This book tells the story of the unforgettable and never-ending friendship between agba and Sham, a Godolphin Arabian. This book made me cry because, though the ending was a happy one, it was tragic and very sad all at once. I think that anyone who has already had a cose connection with an animal or person and has been there when the person died whill understand Agba.

The moral of the book was set on the balance of good and bad. When Sham was born, Agba noticed a wheat's ear, which signifies evil. However, he also found the emblem of swiftness, a white spot situated on Sham's hind heel. At first, I thought these two signs would cancel each other out and Sham would be just a usual stable horse. However, because of the wheat's ear, Sham lived a poor life until the Earl of Godolphin found him; that is when Sham became a very lucky horse. Though Sham did not have the opportunity to become famous, his children took advantage of their swiftness and became very succesful race horses.

Though Sham lived in a poor environment for most of his life, he did everything that was in his power as a horse to make sure that his children wouldn,t have to live through the same misery. This reminds me of when my grand-parents moved to Canada. They didn't move to Canada for themselves; they moved for the children they were going to have. They didn't want their kids to suffer like they had to; they wanted to be able to se their children have a prosperous life.

I decided to read this book because I have heard about this book from my friends. I also read this because it had been awarded a Newberry Honor award. The day I was introduced to it, I thought it was boring. How I was wrong! Instead, the book was very interesting.
The main character of this book was a young, mute boy called Agba, but the most important main character is a horse called the Godolphin Arabian, or Sham. Agba is a kind boy who took care of Sham from when he was born, and after Sham's mother died. Sham becomes known as the fastest horse in his stables. Sham is a spirited horse that only listens to Agba, and no one else. I feel sorry for Agba because he ia a mute.
I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun reading about Sham and his descendants. The story plot was great. It also talked about what happened to Agba and Sham, and about their trip to France, and then England. This story was told by the owner of Sham's descendant. That's why this book received a Newberry Honor Award.

This book was given to me when I was barely eight years old, almost thirty years ago. I learned how to read books that took more than one sitting with "King of the Wind".

The story is of a mute Morrocan stable boy, Agba, and a foal, Sham, who is born to one of the royal mares Agba cares for. Sham...and Agba...are selected to be part of a gift to the King of France. Their adventures in Europe are filled mostly with despair and cruelty, until Sham sires a foal that becomes the beginnings of the Thoroughbred breed we know today (this part is true; Sham was renamed "The Godolphin Arabian"; all Thoroughbreds must include in their pedigreeone of the three specific founding sires, and the Godolphin Arabian is one of them).

There's a lot here: adventure, triumph over adversity, a respect for other cultures, the care of the creatures that share our lives, and a healthy dose of humor about the absurdities of the powerful or elite.

As a kid, I eagerly devoured any Marguerite Henry book I could find. It's well worth it to get hard-cover editions that include the wonderful full-color illustrations by Wesley Dennis.

Do you believe in faeries? After reading this you'll want to. There are plenty of books about faeries out there - what makes this one unique is that it is written as a field guide and it is full of beautiful (and I do mean beautiful) paintings and drawings of the creatures described. The book is titled Faeries, but it also contains goblins, witches, selkies and the like. Not only is it fun to read and look at, but if you draw, it's a great artistic reference. (Many of the illustrations in Faeries are used as tattoos today.) Brian Froud is an amazing artist himself and he helped design the creatures in movies such as the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. Buy this book if you loved fairy tales as a kid.

If you thought you liked Lady C's Pressed Fairy Book (now out of print), then you'll LOVE this one!! It is the best faerie book i have ever seen, and read. It not only tells you the history of faeries, but it also gives you an idea where Faerie -the land of faeries- is, it gives you detailed information about all the wee folk! If you thought faeries were the pretty winged Tinkerbell likes, think again, and read this book! You'll get surprised on how many faerie types there is!!

The book is beautifully illustrated, and a must for every one interested in faeries, and art! This one should be in the bookshelf in every home! Buy it for yourself, for your mom, your kid and for your best friend!! It makes a great present!

Definately worth the money, i'd pay the double price if i had to, it's that great!

