Fiction Literature Books

I like and have read many books by Susan Wiggs. Although I do not like novels that include cooking recipes before the chapters, I suffer through these to read her storyline. Unlike the previous books in the Lakeshore Chronicles, this one is action-packed. The story even begins and ends in Europe, with international intrigue. But somehow, this takes away from the atmosphere of the setting of the series--upstate New York. The best parts of this book are the characters, and the realistic challenges that face each one of them. I think they were all wonderful. There is plenty of romance and plenty of action, but the mixing of the settings and the pace of the storyline is not to my liking. Perhaps others will enjoy her injection of international espionage. Not for me. Just stick to Lakeshore and I will be happy.

First, I'd strongly suggest that anyone considering this book should first read the others in the series. Knowing the other characters, and understanding their stories, is very helpful to appreciating this one.
Second, I loved the fantasy of this one, with the wounded woman finding just the right man, however unlikely the match may appear on the surface. Wiggs did an excellent job of making both lead characters three-dimensional [loved Noah's interest in STAR WARS!] and I liked the fact that other characters didn't always behave in ways the reader expects.
Third, the business of the U.N., the court at The Hague and the fictional country were all unnecessary to the plot, except insofar as they provided background on Sophie. Frankly, I skipped those parts and still enjoyed the book.
This is a good read, especially for a winter's day - or to cool off on a hot summer's day.

Well, I enjoyed the book. It is VERY light reading. You know what is going to happen from the very beginning of the book but you would be disappointed if the book did not have a happy, planned ending. Not as enjoyable as the first boook in this series. I think it is time to leave AVALON.

An easy enough read, but I didn't really care about Sophie or Noah. Worth reading just to catch up on the lives of the other people in this series.

Fans of the popular Lakeshore Chronicles by Susan Wiggs will be delighted with this addition to the series - especially pleased when it is read by the always splendid Joyce Bean.

A high powered international lawyer, Sophie Bellamy, would seem to have it all. She's seen her share of misery as much of her career has been assisting those in countries ravaged by war. Thus, it comes has no surprise that when she's visiting one of these areas she finds herself in the middle of a terrorist attack. This experience affects her in a number of ways - causing her to reassess her life, her values, and goals.

Suddenly Sophie not only feels compelled but wants to return to Avalon, a small town in the Catskills. She wants to be reunited with her family, her two children, Max and Daisy, and hopefully make up for lost years, time not spent with them.

As a divorced recently career obsessed woman she doesn't seem to be a very good candidate for romance, but this is a Susan Wiggs story! Upon arriving in snowy Avalon she finds not only a heavy blizzard but a skid that takes her into a ditch. As luck and the author would have it Sophie is rescued by Noah, the handsome local veterinarian. Despite freezing temperatures sparks immediately fly and she falls in love.

But wait, there's more to come. As she often does this author tosses in a few surprises leaving listeners to wonder for a while whether or not love can really conquer all.

- Gail Cooke

I was expecting there to be actual sentences in this book. There is one feeling per page in english and in spanish. It's fine if you just want to learn the words to some feelings, for that it's great. But, I could do that with a spanish dictionary. I wanted to read actual sentences to my daughter. It would better if it had "I feel..." Rather than just the one word. But again, if you just want to teach words of feelings, then it's good for that.

Fun book for your baby if you want her to learn both english and spanish. The pictures are very colorful. My daughter enjoys repeating the different words every time we read it.

I was looking for a spanish book that talked about something other than just objects. I also like the drawings and that the book is very simple. My 1 year old can really enjoy it.

I use this book in my classes for students ages 4 all the way to 18. It's a great, and SIMPLE way to help them express themselves in Spanish! The older teens crack up as they use the phrases, but it's great because they're communicating in their target language, and the younger students all identify with the bright pictures and sturdy pages. They LOVE using the phrases from Como me siento!

If you want something to listen to and write in- a complete curriculum, try Flip Flop Spanish, which comes with a CD!

Sra. Gose
Author of Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 1 & Flip Flop Spanish: Ages 3-5: Level 2

We're trying to teach our daughter Spanish from an early age (she's 8 months), and reading stories to her each night. This book is pretty simplistic with two - four words per page ("sad, con triste") so it's over pretty fast. Perhaps for an older toddler who can interact a bit more and understand the meaning it would be suitable but it's not helpful right now.

