I found my way to this book after I had read "The Banyan Tree" by Christopher Nolan. This was a book that I read and reviewed back in February, and ever since I have been mystified why the book never seemed to gain the wide acceptance of readers. All of the reviews that have been posted by readers for "The Banyan Tree" have been 5 star reviews, and the same is the case for "Under The Eye Of The Clock".

If you read you understand how difficult it is to write anything, much less a full book, and then have it selected for and win a prestigious award. In the case of the book I review now it was the 1987 Whitbred Award that was awarded to Mr. Nolan. All very impressive, but that's just the start.

This is an autobiography written by a very young man who next wrote the book "The Banyan Tree" and would take 12 years to do so. This is a painfully candid, but uplifting book about a man with the support of a wonderful Family overcomes extreme realities that are his life to become an Author of international renown.

Mr. Nolan cannot speak, he can barely move at all. He types with what he calls his "Unicorn Stick" that he wears on his head, and even then his head must be supported while he works.

An Autobiography is a courageous work if honestly presented. When you add Mr. Nolan's additional challenges he faces as a writer, and as a person living with his physical issues it becomes an extraordinary autobiographical book.

I hope more readers find Mr. Nolan, he is a unique writer of immense talent, and if you pass by his work you deprive yourself of great literature.

Christopher Nolan's "Under The Eye Of The Clock" is an autobiographical account of his incredibly awe-inspiring and miraculous life. Born a cripple, he could have been consigned to the rubbish heap but instead and against all odds became a celebrated writer of this Whitbread Book winner, "The Banyan Tree" as well as an early book of poems. Without taking anything away from Joseph Meehan (a self portrait of Nolan), he couldn't have overcome his debilitating handicaps to scale the heights he did without the steady support and tender loving care of his family. A father, mother and sister who are such warm and emotionally intelligent human beings anybody would be blessed and proud to have them as family. The school principals, teachers and fellow students who accepted him, nurtured him and gave him the chance to prove himself equal to the best among physically whole human specimens are themselves shining examples of humanity who deserve as much recognition in Nolan's lifestory. Although it has been compared with James Joyce's "Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man", it is in reality nothing like it. Whereas Joyce's work is for the most part depressing and full of pain and harshness, Nolan's story is so morally uplifting you almost forget its grave subject matter. Nolan's dazzling and inventive writing style is also unique and something to relish. He coins and mints new words which have a yet found a conventional meaning but are so emotionally accurate you know they're right. Read this if you're feeling down and need something to restore your faith in mankind !

Under the Eye of the Clock is the autobiography of Christopher Nolan, the talented young poet with cerebral palsy. He can't walk or talk or write in the usual manner. Since Nolan lacks the use of his hands, this book like Dam-Burst of Dreams, the book of poems that preceded it, was written by means of a typing stick affixed to his head. The book succeeds both as pure artistry and as a window into the world of the disabled. Nolan has re-named himself Joseph Meehan and told his story entirely in the objectivity of the third person. This brilliant stroke allows him to avoid excessive self-pity while making his sufferings and triumphs real and deep. Nolan's use of language had earned him comparisons with James Joyce, Yeats, and Dylan Thomas. Nolan stretches the meanings and implications of words, rearranges their spelling, and even invents new ones to communicate his moods and perceptions and illuminate life, his own and those he observes, with his unique poet's sensibility.

All I can say is phenomenal. I would make it recommended reading for everyone.

This is a great epic about the years since Christ's birth. It is a history that goes from thought to thought, not war to war. You want to know what went on in, say 895 ad, just turn to that section and read the 40 lines on those years. I am impressed with the rhyme and the intensity and the humor. It is a great American poem which celebrates humanity.

What a fabulous, and original idea for a book. If you are interested in history, politics, or poetry, you will love this book. I can't wait for this author to come out with more works. Keep em' coming Mr. Carey!

As a retired lawyer addicted to suspense novels with a legal orientation, I think The Castration, by Carey & Barrett, rivals the best of Meltzer and Grisham.

