There's no rabbi more famous in fiction that David Small! In this tres kosher series of the rabbi-as-detective, author Harry Kemelman has created one of the most interesting characters of this genre. In "Thursday the Rabbi Walked Out," Small becomes involved in another murder story--this time the victim is a notorious anti-Semite, and a number of his congregation are now suspects (they seem to be for good reason!). It is up to Small to match wits--and skill--with the actual murderer. (Billyjhobbs@tyler.net)

Certainly any of the "day" novels of Kemelman are a treat (the first was "Friday the Rabbi Slept Late") and on this particular "day" (Thursday) readers will not be disappointed. Kemelman's style is fast-paced and his detective revelations are logical, solid, and do not insult the reader. Clearly, he takes the time and patience to weave his tales--and they are worth the wait!

If you like the Rabbi Small stories you will enjoy this one as well. It is not so good as the "Classic" Friday the rabbi slept late" but it is brilliant as well. Rabbi Small finds himself in troulbe (as usual): in a middle of a murder case and his job is in danger too. naturally he solves the problems with his clear logic, so you can count on the next stories.

If you like Rabbis Small misteries do not miss this one. The story is as usual: Rabbi Small's job in danger (he is going to be fired), and he is involved to a murder case. All good if ends good.

The Trouble With Harry by JT Story is a fun little book about a dead guy who nobody really cares about. The 1955 movie by Alfred Hitchcock is also very quirky. I saw the movie first, and I am a very big hitchcock fan, so I would probably say the movie is better. But, if you can manage to get your hands on a copy, its worth it. I had to special order mine from the UK, cost me about $60, but I'm glad i did. Entertaining book, easy read. If you like this, check out Drowning Mona. Much of the same dark comedy, but its very recent.

THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY is a hilarious book that is so endearing that it would fit as a children's story if not for some inappropriate things. It is a well-written story with developed and wonderful characters, wonderful morbid and black touches, and satisfying conclusions. This book was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into a movie which is wonderful, too. Not everything is included in the movie, so I recommend this book. I watched the movie first so, I know that there are some really funny things in this book not included in the movie. One of the best characters is Mrs. Gravely. Also, for those who have read the book and seen the movie, I like the books story of the hedgehogs. It's odd how both the captain and Sam seemed to feel more sympathetic of the animals than of the person, while Jennifer didn't seem to care at all. Anyway, read the book, it is wonderful.

Trouble with Harry is a great book. It explores trust, murder, suspense and great themes. It is a great story, with a great plot. Alfred Hitchcock did great transforming this novel to a movie, but the novel is better. It is a great novel that deserves to be read. You won't be dissapointed if you read it.

In an age of sanitized history and calls for revisionism that make people feel comfortable, there is a great need for more books like Jim Carnes' history of intolerance in America. With 128 pages of text and 16 concise chapters this book corrects much of the white washing that is taking place in much longer history texts, even at the college level. Religious liberty, Native American exile, freedom from slavery, racial extermination, and ethnic tensions are highlighted with graphic images and easily accessible narratives. The trials of diverse groups such as Mormons, Catholics, Chinese, Native Americans, Jewish immigrants, Mexican Americans, Japanese citizens, and just playing Americans are dramatically highlighted in an unforgettable montage of images and words that give the lie to the "melting pot" that is the United States.

Paintings, etchings, drawings, and photographs illustrate in no uncertain terms would hate has done to this country. More than that the pictures combined with the simple prose personalizes each inequity that is introduced. For example, "A Rose for Charlie" presents photographs of the community disrupted by hate, as well as that community's response to the hate. From photographs of hate speech scrawled on walls to portraits of citizens mourning the victim of a deadly hate crime present a view of America that could not be farther from the Norman Rockwell ideal we all wish this country would be. For those interested, a fictionalized account of this particular crime can be found in "The Drowning of Stephan Jones" by Bette Greene, which chronicles the death of the young man simply because of who he loved.

It should be an essential book for all classrooms.

I used this book in both my 6th and 8th grade classrooms with great success. I embarked on a diversity project using it and the video (which I strongly recommend); it's an excellent starting point because its scope is so wide and yet it gives very detailed accounts of intolerance in America, starting from the beginning (you see, we have a rather long history of intolerance). Middle school students find it interesting and easy to understand, and it's perfect for the teacher because it covers many ethnic and racial groups in the U.S.. Use this book! It's very important.

This terrific book effectively tells the story of oppression inthe United States and subtly connects the interrelatedness ofoppressions by putting the chapters side by side. The information and sidebars are magnificent in their detail and it is nice to have many sides of history that are so rarely shown. I learned more about history from this book than any history textbook I can remember. The stories of racial, religious, ethnic, and gay oppressions become human stories in this book--hopefully stories that we can learn from and choose not to repeat.

As we grow up, no one tells us that we are "thing-makers" and "thing-users." No one tells us that some of the THINGS we make and use have turned into "master things" that no longer serve but rule the human. Jonesburg opens the human eye to reality of thing-making. Look around you --- whether it is the computer, the house, the office, the rules set by government, the police, teacher, food, and essentially anything else we can think of --- they are all "things" created by humans. Government is a "complex thing" made by humans. Education system is a "complex thing" made by humans. Workplace is a "complex thing" made by humans. We constantly interact with these "complex things," searching to satisfy our needs. Yet, according to Jonesburg, some time in human history, these "complex things" ceased to merely become artifacts made by humans to serve human needs, and instead turned into what Jonesburg calls --- master artifacts. Each master artifact uses a system of brute force coupled with conditioning exercises to control those who must serve than be served. The book is definitely an eye-opener on social structure. However --- it also leaves a very bad taste in one's mouth. It is sort of like the movie MATRIX. --- Have you seen it? Reading this book makes one wake up and find oneself chained to all sorts of super-things, super-machines, super-structures, each controlling and dictating some aspect of one's life. For those accustomed to serving the "masters" and having no "revolutionary genes," this would not be a good reading! According to Jonesburg, many never seek reality but only masters to serve.

Mr. Jonesburg provides for the reader an excellent tool for someone that is seeking to evolve to a higher self. In effect, his perspective is one of being outside of human society altogether, looking in. You could say that he is seeing things from a very soul-ful perspective. Having read his book, I am better able to understand semantics of words, and how labels are used by people, and as well, how concepts are utilized by people. He is correct in quoting Bhudda's three points- that suffering is because of the perspectives that we hold, and the belief systems that we adhere to.

His perspective has added much depth to my own personal perspective. If you are a free-thinker, this book has value.

P.S. You may wish to check to see if the library has this one before you buy.

The concepts presented in this book are verry inspiring and are presented clearly and to the point. Ways of living and dying presents an existencial viewpoint that shows how our tools are granted essences by us, allowing them to no longer be tools. they become entities which enslave us as the tools.

This is my favorite book by Philip Levine. Levine has produced many fine books, and many poems that are masterpieces, and yet I believe he has outdone himself with this ingenious book.

There are poets who would gladly sacrifice large chunks of their time here on earth to be able to write a poem like the title poem, "What Work Is." This poem is astonishing in its power and its ability to make the reader feel the harshness of the work world, and at the same time begin to realize what work is, and what it isn't, and thereby uncover a well of tenderness and love that had been hidden away, unknown even to that very reader, until that moment.

"Fear and Fame" is my next favorite poem in this book, and it is a truly thrilling and moving poem, about having a soul and working in a soulless workplace. Gripping and absorbing and magnificent.

This entire book is structured for power, from beginning to end, and the reader feels empowered by it, by being made to experience and know the personal power that exists within, but apart from, the economic and societal power structures that be.

The language of this book is astonishing, and riveting. This book is a masterpiece.

This book has soul, in all the best senses of the word. Soul.

I recommend this book to everybody.

It is sad that we in the United States do not appreciate the strength and the variety of the poetry that our country has produced. A major instance of a contemporary poet whose writing deserves attention from a wider readership is Philip Levine. His book, "What Work Is" won the National Book Award for poetry in 1991. He has produced an impressive quantity of poetry which, in its very restraint and poignancy, can help bring meaning to people.

This is a short collection, consisting of four untitled sections. Section III consists of a single extended poem, "Burning" which is broadly autobiographical in character. The remaining three sections consist of a number of short poems with essentially two themes: the lives of the working poor prior to WWII and Levine's experiences as a boy growing up in Detroit. The poems with these themes overlap and are interspersed throughout the book with the earlier sections emphasizing vignettes of individuals doing the ordinary, desultory jobs that are the lot of most of us (such as "Coming Close", "Fire", "Every Blessed Day" and "What Work Is") while the latter section emphasizes Levine's Detroit experiences, the toughness of being a kid, his relationship with his brother, his love of boxing, and his exposure to Anti-Semitism. ("Coming of Age in Michigan", "The Right Cross", "The Sweetness of Bobby Hefka" "On the River".)

The poems are lucidly written with understatement and a lack of sentimentality which underscores the emotions and the passions they contain. It might be useful to compare these poems to the work of three other writers.

First, the poems reminded me of Walt Whitman, in their compassion for an attempt to understand the American worker. They lack Whitman's bravura and optimism, however, and content themselves with painting harshness and with emphasizing the tenacity people need to get by.

A writer with somewhat similar themes to Levine is the under-appreciated Victorian novelist, George Gissing in his books of lower class life in Victorian London such as The Nether World. Levine has a similar sort of attraction to the life of the poor, the unsuccessful and the down and out. He has at once a sympathy for his characters and a distance from them that Gissing seems to lack, for all his portrayals and descriptions.

A third writer is the late poet-nnovelist Charles Bukowski, a favorite of "underground" readers. Bukowski writes of ne'r do wells, prostitutes, and drunkards, -- as well as doing a lot of writing about himself. Levine has some of the same attraction to the scorned of society, but his people are the working poor, and their stories are told with restraint and dignity, unlike those of Bukowski, and also unlike the work of Bukowski, with literary skill and grace.

This is a book of poetry that has both the sadness and the grittiness of life and the toughness to understand and surmount it.

A devotion of Levine's life's work, the world of work, at last becomes one of his book's true focus and shows Levine, one of our greatest living poets, at his best. The controlled lyricism of his narratives hone in with precision, as when he pulls in on a woman's forearm at work, a minute detail in a vast world of labor to show us the universality of a struggle Levine himself has endured. While not every poem lives in the factories and workplaces, the fundamental aspect of work in our lives manifests itself in each piece. The short lines and continual enjambment gives his stanzas both the feel and appearence of quality reportage and yet are infused with an empathy and passion for his subjects that both moves and educates. This is the democratization of poetry that Wordsworth aspired to and Whitman acheived. Levine carries on in that tradtion and concretizes, with this book, his place among those American poets to be read in the next century.

A great book which introduces the reader to history starting from World War II. Covers topics from the nuclear arms race to the creation of the European Union. Very engaging book and not boring like many others. Pick this one up.

This book definetely among the best modern international history books that I have read. The text is clear and concise and uses new information revealed since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Furthermore, the book is of a suitable length and utilizes a writing style that is informative and yet, not too bland. A casual reader and a history buff could both use this book well.

Positively framed and very well described, indeed one of the best books describing the changing world since 1945.

We bought this book 3 years ago for my first and it really helped with his vocabulary. It was misplace so now we are buying it again. Worth every penny. Great for travel, small and light.

Clear drawings of objects needful to know. Concise labeling. This book could not be better unless it were just made longer!

Plot: Magician Daniel Stashower claims he found this unpublished manuscript in the house of a magic expert who once knew Harry Houdini. It's accompanied by a letter from Dr. John H. Watson to Bess Houdini, dated shortly after her husband's death. The evidence starts of flimsy enough: Lestrade consults Holmes to find out if Houdini can reduce his body to ectoplasm- the matter spirits are made out of. He has already escaped from a Scotland Yard prison cell and even switched all the convicts around, and meanwhile, a signifagent, espionage-connected robbery has been pulled off were it appears the villian can walk through walls. Houdini is arrested for the crime, but he makes a dashing exit from gaol, and now he and the master detective must sleuth out who has framed "the ectoplasmic man".

Review: The cover draws the reader in: a brick wall, during night time. The title of the book appears above the wall, and below it, we see a looming shadow. In front of it stands Harry Houdini, his wrists and arms chained, a shadow across his face giving a mysterious look. But the shadow is not his. It is a man with a hawk-like profile, with a curved pipe in his mouth, a magnifying lens in his hand, and a deerstalker cap on his head. The plot is intriuging and hard to get away from, the suspense builds up to the point of nightmares, and the humour is side-splitting. Sure, it doesn't sound like Watson's voice, which Stashower tries to explain. And maybe it's a little irritating to us Holmes fans that it takes place in 1910 and claims Holmes is "nearing his retirement" (he packed up for beekeeping on the Sussex Downs in 1903), but it's not enough to take away a quarter of a star. I treasure this book more, knowing it's out of print. If you ever chance over it, BUY IT! For Holmes, Houdini and mystery fans!

In this book that is unfortunately out of print, Stashower leads the reader to believe that the manuscript is an actual story from John H. Watson. If you believe it or not, it is an excellently written Holmes story and seems to have captured the Doyle style very well. It is one of the best modern Holmes stories I've read. If you're a Holmes fan, you NEED to dig this one up.

A minor gem. This forgotten book is a classic travel-adventure set in 1920 Peru. Hats off to Dixon-Price Publishing for resurrecting it. Pity that the copy-editing was not done a little more skillfully, as there are a number of typo's and mis-used homonyms in the book the product of unskilled use of computer spell checker.

Still, this is a minor quibble. (A map would have been nice too). Harry Foster's casual employment in the mines, cities, and jungles of Peru are a classic of early 20th Century travel writing. Some might feel that his characterizations of Peruvian Indians, Peruvian "Anglo's, and the Irish are a bit harsh. However, he presents a well-balanced narrative of the country, and its types. This lost world (the 1920's) is a rough and tumble time, gone forever. A great loss. Foster preserves those days for posterity through his colorful writing and astute observations of people and cultures.

Many modern travel writers could learn from his unselfconscious writing style. The book never misses a beat. A combination of irony and genuine love of people, regardless of differing cultures, lifts this book out of the mundane. I highly recommend it.

The Adventures Of A Tropical Tramp is the travel narrative of Harry La Tourette Foster, who spent most of his life after the conclusion of World War I wandering the main roads and back roads of the world, from Mexico and South America, to Asia, the South Pacific, The Caribbean, and the Mediterranean. This particular travelogue is the story of his travels in South America following his discharge from the army. He went aboard a tramp steamer bound for Peru. Landing with no funds or resources, he took a series of odd jobs, eventually becoming a reporter for a Lima paper. He went on to join two missionaries trekking overland to the headwaters of the ..., then continued on adventure filled journeys down the ... tributaries. He ended his travels playing ragtime piano in sleazy bars until he was able to earn his passage home to New York. The Adventures Of A Tropical Tramp is fascinating reading and we can only hope for future volumes detailing his later itinerant travels to far away places and foreign climes.

The Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds

That is the title that I think this book should be because there is another mystery going on at the same time that eventually involves the Three Investigators with the mystery of the moaning cave. The plot is trying to see how or what is making the cave moan only at night and not in the morning. I really liked this book because it kept me reading, even when I wasn't supposed to be reading the book.

The tenth (10th) installment in the "Three Investigators" series finds the boy sleuths travelling to a ranch to try to solve the mystery of 'Moaning Valley'. They uncover clues leading back to an 18th century bandit, and object of local folk legend named 'El Diablo'. The legend says El Diablo used the cave in Moaning Valley as his hideout, and disappeared into the cave 80 years ago... But suddenly there are stories that he's returned! The cave gives off an errie moan that terrifies anyone who hears it. The boys do a bit of scuba diving, and see an odd creature in the water on the western bank of the mountain where El Diablo's cave is located. The conclusion is both satisfying, and fun as they tie up all loose ends, and help the authorities solve a mystery at the same time. I re-read this story to my 6 year old son last month - still one of my favorites in the series.