This is a great book that provides clear and concise insight into the life of Arthur Alexander. The story behind the singer, the songwriter and a true influence behind some of the greatest figures of rock and roll. This story should be made into a movie so everyone can learn about this unsung hero. Richard Younger has researched Arthur's life, the people he affected directly, and the soul of this talented man. READ THIS BOOK AND LEARN THE STORY OF A MAN WHO DESERVES TO BE RECOGNIZED AND REMEMBERED!!!

After being a fan of Arthur Alexander in the early sixties he seemed to drop out of sight, occassional records but very little else seemed to appear, this book puts the record straight and fills in all those gaps. It also goes a long way to answering the reasons that he did not make it to the position in the music scene that his undoubted talent deserved. The book is very well written by Richard Younger who obviously felt very deeply about the subject, he deals with the problems that AA encountered in his music career and his private life. It was sad that at the very time that AA was begining to make a comeback and he was again showing the talent that was always there he was taken from us. He had become religious during the last few years and this seemed to have a calming effect on him and I am sure that he would have again had big selling records. Thank you Richard for an insight into the life of Arthur Alexander through the highs and lows.

Arthur Alexander was always a mystery man - till now! Richard Younger's biography of one of the most distinctive and influential black singers of the 60s sheds sympathetic illumination upon the life, the music - and the demons - of this woefully underrated singer/songwriter (the only writer to have songs cut by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan). AA's hugely-satisfying vocals married to his distinctive soul-country arrangements (his reputation was founded on just four 1962 Dot-label singles) emerged moments before the UK beat boom swept the globe and was crucial in its influence on the Beatles and the Stones. Younger's book explains how it all came about, taking us on a roller-coaster ride through AA's life of musical and personal extremes. With a series of revealing interviews he transports us to the heart of the Alabama music scene and charts Arthur's role in the foundation of the Muscle Shoals/Fame recording empires. Whether you're a long-term Alexander devotee, a soul music buff, or simply a Sixties survivor, then you'll find this unputdown-able tome a tonic that'll have you listening with a fresh ear to those perennial Alexander classics.

This is an absolutely first rate book about American Jews in the 1920's and the efforts of several Jews, including Al Jolson and gangster Arnold Rothstein, to find a comfortable place in American society. This book has it all- crime, entertainment, law, bootlegging, etc. and is really, really difficult to put down. Excellently written and absolutely riveting

Dr. Alexander has provided us with an indispensable book. He manages to combine deftly different fields of scholarship, and his book is admirably lucid and short. Historians of modern religion, modern Jewry, ethnic identity, and plain old American history should read this book. In fact, they are professionally derelict if they don't. As for the rest of us, those just interested in a page-turner, this book has sex, violence, gambling, and, if not quite rock and roll, at least a precursor of it.

This is one of those books that's virtually impossible to put down once you've started. With an anecdotally proven thesis (that I happen to agree with strongly) whether you agree with it or not, it definitely gets you thinking... not so much about why the three individuals chosen identified with the subcultures they did, but why they received such strong support in the community. One might wonder though whether is was what they stood for, or really, simply "colorful" characters simply "making it" by becoming celebrities - - even if some of some of what they did was a "shande". Still, it is part of the Jewish conscience to integrate into American society yet "feel" if not be somewhat of an outsider, so perhaps they were the ultimate symbol of this - - Jews living the American dream... yet living on the fringes of it as well.

Written like an E.L. Doctoreau novel, Alexander tells the stories with ease and insight, painting great portraits of the men and the era... This is one of those books you lend out to all your friends, and buy new new copies when they're not returned when you get that inevitable urge to read it again !

