"Annoyingly" this page is devoted to the stories of Dylan Thomas; also"annoyingly", both the Publishers Weekly review as well as that of a disgrunted reader refer stories by Leslie Norris; Norris' book may be splendid; I don't know; I have read Dylan's stories and honor and love them (they are live things wearing incandescent prose -- believe me); perhaps Amazon could reassign the aforementioned reviews and those of us who -- on this page at least -- have (happily) written about the appropriate book will be left to bask unannoyed.

Annoyingly, both of the reviews already posted on this page for the "Collected Stories" of Welsh writer Leslie Norris refer to the "Collected Stories" of Welsh writer Dylan Thomas, which Leslie Norris designed but did not (obviously) write. This review, then, is an actual review of Leslie Norris' "Collected Stories"!

Leslie Norris's collected stories are a sort of bittersweet beauty very much in the Joycean tradition (think especially of "Dubliners"). They begin with some sort of pivotal moment at which confusion either enters into or peaks in the protagonist's young life, and they end with an epiphany that seems sweetly to keep the bitter at bay, but knows that the respite is at best only temporary.

Also a poet (see his "Collected Poems" as well), like fellow Welshman Thomas, Norris's language is simple but fresh, and sumptuous when necessary, a prose tone perfectly in step with the state of his protagonists. Often (if not always), they are young boys on the brink of a knowledge that will disillusion them and send them closer to the concerns of adulthood.

In "Sliding," an accident during an afternoon of sliding across a frozen pond upsets a group of boys, their first initiation into the idea of impermanence. In "Kingfisher," a boy, who has just been with his father to visit his dying grandmother, sees in the garden the dead body of a bird that he and his father had only that morning watched together; in a moment of suddenly adult consciousness, he takes it upon himself to conceal the bad news of mortality from his father. In "Shaving," one of my faves from the collection, an athlete in the full strength of youth returns triumphant from the rugby field to shave his ailing father, who, in the full fading of disease, is too weak to shave himself.

This volume collects Norris's previous two (unfortunately long out-of-print) books, "Sliding" and "The Girl from Cardigan," putting them together with a few new stories in book form for the first time.

Norris excels at awakening emotion, but is subtle enough and careful enough not to hit you over the head with the hammer of sentimentality. If you appreciate and enjoy fiction that looks at those moments that we all know, where we begin to feel ourselves a part of the knowledge that life ends up teaching everyone sooner or later, then this book is a terrific buy.

Was Dylan thomas the consummate craftsman? Indeed, he was; and took real delight in his gifts and his exercise of them; he was a Celtic bard in the truest sense of that role -- the lonely public/private man who carried within him the lyric history of his race, the love of his language and a very vocal sense of wonder over his role in life; that he had song, yes; that he was funny, loud, boisterous, cautious, selfish, rude, unforgettable -- all of that and more; he was the poet's poet and the singer for those who longed for lost boyhood, who raged at death and who marvelled at the all the world's words rediscovered in a dewdrop; his stories, like his poems, should be read aloud; there is an incantatory quality to them -- as if something profoundly old and grandfatherly were suddenly shared with the reader; Thomas himself was a great reader; to hear him is to savor him at his best and to feel deeply and sweetly the majesty and holy compulsion of our mother tongue; the stories, while less charged than the poems, nonetheless captivate and break into a kind of lyricism that gladdens the heart and restores the ear. If he wasn't the best of our poets, he was easily the most tuneful and spoke from a very deep place that only the purest of us can truly know.

I thought this book was absolutely fantastic - I would highly recommend this to all my friends!

This book was fantastic. It encompasses everything I wanted and needed to know about cosmetic dermatology. It was easy to read and clearly explained all pertinent topics. I highly reccommened it to both people in the medical profession as well as anyone who wants upto date information about cosmetic dermatology.

This book was helpful by providing definitions at the beginning, then it gave life application tips for anyone wanting to improve their skin. It is a great find.

