One has to read very closely the five stories, five observations, and several essays to understand what these men are doing with this delightful book.
Robert Canipe is playing with narratives employing several styles from first person with immediate sequencing to omniscient narrator with flashback. His writing is a fine example of the Southern Oral Tradition that peppers the southeast and into Texas. Canipe's characters are real people--warts, curse-words, and all--and their problems are real problems from robbers whose intended store is robbed before he can finish the job to men who get out of jail and search for an identity that is lost to them while in prison. The tales are tightly written and suspenseful and the character's voices are real.
Carter Monroe represents the curmudgeon of the Southern Tradition who likes what he likes because he likes it and that is all there is to it! From his comedic trip to the eye doctor for new glasses to his tale of buying a stereo with cash, Monroe shines as the philosophical old buzzard who refuses to give in to Life's constant nudge to evolve into something alien. From his front porch perch, cigarette in hand, Monroe preaches Southern life with an authority. Here is to Life in the Provinces!!
Tim Peeler writes of education outside the classroom and in the world of the working man. He relates tales of old men who flip the bird to convention. They learned in the school of hard knocks and do not care who knows it. Peeler's prose is poetical with a lilt of southern charm missing in today's "Southern" writers.
This collection is far better than I thought it would be. These men will be heard from again.

What makes Writers On The storm a significant tribute to Modern
literature is not so much the inventive and expressive prose
style of all three contributing Authors, though is indeed present. Rather it is the fact that amid a confusing and often baffling array of hypertextual nonsense, on the one hand, and 'pop' sensationalism as it proports to some 'Avante Gaurde'
and exhibitionist approach to literary fashion, on the other,
which are the modern standard in so many published works these days...That as apposed to the ways and means a kind of hyperbolic fashion which has become the norm, this book in general and in particular with regaurd the last author Tim Peeler, has reasserted the need for a the kind of 'thoughtful
creative calm' present only in the form of the Essay Proper.

Whereas it is true that individual works of nonfiction in this book take on a more narrative charecter, build themselves in
in their concept and thematic appropriation in what tends to be
a highly anecdotal manner, they still reassert those 'classical'
and thorough going aspects appropriate to what one considers
as apposed to NON FICTION PERSE...the Essay Proper. In an age
as intellectually divorced from serious literary thought of course, there are quite a few people capable of only a more
direct and visceral and entertaining assessment of human values
and human existence. This is a failure of the Age which we live in and not at all one of this wonderful collection.

Writers on the Storm: Stories, Observations, and Essays
by Tim Peeler, Carter Monroe, and Robert Canipe

One of my favorite living authors, Carter Monroe, has several stories in this collection. Monroe catches the flavor and humor of small town Southern living. Being from the provinces myself, I can vouch that his characters are true to life. The American short story is in good hands with Peeler, Monroe and Canipe.

The strength of this book is its many examples. Carter takes the concepts and applies them to simple inorganic or organic compounds. Very helpful to students. The end of chapter problems are nice as well. A great text and one that I would recommend to students as well as faculty.

This is a text set apart from the pack. It clearly states what other books attempt to describe. There need to be more texts on the market like this. Dr. Carter has taken a subject that has historically been elusive, and presented it in a comprehensive, READABLE volume. This text is helping me through my thesis in chemistry. It is highly practical, easily read, and heavily referenced, all of the qualities, I believe, that make up an excellent text! Excellent work!

Found this book to be an amazing collection of illustrations by one of the most talented artists in our time. His work has matured over the years to a fine point of perfection.

Outstanding collection of extremely witty and winsome caricatures of entertainment and political figures from the 1970's through today. Most of the work previously graced the covers and feature articles of The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Interview, and Rolling Stone and therefore will be familiar to the reader.

There is much excellent cultural and political commentary (in illustration form) collected in this one book by an outstanding illustrator of the 20th century.

Great for Christmas giving, the book is beautifully printed and guaranteed to bring miles of smiles to the reader.

This product features two audio tapes. One each on Johnson and Carter. Robert Dallek and Hendrik Hertzberg are the speakers. Their speeches from 1995 show great knowledge and insight into their respective Presidents.

