Book number 11 in the 18-volume Lew Archer series is the first of MacDonald's books I've read. Published forty years prior to my reading, it's aged fairly well as a highly convoluted Chalderesque hard-boiled tale. The tough and terse Archer is hired by an unpleasant rich man to investigate the background of his daughter's fiancee. This is the catalyst for an investigation which roams from San Francisco, to LA, to Lake Tahoe, to Reno and Mexico, ultimately involving multiple murders.

I have to say that I didn't find Archer an especially entrancing character. He's a fairly standard fictional detective: world weary, rough when he needs to be, emotionally tender, all topped off with a wide streak of compassion and smart mouth. As he runs around interviewing everyone, patterns start to emerge, people are first open with him and provide him with a morsel of information or two (enough to keep the plot going), then they inevitably turn on him and refuse to tell the whole truth. After a while, it just started to feel too contrived. Another irritant in the narrative is Archer's totally unrealistic ability to more or less use local police as his lackeys. One just doesn't get enough sense of his charisma, why all these cops are willing to tip him off, and why all these dames keep sending him vibes. I suppose that's why noir often seems to work better for me on film, you get to see that charisma, plus the overly complex plots get streamlined-usually with much better results. Certainly, in the case of this story, the hyper-Freudian motives that emerge at the end are hardly satisfying.

Still, if you just can't live without your hard-boiled detectives, Archer certainly fits the mold enough to satisfy fanatics of the genre. It also may be that if one reads the series from the beginning, he emerges as a more fully realized character than he does in this single entry.

Yeah, only in California are you likely to see a zebra striped hearse full of surfing teens. Although one of the important clues comes from the hearse, it doesn't really play that important a part in the story, but it's a symbol of the California lifestyle, especially the lifestyle of the teens & young adults. And this symbol has a bearing on the character especially of the young woman whose boy friend and potential husband Lew Archer is hired to investigate.

Of course, you know that what appears to be a simple case for Archer is going to develop into a complicated skein of emotions and events including murder. You can also guess that there will be tragic overtones in the matter.

Ross MacDonald is deservedly recognized as one of the elite of the hard boiled school. While there are resembances to Hammett, Chandler and even Parker to an extent, he is unique. While he presents you with a puzzle, he also makes you care for his characters. He may have you disliking and distrusting some of the characters such as the father and the boy friend in this book, and then have you caring in one way or another for them.

If you haven't discovered Ross MacDonald yet, it's time you did. And if you have, you don't even need to be reading this review. (Although I'm glad you are)

It seems odd to say it on a page full of five star reviews, but Ross MacDonald gets consistently underrated -- he didn't just write pulp mysteries with fancy plots and perfect atmosphere. The books deliver that too, though the plots and Freudian resolutions aren't MacDonald's strongest points -- it's the perfect details, the complex characters (Lew Archer principal among them), the engaging intelligence. Aside from the fact that he didn't basically invent the 20th Century noir, MacDonald stands with Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett as a mystery writer who can be appreciated as a true literary master, comfortable next to acknowledged California masters like John Steinbeck and John Fante. And Ross MacDonald is the man who updated California noir so that everyone from James Ellroy and Elmore Leonard to Thomas Pynchon and Denis Johnson to Kem Nunn to Mike Davis could take it along to the next steps.

And the ZEBRA-STRIPED HEARSE is one of MacDonald's best, continuing to feel shockingly contemporary as a perfect literary portrait of the Golden State and its fascinating dark side.

This is a landmark Wolfe mystery for the true fan, but new readers may find it dated, with a thin plot. It is Stout's first real shot at playing Wolfe for laughs, and also marks Archie's emergence as a mature and witty observer- unlike the more naive Goodwin of previous books (eg The Rubber Band, The Red Box) for whom the heroine is out-of-reach. The setting is farcical but still has a nice 30s period feel.