Carol Lea Benjamin has been a dog trainer and private investigator. Her heroine, Rachel Alexander, a dog-trainer-turned-PI, comes from a traditional Jewish family that disapproves of both her occupations. Like Rachel's family, and like Rachel herself, we readers find ourselves asking, "How did she get into this?"
The Long Good Boy is sixth in the series featuring Rachel and her sidekick Dashiell, a superbly trained pit bull, with guide dog certifications that let him stay close to Rachel wherever she goes. And Rachel needs help when she enters Manhattan's meat-packing district to help three transvestite hookers find out who murdered one of their friends -- and whether one of them might be the next victim.
Rachel learns that another murder took place nearby, just the night before "Rosalinda" was murdered. Coincidence? Not likely. Determined to unearth the connection, Rachel goes undercover in a part-time sales job at Saks, finds creative ways to, um, release the files she needs from the meat company, and takes to the streets for a brief but memorable stroll.
Benjamin always plays fair. Dogs don't talk or solve crimes. Any top-dog trainer could turn Chi-Chi's tiny dachsund, Clint, into a competent burglar when Dashiell turns out to be the wrong size. Dog lovers will recognize Clint's expression after the first training session: "Thank goodness somebody finally realized I have a brain."
Benjamin's vividly depicts a world most readers would just as soon not know about: "tranny" hookers trying to earn money for dope, getting into strange cars, negotiating with "pimps" who are not much into employee relations. Yet the characters are portrayed three-dimensionally, sympathetically but not sentimentally. And somehow Benjamin manages to maintain the style of a "cozy" mystery in this totally un-cozy setting -- the sign of an author who is very much on top of her craft.

Carol Lea Benjamin has been a dog trainer and private investigator. Her heroine, Rachel Alexander, a dog-trainer-turned-PI, comes from a traditional Jewish family that disapproves of both her occupations. Like Rachel's family, and like Rachel herself, we readers find ourselves asking, "How did she get into this?"
The Long Good Boy is sixth in the series featuring Rachel and her sidekick Dashiell, a superbly trained pit bull, with guide dog certifications that let him stay close to Rachel wherever she goes. And Rachel needs help when she enters Manhattan's meat-packing district to help three transvestite hookers find out who murdered one of their friends -- and whether one of them might be the next victim.
Rachel learns that another murder took place nearby, just the night before "Rosalinda" was murdered. Coincidence? Not likely. Determined to unearth the connection, Rachel goes undercover in a part-time sales job at Saks, finds creative ways to, um, release the files she needs from the meat company, and takes to the streets for a brief but memorable stroll.
Benjamin always plays fair. Dogs don't talk or solve crimes. Any top-dog trainer could turn Chi-Chi's tiny dachsund, Clint, into a competent burglar when Dashiell turns out to be the wrong size. Dog lovers will recognize Clint's expression after the first training session: "Thank goodness somebody finally realized I have a brain."
Benjamin's vividly depicts a world most readers would just as soon not know about: "tranny" hookers trying to earn money for dope, getting into strange cars, negotiating with "pimps" who are not much into employee relations. Yet the characters are portrayed three-dimensionally, sympathetically but not sentimentally. And somehow Benjamin manages to maintain the style of a "cozy" mystery in this totally un-cozy setting -- the sign of an author who is very much on top of her craft.

Rachel Alexander is on her strangest case yet. He is hired by three transvestite hookers to find the killer of their friend Rosalinda. The manager of the local meat plant was killed the same night, and Rachel thinks there is a connection.

This is a very taut thriller. I couldn't put it down. The characters are bizarre and very real. I can't wait for the next Rachel and Dash mystery.

A friend of mine gave me this book, and, after reading it, I remarked to him that, if it weren't against Neill's "principles of freedom," Summerhill should be mandatory reading for everyone who wants to become a parent, before they can have children! This was one of the best books I've ever read. I instantly recognized many elements in Neill's teachings, and realized my parents had used some of them in my upbringing. I have bought this book for all of my friends who have or plan to have children, and I plan to read my own copy over and over, as I raise my own. If more people knew about and studied Neill's teachings, the recent violence in schools would not exist, and our current society would be a much healthier and happier place.

This book was given to me by a well meaning friend, who brought up her kids this way. I loved it and think that the titel should be revised "a sensible approach to child rearing". The book might be a little old but has not lost any of its appeal today. It is a valid, reassuring and very helpful guide to viewing child rearing from a new perspective for many - even today. It took me a while to track down some more copies of this book, but the chase was well worth it. I think I will keep this book for another 20 years and will return to it many times over, whilst raising my daughter...

I am in college and in the process of reading this book for a book review for my parenting class. My mother recommended it to me because it was the book that she based her methods of child rearing after. I am 20 years old and number 7 out of the 8 children in my family. None of us are psychopaths, all of us are quite happy. My parents did give us a lot of freedom when we were being raised and am grateful to them for it. I love life and I love my family dearly. As I prepare for marraige and raising children, I am sure I will look to this book frequently for inspiration.

