Leave it to Psmith is one of my favorite Wodehouse books. It's a book that can be read over again and always find something new to laugh about. I do wish however that the most popular edition published by Random House had a larger print. Why it has been published with such a small and difficult print? I have been searching Amazon to try a find a used version in large print and to no avail. Even if it could be in a regular pica size print would help. But we have to put up with a bit size print version that is smaller than elite and really very hard on the eyes. Wodehouse certainly would not approve if he could see it today. However, I do like the vintage cover that depicts Psmith perfectly.

It's real hard to actually say whether a particular Wodehousian novel is better than any other, but this one really takes the cake (and eats it too!) A marvellous story of the mayhem, chaos and utter confusion wreaked by the suave, amiable Psmith, this book leaves you gasping for more (even if you don't smoke a gasper). For Wodehousian fans, if you haven't read this one, well, what on earth have you been doing all these years!?! And for people who have no idea who or what or when a Wodehouse is, there's no better place to start than this bundle of craziness.

Psmith and Lord Emsworth together. What more can a Wodehouse fan want? The novel has everything that a Wodehouse lover yearns for. Lots of hilarious impersonations, the antics of the absent minded Lord Emsworth, the suavely nonpareil Psmith with his unique way of speaking, multiple impersonators wanting to steal the same thing from Blandings castle, the plight of Baxter....everything is there. This must be the most enthralling Wodehouse book I have ever read, though it is very difficult to choose the best. I read it for the first time when I was sixteen and through the years that have followed I have reread it a dozen times cover to cover and have enjoyed it as much or even more with every reading.
And even if I don't read the whole book, whenever I hold the volume in my hand in a book shop or in a library or in someone's house, I read and re-read the place where Psmith proposes to Eve Halliday. That is simply sublime.

This popular tale is a delight even 70 years later. The reader gets to know very well the primary characters in this social comedy. Benson does a superb job of describing the genteel battles between the two ladies in Tilling,concerning Lucia's much coveted lobster recipe, and invitations to dine. The men are, of course, secondary to the plot.They hover around the ladies like courtiers. I think that Georgie, Lucia's devoted and platonic friend, is my favorite character-perhaps the most genuinely nice person in the book. I sometimes even feel sorry for Miss Mapp when Lucia takes over social affairs so thoroughly! I wonder what would happen if Lucia and Miss Mapp were both interested in Major Benjy!

This is the highlight of the series, pitting Lucia against her less able, but equally ruthless counterpart, Elizabeth Mapp - two ladies who both consider themselves social queens of the village of Tilling. The ensuing war includes Fete's garden parties dinner parties and climaxes with the crafty Miss Mapp attempting to steal the recipe for Lobster ala Reisholme and being caught by Lucia, they are then caught in a flood and whisked out to sea on a kitchen table. Oh my!

I cannot say enough about this adaptation. Prunella Scales produces the voices excellently. For those who do not know Lucia and Mapp - They are Elizabeth mapp and Emmeline Lucas - two ladies whom both consider themselves social queens of the village of Tilling. The ensuing war includes Fete's garden parties dinner parties and climaxes with the crafty Miss mapp attempting to steal the recipe for Lobster ala Reisholme and being caught by Lucia, they are then caught in a flood and whisked out to sea on a kitchen table - it's hilarious when listened to. The conflicts between these two are scarier than Snipes and Stallone in full flow.

This is THE classic text about manic-depressive illness. However, I would not recommend buying it, as it is 10 years old and much has happened in our understanding of the illness in the past decade. Save money; borrow it from the library.

Instead, I recommend Dr. Francis Mondimore's "Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families", which is up-to-date, thorough, full of practical advice, and written for laypeople; and any of Kay Redfield Jamison's books, especially "An Unquiet Mind."

I have bipolar II and both family members and I have found Dr. Mondimore's book to be VERY helpful.

