I first read this book in 1972, the original 1947 edition. It is one of the few permanent items in my library. I read it again at least once a year. I have even tried some of the projects John describes including the radio set made out of bits laying around the cabin. If you want a relaxing and enjoyable read about life in the woods, get this!

Every true outdoors man and woman needs to read two books. One is Leopold's A Sand County Alamanac, the other is Cache Lake Country. If you've hunted, fished, and trekked the northwoods as much as I have, and love its brooding, dark beauty, this book will capture the sensations of the taiga. It is almost painful to read it if you find yourself trapped in someone else's idea of the good life, when what you really want to do is chuck it all for a cabin in the boreal forest.

I first read this book when I was 12 years old, I am now 46. I could not put it down and can not. I made my first knike sheath, first snow shoes, and my first moc;s (which remain my favorite type of moc's) from sketches from this book, as well as many of the other projects and they all lived up to expectations of a young teenager to present. You feel like you are there with the three men of the story. It is is one of the few books that I reread every couple of years. Worth every penney and then some.

A collection of 100 or more short stories by O. Henry? My mouth waters already! It's hard to imagine any literary treat that can be enjoyed in small doses more pleasurable than this. I have spent over a year savouring these stories, reading them one by one, tasting his delightful choice of words, digesting his fascinating story-lines, and the warm satisfying afterglow that comes after a typical twist at the end. His stories are superbly outstanding in at least four ways, each illustrated with five of my personal favorites.

Firstly, his brilliant use of language. These stories were written in the first half of the twentieth century, and O. Henry's use of language easily surpasses that of most contemporary writers. Not only does he have an extensive vocabulary, but his writing abounds with similes and metaphors that breathe sparkling life and depth into his stories. "Ulysses and the Dogman" is a fine example of his skills with a language, metaphorically portraying dog owners as victims of Circe, in a hopeless enchantment to their leashed pets. Also exemplary is "Madame Bo-Peep of the Ranches" where a ranch manager has a heart fenced by barbwire just like the ranch on which he lives, and yet the twist at the ending suggests that perhaps we were completely mistaken. "A Comedy in Rubber" uses wonderfully elevated language to farcically portray a class of people today known as ambulance chasers. And "Sisters of the Golden Circle" revolves around the profound bond that exists between two married women who are strangers but yet sisters "of the plain gold band." "An Unfinished Story" employs profound metaphors of angelic hosts to tell the tragic story of poor Dulcie's struggle for survival.

Secondly, his unique insight into the social conditions of his time. O. Henry has a great understanding of the trials of the lower class, frequently picturing the lives of ordinary people of early twentieth century America with sympathetic colours. His characters are frequently the overlooked: the struggling shop girl, the unsuccessful artist, the impoverished. Admittedly, some of his images can be hard to comprehend for modern readers, and the distance that time has placed between us and O. Henry's beloved New York means that some of his verbal pictures will be harder to identify with. But his genuine sympathy for the oppressed cannot be missed. "The Gift of the Magi" is the signature O. Henry story, probably his most famous tale which recounts a poor young couple who both give up a prized possession in order to purchase a gift for one another - but ironically a gift intended to complement the other's prized possession that they have just given up. Another story which displays his ability to picture the social conditions of his time is "The Pendulum", a wonderful portrait of the daily routines of an poor couple and the bursting anxiety of a married man, until the bubble bursts. "The Cop and the Anthem" was the first O. Henry story I ever read, and humorously recounts the unsuccessful attempts of a man to get into jail for the winter. "The Furnished Room" is a tragic and shocking story of suicide, depicting the depths of despair and desperation of the impoverished.

