I got this book from my boarding school roomate, who also introduced me to such endeavours as rock climbing and Zen poetry. Obviously, many thanks to him for broadening my world and pushing my limits. Likewise, this thin book does the same. On the Loose is one of the books I keep handy for reading when things get too dark and I need to get out of the city limits. It's a positive idea - two young men, running wild through the west, productive in the sense that they are becoming conscious of Nature, themselves, and the encroachment if 'civilization' on that fragile world, and remains an inspiration to me to hold on to my own wild places I have found. The combination of grainy photos and wonderful quotes, as well as the poetic prose, inspire and center. I have purchased copies for friends, when it was still in print, and jealously guard my copy, although I am pleased to hear that the book will once again become available, as well as a follow-up. I expect it to be as strong of a work.

My biggest mistake was in buying and loaning out one too many copies of this incredibly moving and inspirational account of two brothers growing up wild and On The Loose. After giving this book as a gift over 20 times, I loaned out my own copy and never saw it again. What will it take Sierra Club to convince you to reprint this book? I have many freinds waiting for me to find a copy of what is my version of the bible. If there is anyone out there who knows how to get a copy, please let me know.

This book changed my life. I was given a copy while in high school in the mountains of colorado. I was, and continue to be, inpired by this book. My days and nights under the open sky of the west have filled my life with joy - and this book helped get me out there after growing up a city boy in california. Buy it, read it, and give copies to everyone you know.

Nolans Operation Buffalo was a very good book, no doubt about that in my mind. But he could have done more research on events leading up to it.

Prior to Operation Buffalo, there was Operation Hastings and Prairie. I was there! It is very hard for people to appreciate the unique terrain, weather, animals and other issues along the DMZ before the build up in that area. Our Maps were from a travel agency, so incomming could be from anyone and mostly was at the time.

He refers to BLT 1/3's Charlie Company as Chickenshit Charlie on Operation Prairie. If he got that information from Wickwire, I am ashamed and outraged that a U.S. Marine Corps Officer would make that statement. I would like someone to go into the area before the defoliant Agent Orange and the tons and tons of bombs that leveled the terrain and say that again.

Definately worth buying and reading, even worth sending copies to all your friends, but I would like to set the record straight anyway.

In the summer of 1967 the USMC found itself engaged in a battle that caught them by suprise and cost them over 180 soldiers KIA and many more WIA. Vietnam was a war where many restriction were placed on American fighting forces, those restrictions were even stricter in the strange terrain of the DMZ. Like other books by Mr. Nolan (Into Laos and Into Cambodia come to mind) there is rich detail and information woven into a story by a chronological telling of event leading up to and through the battle. While there is a very good and informative sitrep of American (particularly USMC) involvement in Vietnam the strength of this book is it's "put you in the foxhole" eyes view of the fight. I had never read an account of where almost an entire American Company was overrun by large NVA forces, it is not pretty. I have read that ear collecting was something that happened in the war to dead enemy soldiers, the NVA put their own sick twist on this sort of war atrocity by collecting USMC tattoos from fallen grunts. There are graphic descriptions of the early M-16 problems which ended up causing the USA and USMC many casualties. This book contains some things that really suprised me, NVA soldiers equiped with flame-throwers looking for suvivors of the initial ambush, NVA artillery support which was accurate and protected from US airpower hitting American forces with a sustained barrage, NVA use of USMC gear such as flak vests and radios, American tanks being blown away like toys. There are many sad twists, if you are looking for a John Wayne type combat read stick to a novel, this one hurts the heart. I can't say enough about this book, if you are a student of the fighting in Southeast Asia get this book, Mr. Nolan really puts things together in this clear and painfully vivid book.