This is an invaluable resource for anyone with Bipolar Disorder (Manic-Depressive Illness) or anyone who loves them. Though targeted at medical professionals, most of the information presented is well within the grasp of an intelligent and motivated layperson. I'm not a doctor of any sort, but I *do* have Bipolar Disorder, and take an active interest and role in my own health-care... this is a terrific book, and it summarizes what is known about the causes, treatment, and management of this disorder as of about 1990. (Hopefully, there will be an update soon!)

This book is everything you need to know about manic-depressive illness that your doctor doesn't have time to tell you. Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison has a passion for the subject and the knowledge to back it up.

As and individual afflicted with manic-depressive illness, I have read almost every book Jamison and others have published on Manic-Depressive Illness and can honestly say that if it has her name as author, it is an excellent resource on manic-depressive illness. She is thorough and concise yet easy to understand.

This book has it all. Everything you want to know, technically, about manic-depressive illness is in this book. For a personal account, "An Unquiet Mind" is a must, also written by Dr. Kay Jamison Redfield. She is an expert on the topic personally and professionally. What a wonderfully sensative combination.

Thanks again Kay!

'Sick of mankind and its disgusting ways' Anne Bronte once scribbled on the back of her prayer book. Her evident harsh view of life, coupled with her moral strength as a woman, are beautifully interwoven to produce this novel; her masterpiece. Although never enjoying the popularity and success of 'Jane Eyre' and 'Wuthering Heights' - her sisters' books - 'Wildfell Hall' is quite fit to join any bookshelf of classic English literature. The themes include utter despair and the tragic consequences of a young woman's naivety; Helen felt that, although she could see Arthur's faults, she would be able to somehow change him once they were married. In reality, her marital experience was a disaster.

Anne Bronte creates a world in which the drunken, immoral behaviour of men becomes the norm and this may have been startling to contemporary readers - perhaps a reason for the book's panning at the critics. The narrative is built up delicately; first Gilbert; and then the racier, more gripping diary of Helen as she guides us through her married life; before returning again to Gilbert, whose tale by this time has become far more exciting as we know of Helen's past. Helen's realisation of the awful truth and her desperate attempts to escape her husband, are forever imprinted in the mind of the reader as passages of perfect prose.

One of the earliest feminist novels, the underrated Anne Bronte writes in this a classic, and - defying the views of her early (male) critics - a claim to the position of one of England's finest ever female writers.

I read "The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte for my review of personal reading in English last year and I thought it was really gripping. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it.

It tells the story of a young woman's struggle for independence, against law and a society which defined a married woman as her husband's property. The novel, which uses extracts from her diary and narration from her neighbour, is very interesting and quite realistic.

It seems to me that the most interesting thing about the novel, is the build up of tension Bronte uses to sustain the reader's attention. It is stimulating and creates a little excitement in the book.

Helen Graham moves into Wildfell Hall with her son. She is a single mother and earns her living as a painter. Her neighbour, Gilbert Markham, takes a sudden interest in her and wants to find out everything about her. Although she is quite content being friends with him, she wants nothing more. As soon as he becomes too personal, she reminds him that friendship is the principal of their relationship. As they spend more time together, though, she learns to trust him and reveals the truth about her past. She is living at Wildfell Hall under a false surname, hiding from her husband who is an adulterer. The only other person who knows of this is her landlord, who Gilbert learns late in the novel, is in fact, her brother.

One thing which I found gripping about this story, was the build up of tension Bronte used. She took her time, revealing one thing, building up the tension again, then revealing another. She continued to do this throughout the story, and this is what kept me interested. It is a story, in which two people who love one another, are prevented from being together by society and their own natural reticence. We know romance often has this, but Bronte creates a strong desire in the reader for them to be together. She puts real obstacles in the way of their love for each other, such as the fact that Helen is already married and has a child to her husband. This therefore, causes the reader to understand the story more.

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a riveting novel by the "least famous" Bronte sister Anne. The main character is Helen Huntingdon, who also uses the assumed name Helen Graham for part of the book.