Thirdly, his warm humour. O. Henry has an uncanny ability to portray the mundane and the ordinary in the most elevated language. Frequently he pits two characters together in a remarkable way so that one outshines and complements the other. On other occasions he crafts the most ingenious and humorous schemes for outwitting others. One of his most popular stories is "The Handbook of Hymen", the tale of two men in a winter cabin, one armed with the hilarious Herkimer's handbook of Indispensable Information. And then there's Jeff Peters, a man who comes with the most ingenious money-making schemes, two shining examples displayed in "Jeff Peters as a Personal Magnet" and "The Exact Science of Matrimony". "Let Me Feel Your Pulse" pokes fun at doctors, while in "Next to Reading Matter" an overly eloquent character wins the heart of a senora with streams of articulate talk about the mundane.

Fourthly, his ironic twist. One of the distinctive characteristics of O. Henry's short stories is the ironic twist at the end, which never fails to surprise and entertain, sometimes reversing the entire story line in a concluding one-liner. O. Henry's suspense and trademark ironic twist ensures that readers who have a good literary taste in short stories will not be disappointed. Like the Jeff Peters stories, "The Love-philtre of Ikey Schoenstein" also feature a brilliant scheme, and the way the romantic scheme backfires is unforgettable. Other delightful examples of the glorious ironic twist include "Witches' Loaves" and "While the Auto Waits". The twist that comes at the end of "The Hypotheses of Failure" is so perplexing, that you'll have to re-read the entire story after reading the ending - but completely delighted at the way in which O. Henry has misled you. Perhaps one of O. Henry's best uses of the ironic twist comes in "The Last Leaf", a warm and tragic tale describing how a dying artist proves as resilient as the last leaf on the wall outside, and through the self-less sacrifice of another.

The Wordsworth collection is superlative, because it contains more than 700 pages of literary gems. It consists of 100 stories, showcasing a wide range of O. Henry's short-story talents. A few popular favorites are missing, such as "Schools and Schools", "Shearing the Wolf", "The Green Door", and "The Pimienta Pancakes." But the reality is that nearly all O. Henry's stories feature his trademark ironic twist, as they do his warm humour, his unique insight into the social conditions of the time, and his brilliant use of language, and that every story in this collection is a literary delight worthy of inclusion. The inaccessibility of some references for modern readers does not prevent these stories from being always entertaining and enduring! Don't pass up on these!

O. Henry began writing short stories as a prison inmate, and he quickly fine tuned his skills behind the bars and developed into an excellent story-teller.

The distinctive characteristic of O. Henry's short stories is the ironic twist at the end, which never fails to surprise and entertain. O. Henry's suspense and trademark ironic twist ensures that readers who have a good literary taste in short stories will not be disappointed.

These stories were written in the first half of the twentieth century, and O. Henry's use of language far surpasses that of most contemporary writers.

His stories also demonstrate his unique insight into the social conditions of his time.

This collection is superlative, because it consists of 100 stories, more than 400 pages, and is offered by Amazon.com at an excellent price! Don't pass up on this one!

What an excellent book! I recommend it all who love short-story works

I was initially reserved in my approach to the book 'cos I thought it would be boring and would contain too much theology.
I was proven wrong. I could see the interplay of man and God in shaping our history and now fully understand that indeed "He works all things after the counsel of his own will". I was taken with the literary style that I could not put it down desiring to find out what would happen next to Luther. It is awesome to know that Omniscience wields Omnipotence to achieve the counsel of the Omnipresent God.

I have read this book under separate title, and D'Aubigne presents in it a wonderful picture of Luther the man, from the perspective of an author who knows Luther's Lord. Much more readable than Bainton's work, and with a touch of the older style of writing that has now been lost.

This is a very good book about Martin Luther. Before I read this book, I did not know what he wrote his theses about, but now I know he wrote it to condemn the evil sale of indulgences.

It's hard to believe that James's theatrical turn of the late 19th century ended with his audience "booing" him off the stage. This novelized play reads quickly and delightfully. I've read more than twenty of his novels, and this was the quickest of them all.

The plot is simple enough (at least for James): two houses, apparently back to back, in Wilverley, a small English village, set the scene. One contains a widow, the other a young married couple. The young wife widows the young husband, and he becomes Wilverley's "most eligible bachelor," except for the fact that he promised his dying wife that he would never marry again, at least not during the life of his child. So somebody has to kill the child, right?

