This is a movie lovers book that should have some appeal to connosieurs. From Mary Pickford to the Three Stooges to Marlon Brando to Richard Dreyfuss, the selection is large, with names familiar to every movie-goer, including some not so familiar. The authors are also a diverse lot (usually directors or film writers), having either a personal or professional familiarity with their subject. This is both a boon and a bane. A boon, because of the opportunity for anecdotes or insights which only intimate friends or professionals can provide; a bane, because the tone and content of too many articles is too respectful. Readers would be better served by a greater critical distance between author and subject, so that the flaws of a more rounded human being can emerge. Too bad more profiles don't reach the level of Alvah Bessie's unforgettable reminiscence of Bette Davis, which is just the right mixture of sugar and spice. Still the entertainment value is high, and no book that includes the likes of Claude Rains, Lee J. Cobb, or Louise Brooks, can afford to be overlooked.

Overall the very best book I've come across about the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. The pictures are great, lots of color, plenty of variety. Historical perspective is very detailed, going back to the ancient fighting dogs of Rome, but it ties in very nicely with the development of this great breed. Also, lots of great segments regarding temperament, breed disposition and characteristics. Way too much text about breeding/whelping/kenneling and general care which is not really specific to our breed here. I think a book about a breed as special as Staffs should not waste any text whatsoever with general care which is information that can be obtained through any dog book. As mentioned earlier, the pictures are really nice. In fact, the picture on the front cover looks exactly like my own pet female, Molly! All in all, I really enjoy this book and feel it provides the most accurate and insightfull description of the breed that I've come across thus far.

In this time of politically correct language and the sexes being afraid to speak for fear of being accused of sexual harrassment, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea is crudely refreshing, if not humbling. Danny and Roberta are the kinds of people that the BMW and Lexus set pass, with out the slightest awareness of the lives some people lead. Danny and Roberta both struggle with their demons and on this one night, in which the play takes place, they hold an emotional exorsism. Both emotionally handicaped, both blunt, almost vulgar in their use of the english language, find each other and begin to heal the wounds...in their own way. For one night, a porch light becomes the moon, two people beyond innocence become innocent again, and both find a few hours of unconditional love. J. Shanley doesn't make Danny and Roberta overnight, insightful psychologist. He lets them use their insticts,---guts. They touch each other because they are not fancy people. They are simple and the answers to their healing are simple.

I found this book to be highly interesting with very believable characters. First there is Danny, the kid who grew up in a small town known as the laundry lady's son, or Danny boy, and whom most people looked down on. He grows up and moves away to the big city only to come back after a scandal tears up his world. He finds that life in the little town he grew up in wasn't anything like he had imagined as a kid. The people he looked up to, who seemed to be perfect citizens, had problems like everyone else -- especially Allie Ainsworth.

Allie is the daughter of one of the most popular and gossipy women in town, who Danny had always liked and looked up to secretly, but he quickly learns all about Allie's problems in her life. He starts working for Mrs. Ainsworth and tries to help her come out of the shell into which she had sunk after a paralyzing stroke. Danny also falls quick and hard for Allie, but maybe more than one person doesn't want to see them together.

This is definitely a story that keeps you guessing all the way to the end.

I just want to say, thanks to David for reading over this review for me.

This story is set in Mahdia, in Guyana, during a period of political change - a transition from Colonial rule to self government. It is concerned with race issues, and these are seen through the eyes of a child. The hero, Danny, is black and cannot understand the hatred he feels when he falls in love with Lily, a girl of Indian origin, and his natural childhood sweetheart.
The casual lifestyle of Mahdia is felt throughout the book, and since this village still exists and the mud track that leads to the village has remained exactly as it was described in 1981, it makes the novel rather special.

This is the first book I remember reading as a child. It was great and encouraged me to a lifetime of reading. The adventures of Danny Dunn swept me away to an exciting adventure with every page. I can't wait for my boys to read it.

Danny, Joe, Professor Bullfinch, and, yes, everyone's favorite, Dr. Grimes, are stranded on an island when their plans go wrong--their plans to be stranded on separate islands! Old-school storyline, new Danny twists. And plenty of great Joe lines, as I recall.

Tired of the usual administrative hassle using the church's version of Parliamentary procedure, I turned to this book, which promised a more spiritual way of making decisions. Imagine decision-making based on an understanding of spirituality instead of legalisms! Morris and Olsen offer such a practice through their discernment process. (They get a little cute as they explore the process and coin words based on discernment, but that can be excused.) This is a fine book. It allows those who feel intimidated by the rules of parliamentary proceduce to move beyond that and offers the timid fresh ways to act on their convictions.

The book has a helpful chart that shows the step-by-step process of moving toward discernment. I found the illustrations helpful and the cover art connects with the ancient tradition of the church and represents a sense of listening for God.

Eton College may not be the best school in Britain (in its 2000 survey of UK schools, the Financial Times newspaper ranked Eton 26th; Winchester College was number one), but it is certainly the most famous and the most storied. From its formation by King Henry VI, Eton's old boys consistently have become some of the most powerful or influential men in the Empire. Someday, God willing, one of its more recent graduates will become King.

In his introduction, interviewer and editor Danny Dangizer (the British son of American parents and an Old Harrovian) writes, '[T]here is something very un-English about Eton ... in that it leaves its boys with an unshakeable confidence in their own ability, combined with the conviction that anything in life is achievable. While these qualities may seem unpleasantly arrogant and mark Etonians as different, even from the products of other public schools that have neither the initiative nor the resources to indulge and fulfil every boy's expectations, the success rate of Etonians in their traditional fields is an inescapable fact of life: Etonians have great expectations -- and Etonians are rarely disappointed.'

Therein lies one of the weaknesses of this otherwise very interesting book. Danziger's comments sound like a self-fulfilling prophesy, given the 42 OEs he has interviewed. They include one former prime minister (Lord Home of the Hirsel), several rising (at the time of the interviews, anyway) politicians and potential prime ministers, a handful of bishops, well-known writers and artists, a general, two other Earls, three Lords .... in short, people who have indeed been successful 'in their traditional fields.' It would have been interesting, and I believe given a more complete look at Eton, if Danziger had interviewed a dozen or so OEs who had not been so successful, for whom attending Eton may have been the high point of their social achievement ... or even men who had lived perfectly productive and honorable lives without ever becoming big names in the UK.

Danziger has a very light hand in these interviews -- so much so that the chapters (each in the interviewee's own words) sometimes read a little abruptly, like a Q&A session with all the Qs removed. Danziger helpfully includes a glossary of Eton slang for people who may be unfamiliar with Library or Pop. Unfortunately, he doesn't provide the same service regarding the men he interviewed. If you don't know who Andrew Callendar or The Hon. Jonathan Porritt or Sir Ranulph Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes are, for example, you'll have to try to figure it out from the context of their interviews, because Danziger won't tell you.

Despite that difficulty, however, I felt like I knew Eton better after reading these interviews. For someone who already knows a little bit about the Iolani of England and its history, I recommend this for additional reading.

I read several Danny Orlis books when I was in high school (we won't mention how long ago that was), and I remember them being great adventure stories. Danny lived in a very remote world, near the Lake Of The Woods, Minnesota, and got into and out of various scrapes in the wild outdoors. The only drawback is that he is very religious, and well, for me that's a drawback. It's probably a plus for others...