I purchased several copies of your book. Mainly because I used to know you(Jody Jackman) I enjoyed it immensely and found myself laughing outloud most of the book. I have dealt with the loss of a loved one and raising children alone is no easy piece of cake.I related to you in so many ways and found your work most wonderful..Best of luck to you and I'm sorry but I certainly won't give up my copies of this book..

Stingmaster is word sculpture; an orignial concept merging classic constructs such as the revenge of nature with contemporary human heroics; infused with horror, passion, and soul-wrenching pathois. It is the most original work I've encountered. In this work are the tears of a dying universe and a parallelism to the human soul. I wouldn't doubt that it merely had too much power for common consumption. If you can find it, keep it. I let too many borrow my three copies: now I need one!

This book was incredible: helpful, cohesive, and stunningly written. However, the most attractive part of the collection has to be the photography. Each photo not only captures the spirit of the image shot, but captures the imagination as well. Mayer does a fabulous job of grasping the essence of Trulove's verbal images in his work. This book is a must-have, not only for the coffee table anthology, but as a feast for the eyes.

Hitherto, the language of the Methodist revival has received only moderate, and mainly descriptive, attention. Van Noppen's study moves beyond description to approach the phenomenon from a «critical» angle, thus allowing the reader to assess the indictments which have branded Methodist discourse as manipulative.
Critics have stereotyped Methodism as an oppressive, reactionary discourse forced upon illiterate audiences by insidious rhetorical devices. The guiding hypothesis which underlies such analyses seems to be that the success of Methodism, if any, was not a natural and voluntary response to a religious appeal, but the effect of a deliberate, manipulative process which cynically sought to trick people into a belief system which conditioned their world-view and behaviour patterns, allegedly on behalf of industrial interests which required an obedient and submissive work force.
The investigation of the workings of Methodist discourse in its many textualised and non-textualised aspects allows one to understand the widespread popular impact of the movement in both linguistic and extralinguistic terms. The discourse analysis which constitutes the bulk of this study shows that Methodism in its early Wesleyan stage was remarkably efficient in providing a multi-modal discourse which managed to reach the working classes and to answer their needs and aspirations. The widespread popular response to the message in certain areas may be explained in terms of natural audience motivation, and there is little if any ground, notwithstanding Wesley's particular use of language and his explicitly conservative attitude, to hypothesize a deliberate manipulative socio-political intent on the part of the Wesleyans.
Van Noppen's critical analysis shows that Wesley's discourse did, however, contain the seeds of a work ethic which lay the message open to misunderstanding and misuse in post-Wesleyan Methodism. Under the influence of increasing embourgeoisement and denominational self-interest, some branches of later Methodism progressively abandoned the Wesleyan perspective, and may be suspected of sustaining capitalist interests in some parts of their discourse; but the Methodist revival as a whole cannot be indicted with intentional manipulation of the working masses.

Greg Yawman has been able to reach deep into our minds and pull out the many twists and turns that are essential to writing a first class murder mystery. He kept me on the edge throughout the story, always wondering what would happen next. It is obvious, his real life experience as a child detective, he once solved the Great Council Rock "Bum" Mystery, has given Greg the personal insight to grip the emotions of each individual reader, and keep the story line full of intrigue and suspense. I am looking forward to reading Greg's next work, I believe is based on the life and times of Moose Cholak.

I would like to obtain a copy of this book to read. My surname from my father is the only family with that name in Australia. I did not know alot about it untill I contacted this name on the net.

My fathers parents are Catolyn from Barselona and it is possible that I had relatives in the past go to the US.

It is very interesting from that point of view. Could some one please e-mail me and give me some more information on the background of this name, this valley and this book

Yours sincerly

John Christopher Sunol P.O. ox 491 Mayfeild 2304 NSW Australia

jcsunol@aljan.com.au

02 49 600 532 0412 186605

Every AD&D DM has read that one page in the Monstrous Manual, front and back, on vampires. Many say, "What can this book have to say that the justly revered Monstrous Manual didn't?" More than you can imagine!

Have you ever wondered about the stats for a vampire in wolf form? What about RESISTANCE TO SUNLIGHT?! What powers does one vampire have that another doesn't? What breaks the mold and makes a bloodthirsty beast into a powerful foe (or ally!)?

