How can one talk about such a book of poems? Using my own words to describe Wesley McNair's is like using crude tools to probe a machine made with gleaming, finely calibrated instruments. Even that sounds simplistic, since we're talking of art. What it's really like is trying to play a Les Paul guitar with gloves on.

What McNair has done in My Brother Running is truly a miracle. To make his brother's story/poem so real, so emotional and sensual an experience for the reader, McNair gets you first to love this man who sailed the football through the K-Mart and gave the finger through the sunroof of his old American car, so that you don't just sympathize with the speaker's loss and anguish at his death; you hurt from it.

And where to even start with McNair's The Town of No? Each poem can be a starting point but also an ending point. Or a complete organism unto itself. I'm thinking of his ingenious observations, such as the consideration of the consciousness of the clichéd thugs in a Superman episode in "The Thugs of Old Comics"; or entertainment of the antithesis of an American cultural value in "The Fat Enter Heaven." It takes either a poet or a sorcerer to look at life from these fresh angles in order to show us more of life, or to compress a concept such as human regret and disconnectedness, as McNair did with the brilliant image of a revolving door ("My Brother Inside the Revolving Door").

Reading nonstop through The Town of No, one has nearly the sense of a music video, replete with silos and cows (who had no idea they were lifting their legs but were walking) and farmers in bib overalls-all of them serving not only as the cast of characters, but also as the props on the set (conveying texture and mood), and as symbols of the pull and push of human dreams and losses. But it's one particular poem, "Breath," in which a betrayed man tries to recreate his life's dream artificially, that is the profoundly aching representation of the body of McNair's work, as well as a reminder to me (who has, in the past, been disenchanted with sterile and coded contemporary verse) of how wonderful a poem can be-of what a poem ought to be.

On a recent visit to the exhibition "Picturing Old New England: Image and Memory," at the National Museum of American Art in DC, I was reminded of McNair's voice in the context of a world that is often idealized. As the curators demonstrate, New England has long been romanticized by artists and writers. More recently, it has been reduced to Bert 'n' I coziness. By contrast, McNair speaks about the region without nostalgia or sentimentality. He gives us what many others have left out: real places and real people, including the disenfranchised, the disconsolate, the plump and the limping. Remarkably, he brings the region to life, in all its complexity, with tenderness and love that can come only from someone inside the culture. In "My Brother Running," McNair tells of the world of a solitary jogger in a long poem which expands to explore, among other things, the national psyche at the time of the Challenger shuttle disaster. This is a moving book. I promise you won't be disappointed.

This book is full of charm, wit and excellent writing. The characters are richly drawn, quirky and entertaining. Wesley has a way of pinning down the fine details of human behavior and showing them in a sympathetic but humorous light. Poppy's vacillations are completely understandable and her struggles to get herself unstuck from a bad relationship are tragic yet funny. Wesley gives her characters the kind of dignity that makes us love them, even when they are not being very loveable. This is the mark of a great writer.

I've read all the Mary Wesley books I can find, and this one is my favorite. It's better if you have read her _The_Camomile_ Lawn_ first; but this is a very different book, lighter-hearted than some of her stories. It is funny, sometimes touching, and refuses to turn out the way you expect. Really delightful.

     The Web development field is growing at an alarming rate. New trends in HTML, programming languages, design styles, authoring tools, graphics programs, Web browsers, marketing, publications, and associations have taken off. Dan and Judith Wesley have produced Web Developer's Marketplace to provide Website designers a sizable amount of information about the latest trends in Web development.      This mammoth 695 page book is divided into two parts. The first part provides readers with a wealth of knowledge about Website design, including tips, HTML programming, programming languages such as CGI and JAVA, the use of 2D and 3D graphic images, a number of popular and recommended programs, hardware, job descriptions, setting up a business, and other important industry news. A number of interviews were conducted with people in the business. Their contributions are worth reading!      The second part of the book features one of the most exhaustive resources for Web development tools available in print today. Check out the listings of recommended books, magazines, tradeshows, conferences, organizations, and online resources. Read up on the latest Web development tools and their vendors, such as HTML editors, graphics image editors, sound file editors, and server software. The accompanying CD contains a searchable database of this entire section, as well a number of shareware and trial versions of some of the programs listed in the book!      Readers will find this book to be a valuable resource for information they need to keep up-to-date on the latest trends in the Web development industry. I'ts a great place to start. It is also an investment they cannot afford to pass by! How about you?

Although I have not yet finished reading this book, I am astounded by how much information I have already garnered. Written clearly though with a corporate mindset, this book prepares anyone for the ins and outs of web development. Highly recommended!

I found this book to have a lot of great ideas to do with toddlers

This outstanding book for parents and caregivers of two year olds is the third in a series. It offers activities that promote total child development, including physical, mental, and the creative aspects of learning. The organization into easily located categories makes it easy to quickly locate an appropriate activity. As a grandparent-caregiver who used the books for Baby and One-year olds, I am pleased to find that the activities are just as well thought-out and age appropriate in this book as in the other two. The instructions are very clear and there are enough activities that even if only half of them were tried you would never run out of interesting things to do.

This entire series is wonderful. With new migrant students entering my district everyday, I have a population of students with diverse needs. This series includes lessons in Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking as well as relates all to real life experiences and other content areas. As well, real, authentic literature is included in almost each new thematic unit.

I was fortunate enough to use these books during school years
1997-1999. They blend drill, skill and practice as never
before or since, not even the Scott-Foresman books come close.

In comparison to the Glencoe series that I must use in my
classroom now, your books are fantastic! The only problem
is that I cannot find enough of them.

Help!

Thank you.
Diane White

Workbooks can be so boring, but my daughter loves this one. It comes with punch-out props in the back of the book to help them grasp concepts like money, addition/subtraction and fractions. The pics are colorful and there are ample opportunities to practice concepts before moving on. The book follows our state's curriculum very closely.

This entire series is wonderful. With new migrant students entering my district everyday, I have a population of students with diverse needs. This series includes lessons in Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking as well as relates all to real life experiences and other content areas. As well, real, authentic literature is included in almost each new thematic unit.