I wished this book would have had a longer chapter analyzing the natures of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and the impact this short book has had on culture and society. The lists of movies and theatre plays are good, but there are some faults. (Wrong production year of Fredric March movie, storylines of some of the movies are not entirely correct.) A few times, I wondered whether the authors really had seen the movie or not. When you publish a book like this, you must look up your facts closely! The Stevenson biography was interesting and exactly the right length, though the Deacon Brodie chapter could have been considerably shorter. All in all, a good lexicon for Jekyll & Hyde-fans.

Saw Dr. McNally on TV discussing society's fascination with the "evil within". Great book, well-paced yet in-depth enough to satisfy the thoughtful reader. The chapters tracing the common theme of the two sides of humanity through the movies and media were particularly eye-opening for me. Also, the exploration of Robert Louis Stevenson's evolution of the story was fascinating. Great writer- will have to pick up the Dracula books now!!

This book is a great companion piece to the author's earlier studies of the historical Dracula. For anyone who is a student of literature or of Stevenson in particlar, this is a great resource. I had the good fortune to take one of Prof. McNally's classes, and thus be exposed to his work. They provide a well-researched historical context and examination of the origins of these Victorian classics.

If you haven't read any of McNally/Florescu's previous works on Dracula, do so now and pick this one up while you are at it. For anyone who is fan of Dracula or Jeckyll/Hyde, the two Dracula books and the Stevenson study are "must haves". Stop reading my review, and go buy the damn books!

In the first ten pages, Stevenson has 1) the perfect General traveling to meet 2) the perfect industrialist/philanthropist who, along with 3) the perfect woman, working in 4) the perfect building/research facility, create 5) the perfect weapon.

This book contains every mistake that a novice writer can make to sidetrack the reader from the storyline. Every paragraph (at least for the thirty-two pages that I was able read) contains cumbersome phrases such as "Electrical cables dangled to his left, the thick strands a dull orange in the penumbra of his dive light" and "catching sight of one of his team gliding past him like an angel of death, the silhouette of a sound-suppressed Heckler and Koch MP5 clearly visible against the lighted base ahead." Said base being viewed while under a parachute from an altitude of 29,000 feet and 30 miles away.

As an avid reader, I was extremely disappointed with a book carrying the Robert Louis Stevenson name...

This book was recommended to me by Amazon and I took a chance on it. It was well written, interesting and fast paced. I did not read the other book so I did not know the main character, but that was a minor deficiency.
The problems I have is his research. There are no Lieutenant Commanders in the Army, not in my lifetime. A HALO jump means High Altitude Low Opening, if you jump from 30,000 and open the chute at 29,000 that is a High Altitude jump. He does not really dwell that you have to be on oxygen when you jump either.
The glaring error in the book was his lack of understanding how classified data is transmitted. He assumed incorrectly that it was computer to computer and that the crypto coding was in the computers, not so, not at all. Classified data of the nature of Bright Star would be double or triple encrypted using NSA devices that no hacker could defeat just by playing around. He would need a Cray 2 and about a month to get one message that was just encrypted once. Also the encryption keys are changed on a daily basis, so when you broke the first message, and tried to use that key on a second message the next day you would have to start over.
The glaring technical errors took my rating from 5 to 3.

A very good techno-diving thriller. Stevenson actually manages to live up to the obvious marketing advantages of his famous name. Along with Cussler, Poyer, McKinna, and a few others,R.L.S. the IIIrd delivers excellent deep-sea genre fiction, heavy on the diving.

I own the first edition of this book and was
happy to see the new edition come out.
(The first edition was in 1984)
It is tells the history of the 40 Broadway theatres
which are currently being used in NYC.
It is filled with tons of photos from the plays
which have taken place in each theatre as well as
photos of other memorabilia related to the theatre.
The one thing that the books lacks are historic
and contemporary photos of the theatre interiors.
There are some color photos of the New Amsterdam
but very few others.
I think that the book would have had an added dimension
with interior photos of the theatres themselves.
Even without the theatre photos, I would still recommend
this book to any student or fan of Broadway theatre.

