After 40 some years of living Alaska, I am well aware of the difficulty and seeming impossibility of capturing the great land on film and with words. The true essense and spitituality of this vast offering often eludes our cameras and pens. John has nailed it. His enduring patience and impecable eye for the finest of nature glows from image to image, mushroom ice stands, an otter enjoying a meal, volcanic clouds balloning over stands of towering spruce, an eaglets first moment broken from the shell, in your face bears, all these images and much more inspire me to look harder, go further, and wait longer for more of Alaska than I have ever experienced. The photos are sparkled by John's unique style of writing. After recieving the book as a gift I spent long nights, reading and re-reading his tales of adventure with delight. My work takes me far from home and John's book gives me opportunity to share the true flavors of Alaska with those I meet on the trail. Thank you John for sharing your God given talents, I so look forward to the next book.

I received a copy of John Pezzenti's book,A Photographic Journey Through The Last Wilderness,as a gift through my work. John Pezzenti's photographes portray such beauty and his words flow with spirituality. John Pezzenti's gift for writing matches his talent for capturing nature at it's finest. From the incredible photo's of the birth of an eagle,to the heart felt story of the Birthday Cake Bear. As I look through this magnificent book I feel his photo's and words drawing me in. It gives me the sense that I too am able to share what John Pezzenti must have felt being there. When I was young I went on a cruise to Alaska. I knew that one day I would move to this great land. John Pezzenti's book reinforce's why I kept this dream so close to my heart for all these years. I will always cherish this gift I received and feel blessed that John Pezzenti chose to share his God given talent with the rest of us. One could keep writing but there are no words that can truely describe this work of art. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has ever dreamt about Alaska. John Pezzenti truely opens his heart to the reader with his photographes and lets us share in the beauty he has captured over the past 25 years. I look forward to being able to share his work with my family and friends,as I also look forward to his next publishing.

If you want to experience the true Alaska as few have ever done, no need to make a pilgrimage to the far north. All you need to do is read this book about a photographer's solo odyssey into the wilderness of Alaska in search of getting the great shot. The shot, that transforms photography into emotionally evoking art. The shot , that exudes the magnificence of the photo into telling the full rich story around it. The shot, that envelops the viewer with both the tenderness and majaesty of nature. John Pezzenti's journeys not only allowed him to capture this "Holy Grail' shot but unbelievably a whole book of them. In my estimation his work is unparalleled in his field. John is truely one of the premier wildlife photographers of our time. Equally fascinating to the absolutely stunning photography, is the human story behind it. John chronicles his amazing adventures on his journeys. He details his harrowing survival struggles to awe inspiring revelations with candor and humor. John presents himself to the reader not as some superhero but as an everyday person with all our human fragility. While reading John's book it dawned on me that it is an antithesis to Conrads's "The Heart of Darkness". John and Marlow both, endure the brutalities of our world in their journeys, but while Marlow is left only with "bitterness and darkness", John is left with "wonderment and light". I would like to mention that though nature has thrown John some mighty barriers in his quest, the greatest hurdle lies within himself. John is classified 100% disabled with a rare and agressive form of rheumatoid arthritis, treatable only with a mild chemotherapy so he can walk. Experience this book! The reproduction of John's work is exquisite and the price surprisingly low.

I just finished Kevin Boyle's book, Braving the Waves, and in my opinion it's fantastic! I lived through these tragedies and didn't think I wanted to read about them again but once I picked up his book, I couldn't put it down.
Boyle gets inside the heads of the people he writes about. The firemen I know and respect won't open up or talk at all to reporters but they talk to Kevin because he's one of them, one of us. It choked me up half a dozen times.
This book is a must read for everyone, the people from Rockaway who lived through the tragedies and outsiders who want a real insider's view. People who weren't there will feel like they were standing in the concrete dust of the WTC and smelling the burning jet fuel of Flight 587 after reading it.
-George Johnson

Rockaway Beach is the unofficial capital of firefighting New York. Generations of NYC firefighters have made their homes here in this sliver of a neighborhood by the beach in the shadows of the city's skyline.
Kevin Boyle captures the humor, courage and resilience of this place in what is surely one of the best books to come out of 9/11. In fact, it's inaccurate to call this a "9/11 book" at all because it's more about the powerful personal stories of ordinary people-- not just firemen-- who found themselves doing extraodinary things in the face of two unimaginable catastrophes. In this way, it calls to mind "The Perfect Storm" as it weaves the poignant-- and sometimes hilarious-- details of the lives of people you get to know and like in the shadow of an impending disaster. Here though the coming disaster was double barrelled: September 11 and the crash of Flight 587 in the heart of the neighborhood two months later.
Boyle knows these people and it shows in the remarkably true to life writing. Highly recommended.

