While the book is an interesting and entertaining read, most of it is untrue and horribly researched. The one star review lower on this page got it right. The facts that Mr. Allen gave as the boy's identity, his father, and where this all happened are all dead wrong. Nothing ever happened in the town or house that he said it did. It was apparent that Mr. Allen did minimal digging into the subject and just took what he found and threw it on the page with nothing to back it up with. What's even odder about this is how easily the real information(from the "Strange" Magazine)was found by that reporter. That Mr. Allen didn't take enough time to see that what was in front of his face was horribly wrong and what was right was not hard to figure out. When Mr. Allen was even contacted by the other reporter, he seemed to not care or answer any questions as to why he didn't go further to find the real truth. Everything he has stated about the boy and the location, is all wrong. Even the possessed boy himself stated that he never lived there and didn't know why people thought that. While the book is an interesting read, it can only be categorized under 'fiction', because that is what it is.

When I first read this book in its previous edition, I, too, was impressed with its supposedly accurate and dispassionate account of a true-life exorcism. That was before I read the extensive "Strange" magazine article debunking the case, which shows up the shoddy lack of research conducted by Allen. (In fact, Allen ends up looking like the Erich von Daniken of exorcism scholarship.) "Strange" magazine's investigative research discovered a whole lot that Allen apparently did not (or did not wish to reveal), such as the fact that the case did not take place in Mount Rainier, Maryland, as press reports stated, and the fact that the boy's father did not believe his son was possessed. The "Strange" magazine researcher not only tracked down the identity of the "haunted boy," but interviewed former neighbors, friends, and classmates -- basic research that Allen failed to do. The actual facts are quite different from those claimed in Allen's highly sensationalized and fanciful account.

I have always wanted to tell this story someplace, and here seems as good a place as any. I swear that what I am about to describe really happened. It was pretty scary.

Although we now live in Pennsylvania, my husband and I used to live in St. Louis. We know where the Alexian Brothers Hospital is and some of the other landmarks in the book. When this book came out it was released in St. Louis first, before it had a nation-wide release. I purchased the book with the intention of sending it to my father in NY State as he had liked the movie The Exorcist.

The first night I read 1/2 of the book. The following day while cleaning the livingroom I heard the distinct sound of rapping and/or scratching coming from a corner of the room, up near the ceiling. My husband laughed it off as either a mouse or my over- active imagination from the book, but later that night he heard it too. We had never in over 10 years had a problem with animals or mice in the walls, etc. In the book...the possession starts with rapping sounds.

That night I read the rest of the book, although by this time I was a little frightened. The following morning my mother in NY State called to tell me of an odd occurrance. The phone had rang the day before and when she answered it the person asked for "Sadie", my mother's name. When she said, "This is Sadie" the person started talking, according to my mother, "gibberish". She couldnt understand what they were saying or even if it was a male or female or what language they were speaking. When she asked who it was the person stated "Emily" which is my name. My mother said, "This is Emily, my daughter?" to which the person said, "yes" and then started speaking gibberish again. My mother hung up.

What is odd is that the phone number at the time was listed only in my father's name and I hadnt lived at home for almost 10 years. How did this person know BOTH of our names?

Because this freaked me out even more, that day I wrapped up the book and sent it to my parents. I didnt hear anything about it until about a week later when I asked my mother if she had the book, she said she did, and that my father would thank me for it but he wasnt at home. I asked where he was and she said that he was at the hardware store buying mouse traps as "We have heard scratching in the walls for a week now, so we must have a mouse."

This incident happened about 10 years ago. Nothing else happened after that, my parents never caught a mouse, the scratching stopped, and the book appears to be lost as I havent seen it when I have been over there. But it was very odd when it happened.

So...read the book, it is a fascinating story. But if anything odd happens to you or your family, please write a review and let me know. Thanks.

An excellent summary of the roles played by government, competitors, and the AT&T corporate culture in the 1982 break-up of the telecommunications giant. Many other books on this subject have taken a technological approach, claiming the impetus for government action was rapid technological change. Temin argues that a confusion over pricing structures between inter- and intra- state exchanges dating to the New Deal, combined with FCC decisions which allowed entrants into segments of the regulated monopolies businesses forced government action in the late 1970's. Temin's key is the misunderstanding of how to allocate the cost of long distance calls as a proportion of the service provided by local switching equipment. The FCC's confusion on this matter in the 1950's and 60's extended to the courts, congress, the executive branch, and especially the Anti-Trust Division failed to offer AT&T a clear picture of what it was expected to be; A regulated monopoly, employing national averaged prices, or a competitor which was free to compete with MCI and other entrants when the FCC allowed entrants in specific markets. When AT&T cut prices to compete, it was seen as a predatory pricer. When it stuck to its role as "the efficient operator of the national telephone network," (Temin, p.27) it was accused of denying access to competitors. This sympathetic treatment of AT&T's problems is an excellent narrative. The Fall of the Bell System contains numerous primary source documents provided by the company.