In Rex Stout's fifth book in the series, Wolfe engages in two activites he detests: leaving the confines of his home and travel by any type of machinery (a train in this case). Wolfe and Archie travel to Kanawha Spa, West Virginia, where Wolfe has been invited to speak before a group of master chefs. Wolfe encounters more than just gourmet food when one of the chefs is murdered.

Stout really has a lot of fun with the story and characters as Wolfe's confrontational manner begins to emerge in the series. The characters are always colorful, but the supporting cast of chefs, wives, servants, and others is also enjoyable. Some of the most interesting books in the series are those in which Wolfe leaves the brownstone and is absent from his comforts: the plant rooms, his cook Fritz, his beer, his office. Still, it becomes evident early on that Wolfe is in complete control. Or is he? Find out the lengths that Wolfe will go to in the attempt to obtain the recipe for saucisse minuit.

One of Stout's best and one of the most fun reads I have ever had. It is hilarious, full of interesting characterizations, and plotted well enough to carry it through. Great fun!

I consider myself a curious person, but I sometimes dislike spending a lot of time researching for the info I want. When I encountered this book, I discovered I could not only enjoy fabulous pictures, but learn about the history of the area and what had caused some of those incredible geologic formations in the Southwest without having to endure the agony of reading material written by geologists who seem to have muddled their brains during their studies of the Paleozoic era.

Basically, I had been more-or-less clueless about the stupendous geologic history of the scenic Colorado Plateau referred to in the book's title.But having read this book, I'll never again travel to favorite haunts like Moab, the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park or Monument Valley without a whole new perspective of what I'm seeing, and trust me, it's pretty awesome! For example, these lands were once south of the equator!

Throw in a whole new understanding of the amazing human history that unfolded in the same area for several hundred years before the Spaniards, add the color of a better understanding of the more recent tribes, like the Navajo, Ute, Apache--and this book is not only a quick, easy read, but it's a real revelation about history and culture.

But what this book is really most about is PHOTOGRAPHS, and while I've followed Tom Till's work on calendar's and other books, the pairing of photo and text really work to create an informative book and a work of art. His photographs of the Grand Canyon--one of which I later realized is also on a postage stamp, are my particular favorites, although pictures of Monument Valley or the sunflowers of Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado are a close second.

This book is a must for anyone infatuated with, or merely curious about, the canyon country of the American Southwest.

Geological, prehistoric, historic and contemporary events are described and depicted beautifully in The Colorado Plateau - The Land and The Indians. Photographs by Tom Till and choice words by Kathleene Parker combine to provide a unique aesthetic experience for card-carrying southwesterners and wanna-bes.
The insights into the numerous Indian tribes of the Colorado Plateau reflect how different and diverse the cultures are.
Highly recommended.

I read "Never Cross a Vampire" almost ten years ago and I enjoyed the endearing portrait of Bela Lugosi. The book also features a cameo by Boris Karloff and does not shrink from his rivalry with Lugosi. It is fun to read how a "B-Movie Star Villain" can save the day.

Also, the Asian Professor's account on the myth of internation vampires deserves special mention.

I have read and enjoyed most (if not all) of the Toby Peters mysteries, and this was one of the better ones. Toby represents both Bela Lugosi and William Faulkner at the same time -- Lugosi is being stalked, Faulkner is accused of murder -- and the cases quickly become entwined, with Toby not knowing where one case ends and the other begins. One of the differences to this book (that I don't remember in any other) is that it doesn't begin with the "bad guy" chasing or confronting Toby. There *is* some flashback, but it is expository. As usual, the era references are interesting, and in the re-printed version (that came out in October 2000) there is an good afterword by Kaminsky about the Peters novels and about Bela Lugosi.

But not quite. While I wouldn't say this was a terrible novel, I also wouldn't say that it was in any way memorable. Because of the wonderful dramatization on the audio cassette, I passed an afternoon at work more pleasantly, being entertained by the acting skills of the readers. However, if I'd been merely reading a text version of this story, I wouldn't have finished it because the plot did not interest me enough to deserve my full attention. The characters are too typical of a mystery novel, the prose style unremarkable, and the ending not too exciting.

