What a distinct life she gives to these words, these pages, and these characters. <> is one of the best short stories I have ever read--completely original and brilliantly written, it is the highlight of this collection! But I honestly consider the whole book worth reading. It's a comforting bed-time ritual: an Atwood story every night for a week--how refreshing! They're long enough to give you glimpses of her genius and yet short enough to appreciate--they're no <> or anything (and yes, I love that story, I'm just picking on its length!) Short fiction is the backbone of the literary world; every great writer finds solace in the concept of short fiction--of great ideas being written succintly. It's wonderful to think about, and these stories are among my favorites to read and love and learn from. I must remember to thank Ms. Atwood personally some day--she's immensely gifted!

I've always liked Margaret Atwood, but with this collection I now have to say I love her. Many typically unsentimental stories with strong women characters, and none one-dimensional. Each story has stayed with me in its own way. This is one to try.

Fans of Patrick O'Brian will love Amasa Delano's Voyages. Delano's travels took him through the same uncharted waters and touched the same exotic lands as O'Brian's intrepid Captain Jack Aubrey and his ever-curious companion Stephen Maturin, but with a difference: O'Brian's heroes live in fiction; Delano was for real.

Seldom have I read a seafarer's account with so many varied and interesting observations about the world through which he traveled. Joseph Banks, Charles Darwin and other professional naturalists wrote a good deal about the flora and fauna they studied, of course, but Delano's curiosity takes him everywhere and informs the reader about an amazing range of contemporary details of life and human behavior.

Berkshire House Publishers and Eleanor Seagraves have performed a service of great value in resurrecting this account of sea voyages that played a critical role in establishing America's place in the field of maritime commerce and exploration. Truth can be stranger than fiction. Delano's extradordinary exploits are every bit as fascinating as the tales told by Patrick O'Brian and will appeal to the same readership. Handsomely illustrated.

This is a brilliant, funny, terrifying, exhilarating knock-out of a book. The main character, Eleanor, is one of the most marvelous, complicated, endearing people I've ever met. And her friends and family, the people she runs into, are always surprising and yet completely believable. They are now so real to me that it's as if I knew them. I read Disappearing Ingenue, this first time, in a couple of days because I couldn't help tearing through it. But it's a book that asks to be reread. (Many times.)

It is so rare for a book of this depth and complexity to be such a delicious read, to have both laugh-out-loud jokes, and moments of recognition of the darkest, most inadmissable aspects of human life. Death and life, family and friends, hope and humiliation, love and work -- it's all here. The writing is stunningly inventive, and also absolutely readable. It does what a great book can: takes you to a place that is both unknown and familiar, enlarges your life and experience, makes it as if you've lived more lives than you could on your own.

The individual stories would be beautiful enough, but the remarkable thing is the way that they illuminate each other, and the way they then turn around to illuminate the rest of life. I was so happy when I finished it, so satisfied by the way all of the parts came together to make a complete whole. And the book keeps expanding in my mind, revealing new connections and implications.

I'm giving copies of this book to several friends, but I couldn't resist the impulse to tell you who are reading this about it as well. Please do yourself a favor and take a look at it. I am betting that you will be enchanted and amazed, as I was.

Funny, heartfelt at times, moving, relatable. And absolute must for anyone who demands that their reading time is well spent. I really enjoyed this book and am on my way to find Pritchard's other titles.

I read this book in no time. In the good old days of great letter writing, these two protagonists enjoyed a rich and historic friendship. Although sometimes on the opposite sides of issues, the friendship betwen former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt and President Harry Truman was a rich and ultimately fascinating exercise in camaraderie and mutual aid.
From reading these fascinating letters, it is obvious that these two old friends actually enjoyed talking and exchanging ideas and opinions.

This book, as edited, weaves a moving and extremely interesting story, reading very much like a good biography.
I highly recommend this book, a good example of history making exciting reading.

Steve Neal has compiled some 250 letters between Eleanor Roosevelt and Harry Truman when he took office after the death of Franklin Roosevelt. In this small but thoughtful book, Neal combines commentary pertinent to the times or to the letter itself. While they disagreed on many things, he repeatedly asked her to write to him with her thoughts on events of the day, which she did and with great candor. President Truman was the first to call Mrs. Roosevelt "First Lady of the World." I heartily recomment this book to those who wish to know these two great people a bit better.

If you aren't familiar with the work of Eleanor Antin, this catalog of her recent retrospective is a great introduction. Antin is a performance artist who explores the idea of identity and personal history through her various 'characters' (the king, nurse and ballarina). In assuming these 'roles' and presenting herself in ordinary places, Antin questioned what constituted a work of art and also what constituted an individual person. She also touches on other important issues such as body image, race and gender. The works are presented in the form of photoraphs and descriptive writings and the layout and design of the book are excellent.

I saw the Eleanor Antin show at LACMA and was charmed and won over by the playful, witty, perceptive, and poignant work of this innovative and thoughtful artist. This accompanying catalogue is written by Howard Fox, one of the keenest-eyed curators of contemporary art working today. The book is of a perfect size, beautifully illustrated and printed, and excellently edited. I'm so glad I have this catalogue, so I can remember this amazing show forever.

Although I fall outside of the recommended age group for this book (well outside!) I ended up reading it anyway. I was surprised at how engrossing the story was to someone of my age. It made me realize that no matter what time period, parallels exist when it comes to the thoughts and dreams of adolescent girls. It took me back to my own days of "Judy Blume" books but gave it a refreshing look from a whole new perspective. Wonderful! I couldn't put it down!

