Looking for the perfect gift for that puzzle buff friend of yours? Look no further. Mad Mazes is a delightful book of 20 different mazes, each with its own rules for traveling through the maze. Each maze is challenging and fun and, if you solve it, you will shout Eureka! In this book, you see the genius of Robert Abbott at work and at play! We call him the O. Henry of puzzles as his solutions often have a surprise or twist to them. Each maze is preceded by a fun story which gives the rules for traveling through the maze. So, whether you are 7 or 107, if you enjoy challenging puzzles, this treasure of a book is for you. The good news is that Robert Abbott has written a wonderful sequel to Mad Mazes. It is called SuperMazes.

By saying the word "maze" I'm probably conjuring the image of those flat angles of black lines. This is NOT what you'll get if you buy this book. Mad Mazes is precisely that--each maze has a complex set of dynamic rules. One allows you only to turn right--unless you pass a certain point, after which you can only turn left. Another is three-dimensional, and you climb and descend levels in an effort to reach bottom. You actually have to (gasp) think. I first got this book 6-7 years ago and still haven't solved all the puzzles! (And there are only twenty, to my everlasting regret.) Each is accompanied with illustrations and a delightfully humorous story.

Among other things, this has a nice section on the political history of Portland. It gives a nice synopsis of how we became the progressive mecca we are today. Anybody interested in local politics might be interested in this book.