Operation Buffalo should be made into a Movie as it the best written book I have ever read about what the Marines and Corpsmen of Northern I Corps endured in Viet Nam. Time and again the men of the First Battalion Ninth Marines found themselves fighting against numerically superiour forces with very little support available at critical moments. Mention is made in the book that the First Battalion Ninth Marines was marked by the North Vietnames Army for destruction. I can't say for sure that this was true, but "The Walking Dead" nick-name was was paid for in blood. Keith N. Price Former HM3 Disability Retired Bravo Company, First Battalion Ninth Marines

The 2 people that posted negative reviews of this book must be INSANE! First off, this is truly the holy grail of all KISS books for all KISS fans. Never before has such a complete look at the live history of KISS been done. You get rare set lists, incredibly rare and amazing photos and fantastic stories from the people that were there! Not the fake nonsense that Gene and Paul spout but REAL stories, good or bad! Its a wonderful read that takes you along for the ride in the KISS world. Its too bad KISS themselves couldnt put out a quality product like this.

For the gentlemen that felt the book lacked info or was factually incorrect, please do a little research. The Australian/Police issue has been well documented in newspaper reports and even TV reports which are widely available among real KISS fans. As for the photo quality. If you look carefully, many of the photos are not there for quality but for the simple fact that they are RARE photos. Some good examples are Ace on the platform in 1977 and Gene in his RARE Dynasty costume. These are photos that prove or disprove KISS myths that have festered over the years. They also relate to a specific account or detail contained within the associated chapter. Any real KISS fan would realize that.

If you are happy with incomplete and revisionist KISSTORY, then settle for the official publications and tell all rags that have been published in the recent past. If you want THE book on THE band, then pick this up. I promise you a better KISS book will not be found. Kudos to the authors!

After reading online that someone was attempting to assemble a "complete touring history" of the hottest band in the world, Kiss, my interest was immediately sparked. I had no idea what the book looked like, or what exactly it contained, but I didn't care. Being a die hard Kiss fan for several years now, I figured I'd get my money's worth. I wound up getting that and then some. This book, cowritten by Curt Gooch and Jeff Suhs is absolutely incredible. This is a Kiss fans dream come true; I've never seen anything like it. Everything you could possibly ask for is here. Details of every Kiss tour and every individual concert are explained in great detail. Insightful comments are given from members of Kiss' management, and others close to the band, as well as an occasional comment from band members themselves. And don't get me started on the pictures....Some of these have never been printed before until now, for example a picture of Ace right after one of his infamous car accidents which left his face in bad shape. This picture has him in makeup, but only half of his face is painted due to the injury. Casual fans are saying "what's the big deal?" but ... hard Kiss fans know that this type of stuff is just plain cool. Every set list for every show is included, as are the name of the venues and opening and headlining acts that shared the bills with Kiss. 288 pages, 3 pounds, it's a monster! God knows how long it will take me to get through the whole thing, but one thing is for sure.... this is must have for any Kiss fan. Hear the REAL stories behind every concert, things that you may have never heard before and may shock you! All in all, this is a great pick up for any Kiss fan, especially fans who purchased the box set and enjoyed the book that came along with it. I would compare it to this in the fact that they are both extremely informative and chock full of great photos of the band. So, if you're a true member of the Kiss Army, stop reading this and go get the book NOW. You'll be glad you did.

Over the years, there have been various books written about KISS. Some by journalists, some by those close to the band, and some by the band themselves.

This book is by far the best book yet about KISS. The amount of work and research put into this book is just mindblowing. They manage to track down and have stats on nearly every single KISS live show ever performed.

If you're a fan and have never read a book about the band, start here. If you've ever considered getting a book about the band, this is the only book you'll ever need.

I read this book and I loved it so much! It is one of my most favorite books of all time. If you havn't read this book, READ IT ! I'm glad I did, because now I know all there is to know about Kerri Sturg.

Before I read this book, I didn't really ccare for Kerri Sttrug. I thought that she was a media hog. Now that I read the book, it made me look at her in a different way. She is now one of my favorite gymnasts.

