This is one of the most beautiful collection of stories I have ever read. I first read "Lisa & David" when I was 11 and I thoroughly enjoyed the poetic description of the residential treatment center these young people were in and the way they reached each other. David, a gifted boy was instrumental in reaching Lisa. He was the one who figured out why she spoke in rhymes -- she did that to suppress her alter ego, Muriel. (She was a schizophrenic girl who believed she had a second personality). David and her teacher John were the ones who were able to recognize glimpses of intelligence in the girl and David's pyschiatrist, Dr. White was an unusually kind man. He and David were good for each other.

"Jordi" was a book that completely bowled me over. I first read it at 11 and was captivated. The only real complaint I could make is that it is too short. I LOVED THIS BOOK! It gave a lyrical voice to the inner torment of Jordi's psychosis. Jordi was a very appealing boy. He was certainly very bright in that he knew all the train and bus routes in the tri-state area and he learned to read and to calculate complex mathematical equations quickly. I was so glad Jordi's parents were too smart to leave him in an institution. That would have been just too inhuman. Jordi was lucky in that he was accepted at a day program wherein he found an unusually gifted teacher, Sally. I like the way they worked together and I really loved the way Sally and Jordi demolished a garbage can together to prove to Jordi that garbage cans "did not really have ears" and that they were simply inanimate objects. I love the way they related to each other. Sally helped Jordi define his own boundaries when she explained to him that when another teacher was being kicked by an angry pupil, he, Jordi was not the one who was being hurt. She further helped Jordi recognize himself when she proved that he was still Jordi, no matter what seat he sat in or whose coat he wore. I really love this book. All I can say, is, please read it. It's great.

This vast tome is a great pleasure to dip into every now and again, besides being an essential refrence work for all writers and language workers. It explains and discusses the origin and history of words, phrases, expressions and idioms in a most engaging manner. Every page contains something interesting or noteworthy. For example, the entry on "Valley Speak" or"Valspeak" as it is called here, refers to the language of teenagers in Silicon Valley, California that has spread around the English speaking world, and is very informative and amusing. All aspects of popular culture are covered, including music: I was delighted to discover how many popular sayings derive from song lyrics. In addition, the book is as up-to-date as can be; you'll find absolutely everything here up to the second part of 2002. I am impressed with its thoroughness and accessible style, and highly recommend it to all those who are fascinated by language and meaning in all its forms, but especially for journalists, songwriters, creative writers and cultural historians.

A beautiful Passover story, just right for any child. A poor couple cannot have a seder (ritual passover dinner) due to lack of funds. A traveling magician comes to give them the neccesities for their seder. How did it all happen? Perhaps he was a messenger after all.

Teaches us all to hope and believe.

The Mammoth Book of "Vintage Science Fiction" is a collection of 10 short stories (i.e. around 50 pages each) from the 1950's. The authors contained in this volume include renowed sci-fi writers such as Asimov, Walter M. Miller (author of "Canticle for Lebowitz), Poul Anderson, Theodore Sturgeon, and Philip Jose Farmer; and it is edited by Asimov.

I recommend this collection for some one looking for a good or entertaining sci-fi read, or for some one looking for a "classic" sci-fi collection. The best stories include "Flight to Forever" by Poul Anderson (a captivating time-travelling tale that's on par with Time Machine), "The Oceans are Wide" by Frank M. Robinson (an interesting coming of age tale, on a ship on a long voyage into the unknown), "Dark Benediction" by Walter M. Miller (a story of a futuristic plague), and "Second Game" by Charles De Vet and Katherine MacLean. Other stories featured are "The Martian Way" by Asimov, "The Alley Man" by Farmer (reminiscent of something out of the "X-files"), and "Baby is Three" by Sturgeon, (which is a shorter version of his novel "More than Human").

The collection features some great sci-fi - some of which is nostalgic, but it in a good way - while other stories actually seem quite timeless. The "Mammoth" Sci books (by Carroll & Graf Sci-Fi) are actually a series of 6 volumes from the Classic sci-fi of the 1930's, through Modern Sci-fi of the 80's. Based on this volume, and some of the titles in the 60's volume, it's too bad these volumes are out of circulation and somewhat difficult to find. This is a great collection of page-turning stories, and would make a good gift for Sci-Fi fans, young and old! I recommend keeping an eye out for it in your local second-hand book store!

This book contains all of the information known about Mars in 1977, when the book was published. In spite of its age, this book shines due to the depth of the information that it imparts. As an example, the book spends a whole chapter explaining how Mars' satellites would appear from the surface: their perceived movement, their luminosity, and much more.

If you are interested in Mars, then you must read this book.

This is an excellent book and those that enjoyed Deutscher's Trilogy on Leon Trotsky and his biography of Stalin will not be dissappointed with this book! It includes a number of topics, including Kerensky's influence in pre-Bolshevik revolution Russia, as well as commentary on Trotsky, Marxism, Stalin's betrayal of the USSR and the USSR after Stalin, as well as the tragedy that befell the Polish Communist Party. An excellent book, should be read by all Deutscher fans!!