Narrated in part by Mr. Markham, the gentleman farmer who falls in love with her, and partly by herself in diary form, the Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a sad portrayal of the miseries Helen Huntingdon endures at the hands of an immature self-centered husband.

The story starts out with Helen, an intriguing beautiful "widow" who comes to live in a deserted moorland mansion called Wildfell Hall with no one but her maid and young son as companions. She excites the gossip of the local townspeople by her refusal to mingle in the town's social life, her strong opinions on the upbringing of her 5 year old son, and by working to support herself as a landscape painter. Mr. Markham, the gentleman farmer, rather than being repelled by her fiercely guarded independence is intrigued by her and determines to learn more about her, falling in love with her in the process. Helen becomes the butt of sinister gossip when it is discovered that she and Mr. Lawrence, her landlord, are not the strangers to each other that they pretend to be in public, and it is rumored that something is going on between them romantically.

It is in response to this falsehood that she turns over her diary to Mr. Markham, who at last learns within its contents her true identity, why she is at Wildfell, and why she can not marry him. He also learns the astonishing identity of Mr. Lawrence. Helen's diary traces her life from a naive girl of 18 to a courageous woman of 26, and the sorrow and trials she endures in her marriage to a wretch of a husband, the womanizing, alcoholic Arthur Huntingdon.

The PRINCESS AND THE GOBLIN proves yet another of MacDonald's fantasy charmers (q.v. AT THE BACK OF THE NORTH WIND), as the novel presents the adventures (psychological as well as physical) of protected Princess Irene (aged 8) and a brave miner boy with the unlikely name of Curdie. The tale involves the schemes of evil goblins who lurk below the earth, who exult to tease and torture the "sun people" as they call humankind. Can a mere youth foil the callous machinations of these subterranrean fiends?

Princess Irene meets a mysterious but loving old lady at a spinning wheel (have we heard this somewhere before?), while Curdie proves himself a useful ally to her King-papa. Her faithful but outspoken nurse, Lootie, learns some bitter lessons, as she is almost dismissed by the king and (even worse) by Irene herself. Grown ups must learn to believe what they hear from honest children; children must learn to believe what can not always be seen or what makes scientific sense. Any little girl who sees herself as an unrecognized princess can learn to behave with the grace and dignity of a True Princess. Boys will admire the courage and resourcefulness of the miner's son--the only one in the kingdom to realize what the goblins are plotting. A quaintly spun yarn (with gentle edification for children) for readers of all ages.

This wonderful children's novel tells the story of eight year old Princess Irene. Cared for by her nurse Lootie, she lives in a mountain farmhouse while her father rules over the region from a mountain top castle. The local folk work as miners but are beset by the Goblins who inhabit the underground. Irene is saved from the Goblins by Curdie, a thirteen year old miner, and she in turn saves him. The whole thing is told in a pleasant conversational style and is filled with humor, word games, magic, derring-do, and pure wonderment.

George MacDonald, a Congregational minister turned novelist, who seems nearly forgotten now, was one of the seminal figures in the development of Fantasy. His influence on other Fantasy authors is obvious, he was a childhood favorite of JRR Tolkein, who especially liked this book, and C.S. Lewis named him one of his favorite authors. His own stories draw on many of the themes and characters of classical European fairy tales. But where they were often merely horrific and meaningless, MacDonald adds a layer of Christian allegory. Thus, Irene and Curdie are eventually saved by a thread so slender that you can't even see it, but which leads them back to safety, teaching Curdie that you sometimes have to believe in things that you can't see.

The book would be interesting simply as a touchstone of modern fiction, but it stands up well on its own and will delight adults and children alike.

GRADE: A

So many fine reviews here already about MacDonald's powerful text (for children and adults). I would only add that this edition which includes 8 or 10 gentle and mysterious drawings (watercolors?) by Jessie Wilcox Smith portrays the fearful goblins (also Curdie, Irene, and her father, etc.) without weakening the strength of the tale or scaring the young reader. I purchased this book for an avid seven-year-old reader who loved the story and also commented on the "beautiful" pictures. The book is also good to read aloud to a number of children in a broad age range. My too-cool 11-year-old became mesmerized after the first chapter and found himself talking with his younger brother (!) about the story.

