This book was wonderful, such absoulutely wonderful . It's easy to see why it is the only book of the author's to receive 5 stars so far. I would love to read more books of such inspirational topics. I would read the book again and have passed it on to three others. Get it and enjoy the reading you'll laugh and cry.

This book transcends its genre to touche something deaply human in all of us. It is an uplifting story of how G-d's love and mercy helps one angel to move through tragedy to life. I reccommend it to readers of any faith.

Jane's angels are witty, fun, and wonderful and her dialog and characterization are lively and thoroughly believable. Jane is a master of creating believable, enjoyable characters and bringing them to life.

I found a copy of "The Guardian" in a used book store over a year ago, on rainy nights I read it to my then 17 year old daughter. The novel touched both our lives, it helped my daughter renew her path to God and it is on my bookshelf of my favorite all time books. The characters are so real and well thought out. This story left us both with a spritual hunger, seeking more of this style of writing. Jane Hamilton is the best of her genre.

Al Santoli's book, To Bear Any Burden, is a narrative of stories told by 47 Americans, Vietnamese (both North and South), and Cambodians regarding their experiences before the US involvement, during the US war, and the war's aftermath (after the departure of US troops). Each tale (from two to 10 pages in length) is riveting in itself. The book moves in relative chronilogical order beginning in 1954 and concludes with the present (circa 1985). Each tale is successfully interwoven with the next story such that there is a cohesiveness and a logical flow to the story telling timeline.

Some of the stories are quite stunning: from the description of US soldiers being called baby-killers and spat on after they returned to the US [difficult to comprehend in this patriotic post 9/11 world] to the horror stories of the Communist regimes in Cambodia and in North/South Vietnam after the fall of Saigon [after reading theses stories, one should question why the US would want to establish ties to Vietnam].

This "straight from the hip" narrative is recommended to anyone wishing to learn more about the scenes from a participant's point of view.

I first read To Bear Any Burden when it was originally released in 1985. This has been a 'must-read' classic of American involvement in Southeast Asia since it was published. For it, Santoli interviewed, in depth, 47 individuals representative of that involvement from 1945 into the 1980s--Americans, Viet-Namese (communists and anti-communists), Cambodians and Laotians. The book is so artfully compiled as to flow like a single narration; yet the 'cast of characters' are separate in time, space, culture and social rank--an entire spectrum from ambassadors to villagers, soldiers to politicians, in one volume. No ones education about the Viet-Nam War is complete unless they've read this book.

One of the earliest (1986) accounts from the survivors of the Pol Pot regime, "The Stones Cry Out" seems to have set the style and standard for another more recent child's-eye perspective on the same era, "When Broken Glass Floats". The minute details of everyday life, not abstract poltical assessments, form the basis for our childhood memories. The author's account carries an unvarnished realism which draws the reader into her film-like image of daily life under threat of starvation and execution. This is probably as close as a reader can come to the truth of events in Cambodia during 1975-79. Oral histories such as "The Stones Cry Out" are perhaps the best way for survivors of human rights abuses to indict the perpetrators. Sadly, tribunals driven by international politics are unlikely to have the same impact as the simple testimony of a victimized child. Highly recommended reading for all those with an interest in human rights, Cambodia, and Southeast Asian culture.

Actualy I would rate this 4 and 1/2 stars.

Having read "First they killed my father" by Loung Ung It would be difficult for me to review this book with out comparing it to Loung Ung's memoir.

Both are essentially the same story, a young upper middle class girl living in Phnom Phen in april of 1975 when thier life, family and happiness are torn from them by the khmer rouge.

Many of thier experinces are similar as you might expect (long hours in forced labor, family deaths, witnessing murder ect..) but each has a unique story of thier own.

The writing styles also vary greatly and this is where Loung's "First they killed my Father is the better" book. Molyda tells her story in a very straight foward manner. Her discriptions of murder, torture and rotting corpses are alomost clinical in tone as if she is afaid to visit or express her real feelings at the time (and who could realy blame her) we are giving only hints about her family and life before April 17th 1975 (to be fair this may be in part to spare distant family members still in Cambodia from retalation)

In Loung's book however we are treated to two light hearted chapters discribing her life in Phnom Pehn before April 17th 1975 this gives the reader a chance to feel they realy know her, her brother's, sisters and parents thier strengths and weakness'.