This was the book where I first encountered the artists Froud and Lee, and also where I discovered that faeries are indeed either ugly or beautiful, old and young; everything I had ever hoped and imagined, and more. Froud and Lee's breathtaking and altogether masterly portrayal of the intrinsic, metamorphic world of fantasy forever hovering at our fingertips, is truly masterly, and I have never encountered another yet which rates quite as highly as this. I would definately recommend this book to anyone who loves faeries, and/or queries the 'pretty' flower-faeries we tend to be bombarded with today. s This book has all my dreams, nightmares and fantasies woven together in it's intricate, detailed illustrations, the thick, scrawling lead pencil script... I cannot find the words to speak highly enough of this simply unique, marvellous book. I am an avid admirer of Froud and Lee's works, the faery-kingdom, faery poetry, stories, tales, photographs, illustrations, and can never have enough information on that mystical kingdom where people such as Thomas the Rhymer and Tam Lin vanish to, where a cup of wine can bind you a prisoner, where the young are old, and the old are yound, where anything is possible whether you believe or not. I for one, do strongly believe in faeries, and wish that I could see one. This book is - where are the words to describe it? Magnificent/Fabulous/Beautiful/Moving/Terrifying/Fantastic/Eye-opening - they are only some... I would like to congratulate Lee and Froud on their admirable skill for illustrations, the publishers for - well - publishing this book, and all the readers out there who fell in love with this book, which is a gift from faeryland itself.

Daughter Anna (now 19 years old) loved this book. It was her favorite above all others. As we sorted through some old kid things for give-away purposes, we stumbled upon this old, well worn copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit." She insisted we keep the book for HER children.

This was her book that Mama (me!) had to read to her again and again and again. As soon as the last word was read on the last page, it was "Mama, please read it again!"

(how I miss those days, by the way!)

The book also has a powerful message about Love that children understand and cherish.

This is a wonderful book. No child should be without their own copy of "The Velveteen Rabbit."

It's a sweet story of a 'simple' stuffed rabbit amidst the more 'complex' modern toys in a boy's "toy collection". The rabbit starts to believe that in order to get the love of the boy, he needs to appear 'real', or be able to zoom about like the motorized toys...
(And I'm not going to tell you the end hahahahaha!!!)
It was great having that read to me, while I was hugging my stuffed animals in bed.
But -- in a way, at first glance it looks like a simple story, but it is actually a surprisingly complex story. Leave it on your child's bookshelf as he/she grows up and he/she will reread it again and again as he/she questions issues such as "who am I?", "what does it mean to be 'real'"?, "what is my role in this world?", and even "what is death"?

I seldom write reviews on children's books, although I love them with a passion. My children are now mothers and my grandchildren are past young childhood. However, I believe that somewhere deep inside each of us remains a small child that still loves fairy tales, cotton candy, and walking barefoot in the grass. This book was one of my children's favourites, along with "Charlotte's Web;" both were also my own personal favourites. When my children were six years old reading this book became a nighly adventure until I knew the words by heart. For the reviewer who rated the book with a one star due to a spelling error, my heart goes out to you; you have sadly missed something very important - the message. The book is not about spelling, editing or lack thereof; it is about encouragement and love.

The book tells the story of a toy, sawdust-filled rabbit who wishes with all his heart to become real. The message contained in this book is poignant, heart-warming and touching, and one that you will never foreget as long as you live. It is a story of beauty, wonder and love. Any child who misses out on "The Velveteen Rabbit" is missing out on one of life's greatest lessons. I cannot say enough good things about this wonderful, wonderful book and highly recommend it to children...and the grown-up child in all of us.

I really liked Twenty Years After. It's weird to end off at the Three Musketeers and suddenly find Lous XIII and Richeleau dead and D'Artagnan in his early forties, but Dumas does a great job with this book. I liked how D'Artagnan goes in search of his friends Athos, Porthos, and Aramis to reunite them to aid Cardinal Mazarin. It's really strange to see D'Artagnan as a Cardinalist early in the book, but with his three friends, they once again ally themselves with the king, of England that is. For all you readers of the Three Musketeers who were sad to see De Winter gone, beware, something far more deadly that Milady is waiting for the musketeers in this book. After you finish this fine classic, go ahead and read the Vicomte de Bragelonne and Louis de la Valliere, they may be tedious and have little to do with the musketeers, execpt D'Artagnan, but they set the atmosphere just perfect for the final book, The Man in the Iron Mask