These funny, light stories by P.G. Wodehouse are a must-read for any fans of him or British humor in general. This collection is the first of many featuring Bertie Wooster, a none-too-bright English gent, and his ingenius butler Jeeves, who is constantly thinking of schemes to get Bertie and his friends out of trouble. The Jeeves stories are a great place to start for anyone interested in Wodehouse's funny work. Though the stories are sometimes a bit long and may drag a little, they are still charming, charming tales. Delicious reading.

Martin Jarvis' reading of Carry On, Jeeves runs circles around Jonathan Cecil's reading of anything (for more on Cecil, see Psmith: Journalist). He simply embodies the characters of Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, Biffy, Corky, and all the cast (albeit with the same typical attempt at an American accent).

Carry On, Jeeves contains eight of the ten stories available in the print version (the remaining two stories appear on My Man Jeeves), so completists will want that, but for pure enjoyment, you can't go wrong with this. Even the titles Wodehouse writes are funny, my favorite being "The Rummy Affair of Old Biffy." They simply roll off the tongue.

The stories here include "Jeeves Takes Charge" (chronologically the first as it tells the story of Jeeves' entry into Bertie's life). The others, namely "The Artistic Career of Corky," "Clustering Round Young Bingo," "Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest" (about a young cousin of Bertie's who goes wild under his wing), and "Jeeves and the Hard-Boiled Egg" are all classics of the Wodehousian genre and show Jeeves at his problem-solving best.

This would easily appeal to the casual Wodehouse fan, and is perfect for long road trips or any other situation where a laugh is needed. Wodehouse exceeds all others in humor and, one assumes, will remain that way for centuries to come.

It's almost impossible to write funny about humor, and anyone who writes seriously about it is doomed to come off as a fuddy duddy. E.B. White, a funny writer himself, once said that analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog, in that the thing tends to die in the process and the results will be interesting only to the purely scientific mind. -Andrew Ferguson, Divine Comedy : P.G. Wodehouse's perfect pitch

Two things the critics generally agree on are that : (1) P. G. Wodehouse is one of the funniest writers in the English language; and, (2) it's almost impossible to explain why. Among the various authorities cited for the difficulty in analyzing humor are Evelyn Waugh and Sigmund Freud, themselves authors of hilarious fictions. Suffice it to say, and I mean this in the very best sense, the enjoyments of the Jeeves and Wooster stories are much the same as those of the great TV sitcoms. Wodehouse created these two great comic characters, surrounded them in each story with oddballs, plunked them all down in trying situations, and then had the inimitable Jeeves extract Bertie and his upper-class nitwit friends from their difficulties through various stratagems and diversions. Though Andrew Ferguson and others deny that there is any deeper meaning or political content to the stories, it is at least notable that the finest young gentlemen in all of England are hopelessly overmatched by life unless Jeeves steps in to save them. The resulting stories have a certain sameness to them--of course, just try watching ten episodes of Cheers in a row and see if it's still fresh and amusing in hour five--but read in moderation they are immensely enjoyable and their very familiarity becomes quite comforting.

GRADE : A+

This being the first book I bought on the subject has proven to be an amazing learning aid. Though some of the descriptions could be a bit more, ummm descriptive the book is still very easy for even beginers to understand at most times.
I would have appreciated a few more pictures but the ones in the book do prove quite usefull.
The author refers to different parts of your hands, these instructions are very hard to decifer at times but with enough time you should be able to figure it out.
The tricks included at the end of the chapters are also a bit shallow compared to other "starter" tricks that I have found in other books.

However I can not stress enough if you want to get a book to start with this is the one, just don't expect it to be the only book you will be buying to learn the ins and outs of card magic.

If you're overwhelmed with magic book titles, and don't know which book to buy to start your experience with magic, BUY THIS BOOK.