Loung's memoir is far more emotional in tone and feeling leaving the reader almost gasping for air at points.

For those overly squimish that makes "The Stones Cry Out" the better of the two books. It is also the better of the two books if your sole interest is the surrounding history of the killing fields.

But for those just wishing to read a great emotional book "first They killed My father" is the better choice but I would highly recomend both to all.

I am a 12 year old reader, and this book was heart-breaking. It is so sad that something like this hapenned, and so many peoples' lives were destroyed. Molyda Szymusiak's story makes me realize how lucky I am to enjoy my freedoms.

This book enabled me to reach new levels for my own abilities and have used it as a reference guide many times. For a beginner it is a valuable tool. It came highly recommend by a mentor of mine and she did not lead me astray.

For anyone that is wanting to enhance there abilities or if you are someone that is wanting to start, this is the book to start with. It offers a conprehensive way to bring all the aspects of metaphysics together with out the confusion. This book is a must have!

This book is easy to read and very straightforward. The writing is clear and the authors help the reader to ease into performing the acts of psychic ability that we all possess. It is very well organized and intelligently written.

This book was my first in-depth introduction into the intricacies of the Viet Nam War. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of this monolithic subject.

In the final chapter, Mr. Bui lists the main reasons why the war was so unmanageable and why the US (and coincidentally S. Viet Nam) eventually lost it. The reason listed last (the problems resulting from US intervention) is the focus of his book.

"The South Vietnamese people, and especially the South Vietnamese leaders, myself among them, bear the ultimate responsibility for the fate of their nation, and to be honest, they have much to regret and much to be ashamed of. But it is also true that the war's cast of characters operated within a matrix of larger forces that stood outside the common human inadequacies and failings. And it was these forces that shaped the landscape on which we all moved."

"First...was the obduracy of France, which in the late forties insisted on retaining control of its former colony rather than conceding independence in good time to a people who hungered for it. Second was the ideological obsession of Vietnam's Communists. Not content with fighting to slough off a dying colonialism, they relentlessly sought to impose on the Vietnamese people their dogma of class warfare and proletarian dictatorship. Finally came the massive intervention by the United States, inserting into our struggle for independence and freedom its own overpowering dynamic. These three forces combined to distort the basic nature of Vietnam's emergence from colonialism, ensuring that the struggle would be more complex and bloodier than that of so many other colonies which achieved nationhood during mid-century."

In this book, you definitely will get a S. Vietnamese diplomat's point of view. I was hoping for more on the common man's outlook, the characteristics of the Vietnamese people themselves, and the demographics of the country, but it is not provided at all in this tome. I think this would have done a lot to make the actions of the S. Vietnamese government understandable, if not excusable.

Also, another weakness of the book is that Mr. Bui is always quick to point out American missteps, but rarely expounds on S. Vietnamese imperfections. For example, he writes that one huge problem was corruption. But he never fully elaborates on the nature of this corruption.

The story is easy to read except for when you start to get towards the end. The reason being that no more new insights will be given, and you already know what the disastrous outcome will be.

"In the Jaws of History" is most valuable for Bui Diem's account of his early years in the North, when the "great dilemma in the lives for all nationalists was coming to a head". Nationalists saw collaboration with the French as "repugnant", but then so was "giving the nation ... over to a future ruled by Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap, and the Indochinese Communist Party" who were then murdering nationalist leaders in Hanoi and along the Red River. Giap's role in the purge of the nationalist Dai Viet and VNQDD needs to be kept in mind by those who tend to accept as fact the popular communist myths woven around its leadership figures. "In the Jaws of History" is perhaps best read along with Bui Tin's memoirs "Following Ho Chi Minh: The Memoirs of a North Vietnamese Colonel".

This book offers a compelling and fascinating read. The perspective is one we don't see in most of our histories of the Vietnam conflict: the view of a South Vietnam nationalist who tries to save his nation from the Communists. The absence of bitterness, the appraisals of both the weakness and strength of his South Vietnamese compatriots, his views on the American intervention: all are fascinating.

Overall, this is one of the best books I have ever read about the conflict: it's right up there with Stanley Karnow's well-regarded book.

