Use literature and literary figures to follow in the footsteps of notable writers and their settings with the aid of a title which covers many destinations, from the Prague of Kafka to Steinbeck's California setting for Cannery Row. Add first-person reflections on the literature containing the settings and you have an excellent take-along or travel planner.

Literary Trips: Following In The Footsteps Of Fame is a superbly presented compendium of observations, adventures, and travels of and by some of the best loved writers as they trekked around the world. A magnificent armchair travelogue, Literary Trips is divided as the world is: Africa to Australasia (Paul Bowles, T. E. Lawrence, Rohinton Mistry, Bruce Chatwin); North America: West (Malcolm Lowry, The Beats, D. H. Lawrence, Garrison Keillor and Sinclair Lewis); North America: East (Tennessee Williams, Margaret Mitchell and Tom Wolfe, Ayn Rand, Mark Twain, Elizabeth Smart); Caribbean and Latin America (Ernest Hemingway, Ian Fleming and Noel Coward, John Stephens and Frederick Catherwood); Great Britain and Ireland (W. B. Yeats, Jane Urquhart and the Bronte Sisters, A. A. Milne, Agatha Christie and Jane Austen); Continental Europe (Knut Hamsun, The Lost Generation, Mary Shelley). Highly recommended for both school and community library collections, Literary Trips is enhanced for the reader with a section on biographies and a "user friendly" index. A novel and original feature of this publication is that any of the chapters are available as separate, individual e-texts and downloadable from the GreatestEscapes.com website.

This is a book to savor in a cigar lounge...in the corner of a jazz club...in front of a softly crackling fire at home. Or in a hammock under a royal palm in the deep, deep south.

I started out by nestling with the book into our oversized, down-filled sofa - and ended up traveling through one of the best reads of my life. Several times, I startled my husband with cries of "No kidding...Wow...I didn't know that...Ohmigod..." as I discovered new places in the hearts of my favorite authors. And delved into the lives of others I knew little about.

Literary Trips probes into the past, yet is formatted for the present. We're all used to reading in chunks now - short, self-contained sections that are complete, independent modules. And this book is totally "today" in that respect. Each chapter, written by a different person, is a complete story - gift-wrapped with its own special signature. Each has its own flavor, its own style, its own finds. Every writer has unearthed amusing tidbits and lively tales that add richness and depth to well researched and beautifully written prose.

The book is also an excellent travel guide for following in those famous footsteps. Each module contains a practical reference section listing hotels and other stomping grounds of famous feet ("Literary Sites"; "Literary Sleeps"). Each section also describes how to get to those grounds and provides useful tips and background information.

My favorite parts are the little surprises throughout. For example, did you know that: §Hemingway dedicated his Nobel Prize for literature to the patron saint of the basilica in Santiago de Cuba? § Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels at Goldeneye, his home in Jamaica, and named 007 after the local author of a book on birds? §When Ayn Rand was writing Atlas Shrugged, which took 12 years, she didn't leave her apartment for an entire month?

Another of the book's delightful dimensions is a smattering of recipes that could form a menu for a literary memorial party. You could honor D.H. Lawrence with his dandelion wine; Hemingway with double daiquiris; Mistry with Dhansak; and Sinclair Lewis with his "Sinful Christmas Cookies".

I'm always looking for inspiration for my own writing, and Lit Trips provides it on many fronts. Much of it comes from seeing so many authors "under one cover" - an excellent way to compare styles, to link lives, to see how they made their magic. But I was no less inspired by the talent of the book's contributing writers.

A great little book, similar in style to McBratney and Jeram's "Guess How Much I Love You", or the Frog and Toad stories. The illustrations by Chris Riddell are fabulous.

Rabbit and Hedgehog are two close friends (one is put in mind of Toot & Puddle or Bert & Ernie) with one not-so-small problem: Hedgehog hibernates the winter through and Rabbit does not.