Writing in a conversational storytelling style, Jean Fritz describes the writing of the Constitution and the development of the Bill of Rights. Quick to clear up any misunderstanding about how the colonies came to form a new nation - those fifty-five delegates from the fledgling sovereign states did not come to Philadelphia singing sweet refrains of "one nation under God" - the text clearly and thoroughly covers the arguments, debates, negotiations, and compromises that hallmarked that Federal Convention. The text is compelling, interesting, and complete; and along the way, Fritz takes the time to show the human side of such historical icons as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and James Madison as she fills in the details about the forming of our nation. Also of particular note are the references appended, which include the complete text of the Constitution, a complete list of the signers, and a list of references supporting specific pages in the book.

And as always, Tomie Depaola's well-researched, uncomplicated illustrations thoroughly support the text and lend historical accuracy to the content, further facilitating reader understanding and augmenting retention.

Great narrative -- engrossing and educational for ALL ages.

De Paola's (of Strega Nonna fame) illustrations are absolutely perfect -- they convey the individual's character as well as their emotions during this 4 month stressful, enlightening brilliant and difficult time in our nation's history -- the rewriting (which turned into the total re-write) of the Articles of Confederation which became our nation's Constitution.

This appeals to all ages -- and having just completed the reading and study of several wordy tomes having to do with the Constitutional Convention, "Shh! We're Writing the constitution" provided a delightful conclusion to my studies, as well as welcomed comic relief.

Shh! We're Writing the Constitution, Jean Fritz, pictures by Tomie dePaola, G.P. Putnam's sons, Penguin Putnam books for Young Readers, New York, N.Y., 1987, 64 p.
This nonfiction book written in storytelling style describes how the United States Constitution came to be written and ratified with the disagreements, debates, negotiations, and compromises. It also reveals why the Bill of Rights was developed. Jean Fritz introduces the ordinary human aspects of significant historic characters such as George Washington, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin and John Hamilton. The book includes a listing of notes supporting the text with references to specific pages, the text of the Constitution, and a list of the signers.
Jean Fritz has created a delightful vehicle to learn about the United States Constitution. She uses a conversational style with humor and entertaining anecdotes coupled with de Paola's engaging and colorful illustrations on every page. Although aimed at readers from age 8 to 12, this is an excellent introduction for reluctant readers as well as anyone seeking a lively and fascinating introduction to the United States Constitution.

The book Shh!We're Writing y the Constitution by Jean Fritz.They all had to meet and they all showed up at different times. Benjamen Franklin was carried by some prisoners. This is a good book and you will learn alot from it. Theme is a good story element for this story because you learn alot about life. If you like books about the constitution than you will like this book.

The point of Jean Fritz's "Shh! We're Writing the Constitution" is that contrary to popular opinion, America had to be dragged kicking and screaming into becoming a new nation. While it is true that Americans were happy to be independent of Great Britain, the colonies that were now states had become used to being sovereign and many of them wanted to keep it that way. Illustrated by Tomie de Paola,, this engaging juvenile history tells how fifty-five delegates gathered in Philadelphia in the summer of 1787 to attempt to draw up a plan for the future of the United States. The result was the writing of the Constitution, despite the fact that initially no one agreed to either what should be in it or even if a constitution should be drawn up in the first place.

Fritz makes it clear that there were Founding Fathers, such as Patrick Henry who refused to attend the convention, who did not want a strong federal government, as well as those like Alexander Hamilton who dismissed the current confederation as "nothing but a monster with thirteen heads." The "Shh!" in the title has to do with the agreement of the delegates to keep the proceedings a secret. One of the great things about this book is that young students who already know about George Washington and Benjamin Franklin will learn about other Founding Fathers who were important in framing the Constitution, such as Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, William Paterson of New Jersey, Luther Martin of Maryland, and Edmund Randolph of Virginia. Again, not all of these men would sign their names to the finished document, but they were important during the debate. They will also learn why James Madison is called the "Father of the Constitution," and how Hamilton and another stronger Federalist, John Jay, played important roles, along with Madison, is getting the public to support the Constitution.

