This book was fabulous. It is considered the first novel ever published by an African American; the author was born into slavery but eventually escaped (his account of this, "Narrative of the Life and Escape of William Wells Brown," is included in the book). Clotel is the main character of the story, a mulatto fathered by Thomas Jefferson.

The novel begins with Currer (Clotel's mother and Jefferson's slave), Clotel, and her sister Althea. After Jefferson goes to Washington, Currer is left with another master, who eventually dies, leaving Currer, Clotel, and Althea to be sold on the auction block. The book then continues to tell the story of what happens to each one.

I've never been very into books about African-American issues or slavery. This wasn't for racial reasons; the whole genre just never sparked my interest, I guess. I decided to give this one a try; sort of dipping my toe into the water to see how it is. The book was great -- very easy to read, intriguing, no parts that dragged on and on. I highly recommend it. The only "down" side is that the chapters tend to skip from person to person, and by the time I came to the next chapter about one of them, I had already sort of forgotten how this person came to be in the situation they were currently in. That's probably just me, though; my memory is awful sometimes. All I had to do was flip back a few chapters and refresh my memory. No big deal.

The book focuses a lot on how religion was used as a justification for slavery. Funny how, one hundred and fifty years later, people are still using religion to justify all sorts of discrimination and violence. Learn a lesson much?

It also brings attention to the fact that there were a lot of slaves who were mulattos and could actually pass for white. For some reason, this never occurred to me. I mean, obviously I knew about the practice of slaveholders having children with their slaves, but the picture of a white slave toiling away in a field just never entered my mind. That's not something I ever heard about in my history classes; it was always "white" owners, "black" slaves.

I can't say enough good things about this book.

The genre of African-American fiction began in 1853 with the publication of this historical novel in England. Even though William Wells Brown, a fugitive slave from America, wrote four versions of this story, the first version was not published in the United States until 1969. The reason this novel was not introduced into American society until this time was because of its reference to the relationship Thomas Jefferson had with his slave, Sally Hemmings. The idea that Sally bore him children, which he sold as slaves, was enough to keep this novel out of the American public's eye forever! Still, this novel found its way here and in later versions, Jefferson's connection to Sally vanished all together. This novel centers on three main characters: Currer, a slave who was once Thomas Jefferson's housekeeper and mistress, and their two daughters, Clotel and Althesa.

The separation of Currer and her two daughters in the beginning of the story provides the actual framework of this novel. Through this separation, Brown is able to create three separate story lines united by the institution of slavery.

The first story line involves Currer's life as a concubine of Thomas Jefferson and later a slave to a Reverend John Peck. Through her life, Brown presents the hypocrisy of the slave owner owning another human being as well as some Christians' biblical approval of it. Brown uses the second story line of Clotel and her relationship with Horatio Green, to depict how vulnerable and hopeless life was for black women under slavery. Horatio adores Clotel so much that he provides her with a home of her own to raise their daughter, Mary. But Horatio desperately wants to further his political career and does so by marrying a white woman by the name of Gertrude. Feeling jealous and threatened by Clotel's presence, Gertrude sells Mary into slavery. The final story line involves the fate of Althesa. Like her sister, Althesa is a concubine to her master Henry Morton. But Morton later marries her and is a loving father to their two children. Even though Althesa experiences true love through marriage and was able to raise her children, the actual tragedy of her situation lies in what happens to her children. Through Althesa's story, Brown proves how her free rank in marriage did not grant freedom for her daughters, which continually shows slavery's disruption of the black family unit.

CLOTEL, though considered melodramatic by some, is an exquisite piece of literature. Its importance is not only tied to the fact that it is the first published work of its kind in this genre, but gives readers a glimpse into the English language used by black people at that time. I think this novel was an excellent start for the genre of African American literature.

This story is very interesting as we are descendants of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson, whose relationship, the historians attempted to erase from history. The only problem with that is they left 1800+ descendants.

It is a good story that should not be discounted because it was not written about by the so call established historians.

As the Dred Scott papers appeared today on line. Many many stories are stillout there that could intrugue us about our county's past

I just recently got hold of this book and I must say, I'm glad I did. Thorough in every way, witty, and full of Frasier facts, no hardcore fan of the show should be without it. What I especially love about this book is that each actor is interviewed individually and gives their insights on their own characters as well as the other characters of the show. There is also a brief summary of the first 72 episodes as well as the entire script of the pilot "The Good Son" and bios of each leading cast member (even Eddie & his trainer!); not to mention lots of great photos. Frasier is without a doubt one of the most intelligent and hilarious American sit-coms ever aired and this companion book really does the show justice. Highly recommended :)