Loved this book - a fascinating revelation of some of the inner workings of the Mafia although it is set in the charming area of Kennebunkport, Maine. It pulls you in and holds your interest almost immediately. The characters are well defined, and the locales well described so you can picture them in your mind's eye even if you have not visited there. The twist at the end wraps it up but leaves you wanting more. Thoroughly enjoyable reading but do not start at bedtime; you will be up all night!

John Carey's Eyewitness to Science is identical to The Faber Book of Science except for the cover and weight of the paper stock used. Since the latter is now out of print, those of you who have missed the opportunity to read this delightfully eclectic anthology of science writing may wish to consult this edition before it, too, goes out of print.

As a geologist, I read the samples that seemed relevant first, and found many surprising and wonderful things like Huxley's geology of Europe derived partly from careful observations of a piece of chalk. I went on to read biology, physics, poetry and abnormal sex. I am teaching a freshman literature class this winter quarter and managed to lighten up Conrad's gloomy brooding view that we evolved from soulless animals by reading Cumming's (Pg 262) retort; "As for me, I am proud of my close kinship with other animals. I take jealous pride in my Simian ancestry. I like to think that I was once a magnificent hairy fellow living in the trees and that my frame has come down through geological time via sea jelly and worms and Amphioxus, Fish, Dinosaurs, and Apes. Who would exchange these for the pallid couple in the Garden of Eden?"

I must confess it is over a year since I read this book but it has to be one of the best I've read in several years. Its ability to give an insight or recount an incident helps us look not only at the world in a new light, but also the people who brought about the advances.

The range of history and the range of topics is very wide and it should appeal to anyone with an enquiring mind, whether or not they have a science background. I would strongly recommend it and have already lent my copy to several people

"The most incomprehensible thing about the universe," wrote Einstein, "is that it's comprehensible". Comprehensible to scientists, anyway -- most of the rest of us abandoned the scientific method back in high school, along with the periodic table and pickled frogs. Today the general reader needs the mediation of a thoughtful, lucid guide to make sense of it all. Luckily there are plenty of good science writers around , and even some scientists, who have a gift for communicating their stories with childlike wonder intact. These authors can not only make the universe comprehensible to us, but enchanting. Good scientific prose is more than a minor literary genre; it's genuine magic realism. The Faber Book of Science has a cast of characters no less colourful than those from the pens of the Latin American fantasy-weavers: black holes and battling ants, quarks and quasars, and a man who mistook his wife for a hat. "Like any anthology," editor and Oxford professor John Carey writes in the introduction, "it is meant to entertaining, intriguing, lendable-to-friends and good-to-read as well..." Readers need not worry about mental meltdowns. Carey spent five years reading "many books and articles, ostensibly for a popular readership, which start out intelligibly and fairly soon hit a quagmire of fuse-blowing technicalities, from which no non-scientist could emerge intact." These, along with the articles he felt he'd never read twice, were "instantly rejected." The result is a guided tour through the best articles, essays, and memoirs of scientists and science writers, from the Renaissance on. The chapters are brief: Carey is following the toxin principle of anthologies -- a trace amount of a technical topic is a stimulant, anything more is deadly. The book begins with a few pages from Leonardo da Vinci's anatomical notebooks, and then we alight on Galileo's reflections, and just as quickly are into Anton Von Leeuwenhoek descriptions of the tiny "animalcules" discovered by microscope in a drop of water. Carey inserts biographical information and other asides throughout each chapter, breaking up the material and giving continuity to the journey. He's along as a guide, nudging the reader's interest and sharing in the discovery of the unexpected. Some of the selections seem a little odd (Freud seems out of place here, as does Orville Wright). And why the inert gas of Isaac Asimov, at the expense of better storytellers of science -- Timothy Ferris, Dianne Ackermann, or Heinz Pagels? Still, The Faber Book of Science will have you digging in for weeks for the many little treasures within, particularly the selections from the past quarter-century. In Italo Calvino's The Gecko's Belly, the author constructs a meditation on a tiny creature that slowly moves from literary-scientific inquisitiveness into a Zenlike awe. And in an excerpt from Primo Levi's writings, we follow the progress of a carbon atom: "It was caught high by the wind, flung down on the earth, lifted ten kilometers high. It was breathed in by a falcon, descending into its precipitous lungs, but did not penetrate it s thick bood and was expelled. It dissolved three times in the water of the sea, once in the waster of a cascading torrent, and again was expelled. It travelled with the wind for eight years: now high, now low, on the sea and among the clouds, over forests, deserts, and limitless expanses of ice; then it stumbled into capture and the organic adventure..." Magic realism indeed! John Updike has his famous "Cosmic Gall" here, a poem about subatomic particles called neutrinos. Every second, hundreds of billions of these neutrinos pass through each square inch of our bodies, coming from above during the day and from below at night, when the sun is shining on the other side of the earth. Neutrinos, they are very small./ They have no charge and have no mass/ And do not interact at all./ The earth is just a silly ball/ To them, through which they simply pass,/ Like dustmaids down a drafty hall/ Or photons through a sheet of glass.... / "Not many poets have written about atomic particles", Carey approvingly adds.

