Here in an elegant paperback of modest proportions is a revised edition of the correspondence of two of America's greatest writers, containing a few newly located letters. Edmund Wilson was already an established writer when Nabokov immigrated to this country around 1940, and Wilson's role in introducing Nabokov around and getting him writing assignments and teaching positions in America was crucial to Nabokov at a critical time. The two men write in fascinating manner about literature, life, writing gigs, and life. The correspondence is sad, too, because the two men seem almost willfully to misunderstand each other on such seemingly innnocuous issues as the nature of Russian and English prosody. Also Wilson as an erstwhile Communist was fascinated with Russia, attempted to learn the language, but thought he knew it better than he did, even trying to correct Nabokov who of course was a native speaker, not to mention a great writer, in Russian. Toward the end of their friendship, Wilson published a memoir that revealed his jealousy of Nabokov, and there was a break, only healed when Wilson was near death. Simon Karlinsky has written a wonderful introduction to the correspondence, that may be worth the price of the book in itself. Nabokov thought highly of Karlinsky, and Karlinsky explains the Russian background of early life behind some of the stances of Nabokov that we Americans find it hardest to understand. For example, why did Nabokov refuse any social role to the artist? For writers, for Nabokov or Wilson lovers, and I count myself both, this is an essential and irreplacable book

When two opinionated men with such different tastes as Nabokov and Wilson write letters over a twenty year period, the result is going to be exciting. Their arguing about Faulkner and Norman Douglas or the gender of French nouns gives the friendship a bite. And we also see that each got more than friendship out of the relationship--Wilson got lessons in Russian and Nabokov got a boost into the American literary world. A fascinating read.

Cole & Cole's work is by far one of my favorite textbooks. The reason? The authors methodically lay out child development from a biopsychosocial perspective, which is no small feat.

They write with a thoroughness and efficiency that you will rarely find in a textbook. Their treatment of child development is evenhanded, not privilaging either the bio, psycho, or social perspectives.

Michael and Sheila Cole have written a very readable book that is designed as an overview of past and current theories of human development. It was designed for college courses, but it is also the sort of reassuring companion a parent might want to consult, to answer such questions as whether or not picking up a crying child encourages fussiness, how to encourage a child to get along with other children, or how to establish moral rules effectively. They frequently discuss examples of events that occurred while raising their own children, as well as other stories of real situations, in the context of all that is currently known about children from infancy to adolescence.

I love Yunus Emre The Turkish best poet about mystic poetries. I highly recommend: Get this book and read it. I am sure you 'll love him, too.

Generally when we think of Sufi and Hindu devotional poetry a small set of names come to mind - Attar, Rumi, Kabir, Mirabai ...; Yunus Emre is certainly not among those names although he deserves to be. He composed in a Turkic language, a language family noted for its love of language, its wordplay and doubling. This is poetry of the highest quality with a down to earth touch resonating with divine love imagery. A must read for anyone interested in religious poetry, bhakti poetry or Sufism.

Whelan is the sort of scholar rarely found in this age of academic narcissism. Not kowtowing to fashionability, Whelan presents examples Burke's writings on India in a balanced, considered manner, without including the tempting digressions that could make this a western - non-western multicultural ax grind. Every Burke enthusiast will benefit from this latest excursion into Burke's lesser known works.

Whelan has done a marvelous job at interpreting Burke's political philosophy through the window of Burke's writings on India, Empire, and in particular, the Warren Hastings trial.

Of the various styles of biographies I've read, I think I prefer what Lock has achieved here. It's definitely not the kind of page-turner which Robert Caro delivers, nor is it heavily weighed down with details such as De La Grange has given us with Gustav Mahler. Instead, Lock gives us intelligently written background surrounding the issues and people as they arise; judicious use of Burke's letters (and letters to him) as well as his writings; and details that help bring the era to life. He also brings the themes together, which means the telling is not a simple chronology. Lock gives us all sides of Burke, too: not just the politician and the family man, but the brother and the farmer. What I also like about this book is that Lock does not hesitate to criticize Burke when his behavior is less than ethical or when Burke's arguments are disingenuous. It's a critical examination, and Lock doesn't dumb it down. (I can't wait for volume 2, although my checkbook can.)

This will become the standard biography of Burke - but this book is not just for scholars: anyone with an interest in 18th century politics and culture will benefit from reading this work.

The narrative is well written, with much detail and necessary (but not too basic) background detail; overall it keeps the reader's interest.

Burke's own works are analysed thoroughly, within the framework of his life.

Until I read this book, I thought I knew everything about Spenser, but Norton has done it again! Insightful and interesting,this anthology of criticism covers everything from "The Faerie Queene" to all the other things Spenser wrote. I had always been a Chaucer hound,but now I've converted to the Spenserian camp. Partake of this grand work and be saved!

