This collection consists of three novels -- "Vandover and the Brute," "McTeague," and "The Octopus" -- and a series of essays.The novels are all grim, compelling stories. Another reviewer's remarking on the similarity between "The Octopus" and Zola's "Germinal" is apt. Unlike that reviewer, I found "The Octopus" most compelling. This is a grand tale with numerous subplots. The central theme is the struggle between the railroad (the octopus) and wheat farmers. I found it difficult to put down. And I found myself tearing up at points, somewhat disconcerting as I read most of this on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). All three novels are set in California with a least some if not most of the action taking place in San Francisco. These stories are excellent reads if you're not too squeamish.

The Library of America (LOA)is a not for profit publisher dedicated to keeping great American writing in print. In this volume (number 33 in the series that currently has 140 volumes) LOA publishes three novels and twenty-two essays by Frank Norris. While this is not all of his writing, this is the only currently available source for some of these works within the budget of most readers. I purchased this volume simply because of the LOA. I had never heard of Frank Norris. My only expectation was great writing. I was not disappointed.

The first novel, Vandover and the Brute, was written while Norris was a student at Harvard. It was published after his death and appears to have been altered by his brother who found parts of the novel and its then strong language objectionable. Even with this, I found it to be an interesting story of a indolent young man's moral slide. It is a story of the perfidy of a good friend, rationalizing bad moral decisions, and playing poorly the hand that the main character, Vandover, has been dealt. Good intentions never last long. Vandover takes advantage of a girl in his set. Her subsequent suicide sets in motion his slide. All along he takes the path of least resistence; he makes slopy, lazy, irresponsible choices that contribute to the inevitable outcome.

McTeague, the second novel, was also begun while Norris was at Harvard and published in 1899. While not as lurid a subject as Vandover, parts of the book were quite controversial at the time. The book notes indicate that a passage describing incontinence was rewritten for its second printing due to pressure from the publisher. This LOA printing of this novel contains the original passage. I think that McTeague is the most enjoyable or the three novels. The writing is so clear and realistic. I think that it influenced some of the great realistic writers to follow.

The last novel in this volume was titled The Octopus, and was an ambitious undertaking. It was to be the first part of a never completed trilogy, THE EPIC OF THE WHEAT. It has a hugh cast of characters and reminds me of both the novel and movie "GIANT". (Of course, the Octopus is better written.) Missing is the second part of the trilogy called the Pit. (Norris died suddenly in his early thirties before he wrote the third book.) For some reason LOA chose to include some of Norris'essays instead of the Pit. Regardless...

This is a wonderful volume of extraordinarily well written works. Discovering the writing of Frank Norris was one of readings great pleasures. I highly recommend this book. I also encourage you to check out some of the other volumes published by the Library of America.

Of all the Naturalistic writers on the American literary scene during the years 1890-1930 (Dreiser, London, Crane, etc.) it was Frank Norris, I believe, who was closest in spirit to the Emile Zola of novels like "L'Assomoir." This volume includes Norris' 2 best novels--"McTeague" and "Vandover and the Brute"--as well as his much longer (and, I think, much less effective) novel "The Octopus" which is an installment in the unfinished "wheat" trilogy (which is closer to the spirit of Zola novels like "Germinal" and "La Terre").

Whereas "The Octopus" and "The Pit" (not included in this volume, but available in paperback from Penguin) are panoramic views of class struggle (foreshadowing the Steinbeck of "Cannery Row" and "Grapes of Wrath"), both "McTeague" and "Vandover" tell the story of one individual's downfall--in the former, that of a dim-witted dentist; in the latter, that of a spoiled son of a business tycoon. Many people, myself included, prefer the Norris of "McTeague" and "Vandover." Whereas, with the "wheat" trilogy, you get the feeling that Norris maybe bit off more than he could chew--that the project was too ambitious--these other two novels are minor masterpieces of decadent fiction. "Vandover," I believe, is ultimately the more affecting of the two. McTeague is simply an idiot; there is little to like about him. The story is wonderfully told with irony and dark humor, but McTeague's downfall probably affects us less than Vandover's because his stupidity and crudity distance him from us. His predicament is more laughable than anything else. "Vandover," however, is much more human than McTeague, much more like us. I wouldn't say he's a character protrayed in completely sympathetic terms, because he does some pretty mean-spirited things, but it is not very difficult to put ourselves in Vandover's place.

