Reeves is a veteran political reporter whose excellent insights and smooth prose are guaranteed to provide a pleasant, educational read. Although Reeves portrays Ford as a dummy, he presents him as a well-meaning dummy. Thus his take can hardly be considered critical. Indeed, Reeves assigns Ford's every success to the latter's naivete combined with his unquestioning loyalty to party. Ford's rise to Minority Leader and eventually Vice President are based on the actions of others, and the estimates of elites that Ford will be inoffensive and controllable. Indeed, he portrays the President as a captive of his own administration, controlled by the Nixon holdovers and their strong ideas, from the ubiquitous Kissinger to the reluctantly deposed Haig. Reeves explains the Nixon pardon strictly in this context, as the innocent action of true party loyalist, not as a cynical payoff for services rendered, or even a cynical partisan f-k you to the country. For those interested in politics and Presidents, Reeves should be classed with Witcover and Germond, as a must read. For those who have a passing interest he should be taken as an excellent readable primer, if it's not all you need to know, it's most of it. A bargain at any price.

Powerful observations written about the Spanish people, culture, government, it the time of the 1840s, Richard Ford has uncanny ability to observe, understand, analyze, and then put down his observations with wonderful prose, sharp wit, great philosophy, and an obvious love of Spain and things Spanish.
As an interesting aside, written at a time when England is very powerful, America young, France despised (Napoleon having been beaten by the British at Waterloo), the writing gives an insight into British culture as they saw themselves at that time.
If you love Spain, if you love truly superb travel writing, it is worth working through the obscure references in some passages to be amazed at the truly brilliant writing of Richard Ford. Insights into the Spanish that still hold true today, and universal insights into travel as an art that will always be true, page after page of great reading. I liked it.

The title of this one could be a bit misleading and confusing. More accurately described as 11 shorter books or novellas, this one is a treasure trove of fine writing by wonderful writers (William Styron, Eudora Welty, Philip Roth, Ernest J. Gaines, Stanley Elkin, Jane Smiley and more). Arranged so that there is at least one story from each decade since the 40's, this book offers a look at some of the finest writing out there - not only from today but from years past.
This book is a bargain as well. With the price of books being so high these days, if you tried to buy these 11 books separately, you'd be hard-pressed to find them all for a price anywhere near the cost of this volume. Lots of wonderful reading and a great price to boot make this one an easy pick.

A collection that clearly defines America's lasting contribution to the form. Richard Ford carefully canvasses the past fifty or so years of great, and often overlooked, writers. Missing, but not missed, are the staple short story writers like Hemingway, Faulkner, and Fitzgerald. But, the brilliance of this collection is that it traces the trajectory of what these pillars of the form initiated. From Baldwin's jazzy, layered "Sonny's Blues" to the raw and devestating "What They Carried" by Tim O'Brien this is a must have for writers and lovers of great writing.

I have not seen a better book than this regarding the building of Custom Fords and Mercs.It covers in detail all of the standard body,and more importantly,mechanical modifications that are commonly done to these cars.There is a great wealth of ideas in here,including things you may not have thought about,or have heard of,but did not understand why or how these modifications were done.It is absolutely required reading for anyone who is planning to build,or have built for them,a Custom Car.Don't start without this book in hand!

I have read this book and My girlfriend and I enjoyed trying all of the positions and ideas. It explains with being too eastern sounding. Can't praise this book enough.

The clinic I work at has this book, and it is amazing! It explains concepts in a way that you makes understand them, and more importantly, remember them. I love this book; I just hope someday I can afford to buy my own copy.

Margaret Truman has entertained us for years with her homicidal tour of Washington landmarks. The current stop at Ford's Theater is no exception. Nadia, a young, sexy, female intern to powerful Senator Lerner is found dead in the alley outside of Ford's Theater, where she sometimes volunteered. The media had previously alleged sexual activity between her and the senator. Clarise, the director of the operating arm of the theater is the senator's ex-wife, currently preparing for confirmation hearings on her appointment to head the National Endowment for the Arts. Their son may be the last person to have seen the intern alive. While there are other suspects, the police narrow in on the son, and Clarise calls on friend Mackensie Smith to help out. Smith, and his wife Annabel, are the usual principles in Truman's Washington tours, but this time we have new characters in the leading roles. D.C. police Rick Klayman, the young white detective and his veteran partner Mo Johnson carry the investigation and much of the story line to its not unexpected but still satisfying conclusion. Along the way we learn quite a bit about Lincoln, the theater, the assasination, Booth, and others. There is even a has-been British Shakespearean actor, and admirer of Booth, who attempts to recreate that worthy's most famous role. All in all, Truman has given us another enjoyable and educational stop on her continuing tour.

