This book is a classic meant to be read aloud. It's best when read to children as a bedtime story on a winter night. Try using different voices for the characters... children have a good time with this and so will you. And, usually, they will ask you to read the next story when you've finished. The next story, of course, is saved to be read tomorrow night.

I love this book, and loved it as a child, for the writing, the stories, and for the pictures which I could pore over again and again, looking for new details I missed previously. I have remembered and talked about many of the stories throughout my life, particularly The Cat Who Walks by Himself, and The Elephant's Child. I also like . . . oh, well, there are just too many to talk about. Read them for youself, and to your kids.

The stories are complex and mysterious and, though I can't say much for Kipling's politics, I find them delightful. I think most children will, too. As an adult, I couldn't get my mother to part with my childhood copy so I went out and bought one of my own.

A classic!

My grandmother bought this book for my three year old. We read the stories together at bedtime and enjoy them immensely. Rudyard Kipling wrote these stories for his young best beloved...don't wait to read them to yours!!!

One of the most astonishing debuts I can remember, Michael Byers' book is precisely, deftly observed and brilliantly unfolded. I find it amazing that a couple of other reviewers have called the stories cliched or tedious: I read a lot of fiction, and I can't remember the last time I encountered a new writer whose work seemed so powerful. Byers is wise beyond his years. Read this book!

Byers writes with remarkable sensitivity and perception. He takes you into the lives,...indeed, the souls....of his characters. His writing style is smooth and flowing,....a perfect bok for an fternoon in front of a fireplace. The best short stories I've read since Tina Brown took over the New Yorker.

I bought this collection because Michael Byers was teaching my writing workshop at Oberlin College and I thought I should read his work while he was reading mine. Though I already had great respect for him as a teacher, I now have great respect for him as a writer. The prose is beautifully crafted and his characters are real and engaging. It's a cathartic read and I highly recommend it to anyone who thinks the art of the sentence is dead.

Someone reviewed the book and told several of the stories to a very receptive audience. I then purchased several books as I found them for gifts, and made sure I kept one. I used it for a lesson one Sunday with my Sunday School group, and now they want copies. We all remembered similar situations of small towns, people, traditions and change, and how the Grace of God keeps us growing.

I just attended a conference where Michael Lindvall was the keynoter. The book will come out again next year along with his new one_Leaving North Haven_. Rev. Lindvall is a pastor first and a writer second. He was gracious and listened to all our suggestions for his new book. Buy both of them for some wonderful stories of God's grace in the lives of special small-town people.

I'm disappointed that this book is out of print. Some friends have heard excerpts from my copy and want to purchase a copy for themselves. Three years ago I gave copies of it as a Christmas gift. I hope the publisher will decide to start printing this again! This book shows that it's okay to be a Christian and have a sense of humor at the same time.

After years of trading I stumbled on the same techniques described in this book. My trading portfolio is up 250% this year! There are some gems of wisdom that make this book extremely useful; if I had read Oliver Velez's (Pristine.com) interview a week earlier I would have saved thousands with some of his rules. This book is a broad view of a trading style; you have to determine your own preferences of technical indicators that suit you however. This book can jumpstart you to a successful trading style. BTW, by long term they mean 2-5 days.

There are so many investment books on the market that are overly technical. This book was easy to read and it's concepts easy to implement. This book brings common sense to the world of short term trading.

This book made me step back and re evaluate my long term trading style. The whipsaws no longer make me nervous and scared. I've learned to use the market gyrations to my advantage.

If you are into raping children, animal cruelty, incest and deriving sexual pleasure from gross imagery then this is your book. I, myself, am not into that sort of thing. I prefer my horror supernatural, unexplained, freaky and/or occultish. So as far as the Horror factor, I give it a 2, the Disgusting factor a 10, and the Way Out In Left Field factor a 100. Gira is quite obsessed with description as well. Sometimes your imagination can run away with you and that can get scary. But not in this book. It is quite detailed. Too detailed.

but if you like sick, twisted, disgusting images, then read this book and admire Gira for his detailed, brutal imagry. I like to call his style "Poetic Vomit", because, believe me, his stomach-turning text will do a number on your gag reflex...ENJOY!!!