EDMUND SPENSER'S POETRY : Authoritative Texts and Criticism. Third Edition. Selected and Edited by Hugh Maclean and Anne Lake Prescott. 842 pp. London & New York : W. W. Norton & Company, 1993.

Although everyone has heard of Edmund Spenser's amazing narrative poem, 'The Faerie Queene,' it's a pity that few seem to read it. To a superficial glance it may appear difficult, although the truth is that it's basically a fascinating story that even an intelligent child can follow with enjoyment and interest.

It appears difficult only because of Spenser's deliberately antique English. He needed such an English because he was creating a whole new dimension of enchantment, a magical world, a land of mystery and adventure teeming with ogres and giants and witches, hardy knights both brave and villainous, dwarfs, magicians, dragons, and maidens in distress, wicked enchanters, gods, demons, forests, caves, and castles, amorous encounters, fierce battles, etc., etc.

To evoke an atmosphere appropriate to such a magical world, a world seemingly distant in both time and place from ours, Spenser created his own special brand of English. Basically his language is standard Sixteenth Century English, but with antique spellings and a few medievalisms thrown in, along with a number of new words that Spenser coined himself. The opening lines of the poem are typical :

"A Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine, / Y cladd in mightie armes and silver shielde, / Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine, / The cruell markes of many a bloudy fielde...." (page 41).

If, instead of reading with the eye, we read with the ear or aloud, the strange spellings resolve themselves into perfectly familiar words such as clad (clothed), mighty, arms, shield, deep, cruel, marks, bloody, field. And "Y cladd" is just one of those Spenserian medievalisms that simply means "clad" or clothed (i.e., wearing).

The only two words in this passage that might cause problems for the beginner are "pricking" and "dints," and it doesn't take much imagination to realize that these must refer, respectively, to 'riding' (i.e., his horse) and 'dents.' But if you can't guess their meaning, in the present edition a quick glance to the right at their explanatory glosses will soon apprize you of it, and will save you the trouble of searching for their meaning elsewhere.

Once you've used the side glosses for a little while, progress through Spenser's text becomes a snap. And learning a few hundred words is a small price to pay for entrance into one of the most luxuriant works ever produced by the Western imagination, and one that once entered you will often want to return to.

The present Norton Critical Edition has been designed for college students, but will appeal to anyone who is looking for an abridged Spenser which gives maximum help with the language, and who might also like to read a little of the best recent criticism.

The first part of the book, besides giving almost 500 large pages of annotated selections from 'The Faerie Queene' which amount to well over half of Spenser's complete text, also includes a generous selection from Spenser's other poetry : The Shephearde's Calendar; Muipotmos : or The Fate of the Butterflie; Colin Clouts Come Home Againe; Amoretti; and the beautiful Epithalamion and Prothalamion. An Editor's Note exploring important issues follows each selection, and all obscure words have been given convenient explanatory glosses in the right margins.

The second part of the book consists mainly of a wide range of Twentieth-Century Criticism, and contains twenty-five critical essays on various aspects of Spenser, many by noted scholars such as A. Bartlett Giamatti, Thomas P. Roche Jr., Northrop Frye, A. C. Hamilton, Isabel MacCaffrey, Paul Alpers, Louis Martz, and William Nelson. The book is rounded out with A Chronology of Spenser's Life and a very full Selected Bibliography.

Criticism undoubtedly has its value and at times can be stimulating, but Spenser, as one of England's very greatest writers, was of course writing not so much for critics as for you and me. Admittedly his language can be a bit tricky at first, and he certainly isn't to be rushed through like a modern novel. His is rather the sort of book that we wish would never end.

His pace is leisurely and relaxed, a gentle flowing rhythmic motion, and that's how he wants us to read him. To get the hang of things, try listening to one of the many available recordings. And when you hit a strange-looking word there will be no need to fret or panic, for a quick glance to the right at its gloss will soon apprize you of its meaning.

So take Spenser slowly, and give his words a chance to work their magic. Let him gently conduct you through his enthralling universe, one that you will find both wholly strange and perfectly familar, since human beings and their multifarious doings are Spenser's real subject, and somewhere in one of his enchanted forests you may one day find yourself.

Edmund abstracts difficult subject matter...you won't find a better summary of the scientific method anywhere else. Edmund provides a concise summary of the method, its history and the problems it faces today in the science education reform movement (which has wrongfully excluded it). The best value you'll ever get for $5!

Outstanding review of a complex subject.

This is a companion to Cohen's other edited book, Caring Classrooms/Intelligent Schools. This book addresses an older group of youngsters in school--those passing into adolescence. The 12 chapters cover the theory of social emotional learning (SEL) in schools. A number of SEL curricula or projects are discussed, such as the Comer/New Haven project, the work from the Northeast Foundation for Children, a psychoanalytically informed educational perspective, the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program (RCCP), and others.

