What I enjoyed most about these short stories was how they were complete and concise. In Allende's work there tends to be a propensity to drift as she introduces so many possible roads for the story/character to go to. But the short story formula forces Allende to stay on topic/character and not digress into irrelevant historical facts.
The one flaw I would say that I noticed about this book, and I wouldn't term it flaw but there are points where a character or situation touches briefly onto a former story or heralds something of a future tale. Unfortunately this skill is used so deftly that it left me clamoring for me but there wasn't any. That was my only disappointment with the book. Buy it, an excellent resource for teaching short story form (which is what I used it for) or for studying how to do it well. Or even to read on a short trip, the subway perhaps....?

This is not a feminist novel in the politically correct fashion, yet still enables an integrity in the women that is rarely seen. Isabel Allende has extraordinary ability to tell stories that reflect emotions so strongly that the characters become a part of you. I don't recall how many times I've read this book. I'll read a favorite story before I go to sleep for pleasant dreams, or the whole book from time to time. Everytime I borrow the book out, my recipient has enjoyed it so much that I end up giving the book to them. Read this book, and realize the beauty of Allende's world.

Anyone wishing to read a book of stories that mesmerizes you like the first stories you ever heard need look no further than this superb collection. The framing premise is that Eva and her lover Rolf have relaxed after an amorous encounter, and now Rolf wishes Eva to tell him a story ("Make it up for me," he tells her). From the bed, Eva spins 23 amazing stories drawing from fairy tales, magic realism, the chaotic history of Latin America, and the reality (including dream reality) of women's contemporary and past lives. Varying broadly in their setting and characters, the stories remain unified in their unflinchingly tough-minded view of life, filtered through the wish fulfillments of a tempestuous seductress. Using the inspiration of The Thousand Nights and a Night, Allende refracts the empowerment of women in a male-infested world through the lens of the power of words. The stories have a cumulative impact, but individual titles that stand out to this reader include "The Little Heidelberg," "Walimai," "If You Touched My Heart," "The Judge's Wife," "Our Secret," "Ester Lucero," and the wrenching final story, "And of Clay Are We Created" (with an ending similar to Woody Allen's Radio Days). Having been stranded on the flotsam of political chaos herself, Allende acutely details shifts in the characters' fates as citizens of impoverished and disempowered cultures. Moreover, the notion that postmodern narrative offers style but little feeling or substance is disproved by this author and book. Highly recommended

I enjoyed reading this book, though I don't think it was especially well written. It is the author's experiences and attention to detail that make "Honey, Let's Get a Boat..." worth reading. What I didn't like was his overuse of the simile...it just seemed flowery and excessive. Also, the book could use a bit of editing/proofreading. I do think that Mr. Stob's writing improves as the book progresses, it is almost as though he learned to write as he wrote. Undeniably an important resource for anyone planning a long cruise on the "Great Loop."

There are lots of technical boating books out there and they are easy to find. This book chronicles one couple's own adventure on the "Great Loop" in their first cruiser, a 40' (wow) trawler. I loved the writing style--great humor and sometimes romantic descriptions of the goings on (Mr.'s descriptions of Mrs., their married kids' near "marital conflagration" on deck, the story of the chocolates, cruising with the senior ladies. The descriptions of the travel are very well written. The experiences aboard will be appreciated by addicted boaters and non-boaters alike. This is an adventure story. When I finally retire and head for the Great Loop in my cruiser, I will think often and fondly of the Stob's and this delightful book.

There is not a day that goes by when I don't eat, sleep, and dream about boats. Whether you're an avid fan of boating or just enjoy a day on the water, "Honey, Let's Get A Boat" is a must read.The Stob's have the uncanney ability to describe every detail in such a way, it makes you feel as though you are on board with them. From one who reads as many boating books as I can lay my hands on, none are written better than "Honey, Let's Get a Boat!"Once you start reading this book, you won't be able to put it down. There's only one problem with it though - By the time you're finished reading this book, you'll want to cruise America's Great Loop. Buy the book and you won't stop talking about it!

