I had never heard of the author or the book when I picked up a British edition at a used bookstore. I had hoped that anyone writing a novel on Orwell would possess Orwell's virtues of directness, frankness, and lucidity while offering up some ideas. Caute succeeds on all fronts, and in some matters of technique he is clearly Orwell's superior. He also has a sense of humor and his characters - including Orwell himself - are more nuanced than any Orwell character.

The book's story is about Orwell researching Animal Farm. He finds the book's narrator - a boy named Alex - hanging on at the family farm after his Mum and Dad have both abandoned it. There are pigs and other animals whose names will be familiar to the reader. Alex fills us in on his contributions to both Animal Farm and 1984 and his continuing relationship with Orwell. The last page of Alex's narrative contains a surprise which is perhaps intended to show that - as Orwell says in the novel - Orwell is often wrong.

Caute himself has written 8 other novels and 10 non-fiction books, including several on the left, communism and fellow travellers.

This is a classic and the publishers who reprinted this edition of three of the authors titles are to be commended for such an attractive edition. A must for any literate food lover.

Elmer the elephant is an adorable character for toddlers. In this book, the multi-colored elephant incounters a different weather conditions on each page. From windy to snowy to sunny, toddlers learn about the weather in a simple, brightly colored format. My 19 month old son adores Elmer and insists on taking this book to bed with him each night.

I directed a scene from this play for my first directing class. It's a really exciting piece of theatre, and my scene was the only one in the class that got requests to continue, even from the prof (which doesn't explain my C-). The play is a comedy, but a somewhat straight-faced one. All but one of my actors had a lot of experience (the other is a stand-up comic), and we all seem to have interpreted this play more seriously than the interpretations I read about, but perhaps our lack of punching up the humor helped us to extract the issues Williamson was discussing. It's a shame he isn't better known in this country. He's Australia's most acclaimed playwright and screenwriter. It cuts deep into illusions of a normal life as well as the more obvious comic instigators as bad commercial movies and books. I haven't seen the film version, which shows up on the Romance Channel (huh?--there isn't much in the way of romance here), which I don't get, and it's not out on video in this country (though it is in Australia). I understand the film retains most of the play's dialogue while giving parts to all the characters mentioned in the stage script (only six appear on stage), and that the film's camerawork is rather static, resulting in a film that is talky and ineffective. As I said, I can't say that for sure, but that's not the effect of the play--certainly not in the opinion of my audience--so read the script first if you want to see it. I'd love to direct the complete work at some point. This led me to other great work by Williamson, including _The Club_ (film version only), _Travelling North_ (both film and script), and _The Removalists_ (script only), as well as to films he scripted, such as _Phar Lap_, and many others.

I have friends who read this play and had it introduced them not only to Williamson, but Australian playwriting in general. Aside from the half-hour chunk I directed myself, I've never seen any of his works performed live, whcih is a real shame. American, Canadian, Irish, and British playwrights get a good deal of exposure here, it's a shame a great Australian writer can't get much, particularly outside of New York and Chicago--as those are the only US cities I could find reference to his work being performed in.

Obesity is an increasingly major problem in our society today and people spend millions trying to lose weight, often only to put it back on again. The Encyclopedia of Obesity and Eating Disorders puts it all in perspective for us in this A-Z reference, explaining the features and causes of anorexia nervosa, cultural influences on appearance and fad diets as well as topics such as homosexuality and eating disorders, the mass media influence on eating disorder, sleep-related eating disorder and much more.

This book should be in every public and academic library. As a researcher/writer myself, I found it invaluable.

Douglas has succeeded in providing readers with the most commonly referenced parts of famous English documents without sacrificing the historical integrity of the works.

The phrase 'a pioneering survey' should be used advisedly in literary reviews, but it is appropriate to "English Poetry of the Eighteenth Century, 1700-1789" by David Fairer. Just when it seemed that poetry of this period might have been mapped to the point of reasonable familiarity, David Fairer presents readers of his latest book with terra incognita. With chapter headings such as "Sublimity, Nature, and God" or "The Romantic Mode, 1700-1730", the table of contents alone might inspire one to run for cover. It is an ambitious and rigorous scholarly work from the start, but one delivered with such apparent ease and critical discernment that it is a delight to read. This text is particularly strong on the aesthetics of landscape, connections between science and poetics, and the intellectual history of textual provenance. Here is yet another affirmation from David Fairer that literary scholarship can rank among life's greatest pleasures.

The concise, authoritative guide to the English rose by one of the world's foremost experts. David Austin has distilled 40 years' experience in developing beautiful, healthy hybrids into an accessible, informative volume. Lavishly illustrated with strikingly detailed photos of roses in the garden and in still-life arrangements, The English Rose offers handy descriptions of dozens of varieties, isolating distinctive qualities of each one. Austin's professional introduction and list of suppliers complement the text. In sum, The English Rose is an essential resource for novice and experienced gardener alike and a wonderful companion to David Austin's English Roses.

I am in a college botany class and this book has been a life-saver. Its loaded with definitions of everything under the sun about plants--and all in one volume. My need was mainly as a plant dictionary but you could also use the Spanish portion of the book. I would strongly recomend the book for people who need a botanical reference guide with clear definitions of hundreds of terms.

The Epic Of Gilgamesh: A Myth Revisited is the oldest work of literature in recorded history and an epic poem which is aptly translated into English by Danny P. Jackson, and into Hebrew by Saul Tchernichovsky. Color illustrations in an impressive mosaic style mark this hardbound, bilingual rendition, and three informative essays about Gilgamesh round out this most impressive volume. An evocative and powerful presentation, The Epic Of Gilgamesh is an enthusiastically recommended addition to any personal, academic or public library collection.