The essential Conan is a collection of the first 25 issues of the Conan the Barbarian comics released by Marvel back in the early seventies. Although this book is in black and white, a format which seems to have gone out of style, this book often manages to capture the spirit of the original Conan stories. The plots aren't usually too dumb, and as the book advances the comics go from a bunch of individual stories to big story-arcs, making it more readable and giving it more of a sense of continuity.

While this book doesn't always stick to the Conan stories continuity-wise, for the most part it fits in, filling little gaps in between those stories. Also, several of howard's better stories are adapted to comic format here; Tower of the Elephant, Frost Giant's Daughter, and Rogues in the House to name a few. We get the first comics' appearance of Red Sonja as well.

Overall, this is a fun, quick read, and although it's only in B&W, for the sheer amount of materiel included herein it's definitely worth the cover price.

I remember when Barry Smith drew his first comic for Marvel Comics. It was an issue of the X-Men that we all thought was THE WORST DRAWN COMIC BOOK IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. It turned out that Smith, newly arrived from England, drew the issue on park benches in NYC. When the first issue of Conan the Barbarian arrived it was clear he was not that bad. By the time his run as artist on "Conan" ended it was even more clear he was something special and the fact that the illustrative style that had evolved in those two-year span was not feasible within the demands of producing monthly issues of a comic book was a depressing irony.

Barry Windsor-Smith has long been my favorite "comic book artist," and this collection traces his evolution as such quite admirably. Indeed, not other collection could better serve that purpose. A simple comparison of the covers from Conan #1 and Smith's swansong issue #24 ("The Song of Red Sonja") evidences the transformation from artist to illustrator. For that matter you can also consider Smith intermediary style (e.g., #13 "Web of the Spider-God"). This transformation is as impressive because of how quickly in took place while he was drawing Conan as it is for the artistic growth. But even in his work today you can see how it is grounded in the style he developed while working on this comic.

These reprinted stories are presented in black and white, which is certainly better than nothing, but I look forward to Smith's work being presented in color as it originally appeared. I notice this most particularly in the Epilogue to Conan #20, "The Black Hound of Vengeance," which was originally presented in muted tones of gray, blue and brown. Smith abandoned panels in an interesting change of pace that underscored the emotional impact of the sequence. Without color that impact is most decidedly lost. One of the things that is still discernable is the increase in the number of panels per page from issue to issue through Smith's tenure as he became more comfortable with using art rather than dialogue to advance parts of the story. The best example of this is the hanging sequence on page 14 of Conan #10.

From a writing stand point it should be noted that there is a nice balance between stories adapted from Robert E. Howard's Conan work and original stories by Roy Thomas. For the former "The Tower of the Elephant" (#4) is usually considered the high point. The appearance of Michael Moorcock's Elric in issues #14-15 seems a bit forced, while the Fafnir character (original a quick tribute to Fritz Leiber's famous pair of thieves) becomes a wonderfully integrated character into an ongoing story line.

Of the 25 issues included in this collection not all are drawn by Smith. Several issues are drawn by Gil Kane because Smith had missed a deadline or took a hiatus from working on Conan. Thomas' ability as a storyteller capable of crafting bigger and longer storylines would continue to grow, and while John Buscema's artwork on Conan was quite excellent (especially when inked by Ernie Chan), Barry Smith's work will always stand on a plateau. Jim Steranko cracked open the door on stylized illustration in color comics, but Barry Smith was the one who gets credit for busting all the way through.

I've made wonderful soups from this book and sometimes I make the accompanying recipes also. Everything has turned out well. I've never tried making any of the breads though. Who has time?

It is a great soup, dessert, bread receipies. Everything I tried was excellent,. I now want a copy of my own, and I can't find it anywhere. Do you have any suggestions??

I think that this book is really fun because Adam Joshua cheats on his math test by making someone else do it for him so he can finish his science project. In the book they take away the skeleton they have in the science room and . . . read more to find out what happens!

I think that Serious Science is a good book for a lot of kids. It might be a little hard for people and it might be a little easy for people. But, it's perfect for me!

Smith's novel tells the story of a girl growing up in the south. What starts out as a simple nine-year old's telling of how she spent her summer becomes a thought provoking piece as it not only shows the issues someone her age would face, but also causes the reader to question how a nine year old might deal with the difficult issue of rape and how one might respond to someone devoid of any morals.

In Smith's novel, the main character "grows up" during the summer, bouting with a family falling apart, and discovering for the first time what evil is, through the character of Eugene. What Smith creates is a disturbing coming of age novel that stands the test of time as we see the main character forced to grow up, learning things faster than she ought because of the little support she receives from her detorraiting family.