This is not really a "how-to" book, any more than was Cohen's other book. Readers will benefit, however, because he systematically reviews SEL programs, and readers will be eager to pursue specific programs from among those referenced.

I missed not seeing any work from Myrna B. Shure, who is a good cognitive-behavioral SEL practitioner (the "I Can Problem Solve" curriculum). Does her work not involve young adolescents? If not, that is a disappointment.

SEL is important because we all 'swim' in a social environment. When that environment is caring and concerned, when students can make heart-informed choices, they 'swim' better and are said to learn better. We certainly know they are happier and appear more productive.

I know many readers will gain a lot from this work, and the other related books in the SEL field. Good luck!

This timely volume presents the range of ways that teachers can help students develop social-emotional skills and competencies. It is very practical and helpful. On one level, teachers have always done this. On another, new information, stratagies and research findings are presented here. Very helpful to "front line teachers" and I suspect, administrators too. It will also be of interest to parents who want to help thier kids feel better about themselves and more able!

This book has been out of print for a good many years. Still, if you logged onto this entry, you must be a fan, a TRUE fan. Since you are, this book is certainly for you, adding a little personal information on a producer who absorbed and delivered the sensitive, innovative, and intelligent work that most horror profiteers can't. The concept of producer is misleading and mostly boring. Often, the producer is the guy who pays for the filmed project - a guy who considers the money angle, considers the production costs, and goes home at the end of the day. (Mr. Jerry 'Pearl Harbor' Bruckheimmer I'm looking at you. Shame on you....) Other times there are 'producers' who are assigned by movie studios to deliver the movie on time, and on budget. Val Lewton was one of those producers, given an assignment, and always a subordinate of the RKO film system.

Yeah, it was/is a bad system, but there are & were producers who not only 'oversaw' film but were a creative part of those same projects. There have been so FEW of them. Val Lewton was one of them.

What a legacy. Val Lewton's productions had a talented staff and even better directors. Considering the budget of those epic films ('Cat People', its sequel, 'The Body Snatcher)it's astonishing how vital these films are. I don't have alloted time to tell you, but Carol Reed's 'The Third Man,' Hitchcock's 'Psycho' shower scene, and many other films owe a debt to Lewton's creative influence. Val Lewton created a profound influence that's here with us today. But you already know that. That's why you clicked on to my review. Buy this book.

McFarland & Co. have published many fine books on film folks, and this is one of my favorites. Not only because I'm a big fan of the Lewton productions, but it's a brilliantly written book. Lewton was responsible for some of the best so-called Horror movies ever made, like "I Walked With A Zombie", "The Body Snatcher" and "Curse Of The Cat People". -All favorite films of mine. The book naturally covers all the famous thrillers, but it also tells the story of his relatively short life. I especially like the anecdote about how Lewton apparently once tossed away the script for "Gone With The Wind", calling it sentimental trash !. -Way to go, Val - I couldn't agree more. Lewton really knew what it took to make a good and eerie movie full of atmosphere, but film-makers of today sadly seem to have forgotten all about this. -Suspense is not something you can SEE, it's something you're supposed to FEEL. Director Robert Wise later showed what he learned in the "Lewton school", when he gave us the original "The Haunting". Director Jan De Bont recently showed us he didn't pay attention in his class. He, and everybody else ought to read this wonderful book.

The book is very good for people who want to be a high-school teacher of math, or be a mathematician. Even if you don't take a class with this book, read it on your own before taking real analysis. It will make your thought and logic complete and precise. A really nice training and practical preparation to do analysis.

The book is very simple and short. It deals with number system from natural to complex, gently. Simple things are usually not easy, though.

I took real analysis twice long time ago, but this book still improved my thinking of numbers very effectively.

I recommend this book to those who want to be precise and correct, no matter you are math or theoretical physics people.

And also for high-school students who want to know what pure mathematicians really do.

And also for independent thinkers of mathematical science, and would-be philosophers!

Landau's most known book is this little masterpiece. If you want to see everything about numbers proved, from the beggining, assuming just logical and set-theoretical principles and the five Peano axioms, you will find it here. You will see the proof of why 1+1=2, for instance, or why a+b=b+a. Usually people learn analysis with a lot of pictures and assumptions, and every once in a while one asks himself: how does it all begin? Because sometimes you see something which ought to be evident proved, and something which ought to be proved assumed. I recall that when I first met this book I became amazed and read it through with a lot of willing. It is difficult reading, so be prepared. That's because Landau wanted to follow the axiomatic Euclidean style in its most pure way. So the book is in the non-merciful telegram style of presenting everything in terms of "Axioms", "Definitions", "Propositions". Few books before and after strove to reach such pure and clear presentation of arithmetic. Thank God some one had once the patience to write such careful and complete text! In this book the words of Edgar Allan Poe are more than anywhere true: "What I here propound is true:-therefore it cannot die:-or if by any means it be now trodden down so that it die, it will 'rise again to the Life Everlasting'".