I've been out of Rockaway for a long time now, but Boyle put me right back on the boardwalk. And just when he makes us comfortable being back at the beach, he takes us to lower Manhattan on September 11. I've read a lot of eyewitness accounts but this as real as it gets. He follows the day of a bunch of firefighters and some "regular" people and it goes from bad to worse. Because Rockaway lost so many people the place is devastated but not broken. The people are trying to get on with their lives. And just like that a plane crashes in Belle Harbor. Some of the same people who were there on 9-11 rush like mad to the plane crash. Some of them run on foot because they're that close to it. It's just unreal stuff. But Boyle puts it all together.
There are great stories here and some unbelievable people. I give this a big thumbs up. You will too.

This is a very unique cookbook filled with great recipes -- plus fun stories of the restaurants -- The Frog and The Commissary and their owners.

My copy of this book if literally falling apart from years of hard use -- of 35 cookbooks, I probably use this one 20% of the time!

I've been using this cookbook for the last 10 years and it is my very favorite of all my cookbooks, it's cleverly written and illustrated and the recipes are inventive and easy to follow. I like to experiment a lot with food and this book has a lot of fun ideas. I was so happy to discover that I can still purchase this book because mine is falling apart from so much use .

I love this cookbook. I have been through three copies and given numerous copies to friends and family.

This book was out-of-print for years and I am very happy to see it reissued -- so I can give a copy to my son away in college!

This is where the French-Thai connection started as far as I can tell. The book is a marvel. The illustrations and comments in the margins are as valuable as the recipes and their text.

I have made just about every dish in this book and I have never been disappointed and neither have my guests.

My son grew up on the Thai Popcorn; I believe that the duck and chicken recipes are beyond reproach; the lentil salad is to die for (better have a heck of an extensive spice collection for that one....) and EVERYBODY loves the Carrot Cake.

A fine, fine example of American creativity in the culinary arts.

This is an excellent study of what must be one of the most horrific among Civil War battles. Though one reviewer's comments about sloppy notation are well taken, Rhea's scholarship overall seems solid, and he uses quotes to great effect to make the fighting come alive.

Not only Spotsylvania but the tragic cavalry battle at Yellow Tavern are covered here. Relevant to this, no other study I have seen, not even bios of Stuart, brings out Stuart and his troopers' role in initially forming the crucial defensive line on Laurel Hill and then deploying the infantry in ideal positions. Little known, but perhaps one of Stuart's finest hours.

Rhea seems even-handed ideologically speaking, and his criticisms of Grant and Sheridan seem well supported by the facts. I would recommend this book not only to scholars but to amateurs who want to know why the Civil War was a horrible conflict. This is not light reading. It is a story of appalling human suffering, courage, and unbelievable sheer endurance.