Mollenhoff and Hamilton have done a great job doing research for this book. The background on how Monona Terrace came to be is fascinating. The people and relationships important in Madison's architecture and politics eventually get discussed in this book. About the only thing you could possibly criticize is the rehash of FLLW biography which doesn't need to appear here. This is a minor criticism, as I realize that for some readers this may be the only FLLW book they own.

The story of Monona Terrace, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and updated by Taliesin Architects (led by Wright apprentice Tony Puttnam) to conform to current code and requirements, here receives the sensitive and perceptive treatment it deserves. The book's many excellent features include clear and graceful writing, beautiful illustrations integrated aptly into the text, and balanced consideration of controversial subjects. The authors' account of the life of Frank Lloyd Wright and their treatment of the political history of Madison provide the context that make the Monona Terrace story so fascinating. This is a valuable book indeed.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to know what the Vietnam War was like from the perspectives of the Hmong people. Jane Hamilton-Merritt has done a wonderful job in "recording" a hidden part of history which would otherwise be lost if not for books like this.

This book by Jane Hamilton-Merritt may not be to a point accurate but it was written in her own point of view as of how we, the Hmong, were drawned into war as foot soldiers for the Americans. I was not borned yet to live through this coverted war but for me alot of my uncles, including my father, were actual soldiers so it touches me deeply when i read this book. I know that with the growing population of Hmong nowadays in America the one main question on a Caucasin American's mind is "Why are these Asians migrating to America and living next door to me?" Well to answer that question they would have to read this book to find out why. As for myself, being a first generation in America, after reading this book it have been brought to my attention how much i have yet to learn about my own history during the Vietnam War. To those that only know that the Vietnam War was about US fighting communist of North Vietnam will have to definitly read this book to fully understand all of the war. I give props to Jane Hamilton-Merritt for her studies and researches into these peaceful hilltop tribes that were told to leave their everyday lives to join forces with an ally that in the end totally deserted them when they evacuated Southeast Asia. My heart and soul goes out to all those who have lost their lives, family members, and love ones so that I and all the first generation Hmong young adults in America could have a better life here. For those who still ponders on why we the Hmong are being here in America; this book is for you to read and understand that the Hmong people contributed in a much bigger way in the war than anyone could have imagined. This book is highly recommended by me for everyone to read whether you are Hmong or not.

This is an amazingly well researched book. The author has relentlessly refused to just let the injustices done to the Hmong go. Her extensive disscussions on the use of biological toxins by the communists against the Hmong in remote areas of Laos is unequalled. She tells of Hmong risking their lives to return to Laos to bring back samples of the toxins to prove to the world what was going on in Laos. These samples sat untested for poitical reasons. Jane Hamilton-Merritts book is an eye opener. It will get any reader to thinking long and hard about U.S. involvement and geopolitics. This a must read book. Kerry Lattimore (ericberger@worldnet.att.net), Bakersfield, California

"A Viet Cong Memoir" by Truong Nhu Tang (Former Minister of Justice) offers some rare glimpses into the Vietnam War. I haven't finished reading the book just yet, but did scan the last chapter to read the punch line. Truong Nhu Tang, fed up with the mismanagement of Vietnam, he 'lost the faith' and became disavowed, and fled to Paris, France in 1978. Albert Pham Nooc Thao, a close friend of the author and fellow Communist, was Chief of Security for South Vietnams armed forces when Diem was in power. Albert worked hard to institute programs in Vietnam to anger the civilians and make them more prone to blame the government and join the NLF. He also bird dogged and acted as Diem's bloodhound to locate officers and officials who didn't support Diem. What a Trojan Horse! I wonder how many other high ranking RVN officials also were on the other side, using their positions to spy, bring charges of corruption on the RVN gov't, get rid of competent officers and officials by McCarthyism (accusing them of being communists) and cause general confusion?