This is a masterpiece to be savored, celebrated, and shared. Straddling the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, The Radetzky March uniquely combines the color, pomp, pageantry, and military maneuvering of the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire with the more modern political and psychological insights of the twentieth century, giving this short book a panoramic geographical and historical scope with fully rounded characters you can truly feel for.

Atmospheric effects are so rich and details are so carefully selected that you can hear the clopping of hooves, rattling of carriage wheels, clang of sabers, and percussion of rifles. Parallels between the actions of man and actions of Nature, along with seasonal cycles, bird imagery, and farm activity, permeate the book, grounding it and connecting the author's view of empire to the reality of the land. Loyalty, patriotism, and family honor are guiding principles here, even when these values impel the characters to extreme and sometimes senseless actions, as seen in a duel.

Significantly, there are no birth scenes here, only extremely touching scenes of aging and death, adding further poignancy to the decline and fall of the empire itself. And just as Trotta, in the end, has the little canary brought in to him, commenting that "it will outlive us all," perhaps this novel, too, will someday emerge from its obscurity and live as the classic it deserves to be.

This is a novel so good that it is hard to find anything critical to say about it.Perhaps the reader needs to know a bit about the end of the Habsburg Monarchy first- try the relevant chapter of a good history textbook.Other than that ,this is a work of astonishing qualitites. The prose is written with extraordinary care: Roth's description of the appearance of things is beautiful in itself and becomes even more so when you realise that he is recording the details of a vanished way of life. There are scenes which really do deserve the overworked adjective 'unforgettable'.His prose is so clear, economical and precise that you have to compare him to somebody like Tolstoy. This book is hardly known at all in the English-speaking countries, which is a very great shame. Roth disapproved of his characters' actions and the Empire in which they lived and yet he managed to make me genuinely mourn the end of both the Habsburg Empire and the Trotta family.

This is a truly great novel about disillusionment and loss set during the decline and death of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Written in wonderfully deft and gently ironic prose, it chronicles three generations of a peasant family raised to the aristocracy through a heroic act. By choosing such protagonists, Roth is able to successfully contrast the naive, innocent faith in the monarchy of the Trottas against the actual moral and social collapse of AH society.

However, unlike many a novelist, while Roth clearly understands why citizens grew disillusioned with pre-WW I society, he also notes the price paid by those who are disillusioned. Thus, while all the flaws of Viennese society are decried (corruption, anti-Semitism, incompetence), Roth evokes a genuine sympathy for a time when faith in society still existed.

As the 20th century has been a perpetual and--given communism, fascism, nationalism et al.--failed search for some way to reconstruct the myths that held society together (which were destroyed by WW I), Roth's novel is as timely as ever.

Treat yourself to this sad, touching novel which should be far better know than it is. Roth is one novelist who saw and understood.

Journey to the River Sea is the story of Maia, and orphan that is sent to Brazil to live with her aunt, uncle, and twin cousins. Maia is excited about moving, and ready to explore the Amazon and make new friends. Unfortunately, things don't turn out picture-perfect as she'd hoped. Her cousins are absolutely terrible, and her aunt and uncle are nasty people who go beyond being condescending. Maia's life is ridiculously confined for someone living in a place presenting so many opportunities for adventure. However, things begin to look up as she finds wonderful companions and stumbles into a dazzling quest. Journey to the River Sea is one of those extremely satisfying adventure stories, and while the way it's put together is familiar, it is still an original read. Those who think that it is boring must learn that not all good books are laugh-and-explosion-a-minute stories. This book is filled with charm, and you won't regret reading it. Pick it up with an open mind and you will be very pleased, trust me!

Set mostly along the Amazon River, this newest book by acclaimed author Eva Ibbotson (Which Which?, Island of the Aunts) was a wonderful, enjoyable read. It is the story of the orphan Maia who leaves her British boarding school to move in with some distant relatives who live on the mighty Amazon River, or "river sea." Before she arrives, Maia imagines beautiful wildlife and exiciting adventrues, as well as being greeted by a wonderful family who will love her as one of their own. Unfortunately, this is not how things turn out, as her aunt and cousins are extremely xenophobic, and will not allow any bit of Amazonian culture to infiltrate their household. Her uncle, on the other hand, is almost completely oblivious due to his fascination with his collection of glass eyes.