What is most frightening about "Vandover" is that it so vividly dramatizes the way in which a series of seemingly minor events combined with certain circumstances, lack of self-discipline or self-control, and bad habits can utterly ruin someone. "Vandover" is a warning to all of those people with artistic (and I use "artistic" in its broadest sense) ambitions who lack the self-discipline necessary to fulfill them. Alcohol, drugs, and other carnal pleasures are your greatest enemies.

If you like "Vandover," be sure to read F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and Damned," which is a very similar story of a spoiled playboy's decline and fall (no doubt heavily influenced by Norris's novel). Alcohol is the primary culprit in many a Naturalist novel's protagonist's downfall. Yet the great thing about the Naturalists was that they were able to tell such stories without sliding down into didactic temperance fiction.

This book has been a great in helping me collect my bunnies and their value. I can"t wait for the second edition.

A history book,a guide book,a reference book and price guide what more could a collector want in a book! I continually refer to mine and never tire of reading it. I can honestly say it was money well spent and can't wait for the next edition.

I could not have expected more. This book not only gives you color pictures of all the Rabbits it gives background and market values I have also been able to learn alot of the history and tales behind some of my favorites. I will also be looking forward to the next book

You aren't an ocean liner buff if you don't have this book! It is REQUIRED. You also ought to have every other book written by Miller and Braynard - the books they've worked on together and apart are beyond words. I have close to all in my private collection. Do yourself a favor and get them all - today! You won't regret it.

This book is really alot of fun to page through over and over again. It is a must-have for ship fans.

As a source of both information and rare photographs, few books can equal Picture History of the Cunard Line. This book includes many little known facts about some of the most famous ships in maritime history. Yet,while it recalls the careers of the better known Cunarders,it also addresses many of the Companies less remembered ships. The great Aquitania who's lengthy term of service included duties throughout both World Wars is finally given the attention it deserves. Virtually all of the companies intermediate steamers are reviewed as well. Because this book encompasses so many of Cunards' ships; and because it presents over 180 of the best photographs ever published on this subject, it should be a treasured addition to any collection. I highly recommend it to all readers particularly those with just a general interest in the subject.

I haven't even seen the book for twenty years or more, but this morning I woke up with the idea that Popcorn, by Frank Asch, would be perfect for trick-or-treaters this Halloween. (I'm always looking for an alternative to candy.) Popcorn, with all of its costumed bears and the house that fills with popcorn, was my favorite book for years. You can ask my mother. I am so sorry to hear that it is out of print.

I bought this engaging book two years ago at a neighborhood garage sale for a mere ten cents and it immediately became one of my nearly three year old's favorite books. She has three older siblings and we have read this book to her at least a hundred times! I am sorry to hear it is out-of-print because any child anywhere would enjoy it. Hey, I love the book as well and I'm a jaded adult. The book teems with creativity and imagination and very young and impressionable kids will wonder if popcorn would really fill up an entire house! The pictures are adorable and fun to. Look for the little inquisitve mouse on each page and the cat as well. A wonderful book. Frank Asch has done it again. I'd put my book up for auction but I can't bear to part with it. Maybe in 10 years or so....

I like this book because it deals with something that kids will understand. his parents leave for a party so the kid bear has a party of his own. every guest brought popcorn and he decices to fix it all and it fills up the house with popcorn. They eat all the popcorn and clean the house so his perents never know what happened. his parents came home and they brought him some popcorn. This is a great story for kids around the halloween time

Why can't we hear God and understand what He is saying today is the question and "Restoring God's House" tells why. We look like Christians but the things we do as Christians are an insult to God. Dr. Reid has made it simple to understand. We have fallen into a spirit of religion. I thank God I am free, that I have a relationship with God. This book is a good tool for anyone seeking the truth about what God is telling us to do in this hour. Somebody once asked, "Can you handle the truth?" It's time to take the full responsibility for the truth.