In telling the story of how the Constitution came to be written Fritz focuses on why certain points were adopted. So students will not only get to hear about the shouting matches and emotional outbursts, but also the political divisions and complex issues of the convention from which emerged the basis of the American government. Even at the end of the story students will be surprised to learn that the vote to adopt the Constitution was closer in Massachusetts (187 to 168) and Virginia (89-79) than it was in South Carolina (149-73) and that North Carolina voted against ratification and Rhode Island did not even bother to hold a convention (i.e., political divisions were just as strong back then as they are today). In addition to reprinting the Constitution of the United States based on the engrossed parchment sent by the Federal Convention to Congress on September 18, 1787, the back of the book also has four pages of informative notes on details from the Annapolis Convention, the debates over how the president should be addressed and how slaves should be counted, and what became the "Federalist Papers."

"Shh! We're Writing the Constitution" is an informative book that is well presented by Fritz, who served on the National Education Advisory Committeee to the Commission on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution, which is a pretty good credential. This is one in a series of interesting biographies of the American Revoluiton such as "And Then What Happened, Paul Revere?", "Can't You Make Them Behave, King George?", and "Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?" There is little question that the title of Fritz's books fit a definite pattern.

This book offers an excellent selection of stories written in various points of view. If you want to accent your studies or if you need to see the point of view element in action, this book is the perfect source. Chapter organization is based on each type of point of view so that the reader can zero in on whatever point of view she would like to review. The authors featured are both classical writers and modern authors. After working through dozens of books on point of view, this one stands out from the others.
This book is a keeper. It belongs in the collection of any serious writer.

I read the 1966 edition, and these comments apply specifically to that edition.

Literature by its very nature is open-ended and difficult to organize in a truly systematic or conclusive way. You can classify literary writings by culture of origin, historical period, or movement, e.g. Romanticism; yet each work is entirely individual and has something unique to say that cannot be subsumed under any classificatory heading.

The editors of this anthology made the choice of *voice* to organize their selections. From what and whose point of view does the author unravel his or her story? This volume offers one relatively concrete way to approach fiction reading and make it fit a bit more tidily into a curriculum of more easily systematized subjects, like chemistry, statistics, even foreign language learning. Yet "point of view" is only the take-off point. The real value in good literature, of which these stories are outstanding representative examples, is the story, the message, the language, all of which leave technical issues behind in a cloud of dust once you are drawn in to the author's world.

This is probably the best collection of short stories in English I have read. Each one of the stories cuts to the quick on themes of love, hate, separation, reunion, guilt, and death. Some are by familiar authors, who I'd first read in junior high school, others were completely new to me. At no point was I reading just to finish the book; I savored each work. My favorites include pieces by Dorothy Parker, Fyodor Dostoevski, Daniel Keyes, Cynthia Rich (sister of Adrienne), Frank O'Conner, Jean Stafford, Guy de Maupassant, and Saul Bellow. I was surprised and deeply impressed by John Steinbeck's "Johnny Bear", which I hadn't known of before, and now plan to use it in my freshman English class. Even the story by DH Lawrence, who I'm generally not that crazy about, was an excellent choice. The story by Moffett, one of the editors of the collection, is engaging and skillfully written. I was moved rereading Keyes's "Flowers for Algernon" in a way I don't remember feeling when I first read it for a class decades ago.

I'm a bit disappointed at some of the swaps made for the new edition, e.g. the Dorothy Parker. The Ambrose Bierce, on the other hand, could have been replaced by something with broader appeal. I thought some of the stories might have been omitted due to concerns of political correctness, but "Powerhouse", "The Iliad of Sandy Bar" and "The Suicides of Private Greaves" are, thankfully, still included. Personally, I recommend ordering a used copy of the original edition for a consistent picture of the editors' original vision. It is a coherent one, and I can't imagine that coherence was completely preserved in the new edition - though I'm sure it is also a strong, but quite different, collection.

These stories bear out the words of past Bridport Prize judge Martin Booth: "A short story is like a slap in the face. It must immediately sting, make itself known at once, and it must leave a red mark for hours to come." Each one of these stories does just that, to the point that you need recovery time after each one to get over what you've just been "slapped" with, and to ready yourself for the next blow. Highly recommended.

This book was given to us by a Canadian exhange teacher and it has opened up so many avenues of reading. From Shirley Jackson's horror masterpiece The Lottery through to Truman Capote's My Side of the Matter, it is a brilliant, brillant anthology. A lifetime's reading awaits anyone who picks up this book as each story makes you seek out the author.

