An ably assembled resource for literature students, trivia addicts, and those trying to settle intellectual debates. The only criticism: "Literary Laurels" did not become an annually revised visitor to bookstores.

It's a great resource for my book club. We have fun arranging our agenda with Literary Laurels as our guide, more like our Bible. It's helped me on crossword puzzles and reading past winners of the Pultizer and Nobel. I love how it's easy to use and covers a great range of award-winning fiction. I just bought the KIDS' EDITION and I recommend parents and grandparents like me do the same. And keep it by your bedside. You never know when you'll need it

The Bible on Subchapter K. Enough said.

...and not just because Noel's a great guy. If you study or practice tax, and have any involvement with partnerships, then this quick overview is an indispensable addition to your library!

Thank you, Laura Cunningham, for telling us more about your world. Having read SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS at least three times, I was delighted to see a new memoir and hear some more about those wonderful uncles. This is not another superior-city-person-goes-to-the-country (or out of the country, in most cases) Provence/Tuscany tale. Most of us dream of other lives, and this book tells us of one. For anyone who has ever wanted a country house, or a different kind of home than the one they have. And for anyone who loves beautiful writing! I couldn't put it down and was sorry when it ended. Great Christmas present or hostess gift!

I love to read about dream houses and people getting their wish fulfilled so this story of the poor little orphan from the bronx, who grew up in city apartments, seven people in three rooms, really moved me. The story is as sad as Angela's Ashes but funny as The Egg and I--It is a really fascinating mix of memoir and how a city person can live in the country. I could not put it down as Miss Cunningham lucks out and gets a romantic estate in upstate New York. The writing is as beautiful as the travel books but I liked it more as it is about our home country. It is not pretentious like some of those books --You don't have to be a millionaire to have a dream house come true! This is also a beautiful memoir of a special family. You have to read the first book, too, Sleeping Arrangements, because it dares to go where few writers are willing --the true secret unexpurgated lives of city kids. I was one too! LOVED THIS! What a pair of books! If you ever wanted country property, get this quick!

I found this book very habit forming and was so interesting I just had to keep reading. The tales of going to camp and her guardian Uncles were strange, but funny also. Sad at times and frustrating making her swimming pool out in the field. What a job.
Finding out that the old folks were so poor they had to sell off pieces of the property to keep their heads above all the finances assoiated with such a large estate and they didn't tell her right away.
They weren't allowed to walk where they had been since moving there as the new tentents were not as friendly and didn't want the infringments of strangers on the front of their property. Also the cows in the fields near by in the back fields were quite a surprise to picture all that.
This book was very informative. I really enjoyed reading it!...

As a single woman, aged 35, living in a big city but not New York, I was breathless from start to finish. I did not stop reading this book for a day and a half. Went without sleep. For me, this is the first book that describes a world I know, a life I lead. I identified completely with Jessie, the woman who must throw the party - and clean the cat box, cook the meal & and is so totally distracted yet pulls it off. A loving spirit infuses the very exciting sex with so much more than I accustomed to finding in a "great read." The stories are truthful, hilarious and heart breaking. Laugh, cry, lend to your best friend, your sister, your mother. A true depiction of female friendhip. I fell in love with the book, hope it is a movie or a tv series. Out-sexes sex and the city, with compassion for its characters.

There should be a higher rating to express my utter rapture with this fantastic book. I never thought there would be an accurate novel to depict the real life stories of working women in their 30's, 40's This is so much more intelligent than Sex and the City, they are not on the same planet. These women make their way in the world, navigate through city life and have believable affairs with men. I loved the Postcoital divide...into which a man disappears after sex. Too funny, so true. I fell in love with the Native American man who sweeps the hostess off her feet, their love scene is truly beautiful. This is sex that is not embarassing to read, yet true and utterly evocative. My friends are all reading it and say the same thing. This is a gift!

Not for dumbos, this highly literate author (a famous memoirist, author of the best childhood book ever, Sleeping Arrangements) takes on the often tacky tale of single women and their love lives in the city, with grace, wit, style and an obvious I.Q. This is Sex in the City for smart people. Always sensuous, the narrative of six best friends, driven together to confront the strange behavior of one woman, is often funny, through the tears...Heart rending, belly-laughing. I have 3 copies -- for my best friends!