I was entranced by this book (and even by the schlocky Disney movie) when I was a kid, and remembered Tony and Tia vividly as I grew up. I just reread the book for the first time as an adult, and it still works its magic. Anyone who knows or strongly recalls the pain, rage, and suffocating frustration of being a child surrounded by unsympathetic, uncaring, irrational adults will identify powerfully with all the trials T&T go through. I used to long for a "people" of my own to reunite with, and envy T&T for their finding this at last, despite all the harrowing disasters they undergo on the way. The story is haunting and moving.

I've only given 4 stars because the story does seem a tad dated now in several aspects: the writing style at times (but I like old-fashioned writing), the fact that they are rescued from their crisis by adults rather than pulling themselves out of it (violating today's usual doctrine for good children's lit), and the politics, sort of. About the politics, one of the "good guys" makes disparaging remarks about communists in a way that really sounds pretty old and simplistic (not that I'm a huge fan of communists), plus, he conveys a clear message about God and Christianity that I find mildly offensive. However, this is balanced by the fact that he also makes disparaging remarks about the rampant commercialism of American society; so his criticism is at least even-handed.

I want to close by reiterating that to me, these minor negative points are vastly outweighed by the magic and the power of the story, and of Tony and Tia. They are marvelous people that I wish I knew personally; they face genuine danger and difficulties with aplomb; their love for one another is well developed and not gooey; they are courageous and resourceful; their magical abilities are well thought up by Key, and complement each other; and all in all, they impart a wistful sense that the world would be a better place if people like this really existed.

I hadn't thought of this book for many years. This book (along with another by the same author "The Forgotten Door") set me on a lifetime of reading science fiction and fantasy. I have rarely rediscovered the sheer unadulterated *magic* that I felt while reading this book. Tony and Tia are teens and most teens will relate to them and will get caught up in the mystery and the adventure. I haven't reread it in years and years but I remain certain that for young readers this would be a book they would treasure. Forget about the Disney movie: It was silly popcorn fluff that I am sure crushingly disappointed every fan of the book. This book is about as serious as young adult science fiction gets. (And for those adults who enjoy Harry Potter: take a look at this book too! You won't be disappointed!)

I loved this book when I was a girl and I still love it. I liked it better than the movie. I really wished that Disney had followed the book instead of doing the hatchet job that they did.

From the very first page and the very first (of many) readings this beautifully illustrated story had my granddaughter and I laughing, pointing, and noticing all sorts of details in both the story and illustrations. We admired the beautiful clothing worn by the women and children. We imagined how wonderful it would be to visit such a place, and we found a fortune telling ball at a local novelty store to play with. This humorously told, universally appealing story shows us how we tend to look outside ourselves for the good fortunes we really have to create from within, with our own imagination and hard work.

We've travelled 40 miles to the city library several times over the last few years to check this book out. The last time, we had to wait for it to get back from the binders for repairs, and I realized I'd better find my own copy, because it could disappear, and it has become one of my personal "classics" for sharing with children. So I am ordering two; one for ourselves, and one for our little library here in town. (My granddaughter is seven years old now, and delights in reading the Fortune Teller herself, and will no doubt be reading it to her baby sister when she is old enough!) We highly recommend it!

I sell many of the used books I buy at library sales but I won't sell this one. A fun story with beautiful, bright illustrations.

This whimsical tale set in Cameroon is beautifully illustrated and told in such a fashion that children, as well as adults, will smile with delight as the events unfold. As an introduction to the different cultures of Africa, I read this one to my seventh graders and they were enthralled by the "predictions" of the old seer. A book that is perfect for the small set, it also has insight for more mature readers as to how we are so taken in by the allure of the psychic and his/her "revelations."

"Rope Trick" is both similar and different from many of Lloyd Alexander's previous works, and it seems first and foremost to be a study on the characters rather than a story. Not that that's a bad thing -- Alexander's plot is intriguing, fresh, and has plenty of lovable and complex people.