My review is of the 1966 New American Library edition of the work. I found this book to be an excellent educator in the art of the short - story. The editors give two examples of stories in the following categories: Interior Monlongue, Dramatic Monologue, Letter Narration, Diary Narration, Subjective Narration, Detached Autobiography, Memoir or Observed Narration, Biography or Anonymous Narration, Anonymous Narration Dual Character Point-of- View ,Anonymous Narration Multiple Character Point- of - View Anonymous Narration No Character Point of view. Among the many memorable stories here are classics of the genre by Joyce, Edgar Allan Poe, de Maupassant, Conrad, Henry James, Dostoevsky. There is a great story by Irwin Shaw "Act of Faith"and Updike's well- known "A & P".
There is much to learn and much to enjoy here. However I missed there not being a story from my own personal favorite story-writer Isaac Bashevis Singer.

I read the first edition as a teenager; it opened my eyes to perspective in literature. This updated edition provides some of the best of the first edition with some new, very satisfying selections.

This is another great collection of Sandman stories which anyone who is a fan of the series should read. My only complaint with this collection is that the stories start out very strong but the ending is a bit of a flop. I am glad that I read it since this does contain events which will probably be of greater importance further along in the series.

Dream is sulking, until his sister Delirium motivates him to help her look for Destruction, their brother who has abdicated his Endless responsibilities.

On the way, through the various people they meet, and reflected in his servants and helpers, we see Dream's thought processes begin to change and mellow, even more so after he finally gets around to dealing with his son, Orpheus, after such long neglect.

Read this series! I read these when they were published as individual comics and revisiting the series has been a joy. Read them in order if at all possilble. I wish Gaiman had the time to write another graphic novel series.

I thought Season of Mists was my favorite The Sandman volume until I read Brief Lives.

Brief Lives absolutely has it all--drama, action, comedy, romance, and philosophical ponderings. It focuses upon Morpheus rather directly--unlike other volumes where sometimes he exists within the stories only peripherally--as he helps his sister Delirium track down their brother known as Destruction.

Destruction is part of The Endless. The other members of The Endless are his brothers and sisters Destiny, Death, Dream (Morpheus), Desire, Despair, and Delirium. He long ago abandoned his post and family, choosing instead to exist on his own terms. Addle-brained Delirium unusually makes up her mind and decides she wants to reunite with her favorite brother. She is very surprised when she manages to enlist the aid of her brooding brother, Dream, especially after all her other brothers and sisters refuse to help her.

Dream accompanies Delirium on quite a journey as created by Neil Gaiman who makes brilliant use of legend and mythology, both preexisting and self-manufactured. They finally find Destruction, but things don't go exactly as expected and incredible possibilities are revealed.

I love this volume so much because something happens to Dream that hasn't really occurred in the previous volumes--he changes. While always dynamic in dialogue and appearance, Dream was not a character who seemed to evolve. I enjoyed Lord Morpheus just as he was, but now that Gaiman introduces a changing Dream, a Morpheus who suddenly empathizes with mortals and family members, he becomes all the more fascinating.

Furthermore, the afterward by Peter Straub was absolutely riveting. Brief Lives was enthralling on its own, but Straub's afterward analyzing the volume makes it, and the intricacies of Gaiman's artistry, all the more impressive.

~Scott William Foley, author of Souls Triumphant

This is one of my two favorites in the 11-volume "Sandman" series, which has proven Gaiman to be a genius storyteller. Three centuries ago, Destruction -- one of the seven Endless, who existed even before the gods -- abandoned his responsibilities, left his realm, and went off to do his own thing. Essentially, he ran away from home. Not that the world has lacked for destruction since then, but he's not behind it, anyway. Delirium, who has roughly the persona of a three-year-old combined with a drugged-out-flower child -- but is a very sweet person for all that (well, . . . not "person" . . .), misses her big brother and tries to find one of her siblings to help her look for him and convince him to return. Dream (the Sandman) finally agrees to accompany her, but for his own reasons, and the quest brings in a number of innocent bystanders (who suffer, as bystanders do), as well as an assortment of ancient but now out-of-work deities. A number of neat ideas are tossed out casually, too, like the notion that a few thousand people still exist on Earth from the very earliest days of civilization, or even from the dawn of the species.