With the year only four-and-a-half months young, it would still be a safe bet to put your money on Gordon C. Rhea's "The Battles for Spotsylvania Court House and the Road to Yellow Tavern-May 7-12, 1864" for "Best Civil War Book of 1997". Rhea, who gave us his "Battle of the Wilderness" in 1994, has only improved upon that award-winning volume with his latest effort. "The Battles for Spotsylvania" covers the vicious and nearly-disastrous engagement between Grant and Lee during the middle weeks of May, 1864. Here, near this sleepy little village southwest of Fredericksburg, Grant's bluecoats met Lee's butternuts in a mortal maelstrom of some of the most bloody fighting the Old Dominion had yet seen. Long neglected by Civil War writers, this pivotal and oft-confusing series of continuous combats was brought to the modern Civil War buff's attention by William Matter's fine "If It Takes All Summer" in 1988. Rhea, however, takes the torch from here and weaves a masterful narrative, both highly-detailed and smooth flowing at once, to give us, perhaps, the best coverage of this engagement we shall ever have. How so, one might ask? First, Rhea adds to the records and histories, a plethora of unpublished accounts from diaries, letters, memoirs, newspapers, and the like to give this book the comprehensive personal side of battle. Yet, the strategic and tactical concerns of the fighting do not suffer at all. To be sure, the author, once again, has found that special touch in blending the larger and smaller "pictures" into one without detracting from either. Nearly every imaginable aspect of the battle is covered in deft fashion, always maintaining the easy-reading flow in the text. Especially inviting to buffs and important to historians is Rhea's coverage of the concurrent cavalry operations between Phil Sheridan and JEB Stuart, including a riveting account of "Little Phil's" Richmond Raid and Stuart's subsequent death at Yellow Tavern. From the initial fighting at Laurel Hill, through Upton's heroic charge and the battering assaults against the "Bloody Angle", the reader will find and feel that they are seemingly in the midst of the battle itself. I just got my copy and read it in two days--you will find this one very hard to put down! Theodore C. Mahr Dayton, Ohio ------------------------------------------------ Former Seasonal Historian Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania Natl. Military Park Author: "The Battle of Cedar Creek: Showdown in the Shenandoah, October 1-30, 1864"[1992]

Gordon C. Rhea has done it again. Mr. Rhea wrote a compelling battle narrative on the desperate fighting in the Wilderness that appeared on the book shelves in 1994. After I read that history, I wondered to myself, how in the heck would he follow up on his excellent treatment on the Battle of the Wilderness. With his latest volume on the Battle of Spotsylvania, he has certainly done that. Rhea, with this latest book has established himself as one of the finest historians writing about the war today. He has brought all of the elements together...Bravery, tragedy, incompetence, and yes, humor in a narrative that truly describes the horrors Americans went through during those awful days in early May, 1864. Mr. Rhea's description of the events on May 12, 1864 are harrowing, unbelievable, and heartbreaking. The struggle for the Bloody Angle becomes all too real for the reader. The unbelievable, heroic combat for those earthworks on the hallowed ground of the Spotsylvania Battlefield makes me proud of both sides as they fought during that rainy day. Each side gave their all....and they showed what Americans are all about. Special thanks for the maps of George Skoch. Mr. Skoch's work really helps the reader understand the campaign. A must for all students of the Civil War....Rhea has written a classic!

Of all the adoption books I've read, this one has been the most informative. Although many the case studies may be a bit scary, one should know the types of hurt these children experience. It also explains all the behaviors a child may experience due to the many upsets in their life, and techniques a parent should explore to eliminate the ones that are destructive (mentally, physically or socially). The adoption terms are fully explained so no one every feels lost. I have recommended this book to several friends who are considering adopting.

This book should be a Bible for families adopting hurt children. Keck takes the adoption process step by step and uses case studies to back up each piece of information.

We see that there are reasons behind each phase the child goes through, the honeymoon period, the fall-out that follows, the need to drive away their parents before the parents drive them away. Through the children's actual words, we feel their pain.

Methods are suggested for dealing with attachment problems, sleep disorders, axieties, etc.

Though this book focuses mainly on domestic special needs adoptions, foreign adoptions are warranted their own chapter and, besides, many of the issues are the same.

This book was an excellent source for adoption of the older, hurt child. I couldn't wait for my husband to read it so we could discuss the topics covered. I feel this book took a very realistic approach to the issues hurt-adoptive children may have. They also clearly noted that people are individual, as well as children are individual. Working closely with knowledgable therapists is also noted many times as being necessary and helpful.

This book is powerful and unsettling at the same time. But that's a good thing, that's just what America needs, a sharp wake up call to the realities and horrors of racism. James Baldwin's commentary on race relations in America rings truer now than when first published. What he says may sound militant, but his words of wisdom coupled with his observations speak volumes. He doesn't just voice his ideas and then leave the reader hanging, no, he offers suggestions about problems that have to be resolved and realities that need to be faced before this country can move forward as a truly United States of America. James Baldwin stands out not only as a superb writer but also as a contemporary philosopher. I would recommend this book along with Mr. Baldwin's fictional masterpieces, "Giovanni's Room" and "Another Country" as a means of discovering this mans exceptional talent.