This book contains 53 important facts about fairies that a lot of fairy friends probably already know, at least in their hearts, but it will prove valuable as a resource for the poor challenged souls who cannot tell a fairy from an angel. It's a real treat for those of us who know fairies well. It is clever and humorous and also offers invaluable aids for the spotting of fairies if you don't already know how. The illustrations are wonderful and show fairies with complex fairy wings that look as though they have grown from an actual fairy and not from a butterfly or some other insect and certainly not from a bird! You will also see a dragon, fair lads, and fairy homes and gardens. Leslie D'Allesandro Hill has truly captured fairies in this cool book, but as she points out in fact number 22, "Fairies can be caught, but there are no containers to keep them in." Catch this book.

Every fairy lover needs this book, adult or child. It's magical, funny, has great fairy art. I am waiting for the next book.

Every faerie child needs a copy of this book, it is beautifully written, and a wonderful read for children of all ages, whether you are 3 or 30.

This is a wonderful book. I have given it as a baby shower gift many times and the parents always love it. The quality is excellent and it is so different than most of the other books out there.

This book seems to have been created- with love, warmth and talent. This book has a sweet approach without being saccharine.An adorable book that is appropriate for any little child- and fun for parents to read,too!I'd love to see more books by these authors.

I have never seen any children's book as beautiful as this. It is a keepsake that I have given as gifts on several occasions.

The projects in this book are pure eye candy! Very innovative techniques and projects, my favorite being the polymer clay eggs, of which I have made four dozen for Christmas presents!

Directions are very clear and the gallery of beautiful artwork throughout will get your mind creating ideas for your own beautiful pieces.

If you're looking for inspiration, the photos and the projects in this book are for you.Gives some basic step by step caneing instructions as well as an intricate butterfly design. Much more. I hope you enjoy this as much as I have.

This is one of the most inspiring books I have seen on polymer clay. It really does get my mind going with ideas and makes me want to get right to "work." It's clear and precise in instruction, as well as attractive to even look through. It's my favorite

I thaught this book would be good because it had a funny name. It was good too. The cuckoo child is about a boy who loves birds of any kind. He lives with his Mom, Dad, and sister. his name is Jack Daw. In the begining Jack sees some chickens hatch. Then he ascked his father when he could have some birds of his own. His father said when he was 5. On his 5th he got budgerigars. For his 6th he got bantams. For his 7th, ducks. Then his 8th birthday came and he got geese. He named them Lidia and Wilfred. The next day Jack was going on a field trip with his class to the Wildlife Park. When they got there, there were more birds than he had expected. And then he saw it; the great male ostrich. It was amazing. His teacher came back for him and they cept going. Then they came to a sign that siad:Ostriches->. His teacher read the signthat told about ostriches. Jack asked his teacher if they would see any eggs. A man "ansered you will see lots". It was a park ranger. He showed them some eggs. After the park ranger showed them the eggs Jack sneaks an egg into his back. What happens to the egg? Read this book and find out!

I read this book because it was my second choice, and because everyone else was reading it.

Jack Daw loves birds, any types of birds. One day Jack and his class went a field trip to the local zoo. He finds himself looking straight at a nine foot tall, 345 pound ostrich! Then Jack comes up with a plan. Jack steals an extra ostrich egg that's about to be fed to a snake! Then he brings the ostrich egg back home to his family's farm.

If you want to find out what happens to the ostrich egg, and you like birds, read this book! It's very interesting!

I read this book because our teacher said that if we put a book review on Amazon.com we could keep the book. So why not? Before I read the book I thought it was about a child that was crazy about something,I didn't even think that it was about birds. The main characters in this story are Jack,Oliver,Lydia,and Wilfred. Jack has a way with birds and he is always with them he loves them so much that he gets them for birthday presents. One day his class goes on a field trip and he gets something if you what to find out read this book. This book is very interesting i think it is a very good book for all ages it is only a 127 page book too! This is one of those books that you take time out of your day to read it!