This is definitely a great book for Kerri Strug fans. This book tells you everything you wanted to know about Kerri. Kerri goes into great deal about her past hardships and disappointments. After reading about Kerri's endless dedication and determination, you will understand how much she truly deserves her Olympic gold medal and all the fame and attention she has received since her famous vault. This book also lets you get to know Kerri as a person, not just another gymnast. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes gymnastics and Kerri Strug.

Having read many of Kozol's previous books, I have developed a great admiration for him and his lifelong dedication to social justice and poor children, and his eloquent arguments on their behalf. I've wondered at how he has managed to spend nearly 40 years of his life in this pursuit. This book shows us why--he truly enjoys and loves the children he advocates for. Like Savage Inequalities and Amazing Grace (both must reads) the children's words themselves move you with their honesty, their innocence, and their hope. I can still see Elio moving his arms to "catch one of God's answers to his prayers". But this book also gives us some insight into Kozol himself--his struggles with the failing health of his parents especially. While his earlier books often were suffused with anger at the inequalities of the public education system and social framework, this book is filled with hope and joy. and a little bit of sadness too. And, surprisingly, it is just as effective.

Some might describe Jonathan Kozol's "Ordinary Resurrections" as a softer, more positive book than his past attacks on the inequalities of education. While the story-telling style often presents the "warm, fuzzy" experiences Kozol shared with young children in the South Bronx of New York, the primary message is still an alarming exposure of stark inequity in the availability of educational institutions, personnel, and resources for children in the public schools of New York City. The setting for these experiences is a neighborhood known as Mott Haven, one of the most impoverished areas of the city. The majority of Kozol's time is spent visiting with children, parents, teachers, and workers who are connected with an "after school" program housed at St. Ann's, an Episcopalian church in Mott Haven. Children attending St. Ann's after school program have a major advantage over others in the South Bronx; the dedicated volunteer workers who feed them, help them with homework, offer special programs, and often care for them as closely as their own family. Mother Martha, St. Ann's priest is an active participant in all of these activities, as well as spiritual instruction and guidance.

Kozol shares bits and pieces of the children's' lives, which include stark realities such as a large percentage of absentee fathers, many who are in prison, an extremely high rate of asthma due largely to poor environmental conditions, a high incidence of AIDS in relatives, gangs, shootings, hunger, lack of health care, and eviction. The term "apartheid education" is used in describing how skin color and class origin still determine curricular provision for these children, limiting their educational resources and their future. Stories shared indicate that expectations are set lower than other areas of the city and children's dreams for the future are effectively stifled. They are encouraged to plan careers as hairdressers, nurse's aides, or technicians, rather than professionals requiring a college degree. Kozol urges us not to impose "global preconceptions on a multitude of diverse personalities and motivations in a given group of' children".

The stark reality is that the money spent on children's' education per capita is much less in South Bronx than other areas of the city, and even miniscule compared to the amount spent to incarcerate men in the nearest prison. When Kozol is challenged with the question of whether money really is the only answer to the problems faced by schools serving poorest children in our cities now, he responds, "I think it is fair to answer, No. It is not the only answer, but it is often a precondition for most other answers."

Despite the disheartening facts of life and lack of resources, there is a bright side to Kozol's reflections. He describes with wonder at times of "the deep, inextinguishable goodness at the core of creation" evidenced over and over again in the children of Mott Haven. While many term these children resilient, Kozol argues that word does an justice the true qualities that help them prevail, such as ingenuity, courage, love, and especially spiritual faith. "Ordinary resurrection" is a term used by an Episcopal priest named Robert Morris who speaks about the commonplace and frequently unnoticed ways that people rise above their loneliness and fear. He states, "We all lie down. We all rise up. We do this every day. The Resurrection does not wait for Easter." This is the life of the children at Mott Haven. How they rise up every day is the heartwarming encouraging part of Kozol's book. Why they have to do it is the heart-disturbing part that makes the reader want to agree that something needs to be done to invest in these children's' futures, that they deserve a chance at something better. As Kozol asks, "why not give these kids the best we have because we are a wealthy nation and they're children and deserve to have some fun while they're still less than four feet high?"