Enter James's genius for character. There's Paul, the huge, infinitely imperturbable son of the wealthy Mrs. Beever; the diminutive and impetuous Dennis Vidal; Tony Bream himself, a remarkably good-natured but insensitive fool; and the powerful Mrs. Beever, whose awful determination cows every one else before her. Like James's best writing, his characters become interesting on their own; his fictions become an opportunity to satisfy curiosity. I think that's what makes this book a "page-turner"; the characters are interesting enough that I want to know what's going to happen.

In the end, I suppose, what makes this book succeed is what would have made the dramatic version fail: James's endless fascination with the workings of the human mind must have become either painfully boring or just incomprehensible to a theatrical audience. However it came about, I recommend it unequivocally.

This book is a novelization of the play by the same name. And you can see the stageplay - the characters are continually coming and going - and there's stage business - all of which I think shows some stiffness - yet about half way through the novel I was startled at how much the characters were real, rounded - I could just about see them - they ached with life - I was always aware of the stage during the novel - the story itself is rather shocking - it's a mystery novel! - it's all very well done - it's short - and it's very psychological

I am impressed with The New York Review's revival of this unexpectedly non-Jamesian title. A truly unique James choice to bring back to life--it's been done so with a cover so compelling (I'm not a tradional James fan) I opened the book which I found locally in a brick and mortar as they are now called, book shop. The internet cannot do justice to the thoughtful sophistication of this book's packaging. (But I can purchase another copy here more easily!) The publisher's comments about the work were also compelling and complimentary to the cover art. The Other House is a mystery, a detective story, a love triangle with more than three angles--a true page turner--with a timelessly human plot and "modern" characters. Anyone thriller fan would be enchanted with it. And turning every page, holding the book, is a sensory thrill. Paper, writing, art--all representative of what any literary rebirth deserves. If it's worth bringing back--do it with quality, I say! They did--along with a whole marvelous collection of equally intriguing books, with well written new introductions. Good choices--the pieces themselves, the introduction authors and the book artist designers. Truly timeless in all ways!

I bought this book for my nephew and the entire family has enjoyed his singing the pages, he had it memorized in no time and he is only 2 years old!!! I would recommend this book to anyone with young children, not just for their enjoyment but for the entire family.

I remember reading this book back in kindergarten and the first grade. It was the first book I ever learned to read. I loved this book so much that I read it until I had it memorized. It's too bad the original cover is not printed in this edition. I'm going to pass this one down to my cousin, Adam, whose only 4. Hopefully, we can continue the tradition so this will be his first book he ever learns to read.

Merle Peek does an excellent job at getting kindergarteners to be actively involved in this book. I am currently majoring in Elementary Education and I did a bulletin board on this book and everyone loved it! My professor said this was a classic color book. The book is about Katy, it's her birthday and all her friends wear different color clothing to her party. From yellow sweater to green sneakers to pink hat, this book has all the basic colors. This was a song that was written into a book, so it's very rhythmic and is easy to follow. The song is on the back of the book, so all children can enjoy! I loved it and would recommend it to all beginning readers!! Try and read it, what do you got to lose?? I give this book five stars!!

This book is really excellent and helpful.
Sr. Mckenna make us see her devotional life in every pages and it's incredible the way we can feel God's presence....

Sr. Briege McKenna's simple style and her faith make me feel that I am having a conversation with the author. She appeals to faith and simple logics, instead of theology and doctrine, to bring Christ to us.

I grew up with a lot of Catholic educational background, but it was only after reading Sr. McKenna's book that I really appreciated the Sacrament of the Eucharist and of Confession. Her language is simple but her words are powerful. You can really feel Christ's healing presence just by reading the book....

Henry is me! Not that I ever had it as good as he did to start, but I bought the lies that our great society hangs in our faces like that nice juicy bunch of fresh carrotts....theres nothing wrong with carrotts is there? I have read this little book a dozen times and each time I do it makes me stop and take stock. This is a must own, buy a bunch and give them to people who you truly care about.