This book by Dr. Frank M. Reid, III is a vital piece of information for the leaders of today and tomorrow. Dr. Reid is a remarkable teacher and preacher who has a heart for the people of God. If you need your marriage, home life, or work life restored, read this book and watch the transformation. It has changed my life and made me a better servant for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you Pastor Reid for your revelation knowledge.

God has turly blessed Dr. Reid ,to have his finger on the pulse of what the chuurch of the 21st century really needs to regain its rightfull place as a change agent for society. This book is a gift to the entire body of christ and can and will radically change the lives and ministires of all those who read it. Thank you Dr. reid for this tremendous gift .

This book lays out wonderfully the metaphor of our life's journey. It is an important tool. I thoroughly enjoyed the interpretation and particularly liked the spatial models.

It was very readable and thought provoking. I found it opening doors to making a spiritual journey out of daily living.

Initially I thought this might be a flip review of the movie the Wizard of Oz, but rather found it to be a thorough textbook and very helpful to me and my practice. And the mandala made great sense at the end. I would like to use it as a group study book.

Whenever John Ashbery deals out his royal flush of persnickety syntax, tailspun twaddle, and eel-slippery lyric convolution, the mind is where it ought to be. Whipping up spun dimensions in a burning flux of calculated demonry, gossamer insights snookered away in back-closets of the soul, an encroaching blur of poetic hunger just beyond our knowing.

We can *feel* the poet stenciling out his stanzas, sifting every event for its fine-grained visceral crunch, its lyrical *there-ness*, a mind designed to sound deep water with the halcyon light of Hart Crane and Wallace Stevens, the great unassailable precursors of American verse (so difficult to rediscover and appreciate in the morass of "poetry-slams" and "performance-art" that currently glut our poetry venues).

Imagine the type of mind that could respond to Crane and Stevens without flinching, over forty years and eighteen volumes of verse. Imagine the solitaire.

Ashbery staggered me in my late teens with *Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror*(1975), lighting up my sinuses in a cocaine wash of zippety rhythms and studied inflection, peopling my sleep with deep Figurae and a lush library of maps, persuading the fool's heart in me to break from my covert and run wild with the night mind of the race, the structures and possibilities of my life overloaded by his cognitive dazzle. "The geek shall inherit the earth," this poet seemed to be telling me, and I, hamstrung by gynephobia and a crippling social-anxiety, took the old codger at his word.

Ashbery taught me how to keep pace with the world, to saturate the atoms of life with an inward stare, yoking myself nakedly to the ebon flight of his lush written world. With Ashbery's deep intellect and dickety-slippity wit, his pretzelly stanzas and mind-torquing conceptual corkscrewing, I could go on forever relighting my own image, against steady palls of black pain. (But don't all great poets teach us precisely this?)

Witness Ashbery at his most serpentine: "To create a work of art that the critic cannot even talk about ought to be the artist's chief concern." Ouch. Where does that leave the rest of us? Fumbling for categorical handholds on the cliff-face of so-called "language-poetry"? Shrugging off the old man's labyrinthian navel-picking as wastefully avant-garde academic verbiage? Most of these poems seem to erupt in an obfuscatory strain of muddled, stickjaw phonetics, then nip and flounder and twiddle and skip-rope through some half-fledged convolution of thought, reproducing the vagaries and blindsights of poetic composition itself, biting its tail in an Ouroboros vertigo of self-reference and studied awkwardness, an infinite regress short-circuiting each new wired fragment of stunted dramatic logic, of discontinued narrative transit, flip-flopped to articulate its crackerjacked, contradictory character, an uber-villain's squadron of twittering machines set a-flutter to tweak the night with the familiar Stevensian tragedies arising from epistemology.and solipsism.