Rabbit is concerned that Hedgehog will not miss or remember him during the long winter. Hedgehog plainly states that he won't miss Rabbit because he'll be sleeping. While Rabbit says he'll miss his friend, Hedgehog is bothered by the fact that he doesn't know what winter IS-he sleeps through it!

Hedgehog asks Rabbit to "save a bit of winter for me" and writes a note on the bark of a tree to help Rabbit remember. Problems arise when winter hits and Rabbit, who usually eats pink clover and green grass is reduced to eating brown things--including bark off trees with MESSAGES written on them!

Well, fortunately, while Rabbit may be scatterbrained, he remembers what Hedgehog wanted him to save, and manages, with a bit of forest ingenuity, to save some winter for his sleeping friend.

"A Little Bit of Winter" is a testament to friendship. The precise illustrations and depth of expression make the characters feel so very REAL, to children as well as adults. One can simply FEEL Rabbit's sadness and frustration at having to eat brown stuff, dig through mountains of snow AND be lonely on top of everything else. The joy both Hedgehog and Rabbit feel when spring comes and they get to be together again is infectious and radiant.

An excellent book, highly recommended. Even if you DON'T have children to give the book to, buy it and give it to YOURSELF.

This book is a pure miracle ! I've read it in french. (Amazing ! For one time, the french translation is released before the english edition!) I bought the book as a gift for a four-years-old girl but after I read it with her I went back to the bookstore to buy my own copy. The text is simple and speaks to both heart and soul. I had never read such a good and masterful description of friendship. And what a gifted illustrator Chris Riddell is ! Last but surely not least : you don't need to be a child to appreciate the tale, I testify and I swear !

...this is just a very well done book, appealing to the eyes and full of useful information. Importantly, it covers the kata of kendo and presents them in a meaningful way.

A well done volume which goes beyond the basic repetitive kendo books which have been "done before". What a delight that this volume was finally reprinted! Enjoy!

Being Japanese it is easy for me to read about Kendo, as there are many books on this subject available in my home country. 'Looking at a far Mountain', or 'Enzan No metsuke' Is the first book in English to study the aspects of Kata in depth. I first discovered it back in 1992 at its first publication. I found it to be extremely informative historically and clear in the technical explanation. The format is unusual, each section following the photographic layout.i.e. Uchidachi and Shidachi and I must say that I really appreciate the endeavours of the author. I am positive that this book, now available in paperback will inform and assist many practitioners of Kendo everywhere Signed: M Itoh.

This book is the perfect companion for anyone interested in Kendo, and more specifically, the kata associated with it. Kata seems to be one of the least written about aspects of Kendo, and by purchasing this book, one is able to improve their kata quite a bit. A must have for Kenshi!

This is a great book for anyone who is interested in plantation homes. It has over 80 wonderful photographs, and tells the story of each home shown. There are even two or three victorian style homes, built in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Very interesting and informative. I would recommend this book to anyone, wether your buying it for the information or the photographs!

the book has lovely photos and briefly tells about each home. It would have been nice if there were more photos of the interior of homes. But the book has beautiful photography and is overall: GREAT!

This book is hands-down one of the most beautiful picture books on Louisiana's remaining plantation homes. While most are in exquisite condition, there are a very few which aren't. The short story of each plantation home is interesting and the photographs are gorgeous! It makes one want to go out, find a plantation home, buy it and restore it! The reader will be amazed at the wealth these planters accumulated, manifested in these awesome homes. Not all of the homes are huge antebelllum mansions, though. I personally found the Creole plantations wonderful examples of a simple albeit beautiful home. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves old homes, Southern architecture or photography in general.

Psychoanalyst Paul Verhaeghe's recently published "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is one of those rare books that is able to do several things at once--and all of them well. At the most basic level, it provides an answer to all the "men are this, women are that" books on the market. Yes, men and women are different, but it is not a matter of coming from different planets. Verhaeghe gives a serious answer to the question of how the sexes relate--or fail to.

