WATERMARK is an apt title for this splendid collection of thoughts and fugues on the city of Venice, a place where Brodsky returned yearly for seventeen years and where in the solitude of the winter months in this most desirable of tourist destinations he composed some of his best poetry and translations. Brodsky's title refers to the repeated traces (watermarks) the sea makes on the canals and decaying buildings of Venice, like pages from a book of history or of poetry, or a novel. He writes extended soliloquies about the surfaces of the water in the canals and in the surrrounding sea that softly and surely continues to submerge Venice. He also writes colloquies of conversations with Ezra Pound's widow and the subsequent memories and opinions of that controversial figure. His rambling discourses while strolling the narrow streets that follow the canals inevitably to the sea are rich in observation and philosophy. His love for Venice is always palpable. '...the whole city, especially at night, resembles a gigantic orchestra, with dimly lit music stands of palazzi, with a restless chorus of waves, with the falsetto of a star in the winter sky. The music is, of course, greater than the band, and no hand can turn the page.'

Joseph Brodsky is at his finest in much of this small volume. For those who love Venice by association or by dreams of history and the music of Vivaldi, Bellini, and the art of Tiepolo or Titian, this collection of reveries is a must. Elegant, charming, stimulating, and nostalgic.

A remarkable synthesis of poetry and prose. His style reveals impressions rather than what he has seen. The best comparison that I can think of is a dream that you remember vividly.

For any reader who wants to recreate the mesmerizing effect of walking the watery streets of Venice, reading this book will do it. As you enter Brodsky's very personal meditation on the ancient city that has enchanted so many for so long, his thoughts become your own, and all at once you are there. Dipping into the pages of this book is an armchair traveler's paradise.

Upon hearing you're pregnant, most people will only have images of perfect babies. When hearing something is going wrong with your pregnancy, most people have no idea what to expect.
When I heared I was going to have my baby within half an hour, at 26 weeks of pregnancy... I had no idea what was laying ahead of me.
This book prepares you on what to expect when you have a high-risk pregnancy and takes you trough the 24 hours after delivery, your preemies growth and maturation, the neonatal unit, bringing your baby home and later-life development. There is also a part on babies with special needs and a part about when things go wrong.
From the many lonely hours I could not be with my baby, I spent many reading this book. The stories of other parents helped me survivng the nicu and the many charts and statistics helped me to get an image on what to expect.

Thank you very much for this book.

A very helpful book for reading during your high-risk pregnancy and when your baby is in the NICU. I did think that the anecdotes about women's experiences with terbutaline and magnesium sulfate were unnecessarily alarming. This book complemented Linden's Essential Guide for Parnets of Premature Babies nicely.

This is THE book I wished I'd known about in advance when we developed problems later in my pregnancy. I actually think anyone expecting a baby where there is a possibility of it becoming a high-risk pregnancy (and face it, that could be any of us, right?) should read this book so that you can be prepared to be the best possible advocate for yourself and your child in the NICU and during the transition out. It will also help you understand the complexities of what goes on in the NICU so you can work well with the staff caring for your infant.

Thank heavens for people like William Swain who took the time to record their personal stories and let it become, in a sense, a first-person history tale to people in the 21st century. Swain goes into great detail about his trials and tribulations and you begin to care so much about him, it almost becomes a novel. It accidentally sets the reader up for disappointment in the end by Swain reaching home and the story suddenly stopping. You'll find yourself asking, how did Eliza greet her papa? What did Swain do with the meager amount of money he made? What was Sabrina and her husband's first words to each other after an almost two-year absence? Of course, it's not Swain's fault for ending his diary at home. He merely kept the journal to update his family on his journey; not give readers 150 years later an autobiography. Holliday can not answer these final questions either and rightfully so, he does not try. You are left to ponder how it ended and hopefully, after reading so many emotional passages from William and Sabrina, you can use your imagination to answer the homecoming questions.

Holliday blends the information together wonderfully by arranging each chapter into three sections:

1. an overall historical account

2. Swain's diary

3. A Back Home section in which letters written to Swain from wife Sabrina and brother George are included.

The format works splendidly for the reader and keeps everything in a proper time frame. Holliday also includes scaled-down regional maps for every chapter which lets the reader follow along on a microcosm/macrocosm scope of the total journey. Holliday has also laboriously researched hundreds of other personal diaries and includes passages from them when Swain leaves gaps or when a quirky story can be added to intrigue the reader further. The World Rushed In is a fast read and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in Western US history or is just looking for a great story.