Bernie the lawyer, killed by the collapsing wall of a derelict building, tells Death, "I did okay, didn't I? I lived fifteen thousand years. That's a pretty long time." To which Death, a pragmatic sort who resembles a Goth girl, replies, "You got what everybody gets, Bernie. You got a lifetime. No more, no less." Great stuff.

I ordered this book for my 8 year old niece. She really likes it, especially the tornado page at the beginning. She is just discovering the world of books and is always thrilled when she can actually keep one versus having to return it to the library!

This book was recommended by a friend who has it and reads it to her granddaughter. I bought it to give as a gift to my granddaughter, but was so thrilled at the charming and spectacular content, I have kept it for myself. The pop ups have such amazing color and are on heavy enough paper that it should last a long time. I have been a great fan of all the Oz books (which I Have, some printed in the early 1900's) and believe this will be a great addition to my collection.
Sincerely, Lise Jones

My father got my sister and I some beautiful fairy tale popup books from Europe when we were children. We have never seen a popup book come even close to the details in those books. I took a chance after reading the reviews and ordered the Wizard of Oz popup for my sister for Christmas. Well, it comes very close to the books we had as children. Its very entertaining, even for us "older" kids.

Purchased item for my niece who adores the wizard of oz. The item was as described. Shipped promptly and she LOVED it.

I BOUGHT THIS BOOK FOR A 2 MONTH OLD BABY FOR WHEN SHE GETS OLDER.I OPENED THE BOOK WHEN IT CAME IN THE MAIL AND I FELT LIKE A LITTLE KID IT WAS SO AWESOME. EACH PAGE IS FILLED WITH AMAZING DETAIL. IT WILL REALLY PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE

I was completly satisfied with this gift. I ordered it for my boyfriend for Christmas with The Hobbit hard cover. The pictures are beautiful, any and all collectors should own this collection.

Good reading as always. Fast and Quick shipping and Delivery. Was at my door step 1 week before Christmas, which was amazing, because I was told it might take longer than that, but somehow it all happened all right.

If you are a fan, and you already have the series, then you should know, it's still the same story, but if you do not have the series and you want one that will last and continue to out-live all the others, buy this one, and you'll never have to buy another collection as long as you live.

Being a Lord of the Rings fan for 7 years, I decided that it was time to buy an illustrated set of it. I'm so happy that I bought this one!!

The dust covers are very beautiful with illustrations by Alan Lee. The box is also illustrated and the books fit in very good. Every book has ,under the dust cover, the actual cover: nice red fabric with in gold the title etc. It looks very 'Tolkien-ish'
The books are all illustrated, about .. well I haven't counted them but there are lots and lots of beautiful illustrations. They are all a bit 'watery', but it fits the mood of the book.
I read complaints about the glossy pages. Personally, I don't have any trouble reading, even if there's bright light. The pages are smooth, but do not reflect much light.

So, I don't really see one negative thing about the box - except that the books are very tight in the box and it is difficult to get them out.

If you are a real Lord of the Rings fan, please buy this edition. It's great!

I've owned two editions of The Lord of the Rings before this, both were one-volume versions.

These hardcovers are brilliantly impressively large, the paper quality is good, and they are bound in a red cloth/material under the glossy printed jackets.

Most Lord of the Rings fans will be familiar with Alan Lee's illustrations already, and they serve this set well.

I probably read the previous two versions I had of this book 40+ times over, and I imagine I'll read them more often with this set. The break-up into three, and the larger size, makes this book a somewhat more leisurely read, and I found myself giving more time to each chapter, reading it slower, absorbing more than I ever had earlier.

The only drawback, as already mentioned, is that the paper used in the book as a whole is glossy, and therefore gives some glare if you read it with white light falling on it directly. Not that big an issue, though, since you're more likely to be lounging about when reading this book :)

The books are great, I got this set as a gift. They were well received. Seems like something to 'collect' more than to read. Nice illustrations...

This review is for that of the edition of the book not the writing itself. Or course Tolkien's writing is phenomonal.

This edition has a beautiful case and amazingly illustrated cover protecters. They are all hardcover and are not too heavy. The pages are near tear-proof (of course, not if you try) and are resistant to dirty fingerprints and small bends (if you don't do it on purpose). All in all, this version is quite worth the price.

I ordered this book and received it very quickly. The book came in new condition as described. Thanks!