Smith causes the reader to question how we underestimate what children see and in doing that, they may suffer. The main character describes her family in a fictitious light using a fairy tale facade to represent "the queen" and "the princess" of her household and is forced to use nature as a substitute family. What reads initially as a simple story of a child ends a strong thought provoking piece.

I remember reading this book years ago. I checked it out of the library and was so touched by it that I sought out a hardback copy so I could own it. This was my first Lee Smith book and I have followed her career for the last twenty or so years. She is a marvelous writer and this book is particularly special. She was the first writer of the South I'd read except for Harper Lee who was assigned to me in high school. She captured the heart and mind of a young girl in the South with such clarity and grace. I have enjoyed every one of her books since but this one will always remain one of my favorites. I recommend it highly.

The Last Day the Dogbushes Bloomed was Lee Smith's first novel, written I believe, while she was a student at Hollins College. Like most first novels, it deals with coming of age childhood. Unlike most novels, it is written in the voice of a child, with the observations, understanding, and comprehensions of a child. Thus, the reader - like the child - witness these confusing events and must try to put them all together to make sense.

I have read all of Lee Smith's novels and short stories. This book - along with Fair and Tender Ladies - is my favorite.

I listened to a audio book of this. I don't think I would have had the patience to read the dialect but the readers (there were several involved - men and women) did a great job of speaking and singing more or less as the people in the book would have. It was a little long and repetitious but there are some great sequences.

This book is, along with P. F. Kluge's novel "Eddie and the Cruisers," possibly the best novel about what music means and where it comes from that I've read. The sense of time and place is unerringly evoked, the characters are simultaneously archetypal and idiosynchratic, and the overlap of both generations and musical styles makes a rich, rewarding experience. Really, really top-notch stuff.

What a wonderful book. Quite often, a book is real good until the ending, and then I'm let down, But this has a really good ending too. This tale is really excellent: a verbal piece of art. I liked all the lineage and interconnections in this large musical family. I learned what it's like to have mucic within you -- to write as well as perform. I liked the character developments -- no one all good or all bad, but all very interesting. I recommend this book highly. One learns about US history, country music, human nature, and it's entertaining to boot!

This low quality spiral bound notepad of cheap drawings contains some of the most ridiculous and non-intuitive signs I've ever seen. Some of them are just plain wrong, in my opinion. The 5% of the book that is of any value is, in my experience, common knowledge from basic open water training. I expected a book of signs that makes use of common expressions that transcend spoken language, at least in the western hemisphere, and can be easily understood by a buddy team that does not have much experience diving together. The book should be called The Smiths Sign Language Manual and not Scuba Divers Sign Language Manual because I think the authors are the only ones who understand it. In summary, I feel it's a poor attempt to facilitate communication underwater and is not worth the price!

I highly recommend this little handbook, I am a diving instructor and use it in all of my classes. The emergency signs are exceptional and it is very handy to have all of us using the same signs. One of my students was fluent in American Sign Language and she was very happy to learn that the signs worked for scuba divers too! Plus it is easy to carry in your dive bag. It really is a universal reference book for all divers to learn and use for safety and for fun.

This handbook has been well adapted from American Sign Language (ASL) with translations to improve underwater safety and emergency issues. I use this reference in teaching my scuba diving classes and find it very valuable. These are important signs that may be used in any type of emergency situation or just for explaining the fascinating sights to your buddy or other divers. I highly recommend this great little reference book. It is another tool to keep you safe while scuba diving.

This is a very good book, but I did not like the ending, nor do I agree with critics who say it is her best (which is Family Linen or Fancy Strut, perhaps). It's another fine character study thought. I just hoped that Florida Grace Shepherd would grow to find herself in ways different from how she did. I expected more of her I guess, because I liked her so much. But, that is what makes Lee Smith's books so readable for me: I come to care about her characters and what happens to them, especially the ones I like, but I become invested in caring about the fate of even those I cannot stand, like Grace's father, a huckstering, snake-handling, back-woods preacher. I guess I care because Smith creates such plausible personalities on the page. Also, Smith had done her homework well and could show these people, warts and all, without condescending, sentimentalizing, or oversimplifying. The exception, as I see it, is the ending, which I see as more sentimental than psychologically probable.

Rich in character and prose, this is a book to recommend. I felt deeply for the main character, Florida "Grace," as she moved through a troubled childhood of religious fanatacism, to marriage and children, to walking out on the marriage to take up with a stoned painter. It's a book of self-discovery and forgiveness.

Grace grows up in a home of mixed-up worship. Her mother, Fannie, worships her father as her savior. And her father, a serpent-handling evangelist, worships himself. Jesus gets all mixed up in it, leaving Grace to doubt her fundementalist upbringing and subsequent marriage. She turns to a total opposite--a godless self-indulgent handyman. She learns of drugs and alcohol, and of course, that life fails her too.

