when i read ascher's lyrical, poetic and passionate prose, i can almost feel the words come alive as i run my fingers across the pages - as if to grasp them. these pages of prose are a divine haven from the often cold and unrelenting lives that we exist in when we can be much, much more if we desired to yearn and to search for it.

Dancing in the Dark shows us how to live the inspired life, to embrace life and breathe every moment into and out of it. Whether it is something as simple as a walk in the park or as special as a visit to the Prado Museum, Barbara Lazear Ascher puts a spring back in our step and gives us that little push we so often need to get back on track and be thankful we're alive! Here's to life and to Barbara!

This is one of those books where the blurb on the back is absolutely right. Pat Conroy said of this book, ..."You read it and wonder aloud why you have not asked more for yourself. You want to tear yourself away from your own sleepwalking life and shout, 'Now!' What a wonderful book!" Indeed.

This is a powerful work of art in which the author gives life and meaning to the death of her only brother. Her journey of grieving begins the moment she learns her brother has AIDS, and we are privileged to share her experiences in the ensuing years without him. The death of a sibling is a topic that is often dismissed or diminished in its importance. In our society one is not expected to grieve so deeply or mourn so intensely the loss of one's brother or sister. Such mourning is reserved and more accepted for one's parent, spouse, or child. This starkly honest work, at once both intensely personal and profoundly universal, will forever erase any doubt that one might have had about the impact of sibling death, and provide comfort to all who have experienced such a loss.

In Landscape Without Gravity, Barbara Ascher has recorded with great skill and insight the experience of grieving. She has given words to those unspoken feelings that all who grieve have struggled with, but have often been unable to express. Whether read by one who has experienced the death of a sibling, or by one who has lost a child, this book can serve as a support to all who seek comfort in the experiences of another who has journeyed before them. We witness the humility and understanding that can appear when one is willing to meet grief head on