This book was loaned to me by a friend. I started reading it and could not stop. It was telling the story of my life in a different way. Henry knew the good life and thought progress was going to give him a better life. He had to give up the things dearest to him. Time with the family went by the wayside. A valuable lesson for people who are trying to get ahead. This book posessed me to quit my 12 hour, sometimes 6 day a week job of 17 years. I now make less money, but I also have time off to be with my family. My priorties are now in order and I am happy. I am now like Henry was in the beginning of the book. Sometimes we don't know what happiness is. Money isn't everything and debt will ruin you is some things I personally gleaned out of this book. I strongly recommend it to college age and over.

I am so excited! I finally found "Henry and The Great Society" on Amazon.com. I've been looking for it forever! I borrowed the book the first time and I've been searching for my own copy! I've looked in libraries, old book stores and everywhere! But, only Amazon had it! This book is excellent!

Doctor and Bishop of the Catholic Church, St. Francis de Sales presents one of the most powerful defenses of the Catholic Faith ever to come from the hand of a mortal man. This book was instrumental in my conversion to the Catholic Faith and the reason I chose St. Francis de Sales as my patron saint.

In his writings, he is as gentle as a dove and as wise a serpent, in accordance with our Lord's command. Here the truth is presented in a straight-forward and compelling manner, so much so that he converted with these pamphlets (here collected into book form) an entire region which had fallen away from the Catholic Faith into the errors of Calvinism. And when I say he converted the region, I mean virtually all of it, completely reversing the sad situation of a region that had fallen a few decades before into the errors of the protestant revolt.

From Purgatory to the Papacy, these pamphlets reminded the people of the forceful clarity and Truth of the holy Catholic Apostolic Faith. May it equally remind us of that today, when it is needed again, as is another "counter reformation" against the revolts we see all around us in the Church!

This book is a collection of pamphlets written by St. Francis de Sales as a young priest (27-29) struggling to reach people who would not listen to to him-the 72,000 Calvinists of the French Chablais region, who had lost the Faith 60 years previous. The task looked hopeless, yet in four years almost all 72,000 had returned to the Catholic Faith. These little tracts show their author's great familiarity with scripture and the Fathers and Doctors of the Church; yet they come right to the point, addressing issues that are still of burning interest today--especially the question of how we can recognize the Christian church and the true Christian doctrine. Here are some of the cogent arguements against Protestantism ever penned, presenting a defense of the Catholic Faith that in some respects has never been equalled. Great!

St. Francis de Sales endangered his life when he entered the Chablais region in order to defend the faith. During his journey, St. Francis de Sales tied himself to tree limbs with his belt so the wolves could not get to him at night.

It is said that when St. Francis de Sales arrived in the area there were only 7 Catholics left. When St. Francis finished, there were about the same number of Calvinists left.

Facing death threats and doors shut in his face, St. Francis de Sales wrote several pamphlets defending the faith. For several years he slipped these under doors so the people could read them. This book is a compendium of those pamphlets.

St. Francis de Sales uses scripture like no other. His arguments are as persuasive today as they were then. For those looking to understand the biblical basis for Catholic teachings (i.e., purgatory, papal infallibility) this book is a must.

I recommend this book to Catholics who are interested in knowing the scriptural and logical reasoning behind the teaching of the Church. I also recommend the book to protestants who have an honest interest in finding out, from a Catholic source, just what that Church teaches. Buy the book.

Old Henry is a great childrens book that also has a moral. The moral of the story is that you should not judge a person for how they look, dress, or live but how they are as a person. The neighbor's of Henry in the story do just this and drive Henry to move away. The neighbors end up missing him and feel guilty about how they treated him. A child can learn a lot from the book.

