My dad wrote this book and its great!

This is a novel that brings the story of a twisted relation between a man and a woman in the atmosphere of the 19 century in Europe. It is a very piercing novel and it stayed with me although I have read it a long time ago. It is about an obsession of a weak man for a cruel dominating woman.

It is written in a very special style and I think it is a masterpiece.

'the baltimore waltz' has been one of my favourite plays from the first time i read it. this compilation has a wonderful variety and shows what range vogel has as a writer. 'and baby makes seven' and 'the oldest profession' are both a riot o laughs. 'hot'n'throbbing' is a disturbing yet much needed look at domestic violence. (i bet the NEA folks loved it. ha!) by reading any of her plays, you quickly see that vogel is a well read and intelligent writer (a playread as well as a playwright!) that expresses her opinions in a way that is clear aand inspiring. skip the introduction: the shmuck writing it has no idea what he is talking about and the plays are a better read.

This was the third play I read by Paula Vogel (How I learned to Drive/Mineola Twins). This play was amazing. Mixing humor and drama, I wanted to cry but couldn't stop laughing. This is a truly amazing play and I would recomened it to anyone who loved plays and loves theatre.

The depth and breadth of these plays go beyond the gender politics and current issues that lie at the heart of these plays--to say that "Waltz" is a play about AIDS is like saying that Moby Dick is about fishing! The plays combine a deft wit with a warmth uncharacteristic for plays with such style. These early plays suggest the talent that will make Vogel a major American playwright for years to come.

The first half of the novel is by turns charming and enlivening. David's challenges make it difficult for a man not to identify with his youthful trials. The bridges between acts - written with the reminiscence of an old man - are enough to make a man of 25 look back wistfully at his youth. Add the zany, lovable characters and this becomes my favorite Dickens - so why just four stars?
Some modern readers might find introduction a tad slow; forewarned, however, they should overcome it, as it is fairly interesting. More seriously, the major subplot (Little Em'ly, Steerforth, and Ham) is resolved too melodramatically in the latter half, which seems out of place with the more natural style of the rest of the novel. This flaw keeps it from being a top-shelf classic, but is in no way destructive to the novel. It is extremely enjoyable.

Phew! This took awhile to read, but fortuantely, I had anticipated that. I gave it 4 stars because that is how I felt about it when I finished it. Knowing that it is a Charles Dickens novel and touted as an all time great, I feel like I should have given it 5 stars. However, I'm sticking with my gut feeling.

David Copperfield is a character that I will never forget. How could I? I lived with him for almost 3 months! I will also remember the many other characters, as Dickens ability to bring them to life is his forte.

Perhaps the reason why I couldn't give it a fifth star is the reason why people gave it negative reviews. There may have been times when a little too much description was given which made it drag slightly. It may well be that due to the fact that he wrote in installments and got paid by the page, that the overall novel is sort of overdone. Some parts were a bit hard to trudge through, which meant I wasn't always compelled to read it. I loved the overall story, the many subplots, and the various personalities. One of my favorite characters is his Aunt Betsy. For anyone who thinks the female characters were all the same, I wonder if they skipped the scenes with the Aunt...or Martha for that matter.

I hope that when and if I have fulfilled my insatiable hunger for the pile of books I haven't read, I can read this again and gain a better understanding of it. I am sure I missed a lot.

I wouldn't have appreciated this book when I was in high school, or probably even college. I think it would take a rare young person to have the patience to stick with it, with all the other crazy things that happen at that time of life. I'm glad that I was able to wait until a point in my life where I was ready to read this book and it wasn't shoved down my throat by some professor.

David Copperfield was always a favorite of mine. It is wonderful, how, circling with the years, I can make my own retrospect and read it again from my older perspective.

When I was younger, I too, wanted to complain that all of Dickens' heroines were the same, and now I realize how wrong I was. Agnes is good and beautiful and patient of course, but what about the heroine Aunt Betsey? What about Miss Mowcher, who gives David a piece of advice "from three foot nothing ... Don't confuse bodily defect with mental!" she exclaims, and this is advice we coudl still use today! What about Peggotty, who is true and good and occasionally silly? Then there are the women who are not so good: Mrs Heep, Miss Murdstone, Mrs Markleham (the Old Soldier) and Rosa Dartle?