Perhaps the most significant indictment on racism in America written in the twentieth century, The Fire Next time ignites the mind and soul, causing the reader, whether black or white to reexamine the state of human relations in this country. With the intensity of a million flames and the insight of a prophet, Baldwin details the struggles faced by African Americans (American Negroes then) in a culture that has brutalized, vilified, and rendered us powerless. His insight into the white psyche and its dehumanizing effect on African Americans is frightening and yet as real today as it was in 1962 when this essay was published. How unnerving it was to read this book in 1999 and be faced with the realization that some 37 years later we as a nation are no closer to bridging the racial divide in this country.

I particularly applaud Baldwin for his eloquent discussion of what must be done, by both black and white America to release this country from the shackles that prevent us truly becoming the greatest nation on earth (in deed, not just rhetoric). I highly recommend this book as a must read for the country. In 1962, Baldwin's level of candor may have been somewhat off-putting to white America (the government considered him a Communist), for the truth can be an awfully bitter pill to swallow. Still, it's my hope that at that some point, white America will reckon with their own physiological, spiritual and political ills. Until then, African Americans must continue to hold a mirror before the face of injustice of this nation, while struggling to claim a place in a country that seems dead set on keeping us a drift.

Of all of the great authors of the 20th century, James Baldwin was probably closest, both in style and moral authority, to some of the prophets of the Hebrew Bible. "The Fire Next Time," first published back in 1963, represents Baldwin at his most impassioned. This book consists of an open letter to Baldwin's nephew, along with an extended autobiographical essay. Throughout the book, Baldwin writes with insight and compassion about the complexities of race in the United States.

Baldwin writes of his spiritual crisis as a teenager--a crisis which led to his career as a youth minister in an African-American Christian church. He writes bitterly of his ultimate disillusionment with the emptiness and hypocrisy he found in the church. Baldwin also writes of his meeting with Elijah Muhammad, the fiery leader of the Nation of Islam sect and mentor to controversial Black leader Malcolm X.

Baldwin's testament is a harsh critique of 20th century Christendom. Reflecting upon the rise of the Nazis in one of the world's most "Christian" nations, Baldwin declares, "From my own point of view, the fact of the Third Reich alone makes obsolete forever any question of Christian superiority, except in technological terms."

"The Fire Next time" is both an illuminating historical document of a turbulent era, and a superb piece of literary craftsmanship. All those interested in the art of nonfiction prose should take time to experience Baldwin's mastery of the medium. But even more importantly, we should all take time to consider his ideas on race, on religion, on prejudice, and on hope.

I enjoyed the book immensely and put it away in about 2 days. I have spent the next couple of days sorting feelings out on the characters, events, and feelings expressed. Having attended in the same Class, I recall pretty much 30 of the events mentioned. They are accurately accounted to a eerie fault. Being a male classmate, I can only guess at the feelings and conversations of the women characters. Still 18 years later though, the stories and events are still pretty fresh. It's an interesting and enlightening perspective on what my women classmates felt was important, vice what my male contemporaries thought was important. I guess that's attributable to expectations, sex, background and culture.

A extraordinary book for someone who shared some of the same events, but obviously not the same experiences. Probably could be better edited, and I'm not sure of the "legs" it has for those who are not familiar with the Yard. An excellent portrayal of the Academy at a critical moment of its history.

Thanks, Sharon.

Pioneers catch all the arrows. The first women to attend the Naval Academy probably expected to find an environment that taught honor, leadership and good character. Instead they found an environment of prejudice, hostility, bigotry, that was at least tacitly approved the "leadership." This book is a "Semi-candid" memoir of those years. The prose is excellent, the humor dry and a celebration of the triumph of will over stupidity. An excellent read.

If you've survived being "First" - by choice or by accident - in a situation as unprepared for you as you were for it - in or out of the military, you will like this book about the first class of women at the U.S. Naval Academy. I read the manuscript. I'll buy the book. Ms. Disher is not pushing an agenda or grinding an axe, just relating their experiences: form your own opinion (if you have not already done so).