These and a hundred other questions have been answered here and ONLY here. There is not only great detail on abilities but also a great potential for variety. Van Richten's Guide to Vampires makes vampires powerful characters under a DM's control while giving PC's a chance with detailed information on the combat, protection from, traits, and very minds of vampires. As if these reasons weren't enough ANYONE in a campaign can read this book. (Several PC's are laughing and thinking of their own copy of Monstrous Manual.) No, I don't mean that onl

This book is an excellent guide and explanation to
the literary/critical career of Van Wyck Brooks, who
"for more than half a century [with the publication in
1908 of his first book of criticism, _Wine of the
Puritans_, to 1962 with _Fenollosa and His Circle,
With Other Essays in Biography_] was a wholly dedicated
partisan for the cause of American literature."
This tribute comes from the "Preface" by the author
of this critical/appraising work, James Vitelli. In
the Preface, Vitelli says that literature for Brooks
was never a mere pastime, or a business, or an
adornment, or "something to go in for," but rather
it was life itself, life at its greatest intensity.
"Without writers committed to a vision of the beautiful,
the good, and the true, life simply held no promise
of fulfillment."
Brooks's views are not simplistic, though generalized
stereotypes of some of his insights may creep into
"post-modern" discussions or critiques of American

literature and American writers. But, we should go
back to the source -- the originator -- of these
interesting and strongly held views of the writer,
the literature, and the vision for both which Brooks
so well put forth in his works.
Brooks's published works of criticism and insight
include: _Wine of the Puritans_(1909); _The Soul:
An Essay Towards a Point of View_(1911); _The
Malady of the Ideal_(1913); a biography, _John
Addington Symonds_(1914); _The World of H.G. Wells_

(1915); _America's Coming of Age_ (1915); _Letters
and Leadership_(1918); an essay in the _Dial-,
"On Creating a Usable Past" (1918); _The Ordeal of
Mark Twain_(1920); _The Pilgrimage of Henry James_
(1925); _Emerson and Others_(1927); _The Life of
Emerson_(1932); _The Flowering of New England_(1936)
which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for History;
_New England:Indian Summer, 1865-1915_(1940);
_The World of Washington Irving_(1944); _The Times
of Melville and Whitman_(1947); _The Confident Years,
1885-1915_(1952); _The Writer in America_(1953);
books of his own memories; _John Sloan: A Painter's
Life_(1955); _The Dream of Arcadia: American Writers
and Artists in Italy, 1760-1915_(1958); _Howells:
His Life and World_(1959); and _Fenollosa and His
Circle_(1962).
Van Wyck Brooks was born in Plainfield, New Jersey,
in 1886. His early education, Vitelli says, was in
the Plainfield schools in the years 1897-1904 --
but the most significant year was the one he spent
in Europe, 1898-1899. For Brooks, Europe [before
the War] was "a realm of magic...a paradise of culture
that had scarcely known a beginning and would never
know an end." He spent most of his time visiting art
galleries and recording his enthusiasms and
disappointments with the works in 8 little notebooks.
On that trip he discovered John Ruskin's criticism,
and from Ruskin, Brooks acquired his ambition to become
a critic.
Brooks, according to Vitelli, was a youth of sensitive
nature, capable of responding not only to the color and
forms of art inside the galleries but also to the
sensuous atmosphere of the life outside. Italy,
Vitelli says, especially appealed to Brooks, and
thereafter always remained important, providing him
with a kind of standard against which he tested the
cultural environment of America.
From Ruskin, Brooks also acquired the drive and
sense of importance associated with the idea of
a "purpose" for art...and for artists. Brooks came
to feel that the artist had a special "calling" to
which he should be true, regardless of the external
trappings of the practical, business-oriented society
around him. If he failed that calling to truly express
himself, then he had missed his opportunity to enrich
the culture and the lives and minds of the generation
in which he worked, as well as future generations to
come. But Brooks also felt that the artist had a
treacherous path to try to tread, falling victim
neither to the materialistic pressures of the society
around him, but also not falling for the mistaken
ploy of becoming either "high-brow" or "low-brow"
in the deterministic, doctrinaire sense of those
designations and "identities." He was exasperated
by Twain's apparent succumbing to the "Puritan"/
pioneering drive to succeed in a material way --
but he also saw traces of that same all-too-American
"drive" in Whitman's later years, as Whitman curried
his image and fame. The artist who puts his eyes on
success and prestige, all too often becomes the artist
who fails himself, his art, and his vision.
There is much of depth, insight, importance, and
enduring value in these works and ideas by Brooks.
And he needs to be re-read and re-introduced into
the post-modern literary and critical curricula as
an enduring voice from America's past whose wisdom
should not be ignored or lost.
This, unfortunately out-of-print book, is an
excellent introduction to the man, his views,
and his influence. Hopefully, some modern
publisher will re-publish this work, as well
as re-publish Brooks's own works of criticism.
Though used book editions can be purchased through
Amazon, only a forthcoming new edition of _The
Flowering of New England_ and _America's Coming
of Age_ (from Amereon House, 1990) apparently are
the only works in print.
Van Wyck Brooks, who suffered from "chronic
melancholia" from 1927 to 1932, died in Bridgewater,
Connecticut, in 1963.

Voice Of The Blues gathers many lengthy interviews with pioneering bluesmen under one cover, revealing their life and times and an unusual participation in a dialogue over the history and directions of the blues music genre. These interviews first appeared in the pages of Living Blues magazine and here have been reprinted for the first time in book form.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to everyone. It is a witty, honest, and controversial depictment of the coming of age.