I have to give the consumer 5 stars just for the reaction it drew from me. This book is twisted and sick - both resons why I was intrigued to read it in the first place. There were times I felt I couldn't take another word of it and wanted to hurl this book across the room into the fire. The power behind "The Consumer" is that instead of discarding it in disgust, it forces you to suffer through reading the entire book. I've also been a longtime fan of the Swans - Gira's music group - and reccommend them to fans of this book.

Nicholas Nickleby is a marvelous novel. It is the young Dickens at his best. I almost feel guilty for giving it four stars, but giving it five would be unfair, I think, because his later works, such as Great Expectations, are bettter. The novel is written enthusiastically and contains some of Dickens' best humor. I especially found funny the character Mr.Lillyvick, the revered and dignified water clerk. And I will never forget Ralph Nickleby. Mr.Squeers and Arthur Gride were detestable and colorful villains, but they pale before Ralph Nickleby. He is such a cold and heartless character that he steals nearly every scene he is in. He has a certain magnetism that most of Dickens' good characters lack. And his suicide at the novel's end is so perfectly written that I read over it several times before I finished the novel. My only problem with the book was Nicholas's lack of psychology, but let us remember that this was written by a young man, not the mature artist of Great Expectations and Our Mutual Friend. The novel's strengths easily make up for its weaknesses. Nicholas Nickleby will be enjoyed by fans of Dickens and all other readers for centuries to come.

I had never read one of Dickens book before Nicholas Nickleby, though I had always wanted to. I particularly enjoyed this book because of Dicken's subtle sense of humor and colorful characters. It was easy to hate the villains such as Squeers or Ralph Nickleby, and laugh at the amusing chracters of Mr. Mantalini and John Brody(whom I found to be the funniest) Authenticity of personality and speech allows you to connect with the various chracters. Although he was probably the least complex, my favorite was Smike, the pitiful victim of the Yorkshire schools of the 1800s.
The one drawback was the size of this book. Dickens spent much time giving detail of many places and people (and did a good job of it), but we must draw the line somewhere. Just when one thinks enough words have been spent on one topic, it diverges into yet another irrevelant matter.
I'd recommend this book to almost anyone, unless you have a great fear of commitment. But the book has plenty of plot and satire to hold you to the end. I certainly was, but I don't think my librarian would believe me.

I would say this is "David Copperfield"'s B-side. It is a typical Dickensian book: the life of the Nickleby family from the death of the father until they are rich and happy. One of the most important parts of the book is the study of the horrible boarding schools of Yorkshire, where Nicholas is sent. We can read the dirty intrigues of Uncle Ralph, the adventures of Nicholas and Smikes as travelling actors (a world Dickens came to know very well), the kindness of the brethren Cheeryble.

Definitely, this is not one of Dickens's best novels, but nevertheless it is fun to read. The characters are good to sanctity or bad to abjection. The managing of the plot is masterful and the dramatic effects wonderful. It includes, as usual with Dickens, an acute criticism of social vices of his time (and ours): greed, corruption, the bad state of education. In spite of everything, this is a novel very much worth reading, since it leaves the reader a good aftertaste: to humanism, to goodness.

Wonderful! Nineteen stories and poems, all different but sharing the spirit of All Hallows Eve. It is the mix of fantasy subject and style, from humorous to macabre that makes this book so very appealing. A delightful, spooky volume for a stormy autumn night.

Harvest Tales and Midnight Revels is really a prize; and the story of its creation, detailed at the end of the book, is almost as remarkable as the tales it contains! I look forward to seeing further work from this group of truly creative people.

Escondido Reader

What a gem!! I have read, and re-read, these stories over the last several months and still find myself either chuckling or looking over my shoulder after dark. The story of how this collection came to be is almost as fascinating as the works themselves. I would love to meet these creative and fun people. Anyone who has ever been spooked, scared or gets a thrill out of horror films will love the entertainment value of this book. It is a combination of coffee table and bedside reading. Pick up a copy when it comes out in September of 1998 and then tell your fiends (excuse me, friends) all about it.