For any theatre fan or history buff, Louis Botto's At This Theatre is an enjoyable and informative collection of colorfully-illustrated chapters chronicling the many productions and personalities playing at the existing theatres which together constitute "Broadway" today, this revised edition covering all current Tony-eligible houses with a history of legitimate productions (plus a few more theatrical venues in New York City), and including a useful index -- something missing from the first edition. One wishes, though, that this hefty volume could be even thicker, but for the many Broadway theatres now gone. However, of those legitimate stages which remain or which have been returned (or are returning) to theatrical glory, this book is an affectionate tribute to a century of plays and musicals on the Broadway stage and the many theatres which house them, some of which have become like a second home to some of us theatregoers. And at a time when corporations and other commercial producers have made it easy for a wary public to be cynical about the crass commercialism which has taken over so much of mainstream culture (including the renaming of some refurbished or rebuilt Broadway theatres), Brian Stokes Mitchell's thoughtful preface reminds us that there is a very human history and a living tradition at these theatres worth knowing and keeping in spite of it.

Author Louis Botto is a master at telling stories of theatre past, present and the future. He's been going to the theatre for the past 65 years and has enough stories to fill the main reading room at the New York Public Library.

The book is full of images of old playbill covers, production photographs and souvenir programs from the shows he discuss. and it is not only great as a reference for what show played which theatre, who starred in the production or how long it lasted; but it's a very interesting read and worth every penny you spend.

I received this book as a gift, and I just can't bring myself to read to my baby from a book with such sickening, cloying illustrations. Looking at Thomas Kincaid's work makes my skin crawl. Ewwww! I cannot understand how Thomas Kincaid makes a living. Is America's taste in art really that bad??

I am looking for an edition of *A Child's Garden of Verses* that does not feature the "artwork" of Thomas Kincaid.

I had this book (without the illustrations) as a child, and loved it.

I have given this book to five different mothers at baby showers and they all adore it. I get invited to lots of baby showers and I have decided to always purchase books in the hopes that parents will read to their children. This book has been a favorite hit with everyone. Not everyone likes Thomas Kincade, however, I find his books peaceful in conjunction with these children's verses.

I love reading the verses to my grandchildren (ages 3-7). They listen attentively, enchanted by every selection. They have quickly learned to recognize most of the authors. My grandchildren in kingergarten and first grade are able to read many of the verses themselves, although they still like Grandma to read to them. Hearing the various rhythms of poetry has been a motivation and inspiration for them to emulate in their oral reading.

It is a fantastic gift for any age child. Great for older children to read to their younger siblings. The vast majority of the book is of interest and most enjoyable for all ages, from the very young to the very old (but young at heart). My children have asked for copies to be given to their children's other grandparents......fantastic book for grandparents to read to their grandchildren.

We have all enjoyed the artwork along with the verses. The assortment of poems, prayers and scripture is excellent. A refreshing, inspiring, memorable, and enjoyable book. It is a true "family" book for reading enjoyment as well as a "coffee table" book!

Treasure Island

Treasure island is a good book and well written one at that. When Robert Louis Stevenson wrote this book, I think he had the theme be careful who you trust in mind. When the main character Jim Hawkins finds a map and forms a crew. But a few in particular are captain long john silver, captain Smollett. He had to be a ware for at any second long john Smollett or the crew could turn against him. Along the hunt for treasure many problems may accrue not be fixable but the pure fear that he may never see his mom again...
I only recommend this book to people with high thinking levels.

It is a very adventurous book. It takes a long time to get to know the characters but you will like it. Read Treasure Island.

It is a very nice book. I like it because there is a lot of fighting going on. It is amazing how people do not die. It is also fun because they travel on water a lot. It is interesting because I kept wondering if they are going to find the treasure or not!!! If you like adventure read this book.