All right, I haven't read many of Dumas' books but he is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers (He's nowhere near as good as Tolkien.) I first read "The Three Musketeers" just because I loved the movie and it was a famous book, and I couldn't stop reading it.
This one picks up 20 years after the first one, with only D'artagnan still in the musketeers and Athos, Porthos, and Aramis having gone on to different lives. I won't describe the plot much except to say that, as before in the series, it is an intriguing adventure full of unmaskings, betrayals, trickery, and so on. It's much longer then "The Three Musketeers", and it's not quite as fast-paced, nor as consistently exciting. It makes up for that, however, by having moments of such unbelievable suspense that I absolutely couldn't put it down.You should definitely read "The Three Musketeers" first, though, otherwise this will be hard to follow.
Overall, this is a spectacular novel, with a few small dull moments here and there but some truly moving points, too. It's a must-read.

Twenty years after, although not as good as the Three Musketeers, is an excellent novel. In traditional Dumas style it starts of slowly to reach the climax late in the book. Twenty Years after is the second in a series of five novels about Athos, Porthos, Aramis, and D'Artangnan. Once again I dare anyone not to get drawn in by these four characters. I recommend that one reads these five book in order (The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After, Vicomte of Bragleonne, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask). Please write back with any comments.

Being a beginner at Cold Fusion, this book was a life saver as I began to build dynamic intranet applications. After familiarizing myself with the background to database connectivity using ODBC, I was able to jump into the meat of the book -- developing database driven apps quickly and effeciently. I have found the tag and functions index in the book to be a true friend on several occasions.

I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to learn Cold Fusion Programming. It is a great stand alone resource -- and even better if used in conjunction with the manuals supplied by Allaire with the purchased product.

I'm not a progammer, but a Project Manager with NO programming training, so I needed major help in learning how to write SQL scripts. The first day I got Ben's first book, it paid for itself!

Thanks to his ability to clearly communicate, with solid sampling, I am now proficient in developing dynamically generated web sites.

Ben's books are by far, the best on the market!

This book was fantastic. Sure there are the few editing errors common with computer books. I knew NOTHING about Cold Fusion or database connectivity to the web before I got this and now I've written a dozen or so Cold Fusion applications for the UPS intranet. An EXCELLENT resource for beginners and professionals with a tag index for quick referencing. A chapter on SQL also for those who don't know it. It will teach you everything you need to know to get your application online and running. Great Great Great!

The history of the Panama Canal, and it's construction is very unique in itself. The references of all the French names (although I couldn't pronounce all of them) were very interesting and kept me hooked. I'm a history buff, so naturally, I like to read historical books.

After nearly a hundred years of owning the Panama Canal, on December 31, 1999, the United States gave the Panama Canal back to the nation of Panama. When Europeans first began to explore the possibilities of creating a pathway between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the nation of Panama did not exist; it was a part of Columbia.

When prospectors discovered gold in California in 1848, all that changed the author, David McCullough writes in the book. The Panama Railroad, at the time, was the most high-priced stock listed on the New York Exchange. Building a canal through this area that would be approximately fifty-one miles seemed to be an easy situation for investors, but it turned out that it took over four decades and an army of workers to complete the canal. In the book it mentioned that enough soil, rock, and dirt was removed to build a pyramid a mile high.

When the construction began, McCullough notes that the leader of the project was Ferdinand de Lesseps, who went bankrupt. After President Theodore Roosevelt orchestrated the purchase of the canal, the United States entered the picture. A revolution took place that removed Panama from the rule of Columbia.

David McCullough is a very unique and interesting author and writer, and he kept me captivated while reading this book.

The historical aspecets of the book are accurate as far as my research has gone on the Panama Canal. This book is just fasinating because of the history that is involved. When Theodore Roosevelt bought the canal and a revolution occured between Columbia and the United States, the United States won, and the canal became ours. But remember, on 12/31/99, we returned the canal to its rightful owner, the nation of Panama.

The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough is an excellent book which details the time period from the Gold Rush to the French involvement of the canal and through to the completion of the Panama Canal in the 2nd decade of the 1900's.

This book in very efficient prose details why the canal's location is in Panama versus Mexico or Nicaragua. This is a bit of history that I was completely unaware of. It is also quite interesting to read about France's involvement and how they (surprise, surprise) failed in their attempt to achieved the successes enjoyed in the building of the Suez Canal.

Mr. McCullough is also quite thorough in detailing the politics behind the building of the canal during that time period.