The definitive history of the AT&T breakup by an MIT historian. Prepared with the full cooperation (and some sponsorship) of AT&T so thus it has all the inside scoop, although at times it's more sympathetic to AT&T than other academic treatments. But it has much less of an axe to grind than other books from the era, and also shows how divestiture became inevitable after earlier decisions by AT&T, rivals and the government.

One of the most complete general works on African Art and well worth purchasing for detailed information on the variation in art form, tribe, country and art style in Africa. Almost full tribal location information and regionalised art details makes this book a must for the serious collector and student on the subject. From early Egyptian to more recent times, it is a book you have to read several times to understand that no one can ever know the true depth and complexity within the African Art world. A good all round reference book on a much missunderstood and underated art form.

Mark Farley

Zorn's creation is fun to build, nice to look at, and fairly difficult to construct if you want to make it look good. The book contains 5 pages of pictures and info on the real plane and flight, and then it gets to the hard part. Mastering the skill of working with the paper is the first challenge. I learned that cutting with scissors is usually better than an X-acto knife when possible. Also, make sure to not use too much glue (I used Elmers) or it will warp the paper, and avoid getting gluey finger-prints on the outside. This is a great model of the Spirit of St. Louis but the only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because there are some steps that are not illustrated very well and some creativity is required. Step 30, where the rudder is glued into the rear fuselage is one such step. However, the plane still looks great and the problems "wouldn't be noticed on a galloping horse" (except by the builder.) Buy it! and enjoy.

This is a very good book which gives an overall review of family medicine. Would recommend it for medical students and family practice residents

I purchased this book for my three year old Rugrats fan. He is going to be a big brother soon, and I found that this book has helped him understand about the attention that new babies receive. The illustrations are very colorful and he enjoys looking at them while I read. The plot is typical of a Rugrats TV episode, and the book also includes Chuckie and his Dad. I would recommend this book for any child that loves Rugrats, especially those that are expecting a new addition to their family.

I am amazed that this little book is no longer in print. I would give one to every tourist who boards the St. Charles streetcar downtown. It gives a capsule of New Orleans history and fascinating detail of the machine itself, with special focus on the origon of the service... the St. Charles line was one of the very first street railways, and is THE oldest surviving one.

It's not easy to read the book straight through: only a third or so of the buildings described are illustrated. But then, you're expected to be viewing them from the streetcar, and the paper-bound booklet is about 5x7", small enough to be carried easily.

The pictures are line drawings rather than photographs. Side excursions through the neighborhoods are also described, and most would be still useful today, though shopping, eateries, and the Audubon Zoo have substantially changed. The descriptions of buildings is excellent, and fairly accurate.

I congratulate the authors for this reference work, which today is of benefit mostly to tour guides. I wish it could be updated and reprinted!

I believe that Kidnapped is one of the books that will keep the reader at the edge of his seat. Kidnapped is a book, which is suitable for all children and adults. No matter how many times you have read it, you will want to read it over and over. Adventure, suspense and treachery, Kidnapped has all of it.
The adventure starts with David Balfour, a young boy whose father has just recently passed away. David inherits his will and sets off to claim it. Upon claiming his inheritance, he meets his uncle. His uncle obviously wanted the inheritance, kidnapped David in a ship and sets him off far away. David survives the shipwrecked and is rescued by Alan, a dare devil rogue. There they built a long lasting friendship and together, escapes to freedom. In the end, courage, hope and believing in faith help David to his destination.
To end this paragraph, Kidnapped is a must read book for those who love suspense, adventure and treachery. The book makes the reader as if he's David Balfour and has to escape to freedom.

Let me tell you now that 'Kidnapped' is my personal favourite, and I've already read it four times! You'll never get a moment to pause to take a yawn. R.L. Stevenson with his superb writing capabilities writes of a young man named David Balfour. When his father dies, he is told to go to his uncle's house. After several failed attempts to kill David the wicked uncle sells him off to a skipper of a ship. In the course of his stay on the ship David meets the Jacobite, Alan. I can't describe the novel in words you gotta read it to know what you are really in for! This is the greatest adventure novel I've ever read. If you have read Stevenson's 'Treasure Island' then you won't be disappionted with this one.