I was surprisingly disappointed with this novel, partly because so much is left in the air. The relationship between Archie and his father (a finely disguised mix of RLS' father and Lord Braxfield- whose portrait actually appears on the cover), is perhaps one of the most interesting features. Christina or Kirstie (the younger one) appears part way through and although she is obviously going to be a major character in the novel disappears (because the MS cuts off) at just the least appropriate time. I suggest with the notes that you read a chapter and then read the notes for the next one, otherwise it can be a wee bittie piecemeal reading the thing. Don't be put off by the Lowland Scots dialogue if you aren't Scottish, Miller has listed the more important words at the back and most appear several times. What is there is well written (although pretty wordy by today's standards), but it's not good to be left in the lurch like that.

This was Stevenson's last novel and is unfinished, though it is known how it was going to finish. The main feature of the plot is the relationship between Lord Hermiston, a judge renowned for his stringency, and his more liberal (but still fairly well-behaved) son. The plot is of course a lot more complex than that, and the father is absent for most of even what Stevenson wrote before his death.

It is a very Scottish novel, with large portions of it taking place in the Scottish countryside, with clan relations, etc. and with most of the dialogue in Scots.

Some of the characterisation is excellent, and if it had been finished with Stevenson's usual ability along the suggested storyline, it would have been a very moving novel indeed.

Ok ok. This book was pretty good i have to admit. I had to read it for my english class with a group of friends. The thing i found most irritating is the way the people talk! I mean, its like Sir this and Master that and shall this and ne instead of no. I overall though think its a good book. I wouldnt reccomend it to anyone but thats just me.

As young man I do not really enjoy reading books. My aunt got me "The Misadventures of John Nicholson" for my birthday, and I was disapointed thinking what a waste of her money. One day I opened the book out of curiosity and read the first few pages, and that all it took for me to be hooked! I read that book cover to cover twice and still I want to read it again and again! I even let one of my friends borrow the book, and he was also amazed at the great writing skills of Robert Louis Stevenson. He even offered to buy the book from me, but I didn't sell it, because I liked it way too much to give it away forever! Also, I have recomended this book to everyone I know, and the smart people that do listen to me and read this book agree with me that it is the best book they have ever read, and thank me for my recomendation. I believe anyone, AND I MEAN ANYONE, that passes up the chance to buy a this great book is CRAZY, let me spell it for you C-R-A-Z-Y! Go see your doctor if you read this book and you don't like it, because your CRAZY!

Photos are beautiful and recipes are inspirational, but the first one I tried, "Croissant Cinnamon Raisin Buns", seems to have a major error. The ratio of liquid to flour (2-1/2 cups milk plus 1/3 cup water to 4 cups of flour) makes a dough so thin it can be "poured out" but not "rolled out" as instructed. Hopefully, the remaining recipes are more accurate.

Tired of the standard breakfast fare such plain pancakes, instant oatmeal, and dry cereal, and unable
to do unhealthy meals such as biscuits and sausage gravy on anything but the rare occasion, I went
hunting for a cookbook devoted specifically to breakfast foods. I didn't exactly find the shelves
overflowing with such cookbooks - but fortunately, this was one of them. Compared to the other
sparse offerings available in the bookstore, this one was the definite winner. Not necessarily due to
the number of recipes, because this cookbook isn't exactly overflowing with them, but because of
what looked like quality past what others I saw. As stated by the book jacket, they are not your
traditional breakfasts in any manner - each recipe has unusual ingredients for the type of food, each
is fancier than what you're used to - and plenty of them aren't that much harder to make.

So, deciding that even a single recipe that was good would be worth it, I purchased the book. It
ended up being a while until I made anything from it - not from not wanting to, mind you, just that it
took some time to actually be willing to get up and make breakfast. Finally, one morning, we got up a
bit earlier, and decided to make something for breakfast. Finally, instead of looking in the book and
thinking "I need to make this someday", I actually did it. And the recipe was not only simple to follow,
but the breakfast was most definately worth it.