Lidi is an excellent magician, but there is one magic trick that she doesn't know: The fabled rope trick. She and her kindly mentor Jericho rescue a neglected orphan from an abusive innkeeper, and find that little Daniella can predict the future. No sooner have the two made her an "Added Attraction" (she predicted that too) than they encounter a young outlaw named Julian sleeping under their wagon. A scuffle with soldiers sends them on the run to another province.

There they bump into many different people who have encountered the strange magician Ferramondo, who is seen differently by every person. He also knows the rope trick. Lidi begins a desperate search for Ferramondo, convinced that she will not be a true magician until she does. But sinister men are trying to get hold of Daniella for their own gain, and Julian is seeking revenge against "Baboon," the man who killed his uncle and drove him to become an outlaw.

This book is somewhat different from most of Alexander's books. The protagonist is a young girl rather than a boy (even the Vesper Holly books were narrated by a man) with a sad past, and there are more serious, melancholy themes. Julian in particular is a break from Alexander's naive young heroes-in-training, who learn their lessons along the way. It's also full of more introspection, as Lidi often stops to contemplate herself and others. The love story between Lidi and Julian is handled with delicacy, and goes very gradually over the book.

Perhaps the biggest problem is the finale. It's more than a little difficult to understand why what happens does happen, as it doesn't really seem to be entirely connected to the plotline behind it. It is, however, an interesting development and opens possible paths to a sequel; the various subplots are woven together like... well, like a rope. Alexander's writing is spare but amazingly evocative, and his dialogue is full of the same pep and charm as ever.

Fans of Lloyd Alexander will find an enjoyable tale of magic and mystery, and newcomers will enjoy this introduction to Alexander's work. Not his best, but a very good read.

This book was great!I tried to put it down, but found myself picking it up again. I liked the characters. Lidi isn't one of those mushy, shy girls that usually star in books. I really like Julian and Jericho and I definately loved Daniella. You should give this book a chance.

Let's get this straight - In his School Library Journal review of "The Rope Trick," that Amazon uses as a review of this book, John Peters gets nothing right, to the point that is makes me wonder whether he just flipped to the last few pages in order to mail in his review and collect a check.

This book is brilliant, a challenging work designed to tax the reading and comprehension levels of young teens. Besides giving away a major part of the ending, Peters badly misconstrues major themes in the work. This is a book about how we see God - in our own image, mostly - and how we each find our path to God. It is a major book for young teens that addresses issues such as causes of sectarian conflict as well as the individual's relationship to the Divine.

Read this book, and more importantly get your your young teenaged readers to read it, and then discuss it with them. You and they will not be disappointed. Ignore anything Peters writes - same result.

A strange and unaccountable gift to translators. If "habitación" means "room" and "departamento" apartment, "sentenciosas calles" are streets as sententious as night is unanimous. As if in response to his world fame, Borges rests his intricate and detailed labyrinths on a legerdemain that extends from "Invocation to Joyce" (a poem whose jest relies on a simple allusion: "I am the other ones"-the lesser moderns who sing this ode) to "The weft" ("La trama", not "La telaraña", "The web"); the delicacy of construction hinges on the isolation of "weft" as the middle term between a tacit principal and a stated ultima, which is the grandest example of Nabokov's critique:

A poet's death is, after all,
a question of technique, a neat
enjambment, a melodic fall.

The later poems also admit an unheard-of rage in "The accomplice", which begins, "They crucify me. I have to be the cross, the nails", ending with "My fortune or misfortune does not matter./I am the poet."

Borges, for whom Stravinsky meant a sort of senseless hilarity, records a musical impression in "Music box" and writes a poem "To Johannes Brahms", of all people. A characteristic drollery is made into "Nostalgia for the present":

At that precise moment to himself the man said:
What would I not give
to be with you in Iceland
under the grand immobile daytime
and share this now
like sharing music
or the taste of fruit.
At that precise moment
the man was together with her in Iceland.

The reader will note that "La cifra" ("The cipher") is given an entirely suppositional translation as "The limit", that a general melancholy prevails on the English side that masks a vagary rivaling Fowlie's Rimbaud, which is the only Rimbaud we have. This is not an improvement on the 1972 edition; its advantage is an extended selection. Florid paraphrase, inaccuracy and a few howlers punctuate it. It is overpriced and not particularly well-manufactured. Sixty years of poetic labor are represented. The last poem here, "The weft" (translated as "The web") is his finest. The mirrors and labyrinths of "The cypress leaves" are real and functional. He visits Spain without "myths and masks", and in Japan sees the face of Buddha in a dream. Mexico is a delicate nightmare:

...The yard filled
With slow slight moonlight no-one sees, the sere
Violet in forgotten Nájera's pages...