This brilliant, lovingly compiled collection of horror stories is only half the charm of this very original book - the genesis of the collection is almost as entertaining as the fiction: A Halloween "story party" where professional and non-professional adult writers come together to feast and read their short stories to friends and neighbors - cool! If you're looking to make Halloween fun for adult friends and family, this book may be just what the Mad Doctor ordered. Home spun horror as delicious as my demented aunt Denise's spice cake! Bravo Mr. Mayhew! Bravo!

I suppose there is a plot somewhere in this book, but it's lost amid the frequent changes of narrative style (first person, third person, then back-and-forth between the two) and the long descriptive sections. OK, there must be a lot to say about reading a book for the sheer enjoyment of the prose, as so many readers seem to respond positively to it. But it's never really attracted me: I find it's like running a marathon, but with no sense of achievement at the end. If you like to read books for the sheer challenge of it, then "The Gift" should be what you need. If you read for a sense of enjoyment based both upon style and plot content, beware.

This is not only one of the best Kunstelesromans (portraits of an artist) in modern literature, but also one of the finest investigations of the relationship between the Writer, the tradition which precedes and permeates his existence, and his inevitable heady relationship with the reader. Even though, I admit to be an ardent Nabokov enthusiast, I must also strongly aver, being foremost an individually opionioned reader, that some of this book's earlier criticism has been unjust. Yes, this book is a weighty one; I wouldn't recommend this to somebody who wants the story to unfold itself in front of their uninvolved imagination. But this book is about art and it is about love, two very wieghty subjects that deserve ample representation, and it's not for those looking for quick stimulation. This is not bloody Finnegan's Wake though, and it's certainly not some impentrable beast. Like a lot of Nabokov's work this novel encapsulates the intertwining and co-existence of many undulating experiences, some of which flicker and are gone, others which reside as undercurrents until they finally emerge; the colourful nuances which imbed each and every scene are brilliant and plentiful, portrayed to the best of Nabokov's ability at the time. These spiralling experiences are what make up the surface of the novel (far better than Mrs. Woolf); there are absolutely no plot devices to sink the teeth of an impatient psyche into. Fyodor, can at times, come off as a bit of a self-centred fop, but his eventual transcendence (into an artist), and the substantial world that relentlessly invades his growth are what should be concentrated upon. Many have kicked up a fuss over the Chernechevski bio that takes up the large second-to-last chapter of the novel, but this is a fundamental bridge which is indelible to an understanding of the growth of Fyodor. Nabokov doesn't just parade around the writer celebrating him as great, he shows us HOW and WHY. In the 'Chernechevski' chapter we discover Fyoder's utilisation of the constraints of a preconceived story and his subsequent command to bend those malleable devices into something new and part of himself. This chapter is the product of Fyodor's emergence as an artist and The Gift would have been worthy of note if this aspect was the only facet of its ultimate success. But at the centre of this novel there lies a romantic heart, that of the relationship between Fyodor and Zina (not to be mistaken for that of Vladimir and Vera, a much different affair), and this is the perfect linear wave to ride from Fyodor's initial confusion and uncertain melancholy all the way through to his subsequent trancendence (it may be useful to bare that last word in mind). In my opinion, this novel is far more successful than Joyce's 'Portrait' (and no more unfriendly) and why The Gift is not as championed as the former is illusory. This book takes patience and an interest in the art-form to wholly appreciate (for an example of such an involved reader, see Zina); this would be my only preface for such a truly REAL novel.

Nabokov is very funny(in case you didn't already know that) and no matter what his subject matter the humor comes through. That is one of the gifts here, the other more obvious one is literature, specifically Russian literature, the tradition of which is a gift the Russian born Nabokov received and in this book he gives you his version of that tradition in brief and since this book would be the last book he wrote in Russian one assumes he is paying a quite deliberate homage to his homelands men of letters. But Nabokov is never serious for long and the laughs are always right around the corner or on the next page. This book is also about lead character Fyodor's gift which is his talent and that talent appears in wonderful ways all through the narrative. This was written in Nabokov's middle period while he lived in Berlin,Germany writing in a small hotel room with family and those circumstances just makes this all the more incredible because it is a very beautiful book. Perhaps Nabokov was wondering what he would do with his gift at this most uncertain pre-WWII moment in his life. His great books were still to come but this book is his first to show that he is no ordinary artist and it at least equals if not surpasses the later books in regards to appeal because it is so personal, or at least as personal as Nabokov gets. You know you are in the hands of a master when you suddenly realize the chapter you are reading is a dream even though it is written in a way that does not immediately give that away and so you share the dreamers belief that the dreamed moment is real(what is a Russian novel without a dream). But again Nabokovs humor comes into play as the clue that this is in fact a dream is only subtley inserted into the chapter. After early disruptions and tragedy(his father was assasinated by Russian police)Nabokov led a charmed life, perhaps willed it to be so, and this book is marked with that charm and his word magicians wit which were to be his life sustaining strengths and his father from whom he received the precious gift seems to benevolently haunt the margins of these farewell to Russia pages. And butterfly hunting is one of the more beautiful ways to describe the artists pursuit.

Let's face it - most folks will come to this book to get their Rabbit fix, so let's deal with that story first. We readers spent a lot of time in the four Rabbit books being exasperated, if not saddened, by Nelson, Rabbit's unfortunate, screwed-up son. Well, here, finally, Nelson comes into his own. He has hit his stride. We readers become - dare I say it? - downright proud of him. And how is Rabbit remembered? You need only observe his children, in whom he lives on. (Check out the last word and re-read the question it answers. Hmmm...) Also, you don't need to read the first four Rabbit books to enjoy or understand this story; it's satisfying on its own - cinema verite in book form.

The other stories are not terribly memorable or compelling. Nevertheless they fit just like a comfortable old pair of shoes. One wonders if they might not be simply necessary, a chance for Updike to work through the late-arriving gremlins of his own memory. If you want to read only one or two of these stories, I'd recommend "Natural Color" very highly for its great insights and the title track, "Licks of Love in the Heart of the Cold War," as a better-than-average plot. Mr. Bech also makes an appearance ("His Oeuvre"), and the excerpts from his (Bech's) writings are as diverting to read as ever, as is the sad conclusion he makes at the end of the story.

This collection is a well-written short story anthology centering on the foibles of loving someone more than one love oneself. In addition to the dozen tales, the legendary John Updike includes a novella about the Rabbit family. That tale, ?Rabbit Remembered? is worth the ?steep? price of admission by itself.

The short stories are enjoyable, but Mr. Updike has plowed no new ground. Perhaps it is this reviewer at fault as a rabid Rabbit fan, but the fantastic novella clearly owns the book. Fans of the previous four books will want to read this posthumous story while new readers will scramble for the four novels that have made Mr. Updike a well deserved award winning author. Without giving away the plot, the deceased Rabbit?s illegitimate daughter meets the rest of the family in a humorous but, often melancholy way. This clearly enables the tying up of the previous stories into a fabulous complete package worth reading.

Harriet Klausner

Licks of Love is worth buying just for the novella featuring our old favorite hero Rabbit Angstrom...however, in addition to Rabbit, this book contains marvelous short stories by the wonderful John Updike. There is a delcious story about a one night stand and a gorgeous one about cats! If you want to be touched by love and feel its power, buy this book, read this book and cherish this book. God bless John Updike!

I started reading the first story, was going to read just a couple of pages. Didn't stop til I read the whole story. I'm going to read one a day. Hope to see another book from this author in the future

Once started, I did not want to put the book down. The stories hook you right from the start. Wish to see more from this author in the future.

Horror reader's and reader's who do not usually like horror, will like this gem. There are some disturbing elements that might get to some readers. Like in the story, "TANK FARM" in the chapter:Stevey's Punishment. Great read, cool stories.