This is a superlative production. Yulin doesn't merely read, he performs, and his voice matches the role. The other parts are nearly all well played, and the music never intrudes. Atmospheric and involving for 9 hours!

The book is one of MacDonald's last, and it has some of the overwrought quality that mar his later books, but this is only occasionally a distraction.

For those looking for other MacDonalds, the best are The Chill, Far Side of the Dollar, the Zebra-Striped Hearse, The Galton Case (all from 1959-65).

One of the obvious observations about Ross MacDonald's series of Lew Archer detective novels is that they are essentially the same story. Eerily MacDonald's plot lines reflect his own troubled and unsettled childhood. On the surface, this novel is about a very troubled young woman that seems to be in the wrong place at the precisely wrong times. It seems impossible that she could be innocent of anything or everything. Nevertheless, true to MacDonald's plot form, the real villains are the immature adults that compounded their original sins year by year, lie by lie. The true crime always is years in the past in Ross MacDonald's novels. The perpetrator forever spends his or her life covering up the original crime and always enmeshing his or her child into the original felony.

Ross MacDonald's prose is simply pure art. He settles you into the tacky 40's through 60's of California and then contrasts the empty lives of the rich and the destitute. He exposes his characters as being very troubled and not very innocent. Archer, his guide/protagonist is dogged as the revelation of the true perpetrator(s) slowly emerges. Terse first person narration gives this novel a stunning sense of realism.

This is a really wonderful detective novel, a form of noir that is so special. Vintage Crime/Lizard Press has reissued most of the Archer series and they remain as vital, and entertaining as when they were first printed. I recommend working through the whole series of these wonderful reprints.

However, having read them all and having read most of them several times over, this in my opinion is the best by a far measure. The best of this series is perhaps the best of all detective novels. Chandler and Hammett did not have the power of prose that Ross MacDonald so effortlessly spins.

If you've read the Clifford Roberts book and are an ardent follower of the tournament, you will be disappointed. What I was expecting versus what was delivered were 180 degrees apart. Mr. Eubanks would have done better to explore more of the relationship between the National and the residents and town of Augusta. Eubanks needed to delve more into more recent tournament history (post 1980) as opposed to dedicating more to the period from 1933-1960. I'll be attending my fifth Masters Tournament in 1998 (4th in a row) and I hope to talk with some residents/patrons who have attended many tournaments throughout the years.

It seems there's a new "unprecedented" book on Augusta and the Masters coming out every April these days, but this one was the first of its "investigative" ilk and it remains the best. Anything I had ever read in book form about Augusta/the Masters before this read like so much puff because they were written by authors who wanted to remain friends with Augusta's secretive powers-that-be. Eubanks examines and explores Augusta National with a lot of gusto and tells me dozens of things I didn't know about this place. Like the hush-hush shooting incident involving some black youths who had trespassed on the course just so they could take a dip in one of the ponds. Or how the myth surrounding Charlie Sifford's alleged exclusion from the Masters field by racist manipulators assumes facts Eubanks proves wrong. Or Bert Yancey's real obsession with the course itself. Or the suicide by the ticket scalper in 1997. There's also a lot of nice stuff about Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, as well as a chapter devoted to Ike and how his presidency was pretty much launched in the inner bowels of Augusta National's clubhouse. Buy this book--it's wonderful!

Provides and awesome in depth history of how Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones put Augusta on the map, and along with this, formed one of the most powerful clubs in the world.

Also gives strong accounts of the history of the US Masters tournament.

The advetures of tom sawyer was on of the greatest books I've ever read. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a mischevios adventurerous kids. This book is good for adults because it could most likely to take you back to your own childhood. For kids it could give some ideas to enjoy your childhood.

Tom sawyer is a mischevios boy who always gets into trouble. tom tricks his friends into doing his chores. He falls in love. He wittnesses a murder scene. he runs away to be a pirate. He attends his own funeral. he finds buried treasure. feeds his cat pain killer. gets lost in a cave with the person he loves. Also gets 6,000 dollars.