Elsong is the sequel to Elfshadow, a book written by Elaine Cunningham and continues the stories of the Harpers, a secret society for good. In this novel, Ms. Cunningham brings several characters back. For example, we see Danilo Thann, a bard turned Harper, Elaith, an suspicious and cunning elf, Kehlben Arunsun, a powerful sorceror, and, very briefly, the quick-witted, sword swinging half-elf, Arilyn Moonblade. In the story, Danilo is chosen by his uncle, Khelben, to seek out the answer to what is changing the history, memory, and life for the people in the Forgotten Realms. Unfortunately, he finds himself paired with his rival, the elf Elaith. With the aid of dwarves and elves and harm caused by sorceresses, dragons, and harpies, Danilo and his small group of companions set out to save their people and stop the evil within the changes. A good read, but not as lively as Elshadow. However, its still pretty top-notch.

Danillo must team up with his old enemy Elaith Craulnober the elf assasin.They both quest for the same artifact but each has different plans once they get it.The bards keep changing the lyrics to all the old songs of history but no one knows why. This book is the second of a great series by E. Cunningham.The characters are so well formed that you feel you're right there with them.The series spans 4 books ELFSHADOW,ELFSONG,SILVER SHADOWS,& The DREAM SPHERES.The characters grow & learn more about themselves as you do.This is one of the best series I have read,& I've never seen a story unfold & evolve better than this one..

This book is just as good as Elfshadow because of the fact that Danilo Thann and Elaith Craulnober, two of the most well-made characters in novel history and two of the most unlikely pair, have to work together to recover a harp that is enspelling musicians of the Northlands, in a plot to rid the city Waterdeep of its Archmage, Khelbun Arunsun. Very well made. A good read.

This book is a good read. I recommend it for the individuals interested in history, collaborative arts and innovative ideas and techniques in the performing arts.

Art Performs Life is a unique and authouritive guide to the works and view points of todays most prominent 3 American Choreographers. It emphasizes on the collision of dance and life. Their view points on the gendering of dance and technique are stated clearly.The political and social agenda the choregraphers use and their individuality in representing life on stage using major issues is brilliantly represented in this book. It is a must have for anyone interested in modern dance

Wilderness survival and wilderness living are not the same thing!!!

Like the previous reviewers - I have read most of the survival books on the market and I agree that this is hands down the best one out there. It covers all aspects of survival:

1. personal protection (clothing, shelter, fire)
2. signaling
3. sustenance (water and food)
4. travel (using a map and compass)
5. health (psychological stress, traumatic and environmental injuries)

I agree with a previous post -- its navigation chapter is the best I have seen and has really helped me master this skill. In addition, Greg Davenport's medical experience is apparent - his health section is by far the best I have seen in a book related to wilderness survival...

In a time when most survival books are actually about living in the wilderness ... it is good to find a book that focused on teaching the skills needed for those who play and work in the wilderness... I look forward to reading Mr. Davenport's newest book -- Wilderness Living -- which does focus on wilderness living skills.

Greg Davenport's simple approach to Wilderness Survival is the key to this user friendly educational text.

Greg posts on several of the wilderness survival forums. Through his book and posts I have come to understand his unique approach to wilderness survival. He believes that it is based on ones ability to do three things:

1. Stop and recognize the situation for what it is.
2. Identify your "five survival essentials" and prioritize them, in order of importance, for the environment that you are in.
3. Improvise to meet your needs using both your manmade and natural resources.

His book covers this process. It explains in step by step format how to meet your "five survival essentials" in every global environment. Davenport believes that these essentials are constant and the only thing that changes (from one climate to another) is the order and method in which they are met. These "five survival essentials" are:

1. Personal Protection (clothing, shelter, fire)
2. Signaling (manmade and improvised)
3. Sustenance (water and food ID, procurement, and preparation)
4. Travel (with and without a map and compass)
5. Health (psychological stress, traumatic and environmental injuries).

Davenport covers this information and more in his book (preview the table of contents). If you travel outdoors and are interested in learning about wilderness survival buy this book! You will not be disappointed.

I am very impressed with Davenport's book. It covers the essentials (he lists five) of survival without adding a bunch of stuff you don't need to know. I carry it in my backpack as a reference. Mr. Davenport has also written an excellent book on primitive survival skills called "Wilderness Living" and has a series of books out under the series title "Greg Davenport's Books for the Wilderness."