This is a superb, gripping and very personal account of one man's experience travelling to and from the California gold rush. The fact that Holliday had access to virtually all the letters sent from him and to him on the trail makes this book even more enticing. It made me feel that I was taking every step with William Swain on his journey, sharing in his joys and sorrows and those of his brother and wife back home. I thoroughly recommend this book, I couldn't put it down.

This book tells the story of my wife's cousin, William Swain. Swain witnessed over a hundred cholera victims, alive a day earlier, now buried in the sand banks of the Mississippi River. Bodies strewn along the Nevada trail, he viewed the tragedy. Ships, valued in the millions, he viewed abandoned in San Francisco bay.

As family members, we have John Holliday to thank. Moreover, I was thrilled with each page of Holliday's book. The 1849 Gold Rush extracted more from its participants, due to gold fever, than they got in return from the California mines. That's exactly what happened to William, who, in May of 1848, left his lovely wife, Sabrina, a newborn daughter, his brother George, and his farm residence in Youngstown, NY. William, in his heart, knew he would make it big in California country. At least he must try. And, Sabrina, not knowing the hardships and penniless outcome, gave her loving agreement. Along the way William witnessed death and deprivation, loneliness and hunger. He arrived hopeful in gold country, plied his efforts, and came away luckily with the skin on his back. He differed from most in one important way: William kept a journal. And, Sabrina and William wrote and saved their letters, from which Holliday made one of America's finest narratives. William, weighted with introspective highlight, wrote to George, "If you're thinking of coming out here, for [Gosh] sakes, do not!" William pleaded. Prospectors and miners everywhere, food scarce, prices high, California gold fields deluded nearly all. "And no one I know has gotten rich," William offered. William, beaten in his quest, longed to be with Sabrina and brother George. Ready to return, he had saved $400. He longed to bring it all home, to hand to Sabrina. But, think of it, did you ever try to get from Sacramento to Niagara Falls in 1850, while tired and broke? Yikes. No train. William would have to walk the same way home he came, over that horrible trail. He couldn't face that prospect. So, William scraped his pockets clean, and purchased passage on a ship, via Panama. Just one catch: There was no Panama Canal. That happened 60 years later. William made his way to San Francisco bay. He boarded ship. He endured sea sickness. He ate crummy food. He arrived at Panama, shaken. Next, he and all passengers traversed the 50 mile overland eastward trek with a guide. Threatened with abandonment in the jungle, he paid double. Weak, he arrived at the east side of the Isthmus, broke. William struggled on board ship. It traveled north, taking forever, to arrive at New York City. There, George, who knew to meet him from William's earlier letter, stood waiting at the gangplank. William, broke and sick, 25 pounds skinnier, staggered into his brother's arms. George helped William toward home, finally past beloved Niagara Falls, north to Youngstown. There, adoring, relieved, Sabrina faithfully nursed William back to health. Asked late in life if it was worth it, William avoided answering. He merely declared he loved his Youngstown. Can you read between the lines on that one? 'Nuff said.

... I read the series by Joseph Altsheler when I was in grade school. I loved the exciting adventures the young men and women were having. My dad loved them as a kid also. I recently purchased the book from Amazon and read it - in fact, I had a hard time putting it down. I loved it in grade school and I enjoyed it again (I'm 57). I wish the publisher would make it available in paperback at a reasonable price. For [the hardcover price], I can't afford to re-live all of the memories. Why doesn't the Amereon Company take a chance and publish more!!

My best friend and I, both now 75 years old, read all the Altsheler books about the eastern US frontier, the American Indians, and frontiermen. They are great stories. We think they will be good reading for our grandchildren, something of the past to show a simpler way of adventure from modern movies and TV. I fully agree with another reviewer that Atlsheler's books should be republished for the youth of today. I tried other book sellers who say they can get older books. It was a waste of time, I should have used Amazon first.