The book is well written, written perhaps as an exercise in writing in the second person. As a story though it is thoroughly predictable and utterly dishonest. McInerney tapped into a particularly scene, probably researched in the pages of New York Magazine and The New Yorker's "Talk of the Town" pieces. It was embraced at a time when the publishing industry was desperate for new voices that would appeal to young readers, reared on the superficiality of TV after-school specials. Why I don't think this book will have lasting appeal is that its observations are actually reflection, heard second hand or experienced vicariously. (Reports to the contrary, the book was not a contemporary, urban, "On the Road." The writer was always and remains a poseur. Which is to say though seductive on the surface--the reader is led to believe he or she is given a privileged peek into the hip New York of the early 80s--the book is notable for its lack of authenticity. "Bright Lights, Big City" made McInerney a literary star although he never produced another book actually worth reading. Read the book for its style and the New York "touch points," but otherwise it is a waste of time.

Writing in the second person can be draining - the constant balance between the character and the reader and having to maintain both the distance and the familiarity is something few writers tackle other than in short stories (Junot Diaz is the perfect example). But Bright Lights, Big City manages to produce the first "great" second person narrative that I can think of. From the very first pages where McInerney throws us into New York night life, we are confronted with a character who is both strange and familiar who is moving in a New York that is both strange and familiar. As a fact checker at a major publication who is getting over the fact his wife, who happens to be a model, has left him, the protagonist struggles with a dual desire to be isolated and comforted by others.

What is most striking about this book is the prose. It is both clean and smooth and has a way of moving you back and forth between action and description. This book can be read in a single night and you find yourself so attached to this guy who is as messed up as can be, yet you feel so sorry for him as he confronts his brother, uses more drugs than you can imagine, and struggles to write a novel. He is the anti-hero spawned in a world after the Beats made names for themselves, and I can honestly day that this novel may be a stronger piece of fiction than On the Road or even Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me.

This is a gem and should be treated as such.

This is a pretty good first novel and is intriguing insofar as it shows the themes which engage McInerney's later works. This reads a bit like Holden Caulfield getting his first job in the big city. And it also reminds me of JP Donleavy's extraordinary novel, The Ginger Man. One can see hints of Fitzgerald and almost make the case that McInerneys novels simply keep re-telling Gatsby. Such, at least, seems to be the case after reading The Good Life and Brightness Falls, the latter of which is an American masterpiece. There is something universal about this bright, young man taking his bright ideals into the crucible of New York where they are pummelled after much heartbreak into reality. The public perception rarely seems to match the private persona, either in you or in others. Despite the heaps of artifice which you pile upon upon yourself to keep the dogs at bay, it's all still self-deception and it never fails to disappoint. I wish we had seen more of Tad Allagash, the Falstaff figure whom Dunleavy uses so brilliantly to bring out the comedy of his protagonists in so many of his novels. I enjoyed the second-person narrative voice and it was bold to start a literary career by depolying such a technique. I really think that if you want to get the best of Jay McInerney, you need to read Brightness Falls. But this accessible, brief, first novel will lead you ineluctably to the real brilliance that awaits you in Brightness Falls.

Jay McInerney's funny and smart debut "Bright Lights, Big City" was published about 25 years ago. The current Vintage Contemporary edition features in its cover a drawing of a men entering the Odeon and the Twin Towers in the background - as if we all needed to remember this was a book written much before the loss of the innocence.

The set is New York in the middle 1980s, when AIDS wasn't the issue and the city fuelled with cocaine and neon. That decade always seem to be something lost in time. And literature and cinema handles it this way. "Bight Lights, Big City" is sort of a lighter and smarter cousin of "American Psycho", which handles the same generation. But McInerney's prose is much well handed and his narrative more effective than Breat Easton Ellis'. The novel is entirely written in the second person, and it feels like `you' is just one more character.

Rarely did a writer capture the 1980s zeitgeist as McInerney. We see his nameless protagonist frantically crossing the city after drugs, women or something he lost in his life and doesn't know. The plot unfolds in a New York minute. The writer has the ear for capturing vivid and believable dialogues, while creating interesting characters.