Keep in mind it was written before TV, so you must be a enthusiastic reader and a magic lover. It requiers a lot careful and minucious reading and re-reading, but only because of its very precise explanations.

The next step after studying from this book, is watching a good magician perform the sleights so you can have an idea of speed and timing.

Buy it only if you are truly commited to learning non self working card tricks and sleights.

If I had to throw away all my magic books except one, this would be it.

I'm ashamed to admit that this wasn't the first card trick book I ever bought. This book walks you through every amateur sleight of hand any card-magician-to-be could ever hope to learn with a bounty of helpful illustrations, along with very deep text. While some of it is a little difficult to wade through, it is well worth the effort. The tricks, with rare exception, are excellent, and the way in which they are taught is very user-friendly. Instead of teaching seven or eight sleights of hand at once, this book teaches you one, then a few tricks using that sleight. Then it teaches you another, and then some more tricks.

If you're just looking into card magic for the very first time, or are an advanced magician, this book will prove to be both fun and informative - a must have.

Some nine books into his Napoleonic series, Cornwell pauses here to return to the beginning of Sharpe's association with the 95th Rifles. In 1809 French forces were sweeping the British out of the Spain in a full retreat to Portugal. Sharpe is a Lieutenant, and a lowly quartermaster at that, but through a series of mishaps and skirmishes, he finds himself in command of the tattered remnants of a Rifle Company cut off from the main British army. These men, led by the indominitable Irishman Harper, are demoralized, distrustful of Sharpe, and waver on mutinousness. We see his first clumsy attempts at leading men, as he tries to get them to safety. Their momentary alliance with a Spanish Major who is escorting a mysterious strongbox only leads to more trouble as the combined forces are dogged by a unit of French Cavalry intent on capturing the box. Of course, over time, the contents of the box are revealed and a thrilling city battle is fought. We also see Sharpe's first awkward falling in love, with the niece of some British missionaries (who provide some of the most comic moments in the entire series). It's a good prequel to Sharpe's adventures in the Peninsular Wars, and while it makes a logical place for newcomers to start the series, it might actually be more fun for those who have already gotten to know Sharpe and Harper.

If you have read other Sharpe books, you will realize right away that the story goes back to the time before "Sharpe's Eagle". It serves to set the stage and introduce the characters that will populate the series thoughout the campaigns in Portugal and Spain. If you haven't read any other Sharpe stories and you like Historical Fiction that are enjoyable reads you are going to enjoy it.

Don't get me wrong, as a story it stands alone quite well. Readable and entertaining are the first thoughts that come to mind. The battles/fights seem to be historically accurate as well as well written (not always the case with storied written about this time period). The characters are understandable, without appearing to be twentieth-century men being transported to another era. As Sharpe grows as a commander, you both empathise with his problems and cheer his accomplishments.

The whole series is worth reading, and this a great prequel to the timeframe where most of the action takes place.... and there will be quite a lot of it!

PS... The books are better than the BBC series.

Cornwell captures "everyman" in Richard Sharpe. He is a character that I could identify with. I could feel his hopes, fears and disappointments. I was gladdened by his successes. If a reader is willing to believe the character, they are in for a wonderful adventure. I suppose that if you won't believe, you would still be entertained by this and the rest of the series. As for me, I've read the entire series several times. Every time my "day to day" has become too stressful, I've gone off to the Peninsular Campaign with Sharpe and his Rifles.

I was so surprised at this book.. I bought it for curiosity, because it really amazes me (as a member of the post-Cold War generation) how terrified people were. It turned out to be an amazing, complex story, and even I didn't predict the ending. I've really never seen anything like Forsyth's work. (The best part is that I read this for school credit in 8th grade.. for once, a book I didn't hate.) I had to reread several times, not for confusion but for the brilliance of the dialogue. It's a shame Forsyth has given up suspense, but I wish him well.