Altsheler was a prolific author of boy's adventure series whose works are all in the public domain and ought to be reprinted in paperbacks. The Young Trailers series is set in the Kentucky woods about the time of the American Revolution. The author's great gift is to keep the exciting incidents coming, one after another. Virtually all of the action takes place outdoors, and a sort of nature mysticism pervades, without softening the adventure. Indians are treated with great respect, though the advance of the white man is regarded as good and inevitable. The heroes, however they may sympathize with their own race, are themselves more attracted to the outdoor life of their adversaries, and regret its passing. It is worth noting that in The Adventures of Augie March, Saul Bellow reveals his familiarity with the series, by comparing a relationship to that between Henry Ware (hero of the Young Trailers) and the Wyandotte chief Timendiquas (who does not appear until a later book in the series.) Those of us who, as boys, had the great good fortune to find an Altsheler series in our local public libraries remember these works with reverence.

Get ready for an opportunity to intertwine your heart and soul with Gaylynn Lankford's Joseph. Never before have I read a story where I was so enveloped by a character that I actually dreampt I was that character. Lankford's writing style spoke directly to the interconnective spirit of every human soul. Get out the kleenex and get ready for a ride! This is a quick read with a life-long impression.

Real characters based on the author's own family draw you into the story, so "Yours, Joseph" speaks to our souls. As such, the story is infuriating because of the self-centeredness and resulting guilt of Josephs' family members. We can all relate to life's simple pleasures and honest values, yet we despair at the inequity that we sometimes deal our own loved ones.

Gaylynn Lankford shares a non-judgmental story rich in the triummphs and tribulations of the human spirit.

The story grabbed my interest right from the beginning. I couldn't put it down. Although usually not an emotional person, I found myself crying in both sadness and job. The best book I have ever read.

Joseph Korn's story of his father's triumph as a young man surviving the worst experiences of the holocaust caught me by surprise. I was not expecting such a spiritually uplifting story. Abe Korn not only survived the most arduous physical and mental trials through the most horrifying of experiences, he survived with incredible humanity intact that bore no hatred or malice to his captors. This is the most spiritually uplifting book I've ever read on the holocaust, and of the rare type that surely must have insprired Roberto Benigni in his Emmy-award winning movie 'Life is Beautiful.'

Abram Korn was a man of great courage. After suffering at the hands of the Nazis in a ghetto and, later, in many concentration camps, he still did not lose his faith, his courage, or his humanity. In fact, he ended up marrying a German girl! This book lets us have a glimpse of what day-to-day life was like in the camps, and how much survival mattered.

This is a wonderful book. It showed that to be a survivor of the Holocaust required ingenuity, resourcefulness, luck and faith. The ending of the book brought tears to my eyes. Abe Korn was the epitome of the meaning of the word Mench.

It is facinating to compare The Book of Abraham (Joseph Smith) with similar books that have recently been unearthed. Harold Bloom, the Yale scholar of religion believed that Smith had it right because he had tapped into a universal flow of inspiration, but the names, myths and structure make the Book of Abraham the most accessible of the apocalpses of Abraham.

Nibley does an incredible job of bringing together scores of documents into one volume for comparison purposes. He also has some fun with various critics of the book, almost all of whom lack any background in the literature that the book claims to be a part of.

Reading the book, and checking the sources, one starts to wonder if a wandering Slavonic Jewish scholar of Abrahamic literature didn't spend a winter at the Smith homestead ...

Well written and a great Christmas gift.

Nibley delves into critics of Joseph Smith's Facsimiles and their qualifications. The facsimilies are also compared with knowledge currently available in the field of Egyptology. Comparative analysis of ancient Abrahamic texts (i.e. The Apocalypse of, and Testament of Abraham) with Joseph Smith's Book of Abraham is done. A history of Abraham's time, sacrifices of him, Sarah and Isaac and early history of Egypt is given. Possible historical figures for Isis, Horus, and Seth are discussed, as well as Egypt's type of government. This is broad in scope, yet detailed, with numerous footnotes, and sketches. Nibley's humorous style, coupled with a depth that leaves no doubt as to his scholarship expands the horizons of amateur and professional alike.

This book is well worth buying, even if you own the first edition. This edition is expanded and includes illustrations by the same guy who did "Temple and Cosmos." One thing I really liked was that the text was cleaned up so that references were changed to endnotes, instead of parenthetical citations which is how they were in the first ed. This really increased readability. Nibley's research is for obvious reasons dated, but he himself says that research is a process, not an end to itself. This book still contributes greatly to the understanding of the Book of Abraham.