" A Viet Cong Memoir" is an intriguing historical account of the "other side" of the Vietnam War. Mr. Truong was a member of the National Liberation Front, as opposed to an actual military guerilla. The media always referred to the NLF as "the political arm of the Viet Cong". That always struck me as a dark, typical Vietnam type mystery. With "VCM", the NLF has a human face to go with the mystery. Right from the outset, any Vietnam vet as myself must take a story told by a VC with several grains of salt! Mr. Troung is beyond a doubt engaging in a bit of revisionist history, painting the indigenous (Southern) Vietnamese NLF in a fairer light than the more taciturn, hard core Communist Northern invaders. (...) A decent awareness of the conflict is needed to fully appreciate the book. With all these constraints aside, "VCM" rates as 5 star history. This should be required reading for serious students of the War, almost on a par with Bernard Fall's epic "Street Without Joy". The reasons are many: Troung is an excellent writer, both at once engagingly formal yet abidingly down to earth. Well educated, well connected and intelligent, he was involved with the NLF from the early 1950s-the French era of the War. The reader senses Troung's commitment to Ho Chi Minh's cause right from the time he meets "Uncle Ho" as a student in Paris. I believe that he believed in Ho's aphorisms- "liberty sweet liberty", "victory great victory", etc. Since Troung was not a jungle guerilla, the military side of the conflict is not emphasized here. Four major aspects of the War are mentioned; these are the book's strengths. 1) The reader will understand how the nation of South Vietnam ran and eventually disintegrated. The author paints a grim picture of a string of venal, petty and authoritative Saigon regimes. Troung came from an upper class Southern family and was well placed to report accurately.He even does time in a dank Saigon prison. Typical for Vietnam, his wife springs him with a bribe! 2) For a foreigner, the author had an excellent (!) grasp of the American political scene. The Vietnamese must have seen the U.S. letting the War slip away long before we did. 3) "VCM" is the only place I have read a fair, balanced and nuanced version of the back room deals at the 5-year debacle known as "The Paris Peace Talks". There was actually an ebb and flow, a system of sorts. Did Henry Kissinger blink? Was he outfoxed? Or, as the author seems to suggest, were he and Nixon just out of maneuvering room? 4) Critically, Troung takes pains to paint the South Vietnam oriented NLF as a kinder, gentler "third way" between the real bad guys (the Saigon regimes and their American cronies) and the hard core Marxists from Hanoi. The NLF wanted to set up a quasi-independent government in Saigon that would allow for the obvious differences between the 2 Vietnams. The infighting was intense and the "good guys", if that's what they really were, got stiffed good and hard. I chose to take Troung at his word; other readers may disagree. As a finale, "VCM" offers a rare, poignant, and touching chapter on the refugees known as the "boat people". I used to think that "Vietnam" consisted of that remote, little dusty Engineer camp I lived in for a year. Then I started reading other folk's far (!) more earthy accounts of RVN. 30 years after coming home, I continue to be ASTOUNDED by how many stories and sides there are to this foggy and mysterious place. "VCM" makes some sense out of the mystery. Then again, this being Vietnam, it may deepen it! Night always did fall quickly over there.

I read this book when it was first published and have used it as a reference as both a student and teacher of the Vietnam Conflict for many years. Before having traveled to Vietnam, this was one of the first sources I'd encountered that put a human face on a former enemy that other texts and media reports had failed to provide. The text gives the reader an excellent view of one man's perspective in the National Liberation Front and shows its readers an outlook rarely seen from an American political sentiment. Of particular interest to me were the author's personal accounts of espionage during the war and the physical and emotional affect American fire power had on the Vietnamese combatants.

I had the privelige of meeting Jane Hamilton at my school in April and hearing her read from the book she will be releasing this fall. At that point I hadn't read anything of hers and my friends said this was the most disappointing of her work, but I am amazed by it. How brave of her to write from this point of view. She has the skill of pointing out base truths about people, and her skill in developing characters just as much as they need to be developed shows that she knows where to hold back. I always found myself wanting to see more of Daniel, but relegating him to the back shows that the story is about Walter and how he deals with the people and circumstances around him. A lesser writer would take advantage of the opportunity to dramatize Daniel's illness and suffering. Hamilton's diction is at sometimes thick, but always humorous and true. Altogether, this book follows an intriging path through the 70's and the 90's that knows where to start and stop with character development, plot, and time.

Jane Hamilton is one of the top American authors out there today. Hamilton achieved both critical and commercial success with her first two novels "The Book of Ruth" and "A Map of the World." Much to her credit, she does not rest on her laurels and re-hash the characters or plot in her third outing, "The Short History of a Prince." In "Ruth," Hamilton's narrative reads almost as a thriller reaching a shocking conclusion while in "Map" a tragic event early on sends readers on a downward spiral through the rest of the novel. While there is plenty of angst in "Prince," it is a much more quiet and reflective novel. The protagonist tells his story during a life-altering year as a teenager as well as a grown man in the present day. That too is a change from Hamilton's previous work. Perhaps tagged as a "woman's" writer to date, Hamilton for the first time has a male lead character in Walter McCloud.