I like his clear and concise writing style and his basic approach to survival in the various global climates. I urge all those who explore the wilderness to pick up his books. All of them.

"Sleeping Arrangements" is itself a "sleeper". It's a wild romp through the growing up years of Lily in the Bronx. The people in Lily's life are all eccentric (which makes this book hilarious) and she herself is a bit on the fringe of what anyone would consider normal. In spite of the number of crazy people who seem to come and go in Lily's life, the one constant in her life is love. She seems surrounded by it, even if some of the people supplying the love are on the dysfunctional side of life. I enjoyed this book tremendously. In contrast to "Bee Season"- a similar saga of a young girl growing up in the Bronx in a dysfunctional family- this book was much brighter and more entertaining. It's not a perfect piece of fiction but it was a fast, enjoyable read. "Sleeping Arrangements" will keep you AWAKE!

SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS is an utterly irresistible and engaging memoir by Laura Shaine Cunningham, which describes her life growing up in the Bronx between the ages of 5 and 16. At the beginning of the book, she is taken care of by her mother and sole parent, Rosie. (It isn't until the end of the memoir that the reader has anything approaching a clear idea of what happened to her father, Larry. Even then, it stays fuzzy because Laura never finds out herself.) Soon, however, Rosie dies, apparently of cancer. Young Laura ("Lily") then comes under the care of her mother's eccentric brothers, 38 year old Gabe and 40 year old Len - two "O.B.s", i.e. "old bachelors". A bit later, the group is enlarged when Lily's senile maternal grandmother, Etka, moves in.

Since I did my growing up as a little boy, it was enlightening to see a glimpse of how it was endured by the other half. It was also quite amazing to read what details Lily remembers of her earliest school experiences. I can barely remember at 5 going to the Hill & Dale Nursery School in Pacific Palisades, California, and that we were expected to take afternoon naps - perhaps for the mental relief of our minders, not ourselves. In any case, Laura relates the events of her childhood with humor and pathos. When her grandmother moves in, she expects the old lady to conform with her experience of her friends' grandmothers, i.e. to be a cookie maker. Yet, when left alone with her for the first time:

"I look at her, expecting her to toss off her tailored jacket, tuck up her cuffs, and roll out the cookie dough. Instead, she purses her lips in an expression she learned as a child, and tilts her head in a practiced way: 'Now, perhaps, you could fix me a little lunch?'. It isn't supposed to be this way, I think as I take her order: 'toasted cheese sandwich and a sliced orange'".

Later, when on a child's guilt trip reliving the sins of her young life, Lily remembers:

"And last and worst, on the final night of my mother's life, when Gabe held the phone to my ear and said, 'Say goodbye to your mother', I had made a joke of it, and said, 'Goodbye', only it was ... forever."

Today, when the repercussions of a broken home loom large in society's consciousness due to the well publicized meltdowns of a sick few, SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS serves as a gentle reminder that home, for a child, is where the love is - whether it comes from a father, mother, uncles, aunts, or grandparents.

I liked this book a lot, and I think you will too.

Rosie Shaine, mother of Cunningham's alter-ego, Lily, insists her husband is still fighting overseas four years after World War II has ended. Uncle Len, tall and thin as Lincoln, wears a pith helmet as he cooks popcorn and tuna croquettes in his pressure cooker. Lily's grandmother, "Etka from Minsk," steals Lily's clothes and jewelry and stashes them under her mattress in their shared bedroom.

What a cast of characters! Yet no matter how peculiar their appearance nor how inappropriate or predictable their behavior, each character in this book reflects a dignity and humanity that makes them larger than their foibles. All the more difficult to achieve when the family is her own, and their behaviors border on the bizarre.

One of my favorite things about this book is its intimate look at the secret language that springs up in families. One day Lily comes home to find her grandmother in distress, pacing, refusing to say what's wrong, until finally "she begins to 'oikah' ('oikah' is a verb in our home, applicable when someone, usually Etka, begins to repeat 'oy-yoy-yoy' by the hour)."

Laura Cunningham's gift -- and the charm of this book -- is her ability to transform the wild neuroses, annoying habits and predictability of her relatives into a portrait of abiding love and understanding. Under her deft hand, and with great helpings of hilarity, 1950's New York and this devoted family come alive.