I confess that before reading this book I knew little of Florence Harding beyond the rumor that she poisoned her husband. After reading Mr. Anthony's excellent work I know feel that I know of her better. I'm just not sure I like her. Yes, she was an activist First Lady, sometimes even overshadowing her husband. And she certainly was single-minded in her drive to get Harding to the White House. But at what cost? She essentially abandoned her son, seeing little of him during his short life. Her involvement with her grandchildren was minimal at best. She had no close friends outside of Evalyn McLean, with the possible exception of "Doc" Sawyer, although that relationship was more one of interdependence. See what I mean about complex? Mr. Anthony has done a great job in partially rehabilitating the Duchess' historical image. It's a shame the selfish Mrs. Harding in a sense inhibited her biographer by burning nearly all of her husband's presidential papers. As an aside, I couldn't help noticing parallels between Harding's administration and the current one. See if you agree.

Florence Harding's biography is not something that I would normally want to read, let alone spend money to obtain. However, after leafing through it in our local bookstore, I added it to my cart on a whim the last time I bought from Amazon. If you are interested in American History in general and the presidency in particular (as I am), you will devour this book (as I did). The parallels to the Clintons, while unmentioned by the author, are undeniable; in fact, it would be appropriate for Hillary to attempt channeling with Florence rather than Eleanor Roosevelt! This makes the reading all the more lively and contemporary. This biography does a great service to the memory of Florence Harding, who comes off very poorly in nearly all the historical summaries I have read. She is usually portrayed as imperious, aggressive, and authoritarian -- which she was, but not without reason; and Harding is portrayed as being the victim of a loveless marriage -- which he was not, she adored him. Why is the wife always blamed for her "coldness" when a husband sleeps around? I was left with great admiration for Mrs. Harding, and a desire to learn even more about her. Congratulations, Mr. Anthony, on a monumental biography.

I haven't read a lot about the Hardings -- at least, nothing much that presented them as other than a brief, corrupt interlude in our country's history -- so it was with interest that I picked up this big, thick book on a woman I knew little about. Once I opened the cover, I was never bored, and seldom tempted to skip pages :-) It was truly fascinating to discover Florence Harding as a real person. This book does include all the rumors and intrigues that surrounded Florence and her contemporaries ... and without which you would lose sight of historical perspective, for we are all not only what we think of ourselves, but also what others think of us. But it covers more than rumors and scandal; extensively researched and well-written, this book presents a stunning portrait of a complex woman and her times. However ... the similarities between the Clintons and the Hardings has probably stimulated my interest in reincarnation more than this book's non-metaphysical author would prefer ! A good read!

i love the approach that bridgforth takes here. this is the best book about money that i've ever read. i've been attempting to "straighten" my money for a long time by buying books to educate myself. this is, however, the only book that does not lose me in the middle. it addresses issues that other 'money' books dont address like bad credit, not being able to get a bank account, and the like. all of these issues dont apply to all african american women, but i appreciated that she did take the time to take it into consideration. it shapes the reader's mind in such a way that she truly believes that getting her financial situation together is not impossible. i have recommended this book to all of my girlfriends. even if you have a hard time reading books that arent novels, i can assure that you will enjoy this book.

This book is absolutely fabulous!! I have been reading it with hopes of getting my financial life in order. Sistergirl Glinda has really helped me along my way. She gives scenarios for the many different people that she has counseled which you can relate to and get a grasp on what could be your financial downfall. Just reading this book, encouraged me to start balancing my checkbook regularly and investing money, no matter how small an amount, in myself and my family. For all women, the book is a must have. I already have people in line to read it when I am done. Now I need to get the workbook. Great job, Glinda!!!

I'm only half way through Girl, Get Your Money Straight! by Glinda Bridgforth and can without reservation already declare it as a must read for every black women whether you feel you are on top of your finances or buried underneath them. I've read quite a few financial books written by a variety of authors but this is the first one that specifically addresses finances from the historical, spiritual, and emotional perspective of African American women. It is amusing and amazing to see both myself and many of my friends reflected in her clients. Even though, based on other reading, I have already implemented the basic principles outlined in her prescriptions for financial health and healing, Girl, Get Your Money Straight! is providing me with an understanding of the whys behind my previous habits and also illuminating some problem areas and attitudes that I didn't realize existed.