Grover Cleveland's wife's dairies, ledgers and letters were loaned to the author for the writing of this book which sheds new light on the more intimate side of the Clevelands as a couple.
The book provides a biography of Cleveland's life and political career along with quite a bit about his youngest son, Francis Grover Cleveland.
The main drawback to the book is that there are no footnotes or indexes, making it much less useful for historians.
Nonetheless, historians and history fans should enjoy the rare entries from PRIMARY SOURCES revealing the thoughts, and feelings of a 20 year old future First Lady being romanced by the President of the United States. I particularly enjoyed excerpts from Mrs. Cleveland's ledger during Spring Break, 1885 which she and her mother spent at the white House when she was 'unsure of Cleveland's intentions' before ultimately marrying in 1886.
The author's style which includes vivid descriptions of objects, settings and individuals makes reading about Cleveland brisk, enjoyable, light fare.

The jacket blurb and publisher's note call this a macaronic journal. The word "macaronic" sent me to the dictionary where I found that it refers to a mixture of languages usually to comic effect (now I finally understand the lyrics of "Yankee Doodle"). So if you read this novel, don't make the mistake of skipping over the French, Spanish, German and Italian passages. They're jumbled up with English phrases in a kind of comic patois so that you can get the gist.

*My Argument With the Gestapo*, originally entitled, *My Escape from the Nazis* is about an imaginary trip to London and France when WW II was just getting started (before Pearl Harbor). The Nazi atrocities had not yet come to light when Merton wrote it, but the book was oddly prophetic. It is dreamlike and playful, sophisticated and airy, but the message is serious. We can't blame any one person or people for war. War is a condition in our own individual hearts. The book reminds me a bit of the French existentialists, Camus and Sartre, and reads at times like an avant garde play by Albee or Ionesco with its surreal dialogue. But it's too socially conscious to be Kafkaesque. It presages Merton's deep commitment to and involvement with the peace movement of the '60s. In fact, it must be the gonzo journalism of the '40s.

Merton was so intelligent and talented that he could have written the score, lyrics and dialogue for a Broadway musical (and drawn the posters for it into the bargain - I've seen some of his drawings) but soon after he wrote this piece, he became a Trappist monk for 30 years. It's amazing that such a hip and sophisticated work could have come from the pen of a 26-year-old postulant.

If you've ever read Merton's autobiography, *The Seven Storey Mountain*, you will recognize the autobiographical material here. In fact, the author names himself as the main protagonist.

I doubt if I would have read this book were it not for the fact that Thomas Merton wrote it. As far as I know, this is his only published novel written before he entered the Abbey of Gethsemani in 1941 and only published after his death in 1968. Merton says it was "...a kind of sardonic meditation on the world in which I then found myself: an attempt to define its predicament and my own place in it."

Maybe someday somebody will write an annotated version of *Gestapo*, but until then, the novel stands on its own merits and is, in my opinion, well worth reading.

pamhan99@aol.com

The emperor of China Has every thing, and his palace are so beatiful. But one day he hears of a little Nightingale that sings so beatiful. And he really want to have it... Read what happens with him in this book. You can't help it being touched of this sweet storie, I can say that I was it... Like I have said before I will say again, H C Andersen can really write good childrens books!

Paige MacKenzie liked her independence to the point of being stubborn. Paige never wanted to ask anyone for help and as a result she was stretching herself too thin as a woman, mother, and business woman. She was trying to get her business up and going, but to do that she had to spend less time with her four-year-old son. Paige did not think that things could get much worse, but she was wrong. Paige could not believe her new neighbor was looking back at her through a huge hole in her living room wall.

Marc d' Angelo planned to spend his summer fixing up his new house. He never wanted his new neighbor to suffer because of it. As if the hole were not bad enough, he accidentally cut off her water too. Not to mention the problems she was having that were not his fault. Her skylight was leaking, her walls were crumbling, and her kitchen cabinets were falling. Lucky for Paige Marc's family is in the construction business. Marc started to take care of not just her house, but her and her son as well. The more he tried to help the more she pushed him away.

Marc is a man that feels it is his duty to shelter and protect others. Marc does not see that too much helping can eventually be considered interfering. Paige was raised by a father who was always trying to 'help' her, so she rebelled by becoming fiercely independent, but too much independence is not always a good thing.

If Paige and Marc could both find a middle ground, they could probably have a future together, which would probably be wonderful for everyone including Paige's son. This is a good story with two very strong independent characters. I enjoyed the fact that both characters were so strong and that if they were to have a future it would be out of want and not need.

This is one of the finest examples of Jungian interpretation of the Bible. It combines contemporary Biblical criticism with profound psychological interpretation. Father and daughter analysts contribute two essays: Yehezikel Kluger's gives the book its title and Nomi Kluger-Nash writes from a more personal perspective about the figure of Naomi. Jungian interpretations are often wildly ahistorical, but the authors are familiar with a wide range of Biblical scholarship and can deal with the text in the original Hebrew. Their only fault is to retain too much of the outdated theories about pre-Biblical matriarchy, characteristic of Jungian works.

Author Errol Selkirk wrote the historical perspective of sex in literature. Also prescribing different beliefs of the different times throughout history from the Dark Ages to the Information Age. Running over sex theories of Freud and Reich and loking into the works of Marquis DeSade. A fun and easy book to read, however there are some dry spots that one will come across. Reccomended to those reading the wonderful series by Writers and Readers Beginners Books.

This cassette presents a excellent variety of thought on the mysterious concept of soul mates. Deepak Chopra, Thomas Moore, Barbara De Angelis, John Gray and Erica Jong all contribute penetrating insights into love, the nature of relationships and how soul mates are manifest into our lives. These top contemporary thinkers provide deep thought provoking ideas into this often mystical area. I find myself discovering something new and moving each time I listen to this tape. A good one to further your spiritual growth.

As a Grandmother, I have lots of reading time. I really enjoyed this Novel. Once I picked it up it was impossible to put down. I read a lot of D. Steel's books and this one by Giroux is just as good! I have just purchased her other book and am hopeing she comes up with a sequal to this one. If you like the medical scene with a bit of spy, secrecy, action and romance this book is for you!

This book provides a good introduction to the power of MATLAB to analyze control systems. It is directed mostly at the 400 level undergraduate, but the practicing engineer might find it of use as an introduction. It is a good balance between teaching the discipline of control systems and the uncovering syntax of MATLAB. MATLAB is pretty straight forward and and almost intuitive (except for its horrible printing commands). This book takes advantage of the fairly easy syntax to get on with some interesting engineering applications. As the title suggests, the applications are in the area of control systems asa encountered by the electrical engineer.

This book now out of print may be available through libraries or as a special order. The late Naomi Glasser (William Glasser's wife) presents cases in which a variety of individuals such as teachers, social workers and psychotherapists used the basic principles of Reality Therapy on very difficult cases. Some of the stories are very amazing in terms of the turn around possible when people work hard on positive principles of caring while making the troubled person responsible for their own behaviour. This book is a remarkable testament to how people can be helped by support of their being worthwhile, at the same time that they are made to be accountable for their choices. William Glasser's concept of reality therapy is so simple and sound in principle, it is amazing.. one of those things that someone looks at and says, "why didn't I think of that?" "Owning" it personally takes practice and this book shows how well it works.