The yellow fever and malaria eradication campaigns were instrumental in the success that the Americans enjoyed. The author does a good job in acknowledging the successes but not trivializing the very substantial loss of life suffered by the immigrant workers primarily from the West Indies. America did build the canal (and President Carter essentially gave it away), but it came at a heavy price monetarily and otherwise.

Excellent book and a definitive resource for the layman.

It takes a good author to make a subject like this interesting. McCullough accomplished it!

The story behind the Canal is so much more than just the physical construction involved. The years of the French construction involved a lot of corruption and scandal that I'd never heard about!

Then, after about two decades, American takes over, and within a few years the canal is open for traffic. The successful fight against the deadly mosquito was one of the turing points.

McCullough talks a lot about some of the politics involved, in both the French and the American stages. The story behind the Panamanian revolution was quite interesting. . . the US more or less "stole" Panama from Columbia, I guess you could say.

Definitely a good book, and worth your time to read.

This book is about Stellaluna, a baby bat who finds itselflost, hungry, alone, and accidentally in a nest full of baby birds. The little bat is accepted by the birds, but somehow never feels at home, especially after a good scolding from the mother bird about hanging upside down -- hillarious.

The artwork is outstanding, the story is entertaining, and children and adults love this book. I have even picked it up and read it a time or two after the children went to bed.

This is an award winning book, and for good reason. There are strong underlying messages in it about place, acceptance, home and family.

Definitely 5+ stars...

What a wonderful Book! This book has great illustrations that tell the story very well.
This book is about a bat who's mother is attacked by an owl when he is just a little baby. Luckily enough when he fell from his mother's arms he landed into a birds nest and they took him in. Although the birds and Stellaluna are very different, the become a family. Although Stellaluna never really feels at home.
One day Stellaluna gets yelled at by the Mama bird because she was hanging upside down and the little birds decided to do the same. The two animals have very different personalities.
This story teaches us a lot about acceptance and differences between things. But even though people and animals are different doesn't mean they can't get along. ~Kellie~

Stellaluna is both well-written and lavishly illustrated -- a delight for the young child to view and the older child (as well as the parent) to read -- a rarity among picture books. . My three-year-old has had this book since birth, and has loved it since day one, asking for it to be read over and over.

The story: We follow the young fruit-bat, Stellaluna, through her ordeal of becoming lost and her subsequent upbringing by a family of birds. The resultant bat-bird behavior confuses Stellaluna, but will delight your child with its absurdity. The story contains good conflict resolution, as Stellaluna regains her bat identity and her family, something sure to comfort and teach your child.

For further entertainment, I highly recommend Ms. Cannon's book, VERDI ( a similar tale about a green python; wonderfully written and well-illustrated), as well as the CD-ROM edition of STELLALUNA produced by Living Books (one of the few really GOOD CD-ROMs for children).

After putting this book down, after reading it from cover to cover, i took a look at my life and realized how much worse it could have been. The main character, John, is not the average teenager, he is not some happy, careless kid, and thats what i like about this book. It does not glorify youth, because sometimes there is nothing to be glorified. John deals with an abusive father-figure (his step dad to be, or his mothers boyfriend), a mother who neglects him to pay more attention to her own well being and happiness, middle class poverty, school, and just trying to be a teenager, have friends, and be normal while still having everything in his life crumble beneath him screaming in the back of his mind, while he trys to live a happy life. Through the book you almost expect any time now, the mother will finally see her boyfriend as an abusive &*(^* and tell him to get out and pay more attention to her son, but that never happens. Before anyone even really sees how wrong things are with him, his step father had suverely injured him in a fight, the first time that John just didn't care anymore and stood up to this abusive man thats taken control of his life, though nearly died after having his nose curshed in, and his body beaten. He awoke in a hospitable his mother, finally there for him. And there is not really a happy ending, just more of a realization that people don't have to know him, and expecting more than dignity shown towards him is still expecting too much.

I like the unique way that the author wrote, describing other characters with cute nick names, ie, Mrs. Moonface, or others like 'the man who is not my father' the kitchen that is not a kitchen.' it's like a world created inside that main characters head while the author still creates a reality outside this world. A little strange, but i like that.