Just as things are getting to be truly unbearable, Maia meets a young "Indian" boy who has a secret and needs her help to keep him from the place of his father's youth. With the help of her governess, the museum curator, and a young actor fearing his demise due to his adolescense, Maia is able to help her new friend and find the true Amazon. I highly recommend this book to all children ages 8+, and adults would probably enjoy it as well. The reading level is not difficult, and the story is definitely a page turner.

Happy reading!

If you want ghosts and witches, then read any one of Ibbotson's other novels - they're all great, and perfect for Harry Potter fans. However Journey to the River Sea has its own kind of magic, and it's just as good as the stuff with wands and potions.

Maia, an orphan, is sent with her formidable but loving governess (shades of The Little White Horse) to stay with her unpleasant relations on the Amazon. They're being paid to take her in, and hate everything to do with the extraordinary country in which they find themselves as much as Maia loves it. Luckily for her, she makes friends with two boys - one a child actor playing Little Lord Fauntleroy on the boat over, the other a mysterious boy who lives in the jungle, who turns out to be the heir to a great title and fortune back in England. Maia's evil twin cousins and relations are soon plotting how to kill her and capture the boy, for whom a huge reward is being offered. But the love of her governess and friends may yet save her....

This won the Smarties Gold Prize in the UK and is expected to win the Carnegie too. It's unputdownable, packed with old-fashioned story-telling virtues from a great plot to characters you'd love to know.

I had very high hopes of this book offering some genuine insights and useful pointers, but, having grown tired of both Ms Shaw's repeated references to herself and how successful she is at writing, and the (largely empty) promises that this book shows you absoultely everything you need to do to get published, I gave up, frustrated and irritated in equal measure.

I can't take seriously any book which at one point seems to be preparing you for an imminent appearance on Oprah and then offers a crash course in basic punctuation. I also resent Ms Shaw's assertion that we prefer reading at a sixth-grade level. I for one found her sixth-grade writing style both patronising and irritating. You, of course, may not.

This book is also woefully also short on detail and the nitty-gritty. If, for example, you're going to devote an entire chaper to the production of a book proposal, would it not make sense to provide some examples? Ms Shaw evidently doesn't think so, because there aren't any. Similarly, her "advice" for interviewing seems more concerned with what you should wear than what questions to ask and how to ask them.

This book might be mildly useful to those looking to produce a simple book on looking after goldfish, but for those of us who are a bit more ambitious - and who think writing should be more than just knocking together something that a sixth-grader could read - look elsewhere.

WRITING THE NONFICTION BOOK contains all the information and inspiration any writer needs to turn an idea into a best seller. Eva Shaw has published over 40 books and she knows and loves her subject. This concise, easy-to-read guide includes the material she presents to universities and conferences all over the United States. It tells how to plan a book,choose a subject, brush up writing skills, do effective research, organize the material, and stay focused. Eva devotes chapters to successful interviewing, writing proposals, finding the right agent and publisher, self-publishing, overcoming self-doubts and staying enthusiastic. She explains how to profit from writers conferences and workshops. WRITING THE NONFICTION BOOK tells how to increase your chances for success, how to target readers, and how to market and promote your book. If you want to write, read this book. It will get you started, keep you going and empower you to make your dream of writing a book come true. Maryanne Raphael, Writers World

Eva Shaw's Writing The Nonfiction Book is a compendium of practical tips and anecdotal information on the art and science of writing, producing, and marketing nonfiction books. Whether an aspiring author seeking to be published, or an experienced professional, Writing The Nonfiction Book has something to commend it, from determining the marketability of a book concept to creating the manuscript, to finding an agent, to securing a publisher. Easy-to-follow steps explain how to format, complete, and market any kind of nonfiction book regardless of subject matter. Writing The Nonfiction Book is highly recommended reading and will prove an invaluable asset to the entire process from assessing an original idea for a book to marketing and promotion the finished tome.

Lucy Davenport's life has never been easy since the death of her mother. She and her father live in the foothills of the Georgia mountains and the sudden visit of Holman Carpenter is a welcomed diversion, until Lucy realizes she is bartered to be Holmans' wife. Actually, the new Mrs. Carpenter is to take over the care of the 13 Carpenter children...some who don't want a new mother. Uncertain of her abilities to manage such a brood, and with her new husband leaving her alone with the children while he tends to work, Lucy faces a whole new life in North Carolina. Eva McCall has based this first novel on the stories she heard of her own grandmother's experiences in the late 1890's. The balance of life was often challenged by illness, ignorance, poverty and the lawlessness that could exist. As Lucy comes to know the children she is to call her own (if she chooses to stay) she learns to appreciate the upbringing she had with her parents and discover her own strengths. Some may say it does not take a realistic look at the harsh times and the realities, it is a well told story of pioneer life. Captured is the compelling story of family loyalty and triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. I hope this story continues.

As the author of "Edge of Heaven" I've heard about or lived every scene in this book. Like Julie Harmon in Robert Morgan's "Gap Creek", I've sawed firewood, milked cows, and eat cornbread for breakfast. Lucy was my grandmother and I feel her spirit wrote this story. If you enjoy the book you can email me at emae57@earthlink.net Below are two reviews I received from fellow Authors.

Eva McCall captures the texture of everyday life so beautifully in "Edge Of Heaven". A book to treasure. Author: Lee Smith.

During the 19 years Eva Carpenter McCall lived with her grandmother, Lucy Davenport Carpenter, she listened well to the story of that remarkable woman's life. The unique fact setting these reminiscences apart from many similar recollections of harsh weather, illness, isolation, predatory animals and people, is the fact that when Lucy Carpenter was 18 yeaars old her father traded her to a widower with thirteen children and a mysterious lifestyle. The author realistically dramatizes the challenges and conflicts of this situation in the mountains of Western North Carolina in the 1890's. Daily hardship is lightened by flashes of humor, human pettiness is balanced against nature's bounty. Lucy would appreciate her granddaughter's weaving of fact and imagination into a story reaching toward the edge of heaven. Author: Wilma Dykeman

In Edge of Heaven, Eva McCall recounts the story of her grandmother's marriage to a man with 13 children per a deal with her father. The story is fascinating. The characters are profound and vibrant. Lucy, the main character, finds herself in a new, inhospitable world with a husband she finds frightening and who is seldom home, the eldest daughter who despises her because she feels she is taking her mother's place, a peddler called Jake who has the power to quell Lucy's loneliness but is also hiding a secret, and gruff Herby Ledford who gives her a hard time. There are many interesting tales hiding in this book's pages that can keep you reading and reading tirelessly. And by the time you finish the book a sweet feeling of nostalgia creeps over as if you had lived the entire story yourself. It is this power of making stories written on a page live in one's memory as if they were real that truly distinghuishes Eva McCall's writing style. Edge of Heaven is an excitingly delightful book and with its vivid protrayals and descriptions, it would make a great movie.

I didn't care for this book all that much. First, her adolescent experience as an immigrant to Canada seems heavily covered over by later-acquired learning in the philosphy of structuralism, semiotics, etc, all very fashionable nowdays. The book has more the feel of a post-mortem analysis than a personal memoir, and in trying to be both it fails on both levels.

Second, I didn't find her a sympathetic character, because she herself seemed to have so little sympathy for others: Canadians were boring, dull, undemonstrative; North-American teenage life superficial; the local Jewish community obsessed with status and the notion of 'better' or 'worse' people. etc. I got the feeling of her portraying herself as a true and sensitive (European!) heart among the barbarians and the uncomprehending. Sorry, doesn't wash.

This book is a must. It explores the difficulties of learning to express oneself in a new language. Although I have never experienced this myself, it does make you consider the link between language and experience and how sometimes there are no words available to say what you really feel. Hoffman draws you in to her narrative with ease, despite the difficulties she expresses. It is a moving insight into her life as an immigrant and her fellings of alienation.

For many years, I have been involved in the preparation of teachers, both graduate and undergraduate, to work in the multicultural, multilingual climate of our nation's schools. Teachers can be successful ONLY if they have a real sense of what is going on in the minds of the children they teach. All too often, they make assumptions about what a child knows and is able to do or what a child is actually feeling and why. Such assumptions can wreak havoc in the lives of the thousands of immigrant children who come to our classrooms from their home cultures each day speaking a language other than English. Eva Hoffman's book, more than any other work I know, allows a teacher to learn and FEEL what it is really like to make that ultimate journey from the culture and language of one's birth, of one's heart, into the English-speaking world. This is one of the most brilliant books that I have ever read, and it is a MUST for every teacher!

...We are reading this book in school at the time and am astounded with the books reading quality. There is time for laughter, time for saddness, time for tranquility, time for fun, etc., and will probably be one of the best books i we have ever read in my short...I have to congragulate and thank the author, Mrs. Harper Lee, for the astonishing novel and the fame and glory she has rightfully acheived.

This book captured a sense of reality. Everything fit so smoothly. It has subplots and very well developed characters. I highly recommend this book!

I just read this book. I thought it was very interesting and I got really into it. It is difficult in the beginning for some people, but past that it is very enjoyable. It focuses on the life of a young girl and her brother. It tells of all of their adventures and it tells of all the lessons she learns. These are actually very good lessons. I dont know about everyone else, but I had to read it for soph. english, it was a very good book which is nice when you dont have any other options.

I loved the House of Spirits, and count it among my top favorites, but Eva Luna was disappointing. The book begins fairly well, then teeters off into a dreamy poorly written romance novel where Allende lives vicariously through the heroine. Allende's character development and plot was unoriginal and unrealistic, and towards the end her writing style left a lot to be desired.

Isabel Allende wrote Eva Luna in a way that would keep the readers wondering what happens next. I got trapped reading the story because I wanted to know what happened to the characters. Allende talked about a different character of the story until the last few chapters of the book and then she put them together. Every character that Allende wrote about in the book was somehow connected to the life of Eva Luna. By the time I got to the second chapter, I had already figured out the ending of the book, I thought.

Eva Luna's mother, Consuelo, brought up a good question when she talked to the nuns at the church where she had been sent: "Yes, but who had the say in heaven, God or his Mama?" For some reason that question just stuck in my mind. I think Allende wrote this in her story to show that Consuelo had a questioning mind, although people thought that she was silly. Eva Luna was six years old when her mother died, and she instantly became an orphan. A man said that he was going to leave Eva Luna everything, "Write in my will Pastor. I want this little girl to be my sole heir. Everything is to go to her when I die." Allende creates sympathy for Eva because the Pastor did not write in the will what the man had wanted for her. All of the people who worked in the man's house had ot go find more work for themselves. The government did not know of Eva Luna's existence until she got Riad Halabi to pay someone to get her some type of papers. Eva worked very hard when she was a little child. People said that they would teach her how to read, but they never seemed to have the time. When Eva finally learned how to write and read she said "Writing was the best thing that had happened to me in all my life; I was euphoric." Through out Eva's life she told stories to people who would listen to her. As she learned how to write, she started to write down her stories. She ended up being a writer as she became an adult. Allende has written a story that expresses a child's life and lets the readers watch her grow up. I got confused by some of the Spanish words that Allende used. There were a couple of other words that she used that confused me, but it did not take away from the book. I think that if I reread the book, I would pick up on things that I missed the first time. There was one time during the book that I was confused about the idenity of a couple of her characters. I had to go back and find whick name she used for a certain character when she would bring them back into the story.

Isabel Allende held my attention through out the book. I felt that I could relate to the characters of the story because I know how hard it is when you move from place to place. Allende gave me an excellent picture of what she was writting about. I liked the fact that she used a large cast of characters in her story. I think that it added to the book. I enjoyed reading about how hard it was for Eva Luna to receive an education, and what she did with it afterward.