There is a lot to savor in "Prince." It is a coming-of-age story as Walter must cope with a death in the family while coming to grips with his own homosexuality. While Walter may be one of the most well-realized gay characters put into print, one small quibble is that he seems to fall into so many stereotypes (ballet dancer, opera/theater lover, works in a dollhouse shop, literature teacher). Also, "Prince" asks the age-old question "Can one ever go home again?" as Walter returns to his Midwest roots as an adult. The novel is not only about the struggle to let go of the past, but perhaps even more painfully so letting go of the dreams of the future.

If you are looking for well-developed characters and beautiful prose, there is no need to go any further than a Jane Hamilton novel.

I enjoyed this book for the same reason I enjoyed her other novels--they are beautifully written stories, with well developed characters and incredible realism. I did read it in one day and it was time well spent. Map of the World is still my favorite Hamilton novel, but more because it was written from a viewpoint and life events similar to mine vs. Walter's history. You feel yourself entrenched in Hamilton's world as she creates it and you can picture each person so perfectly. I look forward to her next endeavor.

I have a lot of different thoughts and feelings about this book. The story richly describes the gray area of life. We are neither "all good" nor "all bad". Ruth is a woman who seems to live a life of low expectations and simplicity. Ruth is labeled as "mentally retarded" and is forever in the shadow of her brilliant brother. We learn that Ruth is more complex and creative then what appears on the surface. On one hand, you are pulled to unconditionally support her given her lot in life. On the other hand, you want to knock some sense into her; I wanted her to make choices that would challenge her, get her to stand solid on her own and explore the world around her (not just rely on books-on-tape as a means of escape). You want to hate her mother May as she evokes the critical and unappreciative voice that seems to immobilize Ruth. Yet we learn May's history of shattered dreams and gain some understanding of her choices too. You want to hate Ruby for being such a loaf. He seems to have no redeeming qualities, just a lost soul, yet I found myself enjoying his perspective and words of wisdom. Definitely not an easy read but one that left me with very real and memorable characters

"I looked up truth the other day also. The word has a lot to do with seeing clearly, and with things that are honest and beautiful. Perhaps I should change my name to Ruth Truth. The combination of pity and compassion with honesty and beauty would be a real knockout. People might not see me come into a room but they'd feel like there was something unusual in the air -- I have a lot of fantasy dreams, I guess, because I'm by myself so much. I'm not bored too often, though. I have my entire life to think about. I have the ghosts to order away from my room. Ruth Truth. It has a nice ring to it. -Jane Hamilton

Ruth's memories, as she ruminates about her life, looking back and recounting in a sea of awkward words. She begins with May, her mother, who had no bed of roses herself. She then details her own life with her intellectually gifted brother, and then her subsequent marriage and family life in central Illinois. The book jacket describes this as a human comedy -- but those words would certainly not be chosen to describe this chronicle. Written more in the style of a nonfiction memoir, this book details a woman's choices, and the lack of them; a woman's family with its blessings and banes; a woman's existence in a small town environment where she feels at the same time enchained and empowered by choice. Recommended.

The story was moving but I didn't find the prose well written. It seemed clumsy and childish and prone to nauseous metaphors. The story was sad (neither a good or bad quality in a book) but the main character was unsympathetic. She had an "out" through her Aunt if she had truly desired it. The ending (where her Aunt rescues her) was cloying and unlikely. I picked this book and _The Rapture of Cannan_ up at a local bookstore. I was unimpressed with both. Reading the reviews I find both were reccommended through "Oprah's" book club. While I find the idea interesting, appreciate the sales revenue for writers, and like that she encourages people to read, I think I will avoid her selections in the future. Perhaps I am a book snob but I am not sure why people would care about the opinions of a woman who hosts a daytime television show. It seems like she picks rather melodramatic books of uneven quality. If she wishes to read and reccomend books about characters facing difficult situations and odds, I wish she would pick something truly challenging like _Push_ by Saphire.