The doctor is in! Welcome to the wonderful world of "Frasier", two hundred and seventy-six pages crammed full of everything you could possibly want to know about the show, the stories, the cast, the callers, the writers and the history of Hollywood's most witty and sophisticated sitcom. Pull up a couch and let me explain... This book is the official guide to the hugely successful situation comedy based around the life, loves, family and friends of Frasier Crane, a character who first appeared on "Cheers" many years ago. Meet Seattle's hottest radio shrink, Dr. Frasier Crane; his stuck-up younger brother and fellow psychiatrist, Dr. Niles Crane; his father, Martin Crane, a retired cop; his radio producer, Roz Doyle; his father's physical therapist, and object of Niles' affections, Daphne Moon; his father's Jack Russel terrier, Eddie; fellow radio personality, Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe; and even Niles' elusive wife, Maris. Sit in on "The Dr. Frasier Crane Show" at KACL, and discover the origins of Dr. Crane's calling card, "I'm listening". Take a trip down memory lane with the show's creators and learn how "Frasier" actually came to grace our screens. Get to know the people involved with the show and let them take you through "A Week in the Life of Frasier" - from first draft to final take in just seven days. Could you ask for more? Well, actually, yes you could. You also get a list of the show's "guest callers"; an episode guide to the first, second and third series; a "Frasier" trivia quiz; the entire script of the show's first ever episode, "The Good Son"; colour photographs; full biographies of the characters and the cast and a whole host of other morsels that a true "Frasier" connoisseur would just die for. This book is everything a long-term fan of the show could wish for, as well as a great way to familiarize yourself with the world of "Frasier" if you've only just discovered it. As anyone who loves the show as much as I do will tell you, when you watch "Frasier" you come to recognise and love its characters, its situations. With every episode you learn a little something about life and you grow a little in spite of yourself. And suddenly the world doesn't seem such a bad place after all. So, my advice? Watch "Frasier", read "Frasier", eat, breathe and sleep "Frasier". And save yourself a fortune in therapist's bills.....

If the rather egotistical title of this book doesn't put you off, you'll find a fascinating story that's really two books in one. Ron Popeil's infomercials are the stuff of pop culture legend; if you never got a chance to see them during the '60s, '70s or '80s, you surely have seen their parodies. But what's the deal behind Popeil and his "as seen on TV" success?

The first part of this book is Popeil's inspiring autobiography. Surviving a childhood filled with abuse and neglect, he discovered his gift as a salesman as a young man and went on to make a fortune. At the dawn of the television age, he saw TV's potential as an unparalleled marketing tool and grew his marketing empire even further. Ron Popeil's great contribution to retail, therefore, wasn't the myriad of gadgets he sold, but his style of selling on TV -- namely the infomercial.

The second part of the book is essentially a how-to guide for starting a business similar to Popeil's. Even if you have no intention of starting a retail business, the details of how such a business works are fascinating. Topics as arcane as patent protection, TV time buying, negotiating with retail stores for shelf space and financing (which forced Popeil into bankruptcy at one point) are all covered.

Ron's book gives one a good overall insight into what it takes to get a product to market. His insights into selling to retail chains..., Infomercials, and getting a product on QVC are invaluable.

It's a great read with many pictures and short stories about his past hit products like The Pocketfisherman, Mr. Microphone, and GLH9 etc.

It also includes a great overview of his early life going through the school of hard knocks.

This is a really fun book for anyone who loved game shows growing up or has come to love them on the Game Show Network. I bought it as a gift for my husband and he loved it! It gives lots of "behind the scenes" info and is an easy ready.

and Hands Across America comes a remarkable book. Life is indeed a contact sport, and Kragen shows anyone willing to follow the program how to make contact. Inspired by some housepainters in Des Moines who took him at his word when he said the same techniques that worked for Kenny Rogers would work for them, the secrets for surmounting seemingly impossible obstacles to success are laid out here in plain sight, plain language, ready for anyone who is ready to learn to succeed without massive change. I was fortunate enough to be invited to audit a class at UCLA where Kragen occasionally teaches this material, and to say it changed my life is an understatement.

This believed to be out of print book, offers an exceptionally detailed review of Las vegas and what makes its people tic. filled with hundreds of pictures, inside stories, and information from the cities early days to such historical events as the MGM fire, the book concentrates however on the people that work in Las Vegas and make this such a special town. However the book is quickly dated as the town is ever changing, it does have a little story about steve Wynn, and the building of the Mirage, so the book is before the renaissance of the early 1990's. It offers lots of looks at many hotels that have vanished, a collectors must have. Peter Huender (Vegaspeter) e-Vegas

It's been three years since this book was published, and I must note that this book contains a LOT of mistakes!

The pilot episode mentioned on page 10 was titled "Tommy Pickles And The Great White Thing", and you can find a dialogue from it on page 22. That episode never aired on Nickelodeon, but they did use a scene from it on one of the promos for Nick. (Tommy picks the remote up and changes the channel to Nick.)

For those of you who just found out about Tommy's voice, E.G. Daily's initials stand for "Elizabeth Gutman".

"Tommy At Bat" was not the real name for that episode. The actual title was "Baseball".

The episode guide is messed-up on the last few episodes of the 1993 season. The real order goes like this: 62) Kid TV/The Sky Is Falling 63) I Remember Melville/No More Cookies 64) Cradle Attraction/Moving Away 65) Passover

Also the titles for the next three episodes are wrong in this book: They're really named "Chanukah", "Mother's Day", and "Vacation".

About Tommy and Chuckie learning about Didi being pregnant again at the end of "The Family Tree", I must note that Tommy and Chuckie weren't in the final scene for that episode.

And then there's the characters not listed: the new characters introduced from the second movie, and does anyone remember Larry and Steve from the first two seasons?

I LOVE this book! It has from bios to voices, from pictures to amazing facts behind the walls of the Klasky Csupo building. From how they make their cartoon, to the episodes they've made! (Episode List) Every Rugrat lovers must! My family saw it, and made my mom buy it for me! :)

The Ultimate Rugrats Fan Book haas everything a Rugrats fan would ever want to know! From how the series was created, to how an episode is made, to bios of the characters and photos of the cast, producers, artistes, etc! It even has a complete list of episodes! No Rugrats fan should be without this book!