Second, Verhaeghe provides a wide-ranging and well-argued cultural analysis of a number of fascinating questions that the reader might never have thought to ask--simply because our "culture" is, by definition, that which we take for granted. Why do we tell mother-in-law jokes? Why was Abraham asked to sacrifice his son Isaac? Why is the divorce rate so high? What do we fall in love? The answers are in Verhaeghe's book.

Third, the book answers the question, "What is living and what is dead in psychoanalysis?" One hundred years after the publication of Freud's "Interpretation of Dreams," what is still vital in psychoanalysis are the concepts of Freud and French analyst Jacques Lacan, upon which Verhaeghe draws. These concepts exert a explanatory power that goes far beyond facile "social science" answers to life's question. What is dead in psychoanalysis is a reading public familiar with those concepts--but Verhaeghe's book might help to change that. The book provides a kind of "introduction to psychoanalysis," but not the usual kind. Without jargon or tedious academic prose, Verhaeghe brings psychoanalytic concepts to life.

Fourth, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" provides the psychoanalytic and academic audience with a well-developed argument for the continuing relevance of psychoanalysis. The book challenges the traditional model of "applied psychoanalysis." Psychoanalysis is not something that can be "applied" to culture like icing on a cake. Psychoanlaysis takes on its importance at the structural level. Thus culture--in its many different flavors--is the "icing" that obscures the structural cake. Verhaeghe's book, with its structural emphasis, provides an example of the right way to do cultural studies.

Straightforward enough for laypeople, serious enough for scholars and psychoanalysts, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is a book that should not be ignored. It deserves to be widely read and discussed.

Ask yourself the following question: What is the difference between desire and drive? Whereas the question can be simply asked, it demands an answer that is enormously complex as it forces us to consider such difficult issues as femininity, masculinity, pleasure, death and, indeed, sex. To formulate an answer that is coherent is of crucial importance in order to clear up some of the complexities inherent in human relationships and existence. In the first essay of this book Verhaeghe deals with the problematic sexual relationship between people. Culture regulates desire and pleasure. But why does this regulation not lead to harmony? Science has not been able to provide an answer to this question. The question remains: What is the G-spot of human sexuality? Psychoanalysis provides an answer: the G-spot is a fundamental lack. It is not something that you can rub, stimulate, experiment with, control or predict. It is rather something you have to orientate yourself in relation to. In other words, each individual has to formulate his or her particular response to this lack in sexual harmony. Yet, increasingly more we are told how to do it, when to do it, how many times to do it. Science and (popular)culture prescribe sexual enjoyment, but we are more insecure than ever. Men and women are not the same nor are they complementary and this is precisely what modern science cannot handle because it implies that there is no general solution. In this first essay Verhaeghe makes a strong case for a lacanian perspective on these matters. The seond essay concerns a rereading of the Oedipal structure which is radically different than its traditional interpretation. But what can we gain from such a rereading? Verhaeghe suggests that we can now understand both the current evolution that takes place in society as well as the the different problems that we encounter within this evolution. Verhaeghe explores in this essay the historical evolution of the function of the father. This exploration includes a detailed and original reading of the Oedipus Rex play. Verhaeghe argues that the collective rules of the past that governed and determined the relationships between men and women have largely disappeared and consequently cleared the way for the prescription of pleasure. However, instead of an increase in sexual pleasure, we encounter a kind of impotence for pleasure and enjoyment. Despite all that, men and women are driven to something (in each other). What drives men and women is the subject of the last essay. The third essay deals with the dfficult concept of the drive. For me this is the crucial part of the book. This is the clearest and most comprehensive analysis of the drive (which includes the death-drive) I have read so far. On the basis of a Lacanian reading Verhaeghe has managed to clarify what Freud left in the dark concerning the death-drive. He also shows a way out of the impasse in which Freud's dualistic drive theory ended up. Moreover, in this essay Verhaeghe applies the drive theory to such clinical and cultural areas as crimes of passion, self-mutilation, addiction, sado-masochism, blues, jazz and rap. If the latter three areas come as a surprise read the book and you will indeed be taken by surprise. Not only should this essay give the reader an idea of the depth of the book's analysis, but also of the wide-ranging possibilities of an application of such an analysis. Verhaeghe has written this important book with a Freudian clarity and a lacanian rigour. The easy style makes the strict logic and complex structure, that characterise human relationships and the psyche, accessible for further exploration. More importantly, this book drives one to know more. What more can one desire from a book?