Machiavelli's second most famous work, this book deals with the author's commentary on the way the Roman Republic was run and why it was so successful in expanding its borders. He stresses the reason it was so stable and successful was the solid core of reasonable laws, a standing army of professional soldiers and plunder/tribute from surrounding countries.

He illustrates the ways in which the good ideas of the ancient Romans could be applied in contemporary politics (it was written during the XVI century).

Unlike the Prince, which propandasizes his personal political opinions and describes the ideal ruler, the Discourses deal mainly with mundane economic and social issues, with little personal opinion.

It is filled with anecdotes about the lives of interesting or exceptional Romans and is not that difficult a read at all. In reading it for my first-year history class, I found it was a very good summary of the complicated life of the Roman Republic (it deals very little with the time of the Empire).

Although much can be learned from modern writers about the history of Italy, the sentiments and evaluations of politicians and historians of this period (sixteenth century) are unique to their day. It is wonderful to read Machiavelli's evaluation of Livy's historical accounts and see why certain actions which would be shunned by modern writers made perfect sense then. Such accounts help the reader not to be trapped in his own day's thought processes, but have an expanded scope of history. Very enlightening!

These are Machiavelli's essays on the lessons to be learned from Titus Livy's first ten books about Roman history. Though other works existed, Machiavelli chose Livy's histories because Livy was an eye witness to the fall of the Roman Republic.

Machiavelli's purpose for writing The Discourses can be summed up in one line: "The multitude is wiser and more constant than a prince." More to-the-point, however is the later phraise: "A corrupt and disorderly multitude can be spoken to by some worthy person and can easily be brought around to the right way, but a bad prince cannot be spoken to by anyone, and the only remedy for his case is COLD STEEL."

With every stroke of his pen, Machiavelli sets out to prove the superiority of a republican form of government. He values freedom of the citizenry above all else, and provides princes everywhere with grizzly tales of what happens when it is restricted. His influence on the Founding Fathers, and particularly on the works of Paine and Jefferson, is evident. Our current leaders would find themselves more secure if they stuck to Machiavelli's principles.

Flappy Waggly Wiggly is an animal picture book with a twist--it has riddles.

Each pair of pages (left & right) show a bright, vivid drawing of an animal. But instead of showing the full animal, the body is hidden and only part of the head and tail are visible.

Animals shown:
- Dog
- Crocodile
- Elephant
- Duck
- Pig
- Snake
- Tiger
- Boy

Each page has a riddle that describes the animal. The child can then guess what the animal is. By turning a small flap, the full animal is revealed. It's an interesting twist and sure capture more interest from your child.

Each page also has the animal name spelled out so you can introduce the alphabet and spelling to your kids.

We just got this for our 2yr old daughter. She loves flap books so the flap on this one is interesting to her. She also loves really bright colors so this book scores again.

Appropriate Age Group
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The basic concepts covered in this book make it ideal for toddlers who already have some grasp of words like animal names and colors. But at this age, the riddles may be too complicated for them. Older kids will enjoy the riddles more and the spelling of animal names.

My two year old just loves this book. I have to read it over and over to him. It's a very simple concept but he particularly likes flapping the pages over and back to see what's hiding. It's a good book to read to more than one child too.

We checked this out from the library and are adding it to our collection! My son loves telling you the animals the pages describe. The pictures are bright and bold.

Over the last 20 years (or so) I've sent corrective notes to Leslie Halliwell and the subsequent editor, John Walker. For the premiere film encyclopedia, the Filmgoers Companion still has lots of errors, missing information for supposedly complete filmographies, and many many unlisted film stars, especially from the "transition period" to talkies (Anita Page, etc.). Personally, I think Walker was a very bad choice; he doesn't seem to be "into" the encyclopedic format of this valuable resource.

I would say that this is certainly the flimgoer's encyclepidea to all things related to movies and the people involved in creating them. As far as knowlage about films goes. I would say this is impressive and is recommended to any serious film buffs out there.

If you need a new edition of this work, try Halliwell's Who's Who in the Movies.