However fun it is to read "Bright Lights, Big City", it is impossible not to notice that it is above all a sad story. The main character is only going through the motions, just the course life takes. He never takes the plunge to change his destiny. Could he if he tried? Maybe so. We'll never know. But what we do know is that McInerney has written a novel that will last for ages. When people in the future wonders how the 1980s was like

This eddition of the book is not about the excellence of the story- but, rather a consise review of Hawthorne's writing of several of his works. It is excellent for the student of the author

The book has 2 parts: the ukrainian folklore stories - witches, devils, ogres and what not - interacting with the peasants living in the Ukraine countryside. Nice story telling with a quaint sense of humor. The second part is from St. Petersburg detailing the Russian bourgeoisie life. Mildly funny.
Some stories are a prelude to the surrealism to come out of Europe later - like Kafka. But make no mistake: Gogol is no Kafka.
Only if you have nothing better to read at the moment or the above is something you have a special interest in.

A quick note to counterbalance all of the glowing reviews. Of course, everybody has an opinion, and one can't argue with taste as they say, so let me provide - for your consideration - a representative passage from the first few pages of this translation. From the second page of "St. John's Eve": "I remember like now - the old woman, my late mother, was still alive - how on a long winter's evening, when there was a biting frost outside that walled us up solidly behind the narrow window of our cottage, she used to sit by the comb, pulling the long thread out with her hand, rocking the cradle with her foot, and humming a song that I can hear as if it was (sic) now." I don't speak Russian, and maybe this "I remember like now" expression represents a literal translation of some Russian idiom, but it would have made a lot more sense to translate the phrase into something along the lines of "I remember as if it were yesterday" - a corny expression, but one that at least makes sense in English. If this seems like a petty criticism, take into account that that kind of awkward, bizarre phrasing is repeated in just about every other sentence. The translators are fond of corny, archaic words like "mug" (for face) and "drubbing" that seem like they belong in a British translation from the 30s, not something copyrighted in 1998. I just wanted to give a warning to anyone who was actually expecting this to be a "modern" translation, i.e., a translation into something resembling contemporary English. For the record, "Dead Souls" is one of my favorite novels and "Ivan Ivanovich / Ivan Nikiforovich" one of my favorite short stories, so this isn't about disliking Gogol.

This is the kind of writing that makes me questions why movies even exist. The style, the sentences, the humor, the feel is all something unique, unpredictable, and unmistakable. These plots are bizarre, intriguing and it is nearly impossible to guess the endings. All this coming from a translated work is a success for the writer and the translators.

The Overcoat, Diary of a Madman, & the Nose are some examples of Gogol's short story brilliance. These stories are realistic yet surreal, imaginative and impressive. Gogol shows you the roots of what Russian writers continued to excel at later with works like Metamorphosis (Kafka). He calls his stories tales (there are the Ukrainian Tales and the Petersburg Tales), and they most definitely are tales. They are the kind of stories you can tell around the campfire -- they are that unnerving and exhilarating. Yet they are social commentaries as well. These stories work on many levels because they are detailed, feature fantastic characters, and delve into fantasy. All the while you find unexpected twists and occurrences. It's sheer genius.

This book is a fabulous introduction to both Russian literature and the works of this unique genius.

As well known in the east as the "Wizard of Oz" series is in the west (which was also argueably inspired by a russian tale "The Wizard of the Emerald City", this collection is every bit as enjoyable - especially for children or grandchildren.

The Night Before Christmas is an insighful look at human nature - the desire of each person to have prince/princess and live happily ever after. The stories are full of hope, humor, sadness, and tragedy.

Overall, the stories are masterpieces that can read repeatedly.

Nikolai Gogol was one of the greatest writers of the golden age of Russian Literature. As friend of the Great Aleksandr Sergeeyivich Pushkin, the Shakespeare of Russian Literature, he helped Pushkin realize his genius and at the same time wrote some of the most famous and entertaining short stories of all the Great Russian writers such as "The Diary of a Madman" (before it was a cliche' kind of expression and well before Ozzy's 1981 classic) which is the story of a disilusioned clerk or something. Gogol always had sympathy for the little guy, who was stuck in a dead end job, and the guy who had no voice like the main character in probably Gogols most famous short story "The Overcoat" which I have just finished reading, and I may say without any sort of hesitation that that lovely little tale will go with me in my treasured memories for the rest of my life (May that life be filled with such lovely literature as that of 19th century Russian!)

This volume, while it doesn't have "Tarsas Bulba" redeems itself with some of the greatest stories ever told.

Nikolai Vasilyivich Gogol
1809-1852