Psychoanalyst Paul Verhaeghe's recently published "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is one of those rare books that is able to do several things at once--and all of them well. At the most basic level, it provides an answer to all the "men are this, women are that" books on the market. Yes, men and women are different, but it is not a matter of coming from different planets. Verhaeghe gives a serious answer to the question of how the sexes relate--or fail to.

Second, Verhaeghe provides a wide-ranging and well-argued cultural analysis of a number of fascinating questions that the reader might never have thought to ask--simply because our culture is, by definition, that which we take for granted. Why do we tell mother-in-law jokes? Why was Abraham asked to sacrifice his son Isaac? Why is the divorce rate so high? What is love? The answers are in Verhaeghe's book.

Third, the book answers the question, "What is living and what is dead in psychoanalysis?" One hundred years after the publication of Freud's "Interpretation of Dreams," what is still vital in psychoanalysis are the concepts of Freud and French analyst Jacques Lacan, upon which Verhaeghe draws. These concepts exert a explanatory power that goes far beyond facile "social science" answers to life's question. What is dead in psychoanalysis is a reading public familiar with psychoanalytic concepts--but Verhaeghe's book might help to change that. The book provides a kind of introduction to psychoanalysis, but not the usual kind. Without jargon or tedious academic prose, Verhaeghe brings psychoanalytic concepts to life.

Fourth, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" provides the psychoanalytic and academic audience with a well-developed argument for the continuing relevance of psychoanalysis. The book challenges the traditional model of "applied psychoanalysis." Psychoanalysis is not something that can be "applied" to culture like icing on a cake. Psychoanlaysis takes on its importance at the structural level. Thus culture--in its many different flavors--is the "icing" that covers the structural cake. Verhaeghe's book, with its emphasis on structure, provides an example of the right way to do cultural studies.

Straightforward enough for laypeople, serious enough for scholars and psychoanalysts, "Love in a Time of Loneliness" is a book that should not be ignored. It deserves to be widely read and discussed.

This is an incredible book that not only reaches to the depths of the heart by capturing the amazing, incomprehensible love of Jesus, but at the same time convicts us of how short we fall in loving others. This is one of the most impactful books I've read about the reality of Jesus' love for us and how that can be applied as we desire to love others. Paul Miller's transparency and real life examples result in an ease of reading many books lack. This is a must read! Expect to be transformed!

Wow! Throughout this entire book you'll find yourself walking in other people's shoes, feeling what they feel. Understanding what true compassion really is. Knowing what real Love is! All my life I felt I had an understanding of what it meant for Jesus to bear the cross for me. But, after reading "Love Walked Among Us" it has taken on a whole new meaning for me. Understanding that He was just a man, a physical human being I was able to put myself in His shoes. I could feel the mental pain of being betrayed, abandoned, alone. This alone would be enough to give up. But then, to have to endure such physical pain is unbearable! This book will help you see the outcast at work, feel compassion for him/her and reach out with the love of Jesus.

As an acquiring editor I have the privilege of reading many book proposals and manuscripts, as well as published books. As I read through this one, I found myself stopping to pray, stopping to repent, and stopping to cry. I found myself so convicted by the example Christ gave us of the godly way to love!

Paul's journey to understand how Jesus loved others is well written with a vulnerability and transparency that lets you know it's okay to be on the path of learning to know and understand God. It's an eternal path, and one that doesn't come easily. We have to set aside all of our preconceived notions about others, "crucify" the very voices of our inner being that cry out to be right, to be loved the most, not to be inconvenienced or misunderstood, and instead to love as Jesus loved.

