Frederic Prokosch wrote this imaginary journey from Lebanon across Asia to Hanoi in 1931 before he ever set foot in Asia. In the novel, the narrator, a young American, travels in catch-as-catch-can manner across the exotic continent. The landscape descriptions are extraordinary. Everywhere he meets with adventure and exotic characters who lament the end of Asia as they know it (this in 1931!). The novel was a bestseller in 1934. I nominate it as the greatest forgotten novel of the 20th Century.

I first read lives of the musicians when I was about 7 yearsold or so. Then, I thought it was terrific. I still do. However, I amnow 12 years old, and now that I have paid more attention to it, I see several faults, but overall it is still a very good book. First of all, their choice of musicians is not the best. I would have recommended Debussy and Schubert, like the Kirkus Reviewer. Some of the composers I have hardly ever heard of, like Igor Stravinsky or Nadia Boulanger. And while Clara Schumann was a great pianist, I think they should have focused more on her husband, Robert, a prolific composer, whose works are among the very best. Also, some of the parts of the biographies are questionable. Frederic Chopin may not have actually been romantically involved with Aurore Dudevant (George Sand), but in love with the Countess Delphine Potocka. The book states that the Waltz in D-Flat, or Minute Waltz, was written for George Sand's dog, when in fact it was probably written for Potocka. However, the book was still very well written, and I enjoyed it, despite the possible mistakes. I recommend this book to anyone who likes music, classical or not. So sit back and enjoy!

I loved this book because it made those musicians seem like real people instead of great-all-star-super-geniuses. It is full of strange little facts about all the famous musicians like Bach,Gershwin,Beethoven and Schmann.

---Megan W.

This book provides interesting insight into the lives of composers. I teach music to elementary and high school students and I read this book to all of my students. They all enjoy learning the details of the composers lives. The book presents the composers in such a way that the students remember the information about the composers. The book does not provide information about what the composers' music sounds like, and that is something I also like to teach. A great book to gain kids'interest in famous composers.

Durbin evokes elements of classic horror and weird tales while using a prose style reminiscent of Ray Bradbury.

The protagonist is an 11-year-old girl who descends into a nightmare world beneath her home. The underworld that she encounters is every bit as weird and unsettling as Lovecraft's Dreamlands.

While sometimes billed as a children's book, I feel that the work is too disturbing for someone the age of the protagonist. And the prose, while beautiful may prove cumbersome to younger readers.

Once you get into the second chapter or so, the plot is compelling. The only reason that I did not give this book its fifth star is because the first chapter did not pull me in. I had purchased the book from the SFBC (apologies to Amazon) and I had picked it up two or three times only to put it back down after reading the first chapter. But now that I have finished it, I highly recommend it to anyone in their late teens and older.

I also have a personal bias for Durbin's work because he and I happen share the same literary neighborhood of contemporary fantasy, a subgenre of fantasy too often eschewed by publishers in exchange for yet another mindless Tolkein-derivative "trilogy" of 16 books.

I was a bit hesitant to plunge into this book, fearing yet another child-enters-into-a-faerie-land-and-saves-the-day scenario. But, hey, I'm a print junkie, so that hesitation was extremely brief. But even that slight pause was too long. This book is great. Unlike other mystical realms, the world our heroine Bridget Anne (or Dragonfly, as she's called) enters is dark and dangerous. As the tale progressed, I realized that Mr. Durbin might not be above killing off the good guys. But if the story wasn't a squeaky-clean fairy tale, it wasn't a dismal, souless slaughter-fest, either. There is love and hope and faith amidst the suffering and death. In the battle between good and evil, both sides take some hits.

In addition to an interesting plot, the reader is also treated to a number of fine touches. Mr. Durbin's description of October in the first chapter resonated so well with me, I had to wonder if he had read my mind. (Probably not. I can't write that good.) I loved the characters, as well. They weren't your stereotypical fantasy folk, but seemed like real down-to-earth folk facing a fantastic and dangerous new world. The appearance of a couple of Dragonfly's relatives at the climax was a special treat.