In her latest novel, Margaret Truman stages "Murder at Ford's Theatre" with a cast drawn from recent headlines and past novels in her Capital Crime Series. The murder of Senate intern Nadia Zarinski, romantically linked to her boss, outside the historic theatre now run by the senator's ex-wife and Hollywood producer, Clarisse Emerson, who is preparing for her confirmation hearing as the next chairperson of the National Endowment for the Arts sets off a media frenzy all too familar in the nation's capital. The case is so sensational that Truman's favorite Washington couple, George Washington University law professor Mackensie Smith and his wife Annabelle, are compelled to play leading roles once again. Supporting cast members and Lincoln buffs, detectives Klayman and Johnson, representing the Metropolitan Police Department, and Sydney Bancroft, aging British thespian and Ford Theatre artistic director, add colorful moments to this fast paced drama.

It is impossible for me to criticise Truman's work. Her attention to detail especially about local landmarks and legends in Washington, DC provides the reader with a sense of place that locals recognize and visitors remember. I don't doubt that Truman strolled the cafes and galleries of Dupont Circle sipping latte at Kramerbooks & Afterwoods researching the details about historic Ford's Theatre that she got correct right down to the spelling.

Above all, "Murder at Ford's Theatre" is first rate suspense. Whether you live inside the infamous beltway or not, add this book to your list right away.

Nadia Zarinski, intern to Senator Lerner, is found dead in the alley out back of Ford's Theatre in DC. She volunteered time at the Theatre now and then. She was found by Johnny Wales, a stage hand at the theatre. The only eyewitness to her murder is John Partridge. He is an alcoholic and thinks he is a CIA agent. He was sleeping it off in the alley.

Detectives Rick Klayman and Mo Johnson are investigating this death. There are rumors that Nadia and Senator Lerner were involved. The Senator's ex-wife, Clarise, is the head of Ford's Theatre and was unaware that Nadia was volunteering time at the theatre. Clarise is also to be confirmed as the head of the National Endowment of Arts within the week.

The Senator and Clarise's son Jeremiah becomes a suspect in the murder when a previous boyfriend of hers mentions that Jeremiah dated Nadia. That information is confirmed by another source.

Mac Smith is now a professor of law. He is teaching a special class on Lincoln the lawyer. He was a criminal lawyer until a drunk driver hit and killed his first wife and only son. He is remarried to Annabel who was a divorce lawyer and now owns and operates a Columbia art gallery. Mac is asked by Clarise to assist Jeremiah when he is arrested. Mac and his former law partner Yale Becker represent Jeremiah.

Detective Klayman wonders if they haven't been hasty in arresting Jeremiah. He's not convinced that all the other suspects were sufficiently interrogated.

Mac and Annabel are surprised by the Senator's and Clarise's detachment from Jeremiah through this ordeal.

Detective Klayman is very interested in President Lincoln and attends Mac's class. They are careful to not discuss this case, just Lincoln.

I am very happy that Margaret Truman has returned to her Capital Crimes series. I like Mac and Annabel and always enjoy seeing Mac get involved in a murder investigation. They feel like very down-to-earth people to me. Like your neighbor next door.

The Senator in this book was very well written. He was very detached and always too busy to deal with the daily problems.

All of the peripheral characters were well constructed as well. In the end of the book, I found myself flip-flopping from thinking one person did it to another. I wasn't able to easily pick out the killer. A sign of a good mystery!

I highly recommend this book and all the books in this series. The fact that I know the DC/VA area that was discussed always makes it more interesting.

Raymond Carver doesn't want to dazzle. He wants to tell the truth. And he lets his characters speak the words, realistically, with an un-authorish character-driven irony. As if the words were audibly uttered in a smoky diner booth next to us. Carver's stories are heartbreaking accounts of a Pacific Northwest people whose lives are as drab as the murky clouds above. They are out of work, employed, alcoholic, intellectual. They live across the street from us, they live in our bedrooms. Where I'm Calling From is his finest collection of short stories, arguably the greatest ensemble of American fiction since Hemmingway. Carver is painfully witty (see "Careful"); eloquent ("Cathedral"); and profoundly romantic ("Distance" will re-awaken dormant memories of your most defining love -- lost). Carver writes in an oxymorronic circular-linear fashion. Although he continually returns to the theme of a broken soul within, his stories wind down without tangible conclusion. Fans of Shakespeare will disapprove of the lacking resolution. But then, even in a glitzy world, reality has a (sadly) profound disposition toward entropy. Carver's untimely death mirrors the heart-breaking destruction found in many of his broken characters. Many of us.

Raymond Carver wrote stories with extremely detailed and fascinating plots, characters, and dialogue. Yes, he was a minimalist. That does not mean that he wrote stories without a plot. Instead, Carver's plots are simple and obvious, they serve as vessels for the message Carver is packing, one that he always delivers with one hell of a wallop by the end of each of his stories. Reading each story once will not yield complete understanding for the reader. Great fiction is usually like this. Instead, rereadings will bring the true meanings, they'll show what this master of prose was trying to say. Raymond Carver never wrote a novel because he didn't have to, because he could always express what he was trying to say in about 20 pages of beautiful, elegant, simple prose, unlike Tom Wolfe, who takes 740 pages in A Man in Full to say absolutely nothing. Carver's wife and editor did not interfere with his writing, that's a common myth that was spread and kept alive by all those jealous of Carver's accomplishments. I felt the need to respond to the previous review so that possible buyers of Where I'm Calling From would not be dissuaded and give this book a shot. You will find in its pages a genius, a man who is sorely missed and for very good reason. Raymond Carver was a true master of the short story, and he shows it here.

If you're going to buy just one book by Carver this is the one I would recommend as it contains the best of his previously published works plus seven new stories. Raymond Carver; alcoholic, chain-smoker, blue collar worker and one of the finest short story writers of the century. Master of dirty realism. This is the writer who captures the essence of our lives. The fractured dialogue of our sad failing relationships, the hilarious anti-climaxes of our confrontations with others, the long gray Sunday afternoons of our weekends, the forced gaiety of our stale parties and our ineffectual struggles to make sense of our muddled lives. Dirty realism is the opposite of escapism and it's not for everyone, but the writing of Raymond Carver is brilliant and often very funny. So if you love great writing and you feel oddly comforted to know you're not the only one without answers and life isn't one long easy happy high, then you should read this book, and you may well find you will love it.

Sorry, I have to differ from my fellow reviewers.

The translations here by Constance Garnett are tired and clunky and way too literal. The art of translation has evolved light years from the "word-by-word" school. To compare how much more "modern" Chekhov can sound (and Chekhov was, is, and will remain always MODERN), read Robert Payne's translations. Payne eliminates the clumsy clauses and unnecessary commas and lets the story shine through.

Ford's introduction is interesting, but note: he says NOTHING about the translations. He must know they are abominable. Personally, I have no respect for Richard Ford and Ecco Press for reprinting these. Screw the reader, right?

with Chekhov. Whatever volume (happily, there are lots in print), whatever translation you start with, you'll want to keep reading and keep discovering. But, Chekhov may require some getting used to. His stories are melancholy, funny, laconic, ironic. Not many of his characters could be called heroic. His plots do not end neatly. He asks many questions but doesn't answer them. My personal favorites in this volume: An Anonymous Story, Ward 6, The Grasshopper, The Lady with the Dog.

For a great critical essay on Chekhov, read Nabakov's in his Lectures on Russian Literature.

Anton Chekhov was a student of Leo Tolstoy, and thank God he wasn't as long winded, otherwise we would not have all these wonderful short stories.

Short stories before Chekhov were plot oriented and sensationalized. Enter Chekhov, the ultimate master. Now the short story is liberated, it has become more of an art of the moment, an art which reflects deep insights into the social environment of his day - our day too!

Present day short story writers with their overly descriptive styles, their lack of real characterizations, and their general ignorance to the importance of brevity and directness would do much to ponder the intricacies of Chekhov's short masterpieces.