Isaac Bashevis Singer was a controversial figure during his lifetime. Though his place in the twentieth-century canon of literature now seems secure, it is still often pointed out that thanks to the Holocaust, Singer's fame was granted to him at the cost of obscurity for other Yiddish writers. His personality also was known to be difficult. There are many who will tell you that Singer was a bastard, including Elie Wiesel (not normally a gossip) in "All Rivers Run to the Sea." Singer probably was one at least fifty percent of the time. Too many stories of his caprice, vanity, and greed for sex and money have been told to be discounted. As to the nature behind both the faults and the gifts, what one saw of it depended on who one was; any competitors for the limelight, real or imagined, got the worst of it. Women got both the best and the worst of Singer, the charm and naivete combined with the mistrust and the manipulation. It is thus fitting that a possibly definitive memoir of Singer should have been written by a woman. Dvorah Telushkin was the writer's secretary and occasional translator. She comes across as a most lovable person, without any of Singer's guile. But they still had a lot in common: they were both fearful and susceptible to flattery. Ms. Telushkin was estranged from her father, Singer from his only child. Dvorah's innocence fit Singer's feminine ideal, exemplified by the child-woman in "Shosha." For years, theirs was a relationship in perfect order. But after winning the Nobel Prize, Singer's ego ran away with him while his health deteriorated rapidly. He became more and more paranoid, finally rejecting Dvorah as he had rejected most others. Ms. Telushkin manages the difficult feat of recording Singer's decline honestly and without sentimentality, while leaving us in no doubt as to her lasting love for him and little as to its essential justice. It is to be hoped that she continues as a writer, one with large ambitions. She has been influenced by Singer; her achievement is to make his eerie tone blend so well with her sense of her own life as a bad dream that the influence comes to seem more like an inheritance. She rescues Singer from the context of Yiddish nostalgia and places him within his own heritage of Jewish fear, uncertainty, and faith, as little G-rated as Celine. This is a deeply touching, near-perfect book. It is required reading for Singer fans, but it is also recommended to anyone struggling to understand a difficult and much-loved parent.

A lively tale reminiscent of the story of Job.

One fine day, Mazel (the spirit of Good Luck) and Schlimazel (the spirit of Bad Luck), are strolling through a small village. Mazel boasts to his companion about his popularity; he is welcomed by all, called upon often, and loved by everyone. "No one ever calls for you," he tells Schlimazel. Scoffing, Schlimazel claims "The world is ruled by the powerful, and what takes you a year to create I can destroy in a second." So they strike a wager: Mazel will brighten the life of the poorest man in the village for a year. At the end of the year Schlimazel will have one second, just one second, to ruin the man. The man is not to be killed, impoverished, or made ill. A cask of magical wine if Schlimazel wins, if Mazel wins Schlimazel must go away for fifty years. They find the poorest man, Tam, and Mazel goes to work.

Through extraordinary good luck (of course), Tam rises from sleeping among toadstools to sleeping in a king's palace. The man the entire village once laughed at becomes the king's trusted advisor and Master of Horses. The fair Princess Nesika, the king's only child and sole heir to the throne, falls in love with him. Tam becomes renown for his wisdom, talent, and skill. Minstrels travel the world recounting tales of Tam's great deeds. How can Schlimazel possibly undo all this in one second?

The king falls ill, and only one thing can cure him: the milk of a lioness. Bravely, Tam sets out, Mazel still secretly at his side. The successful Tam returns to the king, and suddenly, the year is up! Schlimazel pops in, and true to his word, in one mere second Schlimazel manages to utterly ruin Tam's life.

Mazel wallows in guilt and Schlimazel drinks himself into a stupor with the magical wine. Once unconscious, Mazel returns to Tam's side. After all, with the bet completed, Mazel is free to do as he wishes. With Mazel's deft assistance Tam's life and reputation are restored. Mazel sticks around for a while, but now we are told that Tam no longer needs Mazel: for those who are diligent, honest, sincere, and helpful are indeed lucky forever.

A charming story with enchanting watercolor pictures of exotic characters and locales.

Highly recommended.

I can't think of a better book for young kids who love pulleys and other mechanical gadgets. This is not just about science (though it's lurking in the wings), nor about push-button machines which seem to do everything by magic.

Each double-spread forms one scene, showing the character describing his actions, and including notes on the actions of the various mechanisms he has set up to get up, get dressed, and catapult himself to the shops...yes, the gadgets ARE the plot, and for the kids who really love this stuff, they're probably the "love interest" as well!

If your house wasn't already festooned with strange string pulleys and gadgets, it soon will be -- the illustrations are detailed and attractive, in big, clear spreads flooded with color.

The perpetrator of all this Newtonian motion is "Harry Newton", who provides a brief speech-bubble narration to accompany the pictures. He won't tell you where to find the screwdrivers though...