It is a small book but lovable, with memorable characters in Macavity, who is a criminal cat but always gets away, or old Deuteronomy, who sleeps all the time in the middle of sidewalks and upon whom the working world has to rearrange itself so as not to disturb him, or Jennanydots, who teaches mice how to play music.

What makes the book so good is the humour and the occasional high brow vocabulary which forces children to pick up the dictionary for once.

This is a funny, interesting poem book. I got it right after I saw Cats the play.

I suggest you get this book.

These are first sketches that prefigure the later and greater work and, as such, they may be useful as an intro to the "Waste Land." Those with no desire to return to that godforsaken place will find these discrete bits more digestible and not lacking in Eliot's uniquely haunting music. Among my favorites are "Interlude in London" and "Oh little voices in the throats of men." For those interested in tracing the voices in Eliot's "echo chamber," there are copious notes detailing his allusions and borrowings.If you are a serious Eliot connoisseur, you will be tickled by his long-lost bawdy verse.

Eliot is known to undergrads and postgrads as the genius poet of "Four Quartets" and "The Wasteland;" a man who wrote some of the greatest and most confusing verse of the twentieth century. While the rewards of exploration into such poems are certainly great, it is perhaps a more human need for emotional comfort. The above, professional reviews focus on the small section of bawdry verse in the work, but the majority of this collection is devoted to the great, early emotional works of Eliot. The only familiar poem to most readers will probably be "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" (with a previously unpublished extension) and a more perfect banner work could not have been chosen. The poems are beautiful, concise, imagistic, painful, somber, but most of all lonely. Here in his early years Eliot is not living in an academic world, simply the world--with love, hypocrisy, doubt, joy, and emptiness. To read the greatest poet of our centu! ry describe that which is greatly profound is a privilege, here to read him describe what is simply profound is a gift. I recommend this book over all other collections of Eliot's or anyone else's verse. If you were not one of the 11th graders who discarded Prufrock as a helpless reject, and instead saw him as a deeply lonely individual much like ourselves, this volume is for you. It will touch your life and make you just that much more complete.

not a bad book. I felt coverage could be much much better. Referencing would enhance the value of the text. Cost is too high for a simple Q&A book.

Fast final review just before boards. Probably picked up 30 additional questions that I would not have known.

Similar to HIT MEN, in that it explores the darker side of the music industry, ROCKONOMICS describes the huge record budgets that predicted the current wave of signing deals that put Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Janet Jackson on the cover of major magazines and newspapers in the early nineties. Marc Eliott makes a very classy presentation, and, like HIT MEN, ROCKONOMICS is a heady read, because both the artists and the deal makers are familiar current names. This book seems to be driven by the author's anger over the commerciali- zation of rock, and Eliott's zeal seems to qualify his book for membership into a quintet of fascinating books: ROCKONOMICS, HIT MEN, STIFFED, THE AGENCY, and Jory Farr's 1994 title, MOGULS AND MADMEN: THE PURSUIT OF POWER IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. Unlike most music industry titles, ROCKONOMICS, after surfacing in the early nineties, has gained sales momentum and stayed in print throughout the decade. The credibility of its premise seems to grow with each passing year. Ron Simpson, School of Music, Brigham Young University. Author of MASTERING THE MUSIC BUSINESS.

This is a great book about the busines side of the music business. Eliot pulls no punches and sides with the artist. I highly recommend it. --Joseph Schleimer, Esq.

I was very surprised that I got through this book. It is not every day that a person will pick up a collection of essays on Classical, Elizabethan and other types of literature, for enjoyments sake. Eliot really outdid himself with his reviews of the literature that he was surrounded by. The definite reads, if you do not want to go through all the essays, are the essays "Dante", "Hamlet and his Problems" and "A Dialogue on Dramatic Poetry". "Dante" is a beuatiful study on both the "Divina Comedia" and "Vita Nouva". "Hamlet" is a putdown on the play that everyone "loves" so much--with the exception of the writer of this sentence. "Dialogue" is a well crafted arguement of the essence of the poetic plays and how they fit into modern--it was written in 1922--times. This book is pure genius, although at points rather "holier-than-thou." Eliot was a genius and he makes sure to let you know it in his essays.

