Recently I brought a 36 foot boat from Whitby, Ontario through the Canal System, down the Hudson, through Hell Gate to Long Island Sound. I thought this book would be my bible, but found almost no useful information. The book is written entirely from the perspective of going up river, and is very hard to follow if you're going down. Much of the information is already out of date - several times when we tried to follow its advise, the marina or docking area it decribed was non-existent. Other facilities are ignored. For example, Whitby, which has two large marinas was not mentioned. The discussion of going the through locks was rather limited, though probably helpful to the small boat owner. There were very few pictures - certainly not enough to show what the canals are like. Also, the book stopped (actually started) at the Battery without mention of Hell Gate, which must be of interest to a significant number of readers. I suppose this book would be helpful to a power boater looking for the next restaurant, but it was a major disappointment to me.

This is a little pocket book that contains material collected from various sources about attracting the fairy folk to your living area.
The book is intended to be a gardener's guide to making the fairy folk at home in your home. We are presented with a short list of the likes and dislikes of the fairy folk when it comes to living quarters. There is a discussion on having lawn area because "The Folk love a nice patch of well-tended lawn, and will patronize a yard that displays one, in preference to one that does not.", and a lesson about trees that the folk like.
Most of this material is derived from other sources, some often quite old, like Thomas Keightley's "The Fairy Mythology" (1880) and has a very distinct Victorian flavor about it. Ms. Stern is well versed in her lore and while the book is "cute" I would have preferred a more in depth book on gardening with the fairy folk. This makes a nice appetizer but leaves you thinking there could have been more.

For a Victorian Fairy Garden book it is a good introduction. The book is nicely written, and has potential for something more. It would make a nice little gift for someone who is interested in approaching the idea.

Contrary to its title, the book tells us of the life of its author and the suffering she and her family went through because of her grandfather, Picasso. Repetitively, the author whines about her suffering as if she were the only person to ever feel emotional pain. This gets boring really fast, and much of the dialogue is unbelievable.

One expects the book to be centered around Picasso but is left with a memoir (in which Picasso's death occurs mid-way through the book) that ends slowly and tediously. Furthermore, Picasso's role in causing the author's emotional pain becomes increasingly unbelievable as more and more people are slandered by the author as the story progresses. One soon realizes the author indiscriminately finds everyone at fault. Essentially, this book is an exploitation of Picasso's name.

Although I feel sorry for Marina Picasso, her brother and her life, I think that maybe this memoir should have stayed between herself and her psychiatrist. Not only is the story badly written, the author leaves out large portions of her life. Even though she is a grown woman, the book is written from the perspective of a little girl. Everyone except her and her brother are self centered and not a little bit evil. This book might have done wonders for her psyche, but it should never have been printed.

If you want to know more about the artist, about his work, about his art... this is not the book you are looking for. The author, is always complainig about the fact that Picasso was not a good grandfather, and that she wanted to have a "grandpa". Luckily for her, this guy was Picasso, so this gave her the best excuse to write a book. She says little about him. She speaks too much about her and her fears in life.

To be honest, I wish I had not spent my money. Any kitchen cookbook has many of the recipes found in this.

From reading it, I would not say that Marina Bear American as many of the ingredients of the "unusual" recipes simply cannot be found in your local store so the book is a waste of money.

Perhaps if you lived in Mongolia, it would be of some use.

My 2 cents.