What a gem! For those of us not able to afford the small fortune involved in buying dozens of original texts (which is still on the agenda- one day), Koch and Carey have supplied us with the translations of not only some of the most important texts in Celtic scholarship, but some of the rarest. The ancient Gaulish inscriptions which begin this book set the scene for the rest of the material in a manner quite unique in this field. Whereas usually one might find reference to Irish material in abundance, and some Welsh texts of the High Middle Ages, "The Celtic Heroic Age" provides us with a glimpse of the Golden Age of the Celtic peoples from the very beginning of their written record. Rather than painting a literary picture around these texts, the editors have provided us with a series of views of Celtic culture as seen by the Celts themselves and by their nearest contemporaries. An absolute must for any serious student of the Celts!

"Infection" by John Gregory Betancourt

The Enterprise is called to Archaria III, a planet jointly colonized by humans and Peladians. A new disease has cropped up and is only treatable (the double helix), in a temporary fashion. The Enterprise supposed to deliver the drug, quarantine the planet and see what help they might render. What follows is an excellent story, primarily using Dr. Crusher in her quest to find the cure. The author set everything up very well and wrapped up his portion beautifully.

"Vectors" by Dean Wesley Smith & Kristin Kathryn Rusch

Finally we have a story using Dr. Pulaski, who was unceremoniously dumped from the show. Not that she was anywhere near a replacement for Dr. Crusher. It is particularly interesting to see "Terok Nor" during the occupation and have the interaction with Gul Dukat. I felt the character development was very good and the Ferengi portions were written very well. The only true complaint is that the author's seemed to have done a poor job of closing out Kira's story.

"Red Sector" by Diane Carey

Red Sector is a fantastic story. It's very refreshing having a book that concentrates almost primarily on a non main character in John Eric Stiles. The character is extremely well thought out and written. The author nailed Spock and a hundred and thirty something Dr. McCoy perfectly. I'm dying to find out who the voice is at this point. Hopefully the next three in the Double Helix series will be as good as this one and the other two were.

"Quarantine" by John Vornholt

John Vornholt kicks out another fantastic story. Quarantine gives us a good idea of how "Tom Riker" ends up joining the Maquis. As is par for the course with John Vornholt, he goes into great detail describing a beautiful planet and all of its surroundings. Not a lot of Trek authors do that. I thought Torres seemed a little soft, considering her personality, but that can be explained away.

"Double or Nothing" By Peter David

This is another great installment to the New Frontier and the Double Helix series. Not having read the last of the Double Helix books yet, it seems that this one pretty much finishes the Double Helix storyline???? A favorite quote from the book, Riker - "I've got to get off this ship." Peter David did an excellent job of integrating Picard and Riker into the New Frontier. It's really interesting and well done how he brought Riker and Shelby together again. That portion was done very well and even better than I'd expected in another meeting of those two.