There is a large variety of recipes in the book, many that I would never think to make for breakfast.
Heck, there are some that I probably will never make, as they're not my style. But that's ok, because
there are plenty more that I definately will have to make some morning. The recipes are not just your
casual weekend breakfast fare, either - very few dishes seem like they would not be appropriate for
serving to company - or even a fancy breakfast. I am very, very happy with this book, as everything
made so far has been downright delicious. Sometimes I feel I can't decide what to make for breakfast,
they all look so incredibly good.

At the beginning of the book, there's even a little description of their Inn, their attitude toward
breakfast (as a "forgotten" meal), and a short description of the area the Inn is located in. At the end
is a selection of menus for special events, such as a Bridal breakfast, sunrise picnic, a brunch buffet,
or a hands-on breakfast for kids. They have lists of things that can be done two days in advance,
and one day in advance, to make it easier to make the food on the morning of the event.

This is an excellent book for a special breakfast or brunch event. The recipes are innovative and do turn out well. I contacted the author and she indicated there were several printing errors - the biggest one being the Croissant Cinnamon Buns (she was very upset because this is her most POPULAR recipe!) The flour should be 6 cups - not 4 - or feel free to add as much flour as necessary to make a workable dough. I hope everyone enjoys these wonderful recipes as much as I do. The croissants are awesome!

The tale of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde has been quite familiar to me for as long as I can remember, but only now have I read the original short novel by Robert Louis Stevenson. It is unfortunate that familiarity has robbed modern readers of the suspense that almost certainly was engendered in Stevenson's contemporary audience. Nor can I attribute a strong hint of terror in these pages, partly because of the plot structure. This is not a straightforward story; we don't follow Dr. Jeckyll in his experimentation. Rather, we are introduced to Jeckyll and Hyde through Jeckyll's lawyer Mr. Utterson. Having drawn up Jeckyll's will to leave everything to Hyde should he disappear, he is most concerned for his client and friend upon learning that Mr. Hyde is a misshapen monster of a man responsible for trampling a young girl in the street. The first half of the book follows Utterson's attempts to discover this Mr. Hyde for himself. The final half of the book contains the story of Jeckyll and Hide, told first in the words of a mutual friend and doctor and ultimately in an account of events penned by the unfortunate Dr. Jeckyll.

It goes without saying that the heart of the story revolves around the duality of the human mind. Each of us has a dark side as well as a good side, and the majority of individuals attempt to disguise any bad, uncontrollable aspects of their natures from the public. Dr. Jeckyll had a predilection for thoughts and acts which he and society frowned upon (although what these acts were is never revealed); as he neared middle age, his life became defined by a continuous inner struggle to keep on the straight and narrow path. He often failed, so he came up with the idea of totally separating his evil nature from his good one. Through the use of chemistry, he developed a solution that, when ingested, transformed him into a different persona in both body and mind, one which had free reign to indulge anonymously in those worldly delights Dr. Jeckyll secretly lusted after. He thought that his original persona would then be freed of the guilt of his desires, while his Mr. Hyde persona could satiate himself in performing guilty actions without any moral restraint. As is only natural, the dark side grew stronger as time passed, and the person of Dr. Jeckyll found himself in more of a quandary than he ever dreamed of before giving birth to Mr. Hyde.

Inner conflict between the good and bad in ourselves is something every reader can easily understand, and it is this psychological aspect of Stevenson's famous short novel that accounts for the tale's continuing popularity. It is a quick and absorbing read, but the method of the tale's presentation is a slight weakness in my opinion. We can only watch the human drama from a third person perspective, and I would like to have gotten more deeply inside the mind of Jeckyll and Hyde. Still, this is a classic of literature that will retain its place in popular culture for untold years to come. As for the afterword by Jerome Charyn in the Bantam edition of the book, I must say I could have done without it. It does provide some interesting background on Stevenson, but its psychological assumptions and surmises struck me as overdramatic and groundless. The story of Jeckyll and Hyde stands strongly on its own merits and does not need to be accompanied by psychobabble.