The Devil's Alternative is one of the finest thrillers ever written. In my opinion it ranks with The Negotiator as the best novels by Forsyth. What makes this book great is the realism. Forsyth knows his stuff, and has done a perfect job of researching the Halls of Power on both sides of the ocean. His depiction of the Soviet Politburo in action is one of the best representations in all of fiction. His use of technology (the tanker, etc.) is well done, with no inaccuracies. [Although it should be noted that the largest oil tanker in the world is the Jahre Viking, which is half the size of the Freya in the book] The characters, unlike most other thrillers, are not your everyday stock characters. Forsyth gives them a personality. The ending of this multi-layered thriller is also a gem, and no other author could have written such a perfect book.

Another solid job by this author who I have always liked. This was another of his fast paced, easy to read stories with a good long story. I love the detail of the USSR government, you really feel like it in a non-fiction book at times. He has always used a lot of good factual details to make his books solid. Like the work of all good authors, you really grow to know the characters, like some and hate some - they have solid reasons for doing what they are doing in the book. There is a lot going on but the way he writes it you do not have any problems following the action. A great book that is well worth the time.

Not available in print? Both me and my partner have a copy, in Dutch, for over 20 years. It is a shame indeed that it is not available at Amazon or any shop. This book is the perfect warning for what can happen when the marketing boys and girls can do to our world if we let them.

If you hate McD's burgers, CC's or P's cola, MS's monopolistic world domination strategy and so on, you should read this book, because you will like it. If you don't hate those things and don't understand why I do, you really really should read this book and try to understand the difference between marketing and information.

It is pityful enough that lots of things in this book are reality nowadays. People are addicted to hamburgers, cola, cigarettes, medicines, television, coffee, beer, and so on. People do accept the most stupid advertisements between and in television shows, in movies, on buses and everywhere else in real life. It is astounding how many people seem to believe all of the things that are said, shown or otherwise transfered in commercials and advertisements.

In the book, the marketing people are very happy with the decrease in average intelligence of the world population. When I look around, I am afraid that indeed the average intelligence of the masses is dropping.

Fortunately, the world is not owned by marketing companies. Unfortunately, the companies that do own the world are not that concerned with our well-being either.

Read this book about the top manager of the largest marketing firm of the world who gets the biggest project he ever had, looses grip, faces reality, realises what effect his work has caused and who is able to fight back to the top, ignoring everything he just learned. The end is a wonderful anti-climax. The world is saved, but not just yet.

Actually, I would have expected a follow-up, in which the marketing-free world of Venus to come will free the dummy-filled marketing-laden Earth.

In the future, instead of the two-party monopoly, there is a two-COMPANY monopoly. Instead of 95% of citizens/consumers voting for either a Democrat or Republican, they either buy only Starzellius products or only Tauton products.

The quality of life has deteriorated to the extent that it is worse for the rich and powerful executives of these two companies than for a middle class person today. Most people rarely get real meat or cheese. Most people can't afford cars. People are guilty until proven innocent.

The whole point of the book is to demonstrate how bad life could become if businesses had more power than government. However, the book never explains how life became that bad. Nor does it explain why these things wouldn't happen even sooner if government had more power than businesses.

Remember, this book was written in 1952, which was before the authors would have known that the unbearable future they foresaw after 200 years at the hands of businesses was already a reality in Communist countries.

Nevertheless, it is a very good and humorous story about what the future could hold if too much power were in the hands of too few.

Written over 50 years ago, this book anticipated much of what is wrong in the world we now live in -including corporate imperialism, environmental degradation and the villification of conservationists, the replacement of humanity with two categories of people -those who sell and those who consume, the death of spiritual values and the total ascendancy of materialism. Pohl and Kornbluth have created a materialist, consumerist dystopia that ranks with Vonnegut's Player Piano (also written in the early 1950s), and anticipates books like Harry Harrison's Bill the Galactic Hero and Joseph Heller's Catch 22. And, like the latter books, it manages somehow to be funny much of the time. What a tremendous loss it was for science fiction, and literature in general, when Cyril Kornbluth died prematurely. He had the makings of another Swift, if only he could have lived another 20 years.