All in all, I was left wondering if Mr. Durbin has written anything else. If not, I guess I'll just have to settle for rereading this one again.

I recieved an autographed copy of Dragonfly by Frederic S. Durbin for my 13th birthday from an aunt. I have read it many times since. This book is awesome for anyone who enjoys an adventure with a twist of fantasy. There is the usual plot: Girl trying to save world, then the love story, heroes, adventure, friends, enemies, strangers, mysterious gypsies and more.... I totally advise anyone to read this great book!

This book was wonderful! A classic story of woe and fortunes, trials and tribulations and determanation to find your dream. Remington's success as a painter, sculptor and illustrator have introduced thousands to the face of the west. The west will live forever and forever be found in his creations

I'll give the author two stars purely for risk-taking. The concept at least is original and it has to have taken a certain audacity to write this book.

What I don't understand is why he wrote it, or why we are supposed to enjoy reading it. The girl Ursula is a stupid, self-centered, insensitive, thoroughly repulsive excuse for a human being. Not that she isn't convincingly depicted--Tuten did all too good a job on her--but I can't think why we are supposed to care about her and want to read about her. And certainly not why we are supposed to admire and approve of her, as Tuten obviously does.

That Van Gogh might have fallen in love with someone like her is all too plausible--he did, after all, have a record of wasting himself on women who were far beneath him. But Vincent's love for Ursula is not shown as yet another self-destructive folly, but rather as something fine and beautiful.

Vincent himself is handled a good deal better. The flashback to his days as a preacher among the coal miners is perhaps the best thing in the book. The attempt to get inside his deteriorating mind is very fanciful and speculative, but then so is any attempt to see what goes on in the head of a schizo-affective.

As for the modern-day narrator, he is simply pathetic. Who can care about him? Who even wants to know about someone like that?

Furthermore, Tuten might have made a little more effort to get his facts straight. For one very big thing, the "Night Cafe" that Van Gogh painted and wrote about was located in Arles, not in Auverre-sur-Oise.

I have to admire the artistic courage that went into the writing of this book, but the results are just too badly flawed. But I admit I would like to try reading something else by Tuten. He is undeniably a gifted writer.

Long being an admirer of VanGogh's work, I was immediately interested in reading this brief novel when I discovered it recently. It's a heavy subject for an author to attempt -- I would think it would be much 'safer' to write about characters of one's own creation, eliminating any preconceptions that might be held by the reader -- but I can recommend this book very highly. Frederic Tuten has succeeded, I believe, in creating a believable view of VanGogh -- not a biography, but more like a snapshot or an observation.

The center of the book is a wonderfully enigmatic woman named Ursula -- Van Gogh's lover, friend and fellow artiste (she's a photographer). She's also a morphine addict. Sharing addiction with Vincent (his addictions being to pain, art, and absinthe) gives them a bond that unites them in not only love but life. When Ursula steps through a crack in time to emerge into late 20th century Greenwich Village, the 'progress' she sees breaks her heart. She attempts to embrace it -- as she does everything else in her life -- but ultimately feels herself drawn back to her own time, to Vincent.

The novel is subtitled 'a love story' -- and it is certainly that, but not in the traditional sense. The love here is not just the romantic variety, but love of life, of creation, of joy and pain -- all of the things that besiege and bless us all. The trick is to understand how to accept them.

After reading about some of Tuten's other works, I'm not really sure if I want to read them or not -- I'll have to investigate them further -- but I'm certainly glad I stumbled across this little gem. It's a beautiful story, gently and lovingly told.

Beautiful, haunting, surreal, poetic. Not a book for realists or those seeking the everyday, this book allows you to enter tuten's dream for a few hours, then leave it with a thousand beautiful(and ugly)visions dancing before your eyes. A masterpiece.