"The First Virtue" by Michael Jan Friedman & Christie Golden

The First Virtue is an excellent conclusion. It pretty much wraps up the reasoning to everything we learned in "Double or Nothing." In the First Virtue, we learn why Gerrid Thul wanted to create the Double Helix virus and why he wanted so much revenge for the loss of his only child. Both authors did a great job with their portions. The plot is well thought out, especially the portions of the book with Commander Jack Crusher and Lieutenant Tuvok. I felt that they captured Tuvok's personality quite well and gave a precursor to some of the decisions and general personality we saw on screen in Voyager.

Overall, I would recommend this Omnibus to any fan of good Star Trek fiction.

Whether you are new to the world of Utopias or whether you've already read the major Utopian novels such as Brave New World and 1984, this book will certainly come in handy. It lists a selection of Utopian works from Plato's "Republic" to Michio Kaku's "Visions". For each Utopian work, Carey gives a short writeup about the author as well a synopsis, along with some comments of his own. Do remember to read the Introduction, which provides a succinct account of Utopias then and now, as well as their similarities and differences. Beautiful, beautiful Utopia!

This is one of the greatest books I have ever read. Mr. Carey is right up there as one my favorate authors. Anyone who says they are a fan of the english language is a liar unless they have read this book. From the heart stopping action scenes to the steamy lust filled romance scenes, this book has it all. This book ranks right up there with any Tom Clancy novel. This book takes the raw emotion of a son's love for his father and shows that love can not be tainted by any evil, not even the evil of racism in the government of the greatest country in the world. This book is the winner of several awards, including Book of the Year from T8RO's book club. This book saved my life. As I was walking down the street a rock came out of no where and stuck my on my rear end. If I didn't have this book in my back pocket I could have suffered a cut and bled to death on that side walk that fateful spring day. Thank you Mr. Carey for giving me life. I owe you one, "Little Buddy". You will always have a special place in the very, very bottom of my heart.

Carey, The rock says this: Without a shadow of a doubt, come hell or high water, the rock says this a guarenDAMNtee of a good book. The rock thinks you're real cute by writing such a great book. This book is better than the Rock's Book: The Rock Says. The Rock wants to see more of Michelle

The author of this book, Mr.John Carey, is my high school english teacher. From the beginning, this book gets a hold of you and doesn't let go. There has never been a president assasination story as unique as this.

Cremony's book inspired many a Hollywood screenwriter, and for years his words have been taken as gospel. As a writer who lives in the Southwest, I have visited some of the important locations and began to doubt his veracity. Scholars have since shown that Cremony was habitually inflating his own importance and his knowledge of Apache ways and history. Of particular note are his highly fictionalized accounts of the life of Mangas Coloradas -- a man far more important to history than Cremony. But this work remains an extremely telling document of a time and place -- and all the strange attitudes that made up "white" perceptions.

Life Among The Apaches is one of the most interesting and fascinating historical nonfiction works that I have ever come across. It's a first-hand account of John C. Cremony's personal adventures with Apache indians in the latter part of the 19th century, in particular the Chiricahua Apaches. I've never come across a better or more explanatory or descriptive account of Apache peoples, culture, or way of life in the 1800's than in Life Among The Apaches.

This book was given to me as a present some years ago, and it has proven to be one of the most authentic Native American historical pieces of literature that has ever been abridged.

A refreshingly open and objective look at the Apache culture before the reservations. Cremony wrote the first dictionary of the Apache language and earned their grudging respect. He shows admiration for their amazing courage, endurance, and skills of warfare and survival. But, since this was written a century before the political correctness Victorianism we now are censored by, Cremony is able to share his concerns about their interesting work ethic (it is dishonorable for a man to work besides hunting and stealing) and their cruelty. Cremony makes some polite comments about the extreme attractiveness of some of the Apache women which suggests, at a minimum, an emotional involvement -- which adds a touching romantic side to this well written account.