Jekyll and Hyde is a mind twisting suspense thriller. Throughout almost every moment of the book I was waiting to see what happened next. Although the book is very exciting it can also be hard to read at times. The book was written by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1886. Some of the language is written in a proper old english style. Some people might read this book because it is short. The truth is that sometimes it takes a while to finish because of the difficult context. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about a kind and friendly doctor named Henry Jekyll. He concocts some sort of potion which he tests on himself. Something horrible has happened. He is Henry Jekyll by day, of course, but by night he transforms into the malevolent Mr. Hyde. Mr. Hyde is a bent-over, repulsive looking man. He represents Jekyll's evil side which Jekyll cannot control. At night Hyde kills numerous amounts of people and is never caught. Everyone is puzzled as to why Hyde suddenly dissappears without a trace. At the same time Jekyll sits in his labratory all day trying to figure out a way to stop this transformation from occuring. He is always at war with his other self. he is no longer the friendly doctor everyone has come to know and love. He no longer enjoys hiss life and he will not speak with anybody. Jekyll's good friend Mr. Utterson is confused about the doctors strange behavior lately. He tries to see Jekyll, but he will not let anybody inside. He and the doctor's butler, Poole, are starting to get frightened by what they come to see. If you want to know what happenss to Dr. Jekyll read this book!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is more than a book of suspense and horror, but it makes you think of things that relate to life.

You have to read this book for yourself because it contaplates from "what others have heard about the story". Here you have a human being that has split himself into two different personalities. One is a man of conscience and the other one is this man who has a taste for evil. The "potion" created by compounding together reactive chemcials makes Dr. Jykell become depended on it, and he has also indulge himself in his evil twisted side.

When Jykell quoted, "that man has two sides" (which is good and evil), I think that Stevenson demostrated well within the character that he made a point to what he did and what he had become. That is when he changes from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde that he was only pulling out what man chooses to be.

This shows that man has a choice to be good or evil. But what makes Dr. Henry Jekyll case so unsual is that he creates a formula, a formula that he becomes addicted to, and he can no longer transform back from evil to good. He was premanently becoming Edward Hyde, someone he never thought that he had the capablity of being. Discovering the potion seem like his worse nightmare.

And it was.

If you want to discover a beautiful and wild French region through the eyes of a Scottish writer, read Travels with a donkey. Stevenson, before he became famous, depicted his journey in the cevennes, with his donkey "Modestine". Rediscover the excellent style of a young writer about to become world-wide-known.

R.L. Stevenson writes here the first account of a touristic journey in France. He is the first modern tourist. He penetrates and discovers the country and the people of what he calls the Lozère, this mountain range in the south of The Central mountains in France, a range of mountains that was the locale of a protestant rebellion at the very beginning of the eighteenth century, severely repressed by Louis XIV. These protestant insurgers are known as the Camisards. Stevenson tries to discover the landscape, the natural setting of this insurrection and tries to show how the insurrection was connected to the very nature of these mountains. He also shows how no repression can change a person or a population. These old Camisards are still alive in the memory and the customs and ways of the protestant population of this region. It is the survival of this faith that interests and fascinates Stevenson. He also notices that the catholics and the protestants, at the time of his travels, lived in harmony but with an absolute divide between the two communities. A young catholic man who married a protestant girl and changed his faith in the process was unanimously condemned for this breach of loyalty. This book is also a perfect example of what tourism can and must be : the discovery of the visited people's mentality, culture, way of life, and the connection of these with the surrounding nature, and not only a quick look at monuments and other (un)perishable. One has to live with the people, no matter how little, to eat the people's food and to be in contact with the people in order to discuss general and particular subjects and to understand their way of thinking and behaving. Thus tourism becomes an adventure even in the heart of the most civilized country and only a couple of miles away from a railroad.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU