I had just finished reading this incredible novel and I was blown away by the book... It truly touched me in a profound way.

I was too young to remember what happened 20 years ago, but from talking to a friend of my mother's, she was telling me about this book and the controversy behind it. From what I had heard, the Catholic church bought the right to the book and movie and the book was never to be seen again. I was shocked and of course went online and searched nationwide for the remaining copies of "The Second Son" and I got one for her, and one for myself.

After reading it, I just had to know more about Mr. Sailor. Has Charles Sailor written anything else after this? If so, I, along with many, would love to read them for I am now one of his biggest fans.

Can anyone tell me if the rumors about the book being boycotted by the church were true? Why was the movie never made? What really happened? What is Charles Sailor working on now? I can't seem to find any other books of his. I have passed this book among my close friends and have converted them into Sailor fans as well, and all of us would really love to hear more about Charles Sailor. My friends and I would often wonder what really had happened to Mr. Sailor. A few of us believed Charles Sailor was on the run because the church, the government and the establishments are all after him like they were to Joseph Turner. And some thinks that Sailor was paid not to write anything ever again. But I would like to think that the movie was never made because it did not do the book justice and Mr. Sailor terminated the movie rights and never wanted to write again...(sort of like Salinger). Can you see that Charles Sailor is beginning to become a mythical figure himself? LOL

Where is Mr. Sailor now? Why did he sell the rights over to the Catholic church if he did so? Was he forced to? What really happened? Since all of us were all too young to remember, we need someone to set the rumor straight. If not, from the looks of it, we are starting a few rumors of our own...LOL.

When this book was still "on the drawing board," I had the opportunity to read the first "rough draft" manuscript. It was the first time I had been asked for my opinion of a possible book, and quite frankly, I was amazed at the incredible style of the author and the wonderful story line. When I had completed reading the pages that had been sent to me, my comments to my wife were ... "this is incredible; if he publishes this, it will certainly become one of the "classics" of our time ... and to think ... he is my younger brother - and ironically - he is the "second son" of our wonderful mother!" I have now read the published version "at least twice," and each time I do, I discover something new about life and about the world we live in. The insight that is offered by the book can give hope if hope is needed - can give encouragement if encouragement is needed - and can give all who read it a true sense of what it is like to "help others to the greatest degree." I am proud to say that I know CHARLES SAILOR, and that I watched him grow and develop into the man that he is today. To those many people from around the world who have wondered about other books by this incredible author ... the "mystique" must continue, for if he has ventured into the world of novel writing for a "second" time ... it is a fact that I am not aware of.

I believe if the Second Son were indeed to come today that the public and organized religion would act as Sailor has written. This book stirred me to my core. I read it in 1980, and a few times after that. Then I lent it to someone as a "must read" and never got it back. For over ten years now I have been trying to get a copy of it as a PERMANENT addition to my library. I hope that Amazon can locate one for me.

As good as this book was (IS!!), I can't help but wonder why it has disappeared from the shelves. It certainly should have gone into reprint many times over. It is truly such a classic.

I cannot help but wonder who owns the rights today? Forgive me for what I am about to say, as I do practice a particular religious faith, but I cannot help but wonder if possibly an arm of an organized religion bought the rights so as to stop its further dissemination. Also, what ever happened to the proclaimed "look for the movie soon to come out?" Was someone anxious to kill the message!

The book's goodness couldn't help but make me think of the movie "Amazing Grace." It happens to be about a Catholic pope, but his desire for simplicity and avoidance of bureaucracy reflected the same kind gentleness seen in Sailor's lead character.

A brilliant and informative book written by my great-great grandfather and great-grandmother - buy it!

Frankly, this is the only book that covers all the currently available (as of publication date) cruising multihulls. Including production boats, semi-custom and stock designs. If you think you might be interested in a multihull for your next boat this is THE book to start with period. I found this book invaluable in sorting through the bewildering array of multihull boats and builders out there. Whenever a broker or ad had a Super Duper XYZ I was able to look in this book and figure out what it was or make a pretty good guess based on the current XYZ version. Would I buy again? Absolutely!

This is the definitive book on exploring the miriad of cruising catamarans of all sizes in 1 book. This reference book lists most technical details and a short review for each cat with pictures for some popular models and diagrams for the rest. I have been reading this book for years and anxiously await the new revision due out soon...

This book has over a dozen nice drawings by R. Crumb, that visualize many different scenes from the text. These are very nicely done, with great care. Cool!

The Bukowski text seems to be pretty mild and entertaining. There is very little hard edged insight, but you do get safe, humorous insights from the point of view of a veteran troublemaker who has somehow lucked into the "good life," happily married and resigned to retire in more dignity than the first part of his troubled life allowed. Buk seems pretty happy with life.

This book is like diary entries from the early 1990's. Buk is slowly dying of tuberculosis, which will finally kill him in 1994. In the meantime, he writes with the satisfaction of knowing that he can entertain the anonymous reader (don't show up in his face thinking you're his buddy just cuz you've read his stuff). The anonymous reader being the only type of reader that he can respect and appreciate.

Buk writes about some insightful traits of human nature in this book, as usual. The difference being that by the early 1990's, he has seemed to already released and vented the anger and pain of his younger days, in the writings of past decades.

Reading this book is like hanging out with Buk, listening to him spin tales about what he's been up to lately. He's a grouchy old man, but he likes to be read, so he writes to make it worth your while.

This book is probably better suited for confirmed Buk fans. Newcomers would be better off reading his novels from the 1970's and early 1980's, if interested in experiencing the writing that he is famous for. This book is a posthumous page-turner, with little of the famous Buk BITE, but it is a pleasant read. The only problem being that most folks don't want to read Bukowski because he's pleasant. Most folks seek him out because he's caustic.

I await new Bukowski books--and there seems to be no end of material from the John Martin vaults--with a special fervor, probably because he's just about ruined all other writers for me (only a few by Celine stand up). This one did not disappoint my high expectations, and is a special treat for its format: the only diary-style work Buk wrote. Humorous moments abound, but it does lack some of the edge of his best writing. At its worst, it almost goes into a kind of cranky Andy Rooney thing, but he rights the ship every time. Like his treatment of his later material success & international fame, Buk toys with the irony that he's doing something so precious & self-important as writing diary entries & is quick with the "they made me do it" excuse. Clearly, though, he has fun with the style &, really, it's quite suited to his work, which focuses on the mundane so much anyway (Buk never fails to mention whenever he takes a doo or pukes throughout his writing). The Crumb illustrations are perfect. What a match between writer & illustrator. Overall, it's not my first recommendation for a Bukowski neophyte (I'd choose "Factotum," "Ham on Rye," or "Play the Piano Drunk..."), but then again I recommend his entire output much more so than any one book.

I was hoping to gain some new insights into the writer/man that was Bukowski by reading this collection of journal writings. To be honest, not much new ground was covered. I did find out out about a failed TV deal I'd never heard of, and some other trivial points, but nothing much deeper. The R. Crumb drawings are worth the price of the book, and well, hell it's Bukowski so I enjoyed it. This is, however, one of the few Buk books I haven't read more than twice, which is as close to a "bad" review as I can get.

I first read this book in 1992 when I was on board a cruiser in "the worlds finest navy". It is an excellent source for a seaman's account of life on board one of the largest Navy warships before the advent of ironclads. Providing more details on the crew and the sailing of the ship than of the lofty political goals of the around the world voyage of USS Colombus, it is a very readable and enjoyable account of the U.S. Navy in the age of sail. Land lubbers beware! There is, of necessity, a great deal of nautical language, especially when the author describes any evolution involving the sails. However, this really lends an excellent "salty" flavor to the book. Anyone interested in the U.S. Navy "when ships were made of wood and men of steel" should "Put his helm over hard a lee and make weigh to the ordering page" for an excellent blue water adventure

The hero's extraordinary voyage through the far west and far east could have been brought to life with imaginative editing. Alas, what could have been an exciting historical read was a disappointment.

Sometimes boring, sometimes gripping,overall very interesting and informative. A thorough mix of personal and historical data that is a treat for a history buff, and surely a study for a behavioral psychologist. A good book for inclusion in any military library.