The ending left some questions. It was very easy to read suicide into the scenerio. Grace was called to join her dead mother. But I believe it was actually a re-birth. She joined her mother in the body of Christ. It was His call she heard and obeyed--a relationship that wouldn't fail her.

This book locks your interest from the beginning. You can feel every bit of what Florida Grace feels in this book. Each character is someone you've met in East TN. This is the first book I've read by Lee Smith and I will read her other books.

I actually enjoyed reading this book until I reached the end. I was reading it around Christmas, and it really made me think about what's happened to me this year. It's a quick read, which was nice- I read it in 2 sittings. I also enjoy reading books that are set in North Carolina such as this.

However, the ending was very disappointing. I don't want to reveal it here in case you do decide to check this out. Yet I was reading this book to get in a good Christmas mood, and I wanted a happy ending. I didn't get it here. It's also a bit misleading to say that the letters are from three generations of women, since the third generation only contributes one letter.

I read this book in one sitting! Not your traditional "feel good" Christmas story, nonetheless, it still grabs your interest and simply will not let go. The recipes are interesting in that they make no attempt at being detailed,fancy or gourmet. Rather they evoke a very accurate image of each generation, from the simple custard representative of long-past generation's idea of what people who are ill should eat through the quick, easy, processed, food of the sixties and finally a back-to-mother-earth ethnic vegetarian recipe that reflects the character's new life(style). What I really liked was that the recipes set the tone without overpowering the story. So many books written in this style are all recipe and no story but that is not the case here. My only complaint is that the story ended with a mystery clouding it. What is up with the twin-thing? And what happend to "Rachel" mentioned in the first few letters from Birdie? She just disappears. Is she the twin to Margaret Hodges Long mentioned in the final chapter by Melanie? If not, then what is the story with the disappearing twin and where, exactly, did Rachel go? Mary tells us something about her sister Ruthie and we get a sense of loose ends tied up, but Birdie leaves us hanging. I sense another story. I hope so! I want to know about the twins from Birdie's generation!

A very short book in the form of a collection of Christmas letters. Because of the unusual structure of the book you get glimpses of this family over three generations.

Very unusual, very good. I personally didn't like it quite as much as Oral History or Family Linen (other Smith books), but it was definitely worth the time and money. Recommended.

The stories were good but I think I've been spoiled by Lee Smith's novels. I like more depth but as I said, the stories are cute.

Lee Smith continues to be a unique voice of the south. Cakewalk is a collection of short stories that bring together a diverse group of people that only Lee could create. Debbi has left her old life behind and has started a life with Bobby who has a job with dolphins at hte Seaquarium. It is just a matter of time before Debbi and Bobby are able to get things on track. Lauren and her friend georgia Rose and the terible gift Georgia Rose had...the gift of foresight. Florrie, the cake lady who is married to Earl Mingo and their unconventional marriage. Florrie's cakes keep her family together and her home safe. Martha Resnick is writing a letter to Phil Donahue, the only adult she feels she has a constant connection with in her life, at least she can count on him to show up every morning. All these people and many more are like the people you may know and Lee Smith is able to bring each of their stories and many more to the page with humor and a keen ear to the south.

I love short stories and I really love Lee Smith's short stories, especially in Cakewalk. I feel like she is writing about my relatives and my friends. And about me. Every story is a small gem that sparkles on its own. The short story is a vastly underappreciated art form these days, but if more people read Lee Smith's, I'm sure that short stories would make a comeback. I hope she continues to write novels, but not give up on her short stories. They would be sorely missed.

If you want complicated, try Gary Wiren or Homer Kelly. Smith focuses first on impact (a la Johnny Miller), the backswing, downswing and then the setup. The still photos were good - I would have liked to seen more. There's also a useful faults and fixes section. Smith isn't a method teacher and is mostly clear in his descriptions of the swing. I had to reread a couple of parts to understand what he was trying to say. Although alot of what he writes is covered in other texts, he does make alot of enlightening points I've never read about before. I'd recommend this book for someone who's already had a lesson or two or read Golf for Dummies and knocked the ball around a little. Ultimately, a lesson from a good teacher is always preferred.

The book has done a good job of dispelling certain myths about the golf swing. I read every golf book that comes along and think that this book is similiar to the book GOLF IS A WOMAN'S GAME. Both books address myths about the golf swing. A suggestion.. if you liked this book try GOLF IS A WOMAN'S GAME both books are a one two punch

For the past five or six years I have read the leading golf magazines and numerous books about golf. This is the best instructional material I have read. The concept of the full swing was easy for me to understand and I appreciated the way Rick Smith dispelled many of the myths we've associated with the golf swing.

This book is for the person, like me, who likes to hit golf balls. I know I have improved my swing and lifted my confidence level as a result of reading this book.

I'm reading it now for the third time.

Thank's Rick