One feels like a heel for even writing a review of Allende books. While there are a couple of duds, most of her books are so infused with magic that there's nothing a reviewer can say to improve upon or invoke the sense of wonder that he takes away from such a text.

In Paula, Allende said that this book was the most difficult to write as she was trying to write a novel from the outset and she got stuck halfway through as Eva Luna ran into her revolutionary boyfriend only to realize that he was a clod. Intended ending had to be changed but what resulted was one of the most brilliant texts ever. Eva Luna is a strange girl of the streets learning to tell stories in order to transform reality into something wondrous. Her soulmate is the abused son of a Nazi captain whose childhood leaves indelible scars. Throughout the course of the novel these two go through various adventures, accidents and side tracks on the inevitable road to each other. A road which neither can recognize until they are staring each other in the face.

Of all of Allende's books this is the one where Magical Realism is most pervasive as two headed children are born and bodies refuse to decompose. Besides House of the Spirits and Paula this is her best book. It's on a smaller scale than House of the Spirits but the life of Eva Luna is just as compelling as the history of Chile.

This book is written in the tone of a romance novel. Maybe something was lost in the translation, but it just came across to me as a bit sappy. I really believe that the best book about Evita, and I have been studying her life for 10 years now, and have read every book out there about her, is "Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron."

In my opinion, there have been so many romanticized versions of Evita's life and this book by Dujovenes is just the latest. If you want well-researched and well-written accounts of Evita's life, written in unbaised form, then turn to "Evita: The Real Life of Eva Peron."

Lastly, there is NO evidence that Evita had anything to do with the Nazis. (As the grandson of a man who fled Italy in order to dodge Mussilin's draft, I am very passionate about this topic.) There are rumours, there are stories, there are a lot of "she may haves", but no EVIDENCE. We could all sit around and accuse everyone of having been a Nazi sympathizer, but without any evidence to support our accusations it all just amounts to an unfounded witch trial - which is what people have been trying to do with Evita for years now. They have been trying to degrade her accomplishments by saying that she only got where she did because of her looks, or that she only got where she did because Peron was a dictator (when, in fact, he was ELECTED by overwhelming majority in THREE elections). They've been trying for years to degrade Evita and dehumanize her. They haven't succeeded. This is one "witch" who will not be burnt.

Alicia Dujovne Ortiz's book "Eva Peron," provides a fascinating look at the woman that inspired a nation and formed the basis of a Broadway musical and a movie. The weak point of the book is that it was not originally written in English, but translated. There are times the reader is left stumped knowing something was lost in translation. However, the author did a superb job in research and seems to have followed every lead. Where multiple myths abound about this fascinating and complex woman, the author presents each viewpoint, with the results of her research and lets the reader determine the truth

Eva Peron was one of the most fascinating figures of the 20th Century. She inspired both fanatical devotion and vehement opposition, but rarely anything in between, especially among Argentinians. Consequently, there are wildly different versions of her story -- some viewing her as "Santa Evita," others as a personification of sin and corruption. Till now, most biographies of Evita have been biased toward one party line or the other, and some scraped up the most sensational versions of every incident. Alicia Ortiz goes out of her way to compare opposing stories and offer reasonable conclusions as to where the truth really lies. Refusing to gloss over Eva's weaknesses or overlook her amazing strengths, Ortiz gives a very human and enlightening portrait of a remarkable woman. Considering that the author's father was a political prisoner of the Peron regime, her fairness is all the more impressive. Ms. Ortiz also examines the unique mindset of that Argentinian culture, explaining the sexual and political chemistry that were key factors in Eva's rise and fall. The translator retains many idiomatic aspects of Spanish prose, as well as the tango lyrics that reflect key aspects of the Argentinian spirit (but normally defy translation into English). Not always an easy read, but absorbing and satisfying -- easily the most thorough and well-balanced book on Eva Peron to date.