My daughters (ages 10 and 12)and I are in Mother Daughter book clubs that both have read Eleanor Hill and loved it! Eleanor is an engaging character and the book is incredibly hard to put down, a real page-turner. The adolescent issues raised--independence, growing up, parent/child struggles, prejudice--are as relevant today as they were for Eleanor in the early 1900s. Our book clubs say "All thumbs up! Read Eleanor Hill together!"

I concur with the excellent synopsis given by the previous reviewer and can only add that Howell has the rare and welcome gift of being able to produce sound scholarship, meticulously documented from the primary sources, that is accessible to the general reader as well as the academic audience for whom the book is primarily intended. This book, while remaining free from tiresome jargon, nevertheless places the subject within current academic discussion very well. She provides a model that I hope will be emulated by future scholars.

Son of the troubled King John, Henry III inherited his father's impoverished kingdom when he was but nine years of age. At 28, Henry married Eleanor of Provence in Canterbury Cathedral on January 14, 1236. The match with the twelve-year-old daughter of Raymond Bergengar, count of Provence was intended to forge an alliance that would protect the southern part of Henry's Angevin empire. Eleanor had never met her bridegroom nor had she ever visited England prior to her marriage.

Howell's biography of Eleanor of Provence looks at both the public and private aspects of Eleanor's life offering new insights into 13th century English history. Although it began as a dynastic match, Henry found in Eleanor a loving and supportive wife. She bore him nine children of whom four survived to adulthood. Yet in spite of the strength of their family life, Eleanor is remembered as one of the most despised of the English queens; in 1236 Londoners mobbed her barge and drove her to flee to the bishop of London's palace of St. Paul's. As she grows from child to woman we see Eleanor use the available avenues of power-patronage, arranged marriages, and ceremonial events- to benefit her family and her loyal corps of retainers who, throughout her life, formed the base of Eleanor's political strength. Indeed it was family relationships that were to be both the strength and weakness of Eleanor's queenship. Her devotion to her family and her single minded efforts to promote her foreign-born Savoyard relations put her at odds with the English nobility and eventually with her husband's family, all of whom were in competition for lands, titles, and lucrative marriages. As Howell comments, Eleanor "made intercession an art." However, throughout their marriage, Eleanor's support and connections to the French monarchy remained a key factor in Henry's ability to hold on to his throne. Howell gives a full picture of Eleanor of Provence; a woman of culture, complexity, loyalty and intelligence; but one unloved by her subjects. I would highly recommend it.

The first thing that should be said about The Eleanor Roosevelt Encyclopedia is that it is a "good read." You can open it anywhere and read fascinating information about Eleanor Roosevelt's life, friends, family, work, and political causes. You can follow the asterisks in the text to related entries, or you can read successive entries, learning serially and serendipitously about Lucy Mercer Rutherfurd, ER's social secretary who became romantically involved with FDR; ER's friend Rose Schneiderman, a Polish immigrant who became one of the most important labor leaders of the twentieth century; the scholarly debate over ER's sexuality; and Alfred Smith, Democratic presidential nominee in 1928. Everyone who was active in the progressive movement is here, as well as political organizations, foreign leaders, and discussions of such topics as television, the anti-lynching movement, birth control, the democratic party, ER's biographers, and the United Nations. Most especially, the amazing fullness of Eleanor Roosevelt's life is here. Small wonder that Hillary Clinton wanted to talk to her when she became first lady.

Maurine Beasley, Henry R. Beasley, and Holly C. Shulman have produced an outstanding reference work on Eleanor Roosevelt. They have enlisted an array of distinguished authors to write about every aspect of Mrs. Roosevelt's life, and the result is a fascinating collection of essays that range from her impact on the institution of the First Lady to the many social causes that she championed. Well illustrated and comprehensive in its coverage, the book is rewarding for the insights it provides into one of the most important women in American history and is simply an excellent reading experience on its own terms. This is a volume that belongs in every school and public library that wants to provide a lively, reliable, and perceptive introduction to the life and career of the First Lady of the World, as Mrs. Roosevelt was known. Anyone interested in Eleanor Roosevelt will also want to own this book.

Any child, and I am now fifty-nine years old, who can recite Andy Spandy's ropeskipping rhyme has me for a friend. This is one of those tales for children that sounds better being told aloud by a good reader. When I was growing up, both my parents loved to read aloud, and my sister and I heard many fine tales before the fireplace, listening to mother or father.
But the lilt of the language as the rope swings round is the unforgettable part:
ANDY SPANDY SUGARDY CANDY
FRENCH ALMOND ROCK!
BREAD AND BUTTER FOR YOUR SUPPER'S
ALL YOUR MOTHER'S GOT!

There may be no better book for reading aloud to pre-teens. Originally one of the stories in Farjeon's "Tales Told Under the Green Umbrella" -- long out of print -- Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep is easily as much fun for the adult reader as for the young listener, and in this case that is saying a great deal. It is actually two consecutive stories (ideal for consecutive nights), one a delightful fantasy of fairies and skipping rope -- just as appealing to boys as to girls, honest -- and the second an adventure, at once enthralling and emotionally satisfying, with an ending that will bring tears of delight to all who hear it.

My whole family loved this very special and heartwarming version of A Fisherman and His Wife. The illustrations are a joy to look at again and again. They are filled with color, humor, spendid detail, and are literally spilling out of the pages. We especially Love the rainbow lobsters and, of course, the cats, as the main characters. A book full of energy, wisedom and integrity-one of my all time favorite picture books!

A well written book. It reminds you what is important in life. The drawings are vivid and full of life. I especially liked the drawings of the brown tiger striped cat, Ragnar. He reminds me of my own cat. Excellent reading for childen of all ages.