Hendrik Hertzberg was a speech writer for President Carter during his last two years in office. Hertzberg is a good speaker and often used humor to describe Carter and his administration. Hendrik describes Carter well. He portrays him as a loner and someone opposed to pomp and glitter. He also stated that Carter was no idealogue. Rather he handled issues one by one as they arose. And he spread himself too thin. Hendrik descibes some of the major events of the Carter Administration. The Panama Canal Treaty, the Israeli/Egyptian peace talks and the failed Iranian hostage rescue mission. Hertzberg portrays Carter as a courageous moral leader. But he also shows that Carter was not a great political leader.

Robert Dallek is a successful author and he shows here that he is also a good speaker. Dallek studied Lyndon Johnson thoroughly and clearly understood him. He states accurately that Lyndon Johnson was a complex man with a seemingly contradictory personality. Dallek quotes several stories about Johnson to show his sense of humor and his temperament.

Dallek provides data about Johnson's popularity over the years. As President, his approval ratings were good. As an ex President he's less popular. Dallek gives three reasons why he thinks LBJ's popularity has fallen. His assessment is probably correct.

Dallek then proceeds to rate Johnson as a President. He gives LBJ high marks in the realms of vision, pragmatism and consensus building on domestic issues. And he states that Johnson was very successful in passing his bills through Congress. Dallek provides a whole list of good bills which Johnson pushed through. In summary, Robert Dallek's assessment of Lyndon Johnson and his Presidency is very accurate and well informed.

CNN's presence is felt in every part of the world, its brand name synonymous with news from everywhere, all the time. The same energy, boldness, and responsiveness to market opportunities that defined CNN's early years makes it today's company to watch and learn from in the business of international news. CNN: Making News in the Global Market chronicles how founder Ted Turner transformed his Atlanta-based company into a credible international news service in spite of his activist social agenda that challenged well-established journalistic traditions. Furthermore, his company's aggressive strategy of covering news whenever and wherever it happens, of breaking the news first, of going live from the scene, has frequently put the company in the uncomfortable position of shaping the events it relentlessly covers. This book uses first-hand accounts from many insiders, incorporating interviews with Ted Turner and company managers, with those who gather, produce, market and globally distribute the news, and with those who have signed on as CNN partners. The result is a revealing look at how an American company took shape around a strong leader, how it built and projected a world-class identity, and now prepares for stiff international competition.

Carter has now anchored his position as THE comparative philosophy scholar whose clear and unmistakable writing makes him the favorite author of students of the Japanese philosophical tradition. In this new book, Carter sensitively and faithfully explains not only the basics of Japanese ethics, but also the diverse sources of inspiriation behind Japanese moral philosophy (Shintoism, Confucianism, Buddhism), as well as modern Japanese intellectual and spritual encounters with the West.

This book starts out with an introduction by coauthor de Camp and a letter written by Howard which aren't stories but provide some background on Howard and his style, etcetera.

Then there is "The Hyborian Age," by Howard, which isn't a story but a history of the world that Conan lives in. This doesn't read like a story but is nifty if you're a Conan lover.

Next come the stories.

Opening is "The Thing in the Crypt," (de Camp & Carter), which isn't an especially bad story, just completely pointless -- it spends thirty pages detailing how Conan acquires his sword. (They tried to incorporate this one into the movie)

This is followed by "The Tower of the Elephant," (Howard), which is an excellent story and a great example of Howard's writing in any genre. (They also incorporated this story into the movie)

"The Hall of the Dead," (de Camp and Howard) comes next, written by de Camp based on an outline by Howard. It's an ok story with some cool stuff, but Conan being attacked by a 50-foot acid spitting slug? Come on!

"The God in the Bowl" (Howard) is a whodunnit detective story which is pretty interesting, but has nothing really to contribute to the Conan saga.

"Rogues in the House" (Howard) is probably the best story in this volume, with political intrigue, sorcerors, dank warrens beneath trap-infested houses and everything.

"The Hand of Nergal" is said to be by de Camp and Howard, but it doesn't say how exactly Howard was connected to the story. It's pretty cool, and it helps to define and develop Conan's story.

"The City of Skulls" is the final story in this book, written by Carter & de Camp, and while it has some action, it really sucks.

Overall, this is a worthy book. The stories by Howard are really good, those by the others are at least readable, and it gives a pretty good look at Conan's early life.