Yes, we can analyze it now (or else pretend our way to some jerry-rigged solution). All the whistles and clicks of inbound meaning. The poetic tracery of nightvision cunning, unfastening the set of our bones, gorging our deep human need for prosody and inflection, all taken to grief in the massing forms of some depth-stirring new solip:system. (Sometimes a great poem is all it takes.) Ashbery's rippling, obfuscatory surface-tension hides and betokens a mind-pretzelling world of ninny-ish cognitive delight, of a "peculiar slant of memory that intrudes on the dreaming model...filtered and influenced by it, until no part remains that is surely you."

Give this book a chance.... Recommended points of entry: "Soonest Mended"(87), "As One Put Drunk into the Packet-Boat"(163), "Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror"(188), "Wet Casements"(225), "Houseboat Days"(231), "Tapestry" (269), "A Wave"(322).

John Ashbery once again takes me on a fantastic ride with his four dimentional poetry. Highly recommended for the poet with writer's block because Ashbery teaches us that bounderies are only limited in the mind. I call him tangential because his imagry shoots one into as many directions as one has.

I don't like to misquote other writers and artists...so, it was, naturally, Bernardo Bertolucci who said about himself that he has "a nostalgia for the present". Ophuls certainly had a nostalgia for the past. My admiration and appreciation for Ashbery's work grows stronger all of the time!

This is my favourite book about Antarctic exploration - even surpassing Mawson's 'Home of the Blizzard'. The book captures the humour, insight and stubbornness of Frank Worsley from his upbringing in Akaroa, New Zealand, to his adventures with Shackleton and maritime career.

Worsley's skills as a sailor, navigator and writer made Shackleton's story possible and the book gives a clear insight into the personal qualities of heroic era adventurers 'when ships were made of wood and men were made of steel'.

A facinating and exciting book, well written and researched, with excellent photographs - this is my most frequently loaned book! [Incidentally, Frank Worsley's diaries can be seen at NZ's Canterbury Museum.]

This book was great. Finally some one has given the credit to Frank Worsley that he deserves. The book tells everything from his days as a boy to the Trans-Arctic Expedition to his death. Read this book, it's great!

Frank Worsley was Ernest Shackleton's captain, so he is a name that is not commonly known. A common mistake for so many biographers of secondary expeditionary characters is that they get caught up in the relationship to the major character and the biography turns out to be about them. That was my main concern when I first picked up this biograpy of Frank Worsley - that his personality and achievements would be overshadowed by those of Shackleton. Not in this biograpy though - Thomson keeps his story firmly about Worsley, and this story is every bit as interesting as Shackleton's.

Worsley, you see, was Shackleton's captain in the Antarctic expedition that almost ended in disaster in 1914/15. A dreadful summer in the south meant that their boat, the Endurance, was trapped inescapably in pack ice and so began one of the most incredible, courageous and stoic journeys in all polar exploration history. Shackleton's story has been told many times - how the men survived on Elephant Island, and how, with Worsley and some others they sailed across the wildest ocean in the world in a tiny boat to South Georgia to get a rescue craft for the rest of the crew. Even then disaster after disaster struck, they were almost smashed on the rocky coast of South Georgia, once ashore they had to cross the mountainous and glacier ridden interior to reach help on the other coast, and then they had to endure several failed attempts to reach the rest of the survivors back on Elephant Island. This story is told again, but teasing out Worsley's perspective and contributions.

Worsley's story isn't solely about this one incident, dramatic as it is. His life from his childhood to his further expeditions to the Arctic with Shackleton and his first and second world war experiences are all here. I think Thomson really gets inside the man in this book. There are numerous photos and illustrations - most of the Endurance and Quest photos of Shackelton's are widely available in other publications though. There is also a good index and a good appendix if you want to read further information on Worsley or his companions.

The book is without doubt the best ornithology textbook in existance. While this may be aided by the fact that it is virtually the only one there is out there, it is accurate, comprehensive and user friendly. my main problems are that it is starting to be a little dated, and of course - the price.