Whatever conclusion one may draw from Rimbaud in English to Jim Morrison, Poet, one is likely to miss a certain crucial subtlety here. There is something new in Borges' poetry after "El oro de los tigres", which I think is announced in the last lines of "Susana Bombal":

Behind myth and mask
her soul alone.

The Spanish originals allow the reader to judge for himself the peformance of this capital poet. Noted names have given us a translation for reworking.

Although in the beginning I ignored the Spanish, the English should serve as little more than a crutch for those who study Spanish. Heck, I'm a lowly second-year student and as I'm plugging away at the book, I'm amazed at how great the translations are on their own -- and how little they show Borges' style to an English audience. The poems are great in either language -- but if you have a knowledge of Spanish, you'd be best off buying a completely Spanish volume if you could find it for less.

i got this wonderful book as a very unexpected christmas gift. i don't speak spanish, so can't address the claims that the translations are inadequate.

what is here in english, taken on those terms alone, is till great. recurring themes of tigers, mirrors, his beloved hometown, the history of literature, the bible, memory, distortions in time & space, heaven and hell weave themselves through over six decades of dazzling images and heartbreaking tenderness.

it's also playful- filled with bits from imagined histories and books which i almost find myself wanting to locate, as these little bits are too beautiful to be unreal.

This was one of the most captivating adventures I've read about in a long time. I'm a slow reader, and enjoy savoring the details of a good book, but still surprised myself as I finished this in (for me) record time. J. A. Thom's intensely sensitive portrayal of the conflicted and insightful soul of Lewis and Clark's half Shawnee, half French communicator and hunter, George Drouillard, made the details of two-year expedition come alive. Other accountings I've read of the Lewis and Clark Expedition left me dry, but Thom fills in the facts with riveting narrative and anchors it with fascinating historical journal entries. A thoroughly good read. Thank you, Mr. Thom.

Thom's Sign Talker draws in the reader from the very start. This is an action-packed, intelligent, effective novel that vividly leads you through the trials and triumphs of Lewis and Clark's journey, as seen through the eyes of their Native American interpreter. As always, Thom gives life to his characters with tremendous insight into human nature. A respectable novel I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoys adventure and history.

If you are interested in the Lewis and Clark expedition,
then this is the book for you. It is one of the best books
I have ever read. It brought the expedition to life for me
and made me feel like I was there. My main problem with
the book is that it is a novel. I would have preferred a
biography, even though a biography would not have been as
much fun to read. On almost every page I found myself
asking, "Did Thom make this up, or did it really happen?"
Here are a few examples. Did George Drouillard think of
himself as 100% Indian, Indian and French, or French?
Did Drouillard have a special friendship with Clark's
black slave, York? Was Drouillard so bold as to frequently
pester York for York to ask Clark for his freedom and get
away? Was Lewis slightly crazy at the beginning of the
expedition, or did he go crazy as the trip progressed?
Could Drouillard conduct detailed and complex conversations
with every Indian tribe he met, using only sign language?
Did Drouillard have the wisdom and attitude of a twentieth-
century liberal?

This book has many fine features but has two serious drawbacks as well.

On the positive side, I have never read a more complete polemic in favor of the hedge fund industry. He shreds EMF with loads of good evidence and humorous anecdotes. However, there seems to be a constant drive to reinforce this point. Unfortunately, it takes away from a more thorough analysis of the types of hedge fund investing.

Another problem with the book is that it has trouble discovering its audience. At times, we get detailed descriptions of what alpha and beta represent (Finance 101) and at other times, abstruse PM concepts are brushed over as common knowledge.

I would definitely recommend this book but I recommend that the reader is accompanied by a Dictionary of Finance and Investing.

This is an excellent introduction for potential investors to assess risk and reward.

For more on new hedge fund products, hedge fund leverage, and off-balance sheet risk, I also highly recommend Tavakoli's "Credit Derivatives" 2nd Edition.

Alex writes well and helps one understand hedge funds in a logical way.