For clever, funny (but good-hearted) twists on almost all the favorite fairy tales, this book can't be beat

THIS WAS A GREAT GREAT BOOK. I read it many years ago, i believe in 1978/79 while i was in high school in Nigeria, and I am currently looking for it so my children will also have the experience. It is a true and good example of colonialism in Nigeria done in a very very humorous fashion. Gives great insight as to how many people got educated and were able to move on in life despite having incredibly poor beginnings. i highly recommend this book.

It is indeed tragic that so little of Lewis' work is currently in print. Lewis was a gifted playwright, poet, Catholic apologist and Welsh Nationalist who wrote in Welsh. Pritchard-Jones' selection captures this multi-faceted writer brilliantly. The book really conveys a sense of the full vision and scope of Lewis' artistry and social conscience. The poetry is brilliant and deeply evocative. The theatre pieces are poetry in themselves. Unfortunately, this makes it all the more lamentable that Lewis' genius is not more readily available to a wider audience. Lewis' influences range from Pascal to Beckett to Medieval Welsh Poetry. This is a truly fantastic and rewarding book. I highly recommend it. IF YOU ONLY READ ONE BOOK THIS SUMMER... (sorry, couldn't resist that)... This is a truly wonderful effort. Thank you Harri Pritchard-Jones for your work in compiling it.

One of the gratest compliments I ever received for my book "Last Buckaroo" came from Publisher's Weekly when they said it was "reminisant of Max Evan's 'The Rounders'"

The fact that a 1960's TV series was based on this fast moving, comical novel attests to the fact that I was not the only one that felt it was one of the greatest western books that was ever written.

The only sad thing about this story is that it remined me of how much the western lifestyle has changed in such a short period of time.

Thank you Mr. Evans for capturing a few moments of the good times for us in your great book.

Mackey Hedges
Soldier Meadows Ranch
Gerlach, Nevada

I have fond memories of this book and return to it regularly to read once again the very interesting history of the Palmetto State. This is such a good, accurate, and complete history book my college class at Furman University used it as a textbook, yet it is definitely written so that the average person can enjoy it. Lewis has a friendly writing style that most should enjoy. He does not bog you down with numbers, and there are no footnotes or obscure references to deal with.

One of the major problems in South Carolina history is that many writers allow themselves to take sides, either on the Civil War, the slavery issues, racial issues, and Reconstruction. If you want a good example of what I mean, read David Duncan Wallace's very good and very interesting three volume history, written in the late 1920's, which is just as interesting for the cultural slant of the writer when dealing with these issues as it is for its actual content.

Lewis avoids these problems adroitly, without sounding "politically correct."

This book would make a great gift for someone moving to South Carolina, or a great buy for yourself if you just want a good thorough history of the Palmetto State.

At first I wasn't sure what Kristene Alexander really wanted and it didn't seem that she knew what she wanted either, but as I really got into the book, it hooked me and I couldn't put the book down. I found the relationship between Kristene and Grant to be quite heartwarming. They really loved each other and had to suffer without each other for a long time before they finally found each other again.

Peter Bogdanovich has written a book that is for the movie enthusiast. I suspect the general reader may find some of the interviewees obscure, and the topics technical. I feel that is their loss. For the student of film or film history, this is a treasure trove of information, ideas, experiences, and feelings about films taken from interviews with some of the most distinguished directors in movie history. The author's selection is not encyclopedic, but the directors' experience spans from the earliest years of silent film to the present. These men are not just informative, but their strong and distinctive personalities show in each interview, giving the sense that one has actually met and understood many of them. Some of the interviews are brief, or even very idiosyncratic, but the best are delightfully personal. This is a long book, but affords many pleasant evenings of good conversation. It also makes one want to go back and see the films again!

This is an incredible book that contains Bogdanovich's various interviews with some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers. These are not detailed biographies however, they are an in-depth conversation about the filmmaker's films and his own feelings about them. While some go into the individual's past it is just so you can get an idea of the personality of the filmmaker. This is a must-have book. A good way to look at it is to read it through once and become familiar with all of the directors, some of whom may be new to you. Then as you view their films go back and read what they have to say. Though sometimes their comments are very brief, it's one of the few sources you'll find where the film-maker makes direct reference back to a film. And I don't know what it is about Bogdanovich but he always brings out gems of truth from those he interviews.

You can spend years going to film school, or you can read this book! Bogdanovich does a great job with this collection of interviews of great film directors. Not only does the book give you a good inside view of the craft of cinema, but it also acts as a history book of the film industry.

This book would be good for the serious indie director who has bet his/her credit cards on their dream or even the special person in your life who stays up until 4am watching the Turner Classic Movie channel.

There is something here for everyone as there is a wide range of directors who work in a wide range of styles. There isn't a genre that isn't touched in this book - from Hitchcock on Horror to Chuck Jones on cartoons. What's great is that Bogdanovich captures insight into directors that are no longer with us (like Fritz Lang who directed Metropolis). Since the directors tell their own stories, you don't get the Hollywood hype filter.

If you had to buy one book on film this year, this would be it!

I read the book and enjoyed it extremely. After buying it, I ended up reading it a total of three times within three weeks, before I put it away on the shelf.