As the end of the book drew near, I knew that I did not want it to finish. Through Kozol's descriptive, real life language, I felt as if I knew the students and wanted to continue along life's journey with them. I became frustrated, because I want to know what happens to the individual children. Are they able to remain strong with the help of the people at St. Ann's? Or do they fall into a life filled with crimes and drugs? Although I am upset, it is good, almost like a passion that is a direct result of Jonathan Kozol. Within an instant, he invites his readers to come along with him into this world in the South Bronx, a world that many people have not entered and maybe never will. Therefore, I believe Ordinary Resurrections is extremely powerful, for it has the capability to extend its arms and touch many people; there truly is no limit to the people who Kozol may affect. This idea of having no boundaries is crucial in today's society, because people should take the time not only to acknowledge, but help those who are less fortunate. It's a frightening world, especially for our youth, which is why they need our guidance and assistance to make sense of it all and find their own path.

In his epic account of America during the Civil Rights Era, Taylor Branch provides a compelling portrait of the rise to prominence of Martin Luther King, Jr. This Pulitzer Prize winning book is historical narrative at its finest. Branch focuses on the life of King, the African American politics of the era, as well as the local, state, and national politics affecting the civil rights movement.

Michael Luther King, Jr., was born to an elite African-American family on January 15, 1929. At the age of five, his father would change his and his son's names to Martin Luther King, in honor of Martin Luther after the elder King traveled to Germany. The younger King was raised with the highest of expectations. Highly unusual in his time, the King family had the means, through their powerful position as a leading Atlanta black family and through the enterprising and industrious ways of MLK, Sr., to put MLK, Jr. through college up to the level of earning a P.H.D. from Boston University. This education both shaped the younger King in the traditional ways of learning, as well as through the social contacts he gained, and through the experience of living in the relatively liberal north.

In 1954 at the age of 25, two weeks after the Warren Supreme Court handed down the landmark decision in Brown, et al., v. Board of Education of Topeka, King gave his first sermon as pastor-designate at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In taking this job, King was defying his father who wanted his son to eventually take over at his own church, Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church. Moving into the deep south, and away from the elite black community of Atlanta, King was in for a rude awakening as he was exposed to the depths and strengths of entrenched racism.

King soon rose to national prominence as the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). With the arrest of Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, the MIA mobilized the black community in Montgomery into what became the largest act of civil disobedience among blacks up to that time. Branch's account of the Montgomery bus boycott, like the entire book, is riveting. Through great bravery, hardship, and persecution, the blacks triumphed and the Montgomery buses were finally integrated. King was just one of many blacks who provided leadership and showed courage through this ordeal, but because of his skills as an orator and his position as the leader of the MIA, he found himself thrust into the national spotlight.

The book culminates with the march on Washington in 1963, and the assassination of President Kennedy that same year. Throughout, King is portrayed as a brilliant leader, a fiery orator, a man willing to go to jail for what he believes in, and a man who is successfully and brilliantly riding the tides and changing currents of his times. However, Branch does not portray King as a solo operator. The events of the Civil Rights Era, starting roughly with the Brown decision, and going through the assassination of King in 1968, are a series of events with multiple personalities and acts of bravery against institutionalized persecution and entrenched bigotry. The southern mayors, governors, police chiefs, policemen, firemen, and the angry white southern mobs are shown as the villains of a racist society. President Eisenhower and to a lesser degree President Kennedy were reluctant participants in the inflammatory racial politics of their time. Attorney General Robert Kennedy took a more active role in civil rights than any of his predecessors at the Department of Justice, but he too was hemmed in by the politics of his own party. Richard Nixon, Ike's vice president and the Republican candidate in 1960, was more in tune with the plight of blacks than Eisenhower was, but Branch portrays Nixon, along with the other leading politicians of both parties as always acting out of political calculation. The most sinister man on the national level was J. Edgar Hoover, the entrenched FBI chief who would stop at nothing in his sick plots of snooping into the private lives of anyone he deemed of interest. King ranked high on that list.