I have to admit the first time I picked up this book I was a little doubtful. The first few pages confused me so much that I nearly stopped reading. But I was intrigued so I plowed through. Never have I been happier. This book is amazing. The main character John, narrates from a second person view and it works like a charm. Basically John is a boy who lives in a home thats not a home and has friends that aren't friends. He also has a man, who's not his father, physically abusing him. Despite the serious subject the book can be hilarious at times. He uses sardonic humor to completely draw the readers in. Put simply, this book has vaulted on top of my all-time favorite list, and I've read alot of books. Hilarious and thouroughly moving to the very last page.

You Don't Know Me, written by David Klass, qualifies as one of the most realistic yet a vitriolic and humorous novel. The story revolves around a fourteen-year-old boy, John, and his struggles and problems during teen years. The book beautifully illustrates John trying to cope with problems that most teenagers face at that period of time; but a dark secret lies within him. His soon-to-be stepfather abuses him. No one seems to know about this abuse and John does not intend to tell anyone either. He thinks no one cares; including his own mother.

Everything John does backfires at him, or so how he perceives. John likes a popular girl at his "anti-school," named Gloria. When John finally gets the courage to ask her out, the date turns out to be a disaster and his love story with "Gloria Hallelujah" ends. John gets suspended from school for verbally harassing his algebra teacher and he notices that Mr. Steenwilly, his music teacher, drives by the house quiet often. John realizes that Mr. Steenwilly has an idea of the abuse and turmoil that John goes through but decides to ignore the random spying. The book closes up with John going out to a dance with one of the girls from his music class. John receives a severe beating by his soon-to-be stepfather when he arrives home late, but fortunately Mr. Steenwilly sees the torture and rescues John from being beaten to death.

You Don't Know Me creates a spell-bounding atmosphere, making it irresistible for the attached reader to put the book down. The book captures the reader's minds, transforming it into John's head and becoming a part of his daydreams, scenarios, jaded thoughts and alternative realities. This book qualifies as one of the most meticulous and it seems that Klass knows his characters inside and out. I recommend this book to anyone willing to "step outside the box," and ready to accept a little bit of teenage craziness. This book defines itself as one of the best; it is practically impossible to not enjoy it.

Tuesday is the most imaginative picture book that I have ever seen. It is a wordless fantasy of people, animals, and plants that allows you to supply your own story. As such, it will provide endless opportunities for you and your child to entertain one another. What really is going on? What does it mean? What will happen next Tuesday?

The book is illustrated very much like a graphic novel (a series of comic books bound together in softcover form, if you haven't seen one) but without words. The book does have a few indicators of time and day of the week, that provide the minimal connection to reality needed to launch the story into space.

The images here are very whimsical. Frogs fly on lily pads in formation like the Blue Angels, and create lots of unexpected fun. The book is most interesting when you see what happens on the second Tuesday. How about the third? You'll have to use your imagination for that one.

This book deserves its Caldecott Medal for outstanding illustrations. In no other book that I can think of do the illustrations carry the story. The book uses vibrant colors, done in a low-key way. Stylistically, it is a take-off on the science fiction and super hero genres in pictures.

You will be laughing out loud when you see what the frogs are up to. You will also enjoy the visual puns on textless pages.

Where else can pictures tell the story? Have you ever engaged in pantomimes, shadow puppets, or charades with your child? If you haven't, this would be a good time to introduce those enjoyable games.

Imagination can take you anywhere you want!

In the inside of the cover, Wiesner claims these events actually happened one Tuesday and... "all those in doubt are reminded that there is always another Tuesday." Beginning at 8:00pm, we see a three-part picture of a pond that changes perspective to focus on an alarmed turtle. Frogs on lilypads have taken flight and begin to chase after birds, intimidate a dog and confuse a man eating midnight snack. As morning approaches, the frogs return to their pond, leaving their lilypads and the curious detectives behind. The story ends with the words, "next Tuesday" and the shadow of a flying pig.

I've used this book in primary classrooms. It is a very cute story with only a few words. It also provides a wonderful opportunity for children to tell or write their own words. This enables students who cannot read yet to engage in a literate activity.

Why 5 stars?:
This book tells a cute fantasy story with very few words. It lends itself to having children make up their own text, which will support their emerging literacy skills. The illustrations are incredibly lifelike and it is no wonder it won a Caldecott.