It may not last forever, but this book has momentarily knocked Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio" into second place. "Old Henry" is now my favorite all time book, even after having owned it for about seven years. Oh, I used to read it all the time to the kids, but the moment I realized this book is now, for the time being, my all-time favorite book, is when I sat in the emergency room late one recent Saturday night.

My wife was in another room, discovering she had a broken foot from a slip earlier that day on a basement floor made wet by water leaking in through the walls.

I spend far too much time doing home maintenance these days, mopping up wet basement floors, calculating how the house will be sided or painted, deciding whether topaint or replace a garage door, trimming hedges and yanking weeds.

All of these ridiculous, no-win chores simply chip away at the time I want for reading, writing and drawing. It is not enough that parenthood justly requires so much time and energy -- we signed on for that -- but the treadmill that is home maintenance is a horror for anyone who likes to sit by the bird feeder and read magazines.

I envy, then, Old Henry, who wants only to move in, leave things be, and read and draw while his neighbors are concerned about the length of his grass.

My uncle once explained to me why he barely ever trims his bushes. "I want them to express themselves," he said, comparing his free-flowing shrubs to the neighbors' which were stiff and buzzcut as military sentries.

So I used to read "Old Henry" for my kids. Now it is at my bedside, along with the magazines and feng shui books, all reminders that if I want to nurture my mind, I'll have to give up the landscaping and such, and while the water in the basement must be mopped up lest anyone else break a bone, that we actually do have the freedom to surrendur to nature, let it grow and grow around us, and in that sweet surrendur, curl up defeatedly with a book.

I thought that this book was really good. I think that it will help kids understand how you should never judge people because that is what they did in the book. The neighbors judge Henry because he moved into a house and he did not fix it up so his neighbors cleaned his yard for him and was running him out. The neighbors did what they wanted but when he left the neighbors started to miss him. It shows that with him gone there was something special the people liked about him.

Illustrated by Peter Fiore and edited by Steven Schnur, Henry David's House introduces young readers ages 5 to 9 to the life, thought and writings of Henry David Thoreau. Text and illustration collaborate to showcase the beauty, power and subtlety of solitary living withing the context of a nature-oriented retreat as represented by Thoreau's tiny house in the woods and on the shore of Walden Pond. Henry David's House is an enthusiastically recommended addition to school and community picturebook collections.

"Near the end of March I borrowed an axe and went down to the woods by Walden Pond and began to cut down some tall white pines for timber..." Author, Steven Schnur has chosen several wonderfully engaging passages from Henry David Thoreau's Walden, in this elegant picture book, and young readers will really get a vivid sense of the hard, yet rewarding work of building his house, the few possessions needed to live comfortably, the beauty of the changing seasons, and living the simple life in harmony with nature. "Sometimes, in a summer morning, having taken my accustomed bath, I sat in my sunny doorway from sunrise till noon, rapt in a revery, amidst the pines and hickories and sumachs, in undisturbed solitude and stillness, while the birds sang around or flitted noiseless through the house, until by the sun falling in at my west window, or the noise of some traveller's wagon on the distant highway, I was reminded of the lapse of time." Peter Fiore's lush and exquisite watercolor illustrations bring the splendor of Thoreau's existence at Walden Pond to life on the page, and together word and art evoke feelings of peace, quiet, and contentment. Perfect for readers 8-12, this book works well as a real aloud with D.B. Johnson's Henry Builds a Cabin, for younger children. With an editor's note at the end to fill in further biographical details about Thoreau and his time at Walden, Henry David's House is an evocative treasure to read, share, and most of all discuss. "We can never have enough of Nature."

Henry David's House is a picturebook adaptation by Steven Schnur of a part of Henry David Thoreau's classic nature book "Walden", told with only a limited amount of editing. Beautiful, slightly abstract yet full-color illustrations by Peter Fiore bring this classic thinker's words to vibrant life for young readers. Henry David's House is a superb introduction to a literary masterpiece for young readers, and its final message, "We can never have enough of Nature," reverberates in the hearts of all ages. Highly recommended for family, school, and community library picturebook collections.