I missed this one as a kid, which is too bad, because I think I would have appreciated it then as well. Set following the failed Scottish rebellion, 'Kidnapped' tells the story of young David Balfour, whose greedy uncle tries to cheat him out of his inheritance by having him kidnapped and sold in the American colonies as a slave. On the way, however, he befriends a Jacobite rebel and is instead caught up in the Scottish troubles and has to fight his way back to his home and claim his inheritance. The adventure is all the more exciting because it feels like such a real world with all the careful place-related detail Stevenson employs. While the language can be difficult in places, that quickly fades once you get into the rhythm of the book.

...or were other readers put off by the self-congratulatory, faux-humble erotic obsessions of the narrator? Did anyone else have trouble imagining that this viewpoint was other than an extension of the author's fantasies...all the more icky since he's, like, 4 or 5 times the age of the frolicing tahitian playmates in the book. I don't think I'm a prude and enjoy the racy scene as much as the next reader, but I thought this was spookily voyeuristic, occasionally pedophiliac (is that a word?)

This is one of several books I read before a trip to Tahiti and there were aspects I enjoyed. Bougainville's explorations seem to have been represented pretty faithfully, and gave me a wonderful historic foundation for our own trip. The details were striking enough to stay in my mind even through all the Mai-Tais - and I was certainly ready to forgive errors of first-novel-itis (clumsy backstory opening, occasionally heavy narrative etc.)

But I never did manage to get rid of the ick factor.

Fine novel. At worst, occasionally a little slow; I'm frankly baffled by the extreme negativity of a few of these reviews. It's an act of great courage for a literary critic to try his hand at a work of fiction: most who do so are pilloried. Peter Brooks deserved applause both for trying (we all dream of wirting novels, but most of us don't have the guts or the talent) and for succeeding. Sure, this novel has flaws-- what first novel doesn't? It isn't as good a novel as his works of criticism are, as criticism-- but it's pretty damn good. I found it hard to put down once the Tahiti bit began. Ritual murder, war, and romance are hard to beat if you're looking for summer reading. This novel is perhaps too ambitious: sometimes I thought Brooks should have either written a philosophical novel OR a straightforward adventure story, and at moments the dialogue was somewaht flat. But on the whole, I thorougly recommend this!

I loved this book: Peter Brooks is a fluent writer and the plot keeps the reader's interest throughout. The hero, Charles, is winningly naive; the narrative irony gentle (occasionally too gentle). Brooks' literary criticism made me expect an excellent novel, and I was not disappointed. Bravo, and I look forward to more fiction from Brooks.

Peter Golenbock is the king of the oral history genre in sports writing. In his latest book, he actually takes on the histories of two teams, the vaunted Cardinals and the hapless Browns. In addition to the story of the teams, you get a history lesson of the city of St. Louis which is fairly interesting. Mr. Golenbock spends alot of time on the Cardinals from their origins through the World Series years of the 1960's. After that he spends virtual no time on the 70's teams and very little on the 80's teams even though they won a World Series in '82 and made two others. Trying to grab the younger reader, he devotes too much space to McGwire's home run chase which even though it only took place two years ago, has already be written about to death. The chapters on the Browns are mildly interesting if only for the Bill Veeck stories. Overall the book is a decent read and contains some interesting antidotes from Stan Musial, Red Schoendist, Curt Flood, Tim McCarver, Dizzy Dean and others.

Peter Golenbock is known for his oral histories of such teams as the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers, and this latest book on St. Louis baseball is a worthy addition to the collection. The Cardinals have a storied history, from Rogers Hornsby to Dizzy Dean, from Stan Musial to Bob Gibson, and from Lou Brock to Willie McGee. From a ragtag organization to one of the storied franchises in baseball, this book also details the people who owned and managed the Cards, such as Branch Rickey, Sam Breadon, Gussie Busch and Bing Devine. What makes The Spirit of St. Louis even more of a must-read for baseball fans are the sections devoted to the St. Louis Browns. The Browns were at one time the more popular St. Louis ballclub, and George Sisler was as good a player as any who played in St. Louis. Unfortunately, the Browns suffered through mediocrity, until 1944 when they won the pennant. (and played the Cardinals in the World Series!). The decline of the Browns culminating in owner Bill Veeck putting tiny Eddie Gaedel up to the plate is also of interest.

This is the latest in a series of oral history books Peter Golenbock has written about baseball teams. It looks like this time he bit off more than he could chew. Golenbock tries to tackle the histories of both the St. Louis Cardinals and the St. Louis Browns in one book. It would have been better if he would have split these into two books. He misses out on or glosses over several key events in Cardinal history (Musial's retirement, Torre's MVP are examples) as he tries to cram the histories of two teams in one book.