"Parting the Waters" is a long book, but it is an easy and quick read. Branch brilliantly gives the reader a taste of America during the years of 1954 to 1963 from the perspective of the civil rights issue. He also portrays Martin Luther King, Jr., now a national martyr and hero to blacks and whites alike, as an extraordinary human being who rose to the challenges of his times and helped lead all Americans closer to the promised land of equal opportunity.

This book - the first in a projected series of three volumes - begins a comprehensive history of the civil rights movement, focusing on the role played by Martin Luther King. It is not a biography of King per se but Taylor Branch has a lot to say about how King, through personal effort, became a great leader. King was, of course, a great orator, and Branch is pretty adept at analyzing his methods. But almost anyone who has heard King or read him knows that he was channeling something greater than himself.

What King wanted for himself was a life of scholarship. Yet, as Jesus said on the Mount of Olives, "not my will, but yours be done." In a brilliant anecdote, Branch relates how King was elected, almost accidentally, to head the Montgomery Bus Boycott. At a mass meeting that evening, King gave an inspired speech. At the end of the speech, the audience sat, stunned. People reached out to touch him as he left the building. "[King] would work on his timing, but his oratory had just made him forever a public person. . . . He was twenty-six, and had not quite twelve years and four months to live." The obstacles in Montgomery in 1955 were many, and only a few weeks passed before King sat in despair, his face buried in his hands. He prayed, saying "I've come to the point where I can't face it alone." As he spoke these words, he experienced a transcendent religious experience that gave him the strength to continue his struggle. No man is perfect, but King knew his duty, and did it.

Beyond its insights into King's character, this book offers readers a survey of our country at a critical juncture. When the civil rights movement began, the balance of interests in the United States had left the South in the grip of the great evil of segregation. King himself shifted the balance. At the same time, thousands of ordinary Americans, devoted to nonviolent struggle, suffered tremendous privation, loss of livelihood, beatings, and sometimes death, making it impossible for the federal government to ignore the plight of Southern blacks.

Finally, through Branch's history, we meet a large number of what could almost be called interesting minor figures except that they were not minor at all. One of these is Vernon Johns, a brilliant farmer-preacher who preached the social gospel. In a memorable scene, Johns is asked to address a group of white and black preachers who are meeting to discuss the role of the church during a time of racial tension. He says, "The thing that disappoints me about the Southern white church is that it spends all of its time dealing with Jesus after the cross, instead of dealing with Jesus before the cross. . . . If that were the heart of Christianity, all God had to do was drop him down on Friday, let them kill him, and then yank him up again on Easter Sunday. That's all you hear. You don't hear so much about his three years of teaching that man's religion is revealed in the love of his fellow man. He who says he loves God and hates his fellow man is a liar, and the truth is not in him. That is what offended the leaders of Jesus's own established religion as well as the colonial authorities from Rome. That's why they put him up there. . . . I want to deal with Jesus before the cross. I don't give a damn what happened to him after the cross." At this point, no one's too happy that they invited Johns to speak. Lest we think that Johns was just an eccentric, though, Branch also refers us to Johns' "Transfigured Moments," which can be found on the web and shows Johns to be a serious man of considerable understanding and imagination.

In addition to its merit as history, Parting the Waters is a great read, and deserves to be read slowly. If you can do this, the time you spend with this 900-plus-page book will be extremely rewarding.