If you want a good read and some insight into Jesus, you will want to read this book!

This is a great book. Not only does it help you to sort out what you really want to do in life, it provides an easy to follow series of actions you can take to help you get there.

I found that the hardest thing about finding a new job or career is knowing where to start and how to get moving in a new direction. This book is set up in such a way that you can read a page or two at a time, get some food for thought and put it down. Then, Later you can do a "fill in the blank" quiz or checklist and get a new piece of information to fit in to your plan. Bit by bit, idea by idea, suggestion by suggestion it gets you moving and that's half of the battle to finding and keeping a job you can love at least it was for me. I highly recommend this book.
Scott Rassoulian, Brookine, MA.

I got my first copy of "Love Your Job" after I saw Dr. Powers on CNN and enjoyed his upbeat message for those in a down job market. Since then I have recommended it to many clients in my organizational consulting practice. The exercises and mini-tests (self assessments really)alone are worth the price of the book and are both motivational and practical. I have found this book to be as helpful to an executive or manager as it is to someone new in the job market. I'm on my third copy now because they keep getting "borrowed." Timeless wisdom!
Dr. Edward Deevy, North Andover, Massachusetts.

Knowledge makes love fruitful in service. God calls us to be the instruments of salvation for others(evangelization). That is the work of the Church. Far too many of us find ourselves involved in church work and not in the work of the Church. This little book will help straighten out the misunderstanding.

"Loving the Church" is a series of meditations on the Church given as a Lenten retreat(1966) to the Holy Father and his staff. The aim of the book(retreat) is to instill a more profound sense of Church(that's our reason for reading the book). I can imagine the difficulty of retaining a sense of mystery in the Church when such as a papal staff is unceasingly confronted with the practical, day to day, sometimes mundane requirements of a visibile and functioning organization. Yet the Church is fundamentally a mystery, founded in the mystery of Christ himself, human and divine. We are put into communion with this mystery through communion with Christ. I believe this to be a fundamental point for our author, Christoph Cardinal Schonborn.

Although the whole is always the sum of all its parts, two "chapters" alone are worth the price of the book. In "The Mysteries of the Life of Christ," Schonborn anchors us in God's plan for us; to be united to himself in the Son's humanity. That humanity, in Schonborn's view is "radically filial" not "sevile". By God's design we are to become "sons(daughters) in the Son". In the words of the Fathers of the Church, "divinized". For Schonborn becoming Church means, at its deepest level, this very participation in the Sonship of Jesus.

The other "chapter" which excels is "The Communion of Saints". Its key understanding is that "the Church does not come to an end at the threshold of death." In Christoph Schonborn's words, "She(the Church) is the communion of ALL who live in Christ." A more compelling explanation on the communion of saints than in this meditation will be hard to find anywhere.

A repeated emphasis found in "Loving the Church" is that our participation in the Mystery of the Church is reality and not theological theory. It is based on fact, the fact of the Incarnation of the very Son of God in the real womb of a very real woman approximately two thousand years ago, Mary.

Though I found the first part of the book a little slow. That may just be me or the fact that the Cardinal was preparing the ground, tilling the soil as it were. However, no one will come away from this book without having been abundantly enriched.

A must read!

This is a man who talks about the Catechism and Scared Scripture in such a way that the reader almost hears a kind of heavenly music in which the heart wants to sing! Beautifully written, the book offers insight to scripture par excellance! The author sees all of creation and salvation history as a prefiguring of the "Church" as only Catholics can understand that term. Compelling, I could not put the book down until I finished it and then couldn't wait to give it to my parish priest. A true treasure to read for Lent! Cardinal Schonborn may indeed be our next Pope.

One delightful tip is to read these exercises and then read the catechism sections they refer to. Christoph Cardinal Schonborn is the general editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and might possibly become our next Pope. These reflections were actually preached for Pope John Paul II; you can't get more orthodox or reliable than that.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church can be a heady book, very long, a bit technical for the layman. But it will spring to life for you in reading these spiritual exercises. This book taught me not just how to read the Catechism, but how to pray it.