T.S. Eliot was the dominant figure in modernist literature not just because of his poetry, but also because of his criticism which changed our view of English literature in ways which can still be felt today. He resurrected the forgotten John Donne and had him eclipse John Milton as idol of poetry. He showed that Shakespeare was not the only playwright of his time. He was brillitant at explaining what made modernist literature different from its perdecessors.

Eliot's style is a pleasure to read compared to what passes as lit crit today. Many of his insights may seem outdated, but any student of literature will find fascinating views, especially about Elizabethan literature.

Once again Octavio Paz expresses his love and passion for India and things Indian but this time through his poetry. They style is fluid, sensual and evocative, add to it a plethora of colorful imageries.

A Tale of Two Gardens is a collection of poems dealing with Nobel laureate Octavio Paz relationship with the great nation of India. He made many trips there over the years. Paz was also the Mexican ambassador to India. (He resigned the position in 1968 to protest government assault on protesters.) There were still later sojourns to India afterwards. Mutra is a really strong poem. It is a flower that grows with each subsequent reading. Few cities have ever been so aptly honoured. Another of the poems I like is The Balcony. Wind From All Compass Points is another standout. The whole collection is a grand achievement. India is the most enduring civilization on the planet. It is only fitting that one of the most enduring poets of the twentieth century should write a poetic tribute. These poems were written over a period of forty years. The love and passion Paz feels for Indian culture and peoples is recurrent in these poems. This was truly his second home. It was the second garden so to speak. And from this love of India came a great gift of poetry for the rest of the world to read and know.

This is a wonderful collection of Bei Dao's most recent works. What I love most about his poetry is the way it grapples with language in a way that is not quite surreal but not concrete either. Many of the poems are self reflective in that they ponder what it means to be a poet writing and thinking in a language that is not the same as the places of his "exile" (Western Europe and the United States). Although, in my opinion, the book of poetry prior to this collection, called Old Snow, is an even stronger statement on these issues. You can tell from the poetry that the current political situation of China, and an alienation are still fresh in Bei Dao's mind (I have talked briefly with Bei Dao about some of these issues). I have no doubt that he will find a place as one of the great poets of the modern age.

the book, also, never mentions barbed wire but makes barbed wire come to mind. Bei Dao's writing is some of the most pressing, urgent poetry I have ever read. The man is a great poetic genius. With lines about such things as the wind closing its iron fist, Bei Dao speaks with power & elegance against repression & of the absolute importance of the individual. This book is very important. Bei Dao has made himself a significant man. Context of human value. According to Jonathan Spence from the New York Times Book Review, Bei Dao "was obliged to create a new poetic idiom that was simultaneously a protective camouflage and an appropriate vehicle for 'unreality.'" According to highly respected poet Robert Hass, "[A Bei Dao poem] feels as if it follows the pulse of consciousness, as it moves from metaphor to metaphor, thought to thought, something like a pilot light turned down to the jets and flickers of a single, intense, blue flame." Something else that's nice about this book is that it's bilingual, & Bei Dao was active in the translation process.

I've always been a fan of Vicki Lawrence and purchased her autobiography knowing I would enjoy it. And I did. It's great to read about how Vicki broke into show business, being discovered at the age of seventeen by superstar Carol Burnett. As a result, Vicki was thrusted into the limelight when she became a regular on Burnett's new variety series in 1967. Vicki writes about her struggles to complete college while being on a hit show and being torn over wanting to quit over her parent's objections. Miss Lawrence also writes about her strained relationship with her mother, who often faked suicide to meet her demands. Vicki also takes us through her successes as a Number One pop artist and gives us behind-the-scene tales of portraying "Mama" on the long-running "Mama's Family" television series. I've read the book twice now and am going for a third. I really enjoyed it.