Dickens' characters are marvelous, but what I find most wonderful is the love that brings them together. Aunt Betsey takes David in, and is rewarded by the softening of her own heart; Mr. Peggotty seeks and finds his niece; Traddles finally marries "the dearest girl" and long-suffering Mrs Micawber will never desert her husband and something at last turns up Down Under. The characters who are courageous enough to choose love over pride are almost always rewarded at the end -- assuming that they survive, of course! (I'm thinking of Ham.) Perhaps it is just a novel, and those who have courage to love are not always rewarded in real life, but the idea is wonderfully satisfying.

If you want to know the easy way to save a life get this. It does not fill your head with alot of medical stuff you'll never remember. I am buying this as a gift to my son's daycare room.

This is the best book I've found as a practical guide for saving lives. Easy-to-use, quick reference that I am sure I could use during a real emergency.

I'm a resident of Bloomington, Illinois and vividly remember these murders. I personally know people involved in the investigation and followed it closely. We've visited the grave site and find it odd that there's not a space reserved for David. Even though I don't think he did it, who else could have? A good one for Unsolved Mysteries!!

Steve Vogel's accounting of the horrid Hendricks family murder was laced with controversy when it first came out. At the time, those following the crime believed David Hendricks was guilty, but Vogel's book challenged the thoroughness of the police, questioned their biases and their understanding of religious matters.

The story details the events surrounding the murder of three children and their mother, and whether or not the father was guilty. The father, out of town when the police discovered the bodies, claimed an alibi. The police determined, through statements from models he used for his catalog for his company, that perhaps David Hendricks was not faithful to his wife. No affairs were discovered, but the model statements still showed a poor light on Hendrick's commitment to his wife.

Hendricks was a lay leader in a relatively small, conservative group of evangelical Christians called the "Plymouth Brethren". The police did not realize that this group, though small, shared its basic theology with many Baptist denominations, as well as other better-known Christian groups. Instead, the police surmised that since divorce was discouraged in the Plymouth Brethren, Hendricks felt he needed to kill his family in order to be free of the marriage. Vogel describes the small-town ignorance of the police detectives and prosecutors by using their own trial testimoy. The prosecutor's logical jump was proposterous, but it played heavily into the trial.

The town, in a near OJ Simpson trial like frenzy, fed off the news, and the story became both local scandal and national news.

Confusing the matter was Hendrick's intense demeanor. He was well-read, and well-thought out, and by no means a man to react over-emotionally. His seemingly calm response, which may have been based on his faith or general personality, caused the police to see Hendricks cynically. Though they weren't country bumpkins, they weren't on the intellectual caliber of Hendricks, a star graduate of Northwestern University and inventor of a top-selling piece of medical equipment.

At issue in the trial was if Hendricks had the opportunity to have been at home at the time of the murders. He claimed no, the police claimed yes. The key evidence was the time of death as determined by the digestion of food the children ate. If that could be verified, then the suspect Hendricks was either cleared or very likely the culprit.

I fully recommend "Reasonable Doubt" for readers looking to think in this older, yet continually popular true crime book.

Anthony Trendl

Couldn't put this book down! A definite read for those true crime fans who like to think for themselves.

An update to the book is in order since much has happened since it was first published.

Still worth it to own!

Bravo to the author for not letting anyone sway his opinions in this case. He is truly objective in this book, giving both sides their time to "present their cases"...

Pick it up, you won't be sorry.

I have read Jane Vogel's Allegory in Dickens, and not only do I disagree with her treatment of the late and great Charles Dickens; her style of writing is extremely bad, for lack of better term. Jane Vogel does not know how to write. She simply never got how to write. Never inherited that gene or learned in her studies. She's a professor at Ithaca College English Department, I know because a friend of mine's son goes to IC. She is know around the campus as the one with a lose screw. Get this woman a psychiatrist, because her writing career is over.