Cardinal Schonborn's great gift is the intense spirituality of his writing, which is deeply rooted in traditional Catholic theology and ancient Catholic scriptural exigesis. Christoph Schonborn will teach you to see the Church as she sees herself, as Bride, as victim, as the great cloud of witnesses which is the mystical Body of her Divine Spouse; in short you will see the Church as the communion of saints in Holy communion with the Lord. You will see the Church as Christ sees her--and if you're a convert, as I am, you will fall in love with her all over again.

More than a quarter of a century ago my sisters and I were captivated by E. Nesbit, and particularly by THE MAGIC CITY. Long unavailable (I have scoured used book shops and the Net for copies for various children) it is great to have it easily available once more. I am happy to report that my own daughter was as taken with it as her aunts and I a generation earlier, and like us she at once began building magic cities of her own. I realize that I risk the wrath of Potterites everywhere, but I suspect that in a hundred years children and their parents will still be enjoying The Magic City while Harry is at most the subject of earnest dissertations on odd trends in the early 21st century. If you have a spark of imagination and an eager child handy, grab this book.

Years before I even heard of Harry Potter, my mother picked up the 1910 Macmillan hardcover version of this book at a garage sale for a mere fifty cents. (Imagine, a turn-of-the-century copy of a great book for fifty cents!) At first I was put off by its volume (333 pages with illustrations) but I managed to lap up every last word of it...about seven times, I think.

Philip Haldane, our hero, and his half-sister Helen are orphans. Helen has been Philip's sister, teacher and playmate for what seemed like all his life, and there wasn't a shadow of a doubt in his mind that this would go on for ever; he wanted it to. But the unimaginable happens -- Helen marries and goes honeymooning around Europe, leaving Philip at his new residence, friendless and bitter. But soon his new, seemingly dreary life is changed by his embarking on an exciting adventure, so splendid and picturesque that he never would have dreamed that he had built it with his own hands. You see, Philip had always played building games, and he built not with plain old building blocks but with...well, everything -- everything from ink-wells to bronze Egyptian figurines! And it was while he was in the depths of his misery and pining harder than ever to see his sister again that he, the Creator, discovered it -- his Magic City -- and its delightful secrets.

Now, to look at it from a Harry Potter fan's viewpoint. I shouldn't be giving any clues, you really should have read this book at least once before comparing it with HP, but I'll just say...Philip is of course the Harry Potter of this book, but he is also the Ron Weasley because of his initial malice towards his new stepsister, Lucy -- the Hermoine Granger of this book. The Grey Nurse is the Snape/Malfoy/Voldermort figure of this book. The Great Sloth is rather like Scabbers, and Polly is somewhat Hedwig-like. And Mr. Noah is almost EXACTLY like Professor Dumbledore; if you look at the part of the book when he goes to visit the prison, you'll know what I mean :)

If that still doesn't grab the average Potter fan's attention, how about this: J.K. Rowling favours E. Nesbit as one of her must-reads! Enjoy...

Edith Nesbit is one of the most imaginitive children's writers around - and she's been around for a hundred years!

This is her best book. A boy dreams and finds himself in an equally real world, made up of the pretend cities he's made while awake.

I read The Magic City back in 1989 and spent years searching in second hand books stores for my own copy until I tracked it down on amazon.com!

This book is akin to the very classic adventures of many childhood reading favorites. However, I must admit that it was a gift idea that I couldn't resist reading. I hope my nephew doesn't read this and find out I read it first. If he does it's probably just a bit of telepathy..Great book...

Majestic Blue Horses is a wonderful fantasy book I bought for my 12 year old son. This book can be enjoyed by girls also. I read along with my son, and was intrigued by the plot and the great characters in the story. This is a good read for your kids over summer vacation.

Reading this book to my grandchildren gave me warm feelings in this day and age. I was proud to read it and enjoyed it thoroughly.