I just received an autographed copy of "Vicki!" for Christmas, and I read it in 7 hours. I couldn't put it down! Lawrence has incredible wit and humor in her writing, and frequently makes the reader laugh unexpectedly. It's amazing what a truly adventurous life she has lead! The only negative thing is seeing how horribly she was treated by her cruel sister, mother, first husband, and certain business affiliates. Lawrence not once appeared to be "mean-spirited" to anyone. Instead, she rightfully justified wrongs that were done to her. Otherwise, "Vicki!" is a joy to read, and has more pictures than any other autobiography I have read. From "The Carol Burnett Show" to "Mama's Family" to "Win, Lose, or Draw" to "Vicki!", this book is sure to entertain you for hours on end. I already can't wait for my next reading . . . and take it from me, it *does* make a great gift!

Jan Eliot's second Stone Soup collection is funny and wry, with very realistic characters and a sense of humor *and* plot. Stone Soup is a family-based comic strip that fans of Foxtrot should enjoy; some elements of the two strips are similar.

Val Stone is a widowed, working mother of teenaged Holly and preteen Alix - and they share their house with Val's sister, Joan, Joan's two-year-old son, Max, and Joan and Val's mother. Also, in this collection, they add Biscuit, who deserves not only a special mention but a special prize - Most Realistic Pet in Comic Strip Land. Val and Joan have too much to do, too little time, and too little money...a common story. But Eliot makes it fresh and fun.

My only complaints about this collection come from the Sunday strips. As in the first Stone Soup book, the Sundays aren't in color. Also, for some reason, some of the Sunday strips in the second book are repeats from the first book - strange, because nothing else seems to be.

All in all, though, a good collection, well worth any comic strip lover's time - as is Eliot's explanation of the title in her preface.

The publisher's blurb has it right: anyone who's ever been in afamily or known a family seems to like Stone Soup. You'll appreciatethis strip for mirroring the ways in which your family makes you nuts, the ways in which your family makes you smile, and the ways in which your family and other people's families really make you wonder.

The specifics of the characters' bios matter less than their wit. For instance: There's a toddler boy here named Max -- but his humor is for everyone, not just toddlers and parents. We all have our inner toddler, and we all know people who act like toddlers, and these strips are just plain funny, no matter where you're coming from. That holds for the other Stone Soup characters too.

This is a strip that winds up passed around among friends, pasted on the fridge, and re-read many times. If you need some empathy OR a good laugh, do yourself a favor and check out Stone Soup! END

The recipies in this book were submitted by French magazine readers, and cover a wide variety of traditional preservation techniques: preserving with vinegar, oil and sugar; preserving with alcohol; preserving by lactic fermentation; and several other techniques.

If you're looking for straightforward, easy, safe recipies for preserving food, you'll find this book a mixed blessing. Many recipies omit quantities, and few of them have been tried in any sort of test kitchen. Most importantly, a number of these traditional recipies involve important food-safety issues--as the book itself repeatedly makes clear. You will, however, find many excellent ideas in the chapters on oil, vinegar, sugar and alcohol.

If, however, you're interested in traditional food-preservation techniques, this book is uniformly excellent. The chapter on lactic fermentation of vegetables is fascinating, and the diversity of preservation techniques is remarkable.

"Keeping Food Fresh" is a compilation of recipes for preserving food contributed by readers of a French gardening magazine. It was originally published in French and has been translated to English with care. Recipes for frozen or canned products were omitted to allow a focus on older, more traditional methods.

The material presented is perhaps best used by the American reader as a point of reference when evaluating other recipes. It also could serve as the starting point for experimentation. It is not a cookbook in that the recipes come from many sources and do not appear to have been checked in a test kitchen. Some of the quantities betray their metric roots, since few recipes in this country would call for 11 pounds of an ingredient.

Some recipes clearly do not meet USDA safety guidelines, as is pointed out in the editorial comments.

Those who appreciate Eliot Coleman's writing should realize that his writing in this book is limited to the introductory material.

Overall, I found the book to be an interesting read, with much unique knowledge not available elsewhere. It approaches "primary source" material in that the traditional family recipes have undergone little editing, thus their historical fabric is more effectively captured.

I can't recommend this book highly enough! If you are interested in delicious, safe ways to preserve food without the need for a freezer, canner, or other equipment, this is the book for you. Written in a wonderfully personable style by gardeners and farmers who've been using these recipes all their lives.