Presenting an authentic and comprehensive picture of the mammoth civil rights movement in the United States in the post WWII era is a daunting task, yet noted author and journalist Taylor Branch has succeeded masterfully with this, the first of a two-volume history of the struggle of blacks in America to find justice, equality and parity with the mainstream white society. Tracing the rise of the singular leader personified in the young Rev. Martin Luther King, Branch sets the stage for a wide range of events, personalities, and public issues. This is truly a wonderful read, fascinating, entertaining, and endlessly detailed in its description of people and events, and quite insightful in its chronicling of the fortune of those social forces that created, sustained, and accomplished the single most momentous feat of meaningful social action in our nation's contemporary history.

His range of subjects is necessarily wide and deep, and we find coverage of every aspect of the tumultuous struggle beginning in the deep South, and gradually working its way north and west until most of the urban northeast also surrendered to the battle cry for civil rights and justice under the law. In many respects this borders on being a biography of Martin Luther King and his times, yet Branch so extends his coverage of the eddies and currents of the movement itself that it appears to be by far the most comprehensive and fair-minded treatment of the civil rights movement published to date. Whether covering the issue of Martin Luther King's own personal life, his internal philosophical concerns, or his appetite for young white women, the reader is engaged with every element of this and a thousand other personalities, issues, and events that carved out the history of our country for almost twenty years.

One finds a very detailed of the Kennedy involvement in the movement, first as a purely political ploy to help to win the black vote in the extremely tight race for the Presidency in 1960, and then as an administration struggling to do what was right in the face of enormous social, political, and even economic opposition. Here too we find an absorbing account of how the FBI attempted to infiltrate and influence the movement, with J. Edgar Hoover's adroit political savvy and deep-seated racism causing great difficulty and a number of tribulations for the civil rights cause. The names and places and events described here are legion, and one gets the sense that anyone who had a conscience was involved, and many of the names mentioned later went on to greater accomplishment and further noteworthy contribution in their public lives and careers.

This, then, is a stupendous first volume of a wonderful two-volume history of the civil rights movement in the United States, and covers the period from the late 1950s when the first rumblings of the movement were sounded until just after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas in November of 1963. The second volume picks up the thread thereafter, extending out through the Johnson years and including aspects of the coalescence of the movement with the Vietnam anti-war protest. This is a wonderful book, and one I would consider essential reading for anyone with an interest in American history in the 20th century. I highly recommend both books, and I hope you appreciate reading them as much as I did. Enjoy!

Not much action actually comes to pass in The Poet Game. I wouldn't recommend it for readers who are into shoot 'em up action thrillers. Sure, The Poet Game has its share of death - more than its share, actually. But the book is not really about that. If it's about anything, I think, it is about the psychology of power, betrayal and terrorism. More precisely, Islamic terrorism. For this reason, the book is pretty timely. Sami Amir, the protagonist, is the kind of hesitant agent we've seen in other 'serious' writers of the genre. But he's also a departure in many ways. I've found myself thinking about Amir again and again ever since finishing the book. He haunts me. And yet I'm not sure if comparisons with Graham Greene, done on the back cover, are quite appropriate. Mr. Abdoh has only written one book, after all. Also, I don't think he has the depth yet that Greene reached in some of his mature masterpieces. Nevertheless, The Poet Game, I feel, is a major accomplishment in its own right. Part literature, part genre, I'm still not sure where to place it in my library. I certainly won't sell it. And that's the highest compliment I can give to an author and his book. There was a point around the middle where I though the plot was slowing a little too much for my espionage driven taste, but in the end that's only a surface criticism. Last word: The Poet Game, recommended strongly.

Sami Amir, the protagonist of The Poet Game, happens to be the man no one can pinpoint. He is as real as your complete lack of attention to anything else going on around your life while reading The Poet Game. The story of a spy who has been sent from the Middle East to counter the likelihood of terrorist plots by radical elements from back home is something that is especially poignant after the destruction of the World Trade Center. Abdoh, himself a writer from that part of the world, seems to know every detail of what he writes about. When I looked at the description at the back of the book, written two years before the crumbling of the Twin Towers, my heart almost stopped. Here are the first few lines of how the book is described by the publisher: IN THE WAKE OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING, NEW YORK CITY IS GROUND ZERO FOR AN INTRICATE WEB OF BETRAYALS AND DOUBLE CROSSES IN THE SHADOWY WORLD OF MUSLIM RADICALS. Needless to say, the story pulls you right in and grabs hold of you till the very last sentence..
Abdoh's debut novel is laced with the melancholy of a world that no one dares to comfort. He races us through streets that we've all walked past, maybe even stopped to smoke a cigarette on a warm night. Only this time we try to capture everything -- the man walking behind us, the homeless couple sleeping on the bench, the world of shadows and imminent dangers. My senses were heightened and my eyes opened very wide when reading this work. Sami Amir is located to New York. He is stranded on the most populated, isolated island of the world. Furthermore, it is his first time in NYC. He is a spy born into Islam who happened to attend Catholic schools back home. Furthermore, Sami's Iranian blood is mixed with his mother's American blood. The book is an accomplishment by the highest of standards. To put it down, quickly becomes a game of Mission Impossible. I found myself willingly running after Sami everywhere he goes, wanting to cross his path so he can size me up, the way he does everything else. Abdoh offers up a mix of espionage and high literary prose, and he does this with sheer brilliance. He is an ambitious writer, make no mistake about it. I've read The Poet Game twice by now and realize that even knowing the plot does not make it one bit tedious. I enjoyed it eve more the second time around, staying behind the plotline, trying to catch my breath, trying not to lose sight of what I already know.

I noticed that this book had become PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Daily Book of the Day: The Poet Game by Salar Abdoh.

Though the book was originally published in 2000 Salar
Abdoh's first novel,The Poet Game, speaks much more
poignantly to us now. The focus is the internal life of
Sami, a 30-year old Iranian spy who is sent to New York in
the wake of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.Sami's
mission is to thwart a Muslim extremist plot to attack
major New York monuments.
The literate half-American hero embodies the complicated
and often ambivalent feelings such "operatives" have
during missions. The book is far closer to Graham Greene
or John LeCarre than Tom Clancy. The story itself is
notable not for its violence or intrigue, but for
its ability to offer snapshots of the complicated
politics that motivates the various players and
the deepening paranoia and self-doubt that afflicts them.
When the hero, Sami, falls in love with his American
contact Ellena--a spy/stripper who keeps a bomb at
the ready under her bed--his sense of duty is called
even further into question. At one point he says
he believes that he and Ellena are just "failed poets
trying to get it right in the wrong trade." The PW
also called Sami "an unusually sensitive action hero"
and the book "entertaining and heart-quickening."

I enjoyed this book rather immensely. It was short but was simultaneously gripping. It one man's story of the Vietnam War as he experienced it serving with a LRRP unit in the 101st. For those interested in seeing and understanding the Vietnam War from all the angles necessary to more completely comprehend the goings on over there, this book is an excellent addition.

Having been in the army, served in a war myself, and now turned helicopter pilot, I can truly recommend his book to everybody. Especially readers who are thinking of joining, people who have served and wifes who are trying to understand. Larry Chambers tells it how it is. It's the "real experience" without the politics and the [] Hollywood drama. I personally enjoyed most how the book showes that in the real world, all that was learned in basic and from the handbook, needs to be "slightly modified" to survive a real battle and keep working. You guys are true heroes to me and I thank you, Larry, for a wonderful book I couldn't put down until I was done at around 3am next morning.

If you want to fully comprehend and sense the rigors of that unforgettable war in Viet Nam, RECONDO is a "must read paperback." Larry Chambers' powerfully written book, accurately documents what has been told to me again and again by every one of my buddies who was there.

Being visually impaired myself, I found this book to be a very striking and accurate discription of what life is like for those who cannot see.

