickly, this one suited quite well, perhaps even better. I had to write a paper on it and the simplified language made mush easier to understand.

Love it, go grab it and read it! Rate it 5 great giganticstars! Wonderful, fantastic, magnificent book! By two great authors,Paula Danziger & Ann M. Martin. If you like writing letters, you shall love this book. This whole book is written in letters, which is amazing. If you're into friendship you'll love this book as well. That's because this book is about these two girls named Elizabeth and Tara* Starr who are best friends but Tara* Starr had to move because their parents say they needed to move for a reason. However they are totally different. Elizabeth is shy adn quiet, hates being the center of attention, and lives in a house in which possesstions are more important than feelings. Tara* Starr wears glitter and sequins, loves to be the center of attention, and is the only child of the young parents aho are takinga long time to grow up. But even through they are different; their frienship is really good. So now they have to communicate by letter because long-distances calls are too expensive. While Tara* Starr's family settles down in a good position, Elizabeth's family fall apart. But can they still stay friends forever or will the distance between them tear them apart and away from each other? After you read the book you'll want to know more. This book can be a never-enging written letter story response between two girls. This book is an active and charming story written through a letter layout. It's letter to letter back and forth talking to each other but not by meeting each other. The letters have feeling and emotion written in it. The events and action happens inside the letters. This book gets thrilling and more exciting by the moment you read it. You'll want to keep reading till you finish the book. This book is a wonderful, emotional, touching, and a sad book at the same time. I say after you read this book you'll love it and it'll inspire you to love writing letters and be a true friend. Just like it inspired me to do that.

THis book is about a 2 girls that were best friends and, 1 of the girls had to move so when the girl moved they started writting mails. Then becacuse they couldnt talk to each other because the phone bill costs alot they had to tell all about there life by writting. So the girls would writte what is happening in there tennage lifes. THen if they had trouble they would try to solve the problem and they would try to get through with it. Thats what this book is about even the sequal Snail Mail NO More

P.S. Longer Letter Later

Dear Elizabeth, zikes, zounds, zazooks! Things sure do sound crazy at your house! This is one of the captivating leads of P.S. Longer Letter Later, by Paula A. Danziger and Ann M. Martian.
P.S. Longer Letter Later, (as well as being the title) is one of the closings to the letters written by Elizabeth and her friend Tara*Starr, when they are forced to continue their friendship through "snail mail".
Elizabeth is the perfect child, a parents "dream". She wears nice skirts and sweaters, keeps her room neat, and always does her work. On the other hand, Tara*Starr is different, but still has her head on "earth". Tara tries to stand out with her high top shoes and the pink streak in her hair. Tara has many conflicts with boys, family, and sometimes even with Elizabeth.
When Tara*Starr's "charents" (CHildlike paRENTS) whisk her away to Ohio, Tara and Elizabeth only have letters, their friendship's soul survival.
A life lesson that I learned is that whatever goes on, whatever happens, you can pull through and survive. Many examples in the novel show you that.
Speaking of examples, when Elizabeth's life takes a turn for the worst, she really needs Tara's support through letters. A few things that Elizabeth goes through are, her father losing his job, and her parents divorcing. These things break her heart. On top of that, Tara's life is finally coming together. (It usually is in shambles.)
P.S. Longer Letter Later mostly takes place through letters. It really shows what kind of problems teenage girls go through today.
Overall, P.S. Longer Letter Later keeps you wanting to turn the page. I would recommend this novel to girls, sixth grade and over who like great novels that leave you guessing what will happen in the sequel Snail Mail, No More. Will the girls friendship end? To find out, you'll have to pick up a copy of P.S. Longer Letter Later. A "Longer Letter Later" is on the way.

Just a few points:

This dictionary is intuitive, informative and aesthetically appealing.

Not only are the lexical entries themselves of a praiseworthy degree of clarity, the grammatical tables, diagrams and explanations to the front and back of the book are well placed and a ready reference.

I have used it for some years now and it has certainly grown on me.

My only reservations about this dictionary are:

1) It is weak on archaic words, the usage for which I use dictionaries most of all. For this, I supplement my dictionary needs with the much older "New Standard Illustrated Dictionary and Encyclopædia (Williams, A.M, ed, Odhams Press, undated (!)).

2) The phonetic symbols at the front are handy, but not always used, even in other Oxford dictionaries. However, it is naturally important that the phonetic symbols themselves are retained. This isn't actually a criticism of the dictionary itself, but rather a plea for inter-publishing house consistency.

3) In the preface, the term 'polysemous' is used. This word is not found in the dictionary itself!

Despite these minor reservations, this dictionary is recommended, especially if you are coming to English as a second language (which isn't the case for myself). It has been well worth the money.

No other book on my bookshelf is more worn out. I use it all the time. When I started to study English I used to use an English / Portuguese (my first language) dictionary but I could only actually improve my English when I started using the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

The dictionary has lots of pictures (over 1700) for words that can be explained but for which a picture is much more effective like "hinge". The words have a pronunciation guide with a mark (') showing the main stress. There are many useful appendixes like irregular verbs conjugation, usage of numbers, punctuation, family relationships and a few colorful maps.

Over 220 usage notes clarify the subtle differences among words such as dealer trader and merchant. Although it's mainly a British English dictionary the differences in spelling, use or pronunciation between American English and British English are stressed.

By far the most interesting feature is the extremely reduced defining vocabulary constituted of 3500 words. The great majority of definitions are written using that reduced defining vocabulary. This simplifies the definitions and it's a great starting vocabulary for the beginners. The use of such a small defining vocabulary rules out the use of this dictionary as a thesaurus but the advantages compensate this drawback.

My copy is a paper back that has been reinforced with adhesive tape. This makes the dictionary lighter and handy. I used to put it on my back pack and take it to all my classes when I started college in USA.

The drawbacks are the need of an additional thesaurus and the fact that the entries are not syllabified. Nevertheless I would give it 10 stars if I could.

Leonardo Alves - December 2000

My English teacher, the rewiewers of the 1,995 edition and the rewiewer of this edition have said that this dictionary is one of the best that are available now. I think that only the Collins English Dictionary is better, but the Collins is too technical and very difficult for normal people.

Certainly, this dictionary is very, very good. The A-Z part is very useful. It has got more than 3,000 words with very clear meanings and with little articles about grammar, diffences with words with similar meanings (e.g. to say and to tell) and differences with Brittish English and American one. This part also included the word's phonetic part.

The appendixes in the beginning and in the ending of the dictionary helps you to understand this dictionary and complete the teacher's explanations in grammar, ortography and vocabulary (like a 2nd teacher).

The language study pages in the middle are ideal for a better English writting in letters, CVs, resumés, e-mails, etc.

The colour illustrations make this dictionary superb. They are about basic vocabulary and they have got maps of the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Caribbean Islands, a map of the world and an interesting part the globe and the seasons.

This dictionary is complete with topic pages about computers, musical instruments, the kitchen, health and sports. They are in black and white, but they are interesting for learning more vocabulary, grammar and ortography about these themes.

Finally, this dictionary is for students. However, native English speakers, ELT teachers and English experts will enjoy it.