Robert E. Howard is truely the master of fantasy. This is the first installment of the conan saga. This book has the first eight short stories of Conans life written by Robert E. Howard and edited by L. Sprague De Camp and Lin Carter. These stories are fantastic well written swords & sorcery by the man who started the craze. The battles in the book are so vivid that you can feel the blood splashing your face as Conan cuts his enemy down. His emotions are so well written that you can feel Conans despair as he faces his greatest fears. Heck by the end of the book you miss the guy. This book has it all fights, drinks, booty, women, and high adventure. Conan was fun and entertaining to read I reccomend it to all swords & sorcery fans. If you like this book or are interested in more swords & sorcery then I reccomend these titles: the whole conan series, Brakk the Barbarian by John Jakes, Flashing Swords edited by Lin Carter(short stories), Swords and Deviltry by Fritz Leiber.

Besides Robert E. Howard's suicide at the age of 30, the greatest tragedy of this brutally talented writer is that his work has not enjoyed the literary praise and societal acceptance that it so clearly deserves. Howard is one of the most overlooked authors of the last century, in part due to academia's refusal to seriously study the Fantasy genre. Conan, Howard's greatest character, lives, prowls, "wenches", boozes, adventures, and cajoles among the paperback pages of this first Conan book, due entirely to Howard's distinct narrative voice.

The reader feels the flexing muscle and sinew, the weathered and tanned skin, the animal reflexes, the very strength in Conan's mercenary grip when they read these short stories - beyond Howard's brilliance at character creation, the very narrative voice is written in the tune of savage ruthlessness. No matter your sex, you can't help but boil with testosterone and reel in the wicked pleasure of cleaving cut-throats with a broadsword, because the simple and powerfully persuasive narrative voice places you in Conan's world. Howard's delicate and meticulous word choice not only provide the uniqueness of his voice - a style rich with texture, details, and cinematic imagery - but it also provides the barbarian lens by which we view his world.

The stories are often dripping with blood, but the imagery is so vivid and artistic it in no way diminishes the quality of the text. The knocked out teeth and the crimson sprays seem natural, because they're natural to Conan. Few authors have ever displayed such a profound ability at placing the reader into a character's blood, brain, and hormones. Conan, after all, is not the stereotypical Hollywood action hero - he is a character designed with his own unique combination of strength and flaws. Flaws found in all humanity. He may be built and wired like a Siberian tiger, but he is plagued with a deeply embedded fear of the supernatural. His temper often gets the better of him. When times are good and the riches spill from his saddlebags, he's a boastful braggart that earns the unforeseen whack at the end of a dark alley. When times are tough, he hits the goblet. He's everything we want to be and one of us when we need him to be.

Howard's voice and style make all of this possible. This first book in the Conan series displays that voice of reluctant role model as good as any other. Finding a copy may be difficult, but for the reader that enjoys Fantasy written at the depth and quality of literary genre fiction, the search and the expenditure will yield a bountiful harvest.

What an incredible account of these lost people. The book does have an academic sound to it, but the events more than keep you interested. Its almost like real-life science fiction. They have an idea that something's out there. They look for it and find more than they bargained for. Those that like history or lost and found will like this one.

I purchased this book on a visit to Williamsburg and it sat on my shelf for quite a while before I seriously dove in. This book combines a clear explaination of archaeological methods with the building suspense of a good detective novel. As The author and his team uncover the existence of an early Virginia colony and utilize an astounding range of techniques and research to slowly piece together the lives of the inhabitants you will be drawn into the past. More than that you will be excited to read on and discover with these archaeologists what really happened. I.N. Hume writes eloquently on all aspects of organizing and proceeding with a project of this scale and mixes those details regarding administration and method with the fascinating story of the settlement of Martin's Hundred flawlessly. I could not imagine a better introduction to the discipline of archaeology for the layperson.

While you might think that a book about historic archaeology would be dry and boring (and many are!), Ivor Noel Hume's story of the archaeological dig, the background research, and the people of the 17th century who lived at Martin's Hundred is fascinating. This is probably the only archaeology book that you won't be able to put down because you will want to find out what happened next. If only I could write as well!

Anyone who is interested in knowing more about the personal side of Gen. Robert E. Lee and the people who stood behind him and allowed him to become great (his family) will enjoy this insight into their everyday lives and the heritage the author (Lee's great-granddaughter) has had to live up to throughout her life.

I would strongly recommend this.