I searched for a textbook on ornithology that I could use in association with the Bird Biology Home Study Course that I was planning to take through Cornell University. I found the textbook at Amazon.com. The information in this textbook is absolutely wonderful! Frank Gill presents an "encyclopedia" of information in an easy-to-read, comprehensible format. Anyone interested in the serious study of bird biology will want to add this textbook to his or her bookshelf. Within the next few months, I will reread this textbook again. How many textbook readers can honestly state that they would reread any textbook in its entirety? Every chapter intrigued and delighted me. I will be actively searching for more books by Frank Gill, based upon the presentation of materials in Ornithology, 2nd edition.

This superb book was such fun to read and it is packed full of interesting and thought-provoking information. Space prohibits a chapter-by-chapter review so I will list the things in the book that I found very interesting: 1. The plumage color patterns of dawny young shorebirds. 2. DNA hybridization experiments and evolutionary tree of herons. 3. Geese flying in formation to save energy. 4. The use of thermals by a gliding vulture to counteract sinking. 5. The unique landing abilities of birds: rotation of center of mass upward to stall directly over the landing site. 6. Vortex creation by beating wings of pigeons and kestrels. 7. Respiratory abilities of birds. 8. High metabolic rates of frizzled chickens. 9. Discussion on avian intelligence. 10. The detection of natural magnetic fields using rhodopsin. 11. Use of echolocation for navigation; asymmetry of ear placement in the owl to pinpoint sound source. 12. The avian taste for chili peppers. 13. Birds having two independent voices. 14. Individual spacing behavior while perching. 15. The nests of swallows reflecting their evolutionary history. 16. Insurance egg laying by penguins and boobies.17. The restoration of the peregrines. 18. The illustrations of the birds of the world in the appendix. 19. The enormous bibliography. This is definitely a book to be read by students and those interested in ornithology. An incredible book.......

L. Frank Baum considered "Queen Zixi of Ix or the Story of the Magic Cloak" to be the best of his non-Oz fantasies for children and there is certainly no reason to disagree with his self-assessment. The fairies assembled one moonlit night in a pretty clearing of the ancient forest of Burzee to weave the magic cloak. When the old king of Noland dies without any relatives to take the throne a peasant boy named Bud becomes the guy when he is the forty-seventh person to enter the city and the magic cloak that allows wishes to come true becomes very important to him in this 1905 story. Bud has to be king, whether he wants to or not, which means his sister is now Princess Fluff. Dispensing justice and trying to deal with his Aunt Rivette, who feels the new king owes everything he now has to her, are minor problems for King Bud when Queen Zixi and the armies of Ix invade Noland. To make things worse, the magic cloak is stolen.

One of the things I like about "Queen Zixi of Ix" is that it sounds like a traditional fairey tale adventures, even more so than the Oz books, in which Baum certainly created his own fantasy universe. More importantly, characters manage to get beyond the limits of their stereotypes with surprising results, which is certainly a laudable thing to do in telling stories to children. Of course, this only cements Baum's reputation in the realm of American children's literature, but then as anybody knows who has gotten beyond "The Wizard of Oz" Baum was deservedly known as Father Goose. Check out Baum's "The Sea Fairies" and "Sky Island" as well if you like this one, which has 90 illustrations on its 231 pages.

This is one of those books that you remember reading in front of a fire, and for little girl you probably envisionsed actually slipping on the coat made by fairies. I read this about 20 years ago and I can still summon up the feelings I got reading it, just by hearing, "Queen Xixi." I noticed this book by chance and decided I needed to re-own it. Please read this to you child, even if he happens to be a boy. All of us love fairies, we just haven't seen one, but this book allows us to.

This was one of my favorite books as a child - I used to listen to the record (read by Ray Bolger) over and over again. L. Frank Baum out does himself in this one. It is every bit as good as all of the Wizard of Oz books he also penned. Truly magnificent! Read this one to your kids (or just to yourself)!