Leaping lizards! No, it's flying frogs! One evening frogs begin to fly and experience the nighttime from a different perspective. Caught up in the adventure, the frogs startle people and chase animals until their power to fly disappears in the morning.

Wiesner's extraordinary illustrations tell a story which words could not do justice. He develops the tale of the frogs in detail through pictures.

Upon reading Tuesday, it will likely become one of your favorite books, whether you are a child or an adult.

Over the years, there have been many attempts to establish a
"Deep Inner Meaning" for "Lucky Jim," but I wouldn't pay them
much attention if I were you. "Lucky Jim" is simply a hilarious
book. For me, it was a revelation -- I had no idea that a book
might leave me with my sides aching, weak from laughter, yet
ready to laugh again, as I recalled the phrase or the incident
which had initially tickled my funny-bone.

One reason the book is so funny is that it gores some very
Sacred Cows. In its time, those sacred bovines very definitely
included provincial academics who were seriously into
Elizabethan madrigals and recorder concerts; Amis had the
genius to see these daffy eccentrics for the incredibly comic
figures they really were. Even more outrageously, the novel's
hero gets the girl of his dreams and escapes the dreary provinces
for a happy career in London, by abandoning the academic life
and going into (are you sitting down?) BUSINESS. Into... TRADE.
It is hard to imagine anything more non-U.

In short, a masterpiece of comic English prose!

Highest possible recommendation!!!

When it was first published in 1954, it turned the author, Kingsley Amis (the father of Martin, also a fine author), into a celebrated writer and a spokesman for his generation, a position that he didn't seem to want or care about. The novel was "Lucky Jim," and it tells the story of a young academic, Jim Dixon, at work in one of England's provincial universities. The book is hilarious, from the first page (where Jim describes the physical sensation of hangover) to the last, when he leaves the shady groves of academia for a job with better pay in London. Along the way, Jim learns a lot about academic life--he hates recorder concerts, musical evenings, and academic pretentions--and he learns a lot of girls; his main preoccupation. I keep thinking this book is ripe for a movie version, with someone like Daniel Day-Lewis as the title character; it was made into a film in the 1950s, but I've never seen it and the reviews are not great. The book remains a delight to read, however, and, like all good satires, has some serious points to make, about things that Amis detected, like pretentiousness. "Lucky Jim" is also noteworthy because it launched Amis's career, and he wrote novels, short stories, poems, and journalism for the rest of his life, which ended just last year. He's a very different writer from his son Martin (rumor has it he didn't like Martin's work all that much), but they both share a real gift for comic writing. It is a work that achieves that rare combination of being interesting in a literary sense, but also humorous and a real pleasure to read. I recommend it heartily.

Kingsley Amis's "Lucky Jim" is a novel in the tradition of Wodehousian humoristic writing. But whereas Wodehouse wrote about silly characters worming their way out of silly situations with silly dialogue and behavior, "Lucky Jim" presents a scenario in which humor is developed more subtly through natural irony, cynical sarcasm, and things that are implied rather than said.

The protagonist, Jim Dixon, is a lecturer in the history department of a not-so-highly acclaimed British university. He is lazy, immature, and hates his job and his boss, Professor Welch, the head of the department. Jim feels obligated to attend Welch's boring weekend parties, singing corny madrigals with insufferable members of the university faculty. At one of these parties, Jim runs afoul of Welch's son Bertrand, a pompous, self-important painter and self-declared pacifist who threatens Jim with bodily harm when piqued.

Jim falls in love with Bertrand's voluptuous girlfriend Christine, but he is stuck in a contentious relationship with Margaret, another lecturer in his department. He dislikes Margaret intensely, considering her neurotic and unattractive, but he can't help but feel a little guilty over her recent suicide attempt.

This background is used for further comic developments in which Jim must extricate himself from various quagmires, such as his attempt to conceal the damage to the Welches' bedsheets caused by his burning cigarette, his ploy to get Bertrand to bring Christine to a dance to present him with an opportunity for a rendezvous, and his attempt to deliver a scholarly lecture on "Merrie England" while quite inebriated.

Amis is masterful in the way he sets up these predicaments for his protagonist and allows him to conquer them one by one, capitalizing on each scene's full comic potential, finally emerging with something like a twisted fairy-tale happy ending. Overall, "Lucky Jim" is a novel that deflates intellectual and artistic pretentiousness in a smart (as opposed to vulgar) manner.