I've learned from this book the importance of being young. It also taught me don't rush to grow up because you're only young once. IT also taught me what it was like to be a kid 150 years ago.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is one of the best books I have ever read. The language,the thinking,the adventures-all of it was just incredible and enjoyable. The only thing this book needs is more pages! Mark Twain's skill in writing has created a book that all ages should read (or have it read to).Mark Twain reactivates the life and actions of a boy in the mid-1800's,and showed me that kids should be who they are- not what they will be. This is a classic for every generation to read and enjoy.

Mark Twain's,The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, tells about a boy loving and living his life to the fullest. Tom Sawyer is the kid that the world has seemed to forgotten. He is the kid who always get in trouble but continues to have fun with life. In this book, Tom does everything from being engaged, to watching his own funeral, to witnessing a [death] and finding treasure. Twain's creative character finds fun everywhere in his little town in Missouri, as do his friends. The storyline is basic, but it is a piece of the past that everyone should hold on to.

In The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, I learned mainly two things. The first thing I learned was that you can make life fun with just about anything if you use your imagination. Life is too short and precious to be wasted. I also learned that where you least expect it [help or protection], you might just get it. This book was just amazing-filled with unique characters, exciting events, and how a town can pull together to help those in need.

Tom Sawyer is one of the most endearing characters in American fiction. This wonderful book deals with all the challenges that any young person faces, and resolves them in exciting and unusual ways.

Like many young people, Tom would rather be having fun than going to school and church. This is always getting him into trouble, from which he finds unusual solutions. One of the great scenes in this book has Tom persuading his friends to help him whitewash a fence by making them think that nothing could be finer than doing his punishment for playing hooky from school. When I first read this story, it opened up my mind to the potential power of persuasion.

Tom also is given up for dead and has the unusual experience of watching his own funeral and hearing what people really thought of him. That's something we all should be able to do. By imagining what people will say at our funeral, we can help establish the purpose of our own lives. Mark Twain has given us a powerful tool for self-examination in this wonderful sequence.

Tom and Huck Finn also witness a murder, and have to decide how to handle the fact that they were not supposed to be there and their fear of retribution from the murderer, Injun Joe.

Girls are a part of Tom's life, and Becky Thatcher and he have a remarkable adventure in a cave with Injun Joe. Any young person will remember the excitement of being near someone they cared about alone in this vignette.

Tom stands for the freedom that the American frontier offered to everyone. His aunt Polly represents the civilizing influence of adults and towns. Twain sets up a rewarding novel that makes us rethink the advantages of both freedom and civilization. In this day of the Internet frontier, this story can still provide valuable lessons about listening to our inner selves and acting on what they have to say. Enjoy!

Want a book with an adventurous twist? Then Huckleberry Finn is the book for you. Not only is Huckleberry Finn an adventurous book, it is also can be comical and light, though the book has a grave meaning, showing the wrongs in society at the time in the late 19th century.
The book The Adventures of Tom Sawyer precedes Huckleberry Finn, where in the beginning of Huckleberry Finn, Huck lives with the widow Douglas, though doesn't like the high class living, and frequently leaves to see his father, who's always drunk, or just hangs out in the woods. While in the woods, Huck meets Jim, a slave who escaped and needs to cross the Mississippi River to the freedom on the other side, in Illinois. Although this book portrays a serious meaning, it can also be funny and witty.
I liked this book because it was witty and comical, though it had an important message at the same time. I really liked this book because of this, though the southern accent complicates the understanding of the book. Overall, I thought this book is definitely a classic and a must read for all age levels.