The Naked Girl: This book had me glued to it. Out of all the fourteen short romantic tails, I couldn't pull myself away from any of them. The stories that really stuck out the most were: The Triplets, Bare Innocence, The Big Payback, The Girl Across The Creek, Pretty Boy, The Wild Rocker & The Farmer's Daughter. The three brothers, Marvel, Kevin and Melvin Russell in The Triplets were very believable 19-year-olds. They were the good looking, rich, spoiled type that thought they could have whatever they wanted. In the process of thinking they were every girl's dream, they destroyed the dreams of two of their classmates.

This book was recommended by my Dean, so of course I had to read it. The issues raised in this book are very thought provoking. What does it mean to be Black in America? Who is Black? Does the media influence or reflect the views of society? I enjoyed this book although the writing was at time sensationalized. Most of the information comes from newspaper archives which the writers then interpret, so we never really hear from Rhinelander or Alice in their own words. It was interesting that people in the North felt they were less racist than the South, yet they continued to provide coverage of the case along the same racial lines. Goes to show, same racism, new face. Overall, this book wasn't bad.

Alice Jones and Leonard Kip Rhinelander meet and fall in love. Alice comes from a modest family originally from England and Leonard comes from a wealthy New York family. After a quiet three-year courtship, Alice, age 23 and Leonard, age 22 finally marry.

It looks like this youthful couple has a promising life together ahead of them. That should be the end of their seemingly innocent love story. The couple lives happily ever after. Right? Wrong.

A few days after the wedding, it is discovered that Alice is from a mixed race background. Her mother is white and father of West Indian descent.

Upon the revelation of this news, Leonard quickly files for an annulment. He claims that he was unaware of his wife's racial background (a daughter of a black man) and that she tricked him into marrying her. Conversely, Alice maintains that her husband knew everything about her and she did not defraud her.

The year is 1924. What happens next is a fascinating and sensational trial. Known as the "Rhinelander case," it brings up several attention-grabbing issues that include how race is viewed in the U.S., especially at that time period - the 1920s.

I would have liked to read a little more about the Alice and Leonard. However, I understand that the book is not a biography on the couple but instead focuses on the trial. In the authors' notes, the reader is told that the families did not grant interviews and expressed no interest in the book. I also found the numerous footnotes within the book a little distracting. It sometimes felt as if I was reading a dissertation instead of a book.

Despite these minor complaints, the subject of "Love on Trial" is of interest. Authors, Lewis and Aridzzone have done an excellent job retracing the events of the case and reconstructing what occurred in the courtroom - this includes the interaction between the two strong-headed opposing lawyers, the examination of Leonard and a point where Alice has to partially disrobe for the jury. Photos are interspersed among the chapters, showing the litigants, crowded courtroom, judge and lawyers to envision the story better.

"Love on Trial" is well researched and detailed with the happenings in the case - from the trial, appellate and New York Supreme Court findings. It also includes the newspaper coverage and public reactions during and after the court case.

If you enjoy reading about trials, watching T.V. programs on court cases or lawyers shows, this is the book for you.

Fafa Demasio

still has a problem with racial/ethnic/class mixing and multiracial/multiethnic people. This book tells all about the courtship and marriage of Kip Rhinelander and Alice Jones, the media scruntiny, Kip's father's disapproval of the match, the publicized trial, the humiliation of Alice Rhinelander in the courtroom(much like the humiliation of Anita Hill by the Senate Judiciary Committee back in 1991), and the troubling questions of race/ethnicity/class in the 1920s.

Even today, "black"/"white" relationships still arouse a great deal of controversy. Look at the O.J. Simpson case. That case has divided the nation into two hostile camps. Assorted incidents directed toward multiracial couples shows that we have a long way to go. Whites oppose such relationships because it weakens white privilege, while Blacks condemned them in the name of Black racial solidarity and unity.

Please buy this book now. If not, then go to your local library and borrow it. This is a very fascinating book that is very riveting in its telling of the long-neglected chapter of American history.

The Black Virgin: This was the most heartwarming romance I have ever read. The first few chapters starts out intriquing and exciting about the love story of an 18-year-old virgin, Maryann Brooks and a struggling, turned successful singer, Cooper Valentine. After being engaged for only a few weeks Cooper is killed in an automobile accident. Maryann becomes bitter. She is thought of as the black virgin (she always wear black). She takes her life off course, losing herself after she lost Cooper. The book keeps you hanging on every page through her struggle to find love again. Chapter six or seven when Maryann had too much to drink at the party really held my attention. But this book has many plots and they all add something entertaining to the book. The plot about her younger brother Paul was cutting edge! Wonderful! The supporting characters, her best friends, Janet Nelson and Jimmie Tyler are one big laugh after another. Adding great depth and intrique were the! four members of Cooper's band: Tanner Smith, Mark Franklin and the brothers, Freddie & Stuart Larson.

I was really pulled into the book. Maryann Brooks and Cooper Valentine (love story) in the beginning of the book that wasn't meant to be really touched me. The book kept me at the edge of my seat pulling for Maryann through all the unbelievable situations she would face after Cooper's death. Her best friends Janet Nelson and Jimmie Tyler gave her huge support throughout her ordeal. Their characters added a lot of humor and excitement to the book, as well as her new love Freddie Larson and all the members of his band: Mark, Stuart and Tanner.