This book is a great one for providing us a glimpse into life over 100 years ago. It is hard to imagine what a woman had to do back then to create the genteel life. Every household had to be self-sufficient, as this remarkable volume shows, making its own foodstuff, soap and cleansers. I loved this book and have shared it with good friends.

Mix together some spicy ingredients of Southern history, add "receipts" (aka recipes) for food, plus personal memoir, and a fascinating book is ready for you to devour or to send to friends as a gift.
What a marvelous, brilliant weaving together of the family history of the Robert E. Lee family, along with insider Civil War history, social history, food history, family characters and so on, have been put together by Anne Carter Zimmer, who gives us recipes one longs to try. I definitely want to attempt the Charlotte Russe and certainly the Sally Lunn. (Wish I had the courage for the oyster dish where, halfway throughout, you throw out one batch of oysters and add a fresh batch.) When I read the book's first line, "We didn't make much of ancestors when I was growing up," (this from the great-grandaughter of Robert E. Lee), I knew I was in touch with an authentic voice and that I would love this book. And love it I did.

To be honest, I didn't bother reading the de Camp and Lin Carter stories. Why? They're pastiche authors. And no one can write Conan like its creator, Robert E. Howard. Even Robert Jordan's Conan stories were dirt compared to Robert E. Howard's. To me, pastiche authors are the scum of the earth because they are so low that they have to continue someone elses creation just to make a living--can't they be original. Sure, de Camp has written other stuff, but most people would associate him with Conan. When the Conan movie came out in the 80's, I thought that de Camp was the creator of Conan. Boy was I wrong! As far as the book goes, the three Robert E. Howard stories inside are good, but not Howard's best. I thought that the Frost-Giant's Daughter was the best of the three. But I think that Howard's best short story was A Witch Shall Be Born. Looking at the book as a whole, it's only worth about 2 or 3 stars, but you can blame de Camp and Carter for dragging the rating down.

This is less of a review of this particular volume in the Conan opus as edited & added to by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter than it is a response to the thrashing that the abovementioned writers have been taking in this forum and in many others. It's true that no one can write Conan the way Robert E. Howard could. I'm not convinced anyone has ever really tried. Some of the work de Camp & Carter did with Howard's material is cheesy. Remember - most of their pastiches were written to fill gaps in the timeline. Many of them were written from Howard fragments. It's also true that Karl Edward Wagner did a much better job presenting Howard's writing when he was manning the Conan fort. Wagner's Conan books are now quite expensive and pretty hard to get a hold of. My own introduction to Conan came in the 1980's, through a combination of Marvel Comics and the Ace reprints of the de Camp & Carter editions of the old Lancer paperbacks. Had it not been for the work of de Camp and Carter I might NEVER have discovered any of the works of Robert E. Howard. For that, I am - and I suspect that a lot of readers my age should be - eternally grateful to them. As to CONAN OF CIMMERIA, this is one of the best of the de Camp & Carter editions. The pastiche pieces are readable and the pure Howard is mostly unadulterated. "Queen of the Black Coast" is one of Howard's finest stories. Highly recommended.

The stories in Conan of Cimmeria surpass in content and in language the stories in the first Conan book.

The Curse of the Monolith, by de Camp & Carter, is an okay political story, but the action is kind of weak. A fun little read.

The Bloodstained God, by Howard & de Camp, is the most boring story in this volume. I found it overlong and almost unreadably bad. Not sure why, but I just couldn't stand it.

The Frost Giant's Daughter, I think, is generally considered to be one of the best Conan stories, and I agree. Short and to the point, this story isn't about Conan, the story is Conan.

The Lair of the Ice Worm, by de Camp and Carter, is another fairly good story that doesn't have any relevance in the grand scheme of things, but it's fun and entertaining.

Queen of the Black Coast, by Howard, is another excellent story, dripping with Howard's wonderfully readable style. The heroine here is in no small part the inspiration for Valeria in the first Conan movie.

The Vale of Lost Women, by Howard, is another really good story that really gets into who and what Conan is, not just about one of his feats.

The Castle of Terror, while more entertaining than Bloodstained God, is so stupidly pointless that I wonder why it was written, much less put in here. You're not missing anything if you skip this one.

The Snout in the Dark, while being an improvement of Castle of Terror and Bloodstained God, doesn't reveal anything new about Conan, isn't terribly exciting, but it's still an interesting read.

This book is, again, superior to the first in the series...highly recommended.