Mr Kuusisto wrote this from the heart, thus making this book a very touching and personal work of art. His encounters, from inner coping to inter-personal relationships, parallel many lives of the visually impaired community. He draws the reader quickly and effectively into his world, and never allows the reader to leave it. The book will make an impact on the reader for the rest of his/her life.

I highly recommend this "must read" book for any person, not only to learn about the blind world, but to experience it. Also, this book would be a valued gift to those who are blind to learn that they are not alone in this world.

As a graduate student, who is being forced to look beyond the comfortable world of deaf to an unknown planet of blind, this was a book of frightening similarities. The road of denial, surreptious coping, and ultimate empowerment through acceptance are parallel on both planets.

A definite must read for baby boomers entering on the macular degeneration road to the Planet of the Blind!

As a legally blind person, who had totally blind parents, this vividly written book went a long way in helping me come to terms with my own situation. Like Stephen, for years I was in denial about my own limited vision and tried, successfully for a time, to "pass" as fully sighted. This is no longer possible and I have to face my own limitations head on, as Stephen finally does.

I recommend this book to anyone who would like to understand what living on the "Planet of the Blind" is really like, and for anyone who enjoys beautiful writing.

Sector Seven

Sector Seven, by David Wiesner, is a story of how a little boy learns to use his creativity to give back to the world his own dreams and fantasies. On one cloudy day, a little boy goes on a school field trip to the Empire State Building. There he meets a fantastic cloud creature who takes him on a wild adventure to a cloud factory in the sky called Sector Seven. While on his adventure, he uses his talent for drawing to inspire the clouds in the sky to make their own perceptions and realities. What the author has done is to tell in a children's story how in our lives we have the power, if we choose, to make an impact on others. He encourages readers take their different talents and ideas and share them with the world to make a change; to learn from the perspectives of others and allow them to learn from ours. Overall, Sector Seven is done very well. Since this book is a wordless picture book, the illustrations have to carry the narrative of the story, which it does nicely. I thought that the illustrations could have used a little more color; the illustrator used mostly shades of gray and blue. However, I would guess that the author wants to give the impression of a "cloudy day," and from this perspective, the colors fit the plot of the story. The illustrations of the factory scenes are a bit confusing because the illustrator places the pictures of the main characters on top of other scenes within the factory. Since the effect produces the sensation of several actions happening simultaneously, the story is sometimes hard to follow. I understood the author's intention of this book much better after reading the introduction within the jacket cover. I would suggest to any person who is reading this book, to look at this introduction before going on to the rest of the story. You will have much clearer perception of the direction in which David Wiesner is trying to take Sector Seven.

This is yet another great book by author/illustrator David Wiesner. This is a story about a boy who goes on a field trip to the Empire State Building. As a result of complete cloud cover the boy makes friends with a unique character, a cloud. The cloud takes the boy to "Sector 7" where all clouds are made by boring, uninspired beings. The boys spices things up by creating factastic shapes for the clouds. The boy is kicked out of Sector 7 by those beings who do not appreciate his artistic ability. After the boy is gone the clouds revolt and what follows is a delight for the eyes! This almost wordless picture book stretches the imagination and keeps you guessing page after page about what you will see next.

David Wiesner's Sector 7 illustrates an artistic young boy's adventure on a school field trip to the Empire State Building, where he meets a "friendly cloud-man." The "friendly cloud-man" takes the boy to "Sector 7," (the place where clouds are formed and placed around the globe). The boy uses his talents to give the unhappy clouds an eye-opening makeover. Wiesner's illustrations create an expressive story. His detailed pictures work together to make the story understandable and interesting. To enhance the mood and atmosphere of the story, Wiesner uses the choice of bold, friendly watercolors and unique frames throughout the book. The frames are presented in chronological order either top to bottom, left to right, or back to front. Sector 7 gives the reader's mind a chance to unwind and expand beyond its imaginable limits. It is definitely a book that will attract those of all ages and test their imagination.