This guide provides a wealth of information
on virtually everything concerning health, nutrition,
food analysis, treatment of ailments, herbology etc.
I strongly recommend this book.

The scope of this book was amazing! the entire content and lay out was easy to use. the ammount of information contained within is amazing. It is without a doubt the most complete and comprehensive book of it's kind. I would recommend this book to any one who wants a more complete understanding of herbs, vitamins, diet..etc. I have had the pleasure of meeting and discussing this book with the author Joseph Marion he is a very knowledgeable person in this field and should be commended on his hard work in putting this manual together, it's long over due coming.

Joseph Barlow, M.H.

This book is the definitive guide about natural medicine. Very comprehensive, yet, for the most part, extremely easy to understand. This is a must for individuals with cancer and immune disorders, as well as anyone wanting to stave off the effects of environmental health hazards. With this manual, I also recommend the book Alternative Medicine - The Definitive Guide by the Burton Goldberg Group. The two books go hand-in-hand.

Some of you may be subscribers to Sky and Telescope magazine.
As a reader of that magazine in the 1960s and 1970s, I recall
the anticipation with which I turned to Joseph Ashbrook's
Astronomical Scrapbook articles when one appeared every couple
of months. The fun of those articles awaits the reader of this
book. Ashbrook's interests were varied, occasionally
idiosyncratic. His breadth of knowledge on the history of
astronomy was extraordinary. Many of the articles gathered
in this collection are gems, all are worth reading.

I would recommend this book. It satifies in short bits by the telling of many different lives and how they approached the matter of astronomy. The approaches vary with different personalities as well as the changing technological advances with time. Historical summary and very readable.

The Astronomical Scrapbook was written by my grandfather, Joseph Ashbrook.It is a collection of some of his most memorable articles from the popular magazine Sky and Telescope,of which he was editor. It is filled with fascinating bits of information on the lives and discoveries of some of the most famous astronomers ever. This book is a wonderful choice for anyone interested in astronomy, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.

This is one of the most informative(from the player perspective) books on baseball I've ever seen. Good narrative riddled with excerpts from interviews and autobiographies of the players who've made this the most beautiful sport around. Highlights include Willie Stargell's harrowing brush with Texas racism in the minors, psychological terrorism tips from Ty Cobb, playing through agony with Gary Carter and Roberto Clemente, what if's from Judy Johnson and Monte Irvin and dealing with the loneliness of language barriers in a strange land by Juan Marichal.
Humor comes from a bit on illegal pitches featuring Gaylord Perry and Burleigh Grimes, as well as Joe Sewell's innovative way to deal with a bunt down the third base line...that one led to an overnight rule change. There is also an amusing debate over who threw the first curve ball and how corn cobs made Paul Waner a better hitter.
There is also tragedy. The Carl Mays fastball that killed Ray Chapman is dealt with in these pages.
The oral history is striking and wonderful, but the rare photos are even better. Clear photos grace nearly every page, many of which I have never had the pleasure of seeing. If you love baseball with even half the passion that I embrace it , you must own this book. It's time to see what was going on before sportscenter.

Despite claims to the contrary by previous reviewers there are no stories related by Barry Bonds and this book is not in chronological order. It is, however, made to order. Slip off the dust jacket and enjoy.

This book is a unique approach to examining the
national pastime of the USA. It is a picture book
that visits various eras of the game in chronological
order, along with quotes from the era's greatest stars,
many of whom are enshrined in Baseball's Hall of Fame in
Cooperstown, New York. You get to see the quotes of some
great players. The photography alone makes the book a
treasured keepsake. If you love baseball history, this
book is for you. The photography mixed with comments

about the game itself from those who participate in it
is a great concept in itself.

This is a different sort of "best" book and takes the concept of oral history to a new level. Previously the players in such collections shared a common theme, like a team or time frame. But Wallace wonders what it would be like to sit down old-timers with contemporary players for a discussion of their craft. Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds . . . Bob Feller and Greg Maddux . . . brothers of the diamond shooting the breeze. Using excerpts from old interviews, Wallace seamlessly blends the generations as they regale us in tales about the pressures a rookie faces, the joy of the cheers, and the heartbreak of realizing it's time to hang 'em up. The choice of illustrations works extremely well in enhancing the stories.