I wasn't too looking forward to the reading Huck Finn at first, particularly after glancing at the dialect of the first couple pages, but once I got started and more used to how the characters spoke, I loved the tale! Huck Finn is an extremely well-written novel that uses silly situations to explain how living was back then, and how slaves were treated. Jim is in the beginning of the book coming across as the stereotype of a slave, but as the novel continues, you really begin to see the real person, not just how Jim was "supposed" to be... Also, throughout the book, you see Huck mature and begin to get his own mind; among other things, Huck develops his own set of morals different from those of society... The Adventures of Huck Finn is a funny, exciting, and at times sweet book that everyone should have the chance to read... :):)

After reading many of the reviews below, I have come to the conclusion that perhaps this novel should not be taught at the high school level. Personally, when I read "Huckelberry Finn" my junior year, I thought that it was an enjoyable break from reading other early American classics, but judging from some of the reviews, others didn't agree. I don't understand exactly what was considered so "boring" about this novel. This book provides the reader with action, humor, and morals; what any 'classic' should do. For those who think of themselves as highly intellectual and felt that the novel didn't have a point, you may want to check your IQ, because I think your ego is in for a massive let-down. Although Twain clearly states at the beginning of the novel that he doesn't want his readers to try to find a point in his 'coming of age' story, the theme of the novel almost smacks the reader in the face. The 'point' is that friendship is more important than social standards and sometimes you have to put yourself at risk in order to save those that you care about. This classic will remain so as long as those who are forced to read it lighten up a little and actually open their minds to a great piece of literature.

To say this is the best book I've ever read might not mean much, considering the fact that I'm only 16 and there are hundreds of other superb books out there which I hope to read someday. Nevertheless, I can't help but give this novel my most enthusiastic support. I've read it twice already, and it has pointed the way towards other Beat works like Naked Lunch, Howl, and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, as well as several other Kerouac novels, all of which I have enjoyed immensely. At the same time, I was disgusted that I was the ONLY person in my accelerated english class to have even HEARD of the book. At my age especially, when we're inundated by Dickens and Shakespeare (all wonderful, yet sometimes monotonous, pieces of literature), its nice to know that there are novels out there written in a more casual style, a style that we can relate to. I know people who, God forbid, actually read for recreation now that they know books like On the Road exist. On the Road is a wonderful, brilliant book which, unfortunately, isn't used in any high school I've ever heard of. And, contrary to what Mr. Capote may think, it is certainly not just "typing."

As a junior in college, I was hesitant to read a Kerouac novel because of the negative connentations associated with the "Beats". While contemplating reading "On the Road", a friend nakedly asked me, "isn't that book about drugs?" My reply "I don't think so", couldn't mask my nervousness about the content of "On the Road". Was I about to read another dated novel about a scene whose time has passed? Well let me assure the quisical reader that this novel is the complete opposite of tired and dated. Kerouac is an amazing, inventive, and charismatic writer who entertains with every word. I assure you this novel is as entertaining as advertised. The plot revolves around the adventures of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarity(thinly veiled altered egos of Kerouac and Neal Cassidy) as they cross the country in search of an illusive yet ever present freedom. Enjoyable scenes

1. Paradise's first trip from the East Coast to the West Coast. The descriptions are joyously vivid and intensely enjoyable. Wow!

2. Kerouac's descriptions of a jazz show in San Francisco. His enthusiasm for jazz is well-documented but this scene conveys the love for jazz like no other author has done before or after.

Enjoy this novel with an open mind and a love for powerful writing.

Jack Kerouac's writing is so smooth. It flows unlike any other writing I've come across. He was on Benzedrine when he was writing this book, and at times you feel as if you are on it with his descriptions of the American and Mexican landscape. It is the story of Sal Paradise, and his road trips he takes in the late 1940's. He is searching for so many things; truth, culture, landscape, and his history. The person that either inspires all of these trips or accompanies him on all of these trips is Dean Moriarty, an insouciant free spirit who is likewise looking for some answers. I can't help but feel that there is no real plot to speak of, in the traditional sense of introduction, climax and resolution. However, the important thing to realize is that Kerouac was not trying to tell the story of only one or two people; he was painting of picture of the American landscape shortly after the Second World War. He does this through the interactions of different drifters along the road. The picture he paints is perfect. _On the Road_ displays the post-war era as well as _The Grapes of Wrath_ displayed the great depression. This is a great novel, and can be understood and enjoyed by a person of any reading level.