Okay, I'm a fan. I haven't read such straightforward good stories that have nothing to do with New York EVER. I'd like to see more.

It seems to me that the family saga is bit stale these days but I stayed with The Ice King and was glad of it. Robert Wintner has a unique way of capturing characters with minimal strokes that makes me laugh because they look so familiar. This book kept me up two nights running. I loved it.

Thank you Robert!

What a great read. I have done a couple of the stories twice. It is rare that I find a book so full of stories that make me think, that pull emotions out of the places in my heart that I don't visit very often. Wintner has a way of showing you things from perspectives that we all experience but few put into words.

It defines love, where you would never expect it to visit. It restores faith in people that you may have sold short. It complements growth and change in human nature.

Do yourself a favor, treat yourself to these stories. Each unique and genuine. A mirror where you find glimpses of people you once knew. A window into what you may have missed.

A perfect little vacation that you can take without ever leaving the pages.

I think this is Wintner's best adventure novel, and it certainly captures the reality of the sailing business, no matter how grim or obscene it might be. I have been offshore and nowhere have I seen prose that captures the feeling like this. Besides that, this was very entertaining.

We stumbled into the Snorkel Bob phenomenon early in our first visit to the Kona Coast, and we were grateful for the no-poop attitude. We found a couple of lovely little restaurants, a terrific massage place, and even used some of the snorkel advice.

No, it's not a complete guide, but it helped us to avoid some of the standard-tourist pitfalls and to enjoy the place, not the prefab experiences offered by some of the land sharks.

And, yes--horrors--occasionally he mentions environmental and native-Hawaiian political issues. We think they're worth bringing up.

It's a relaxed bunch of hints from someone who lives there. Take it for what it is and enjoy it.

This edition is dated 1997. If you are reading this review, then you will be far better served by the '02 edition. amazon doesn't have it, but snorkelbob dot com does. It's updated with a reference index and many excellent maps. I, Snorkel Bob, cannot get penetration with the phantom amazon, so here's hoping you can get this right. Hail Atlantis! & Hana Hou!

Sometimes you take a trip to a perfect place, for instance, Hawaii, but you feel strange--where do you find the instructions for the beach barbeques, snorkel gear, luaus, and umbrella drinks that you have enjoyed from afar in many a Gidget movie, but never really had hand's on experience with? Answer: in Snorkel Bob's cool little book. We lost or gave away our old copy, from a former vacation, and I'm ordering a second one before another trip now. Snorkel Bob is the tongue in cheek John Muir of Hawaii, with his adventures, attitude, and strangely lovely philosophy helping you plan a trip & enjoy it. "What is the feeling? What is the not feeling?" he asks. I feel that this book is amazing and as lulling as an umbrella drink, almost.

I liked the story of Horndog Blue well enough. And parts of it showed Wintner's usual wit and insight. But I got bothered by a main character who approach to women was so clinical as to suggest gynocological interest. Maybe I'm guilty too and he wanted to touch a nerve. He did. I finished it, and like I say I liked it, but it left me uneasy.

This was my second Wintner novel, after Whirlaway, which I loved. So my expectations were high and Horndog Blue did not disappoint. Wintner has the razor sharp insight of a rebel with street smarts who is not afraid to articulate his version of truth, the ugliness and beauty of people, including himself. This book is billed as fiction but reads very personal. An unmarried, highly sexed middle-aged man has a chance encounter on the beach with a golden girl, beautiful, intelligent but unformed. Against the odds, they connect up and begin to travel in Europe together. He's drawn to her youth and beauty, she to his maturity and assurance, each learning from the other, in spite of or perhaps because of the difference in age. Her radiance inspires him to consider commitment even though it's against his natural instincts. After many a detour he is ready to make the leap, maybe. But it's not the story line that makes the book special but the quality of Wintner's prose - lyrical, colorful, subversive, honest, with absolutly no concessions to political correctness, remininscent of the character played by Jack Nicholson in the movie As Good As It Gets. Readers will either love it or hate it.

We've all seen those Harleys rumbling in pairs and squadrons down the freeways and highways in the summer heat and many (maybe even most) of us have envied the freedom that rides with them. At one time or another we all want to quit the battle and get on a hog and head out. The Modern Outlaws takes us on such a trip--AND SUCH A TRIP IT IS! This raucus and wonderfully irreverent tale draws you in from the first page, puts a hog between your legs, and then you're on the road with a wild bunch of middle-class, middle-aged guys who (yes, you guessed it) shed their responsibilities (just like you always wanted to do) for a week or so every year and head out, searching for thrills. Wow! I never knew those guys had so much fun! Or that anyone's even permitted to have so much fun. I was gonna write more about this fantastic book, but I can't--I gotta go--the Harley store's opening in a few minutes and I wanna be first in line. Live a little! Buy this book! See you on the road.

If you are thinking of joining the new biker revolution, buy this book and take it for a test ride first. It is concentrated romp dealing with men that are growing older, wives, lives and choices.

I found it to be an entertaining look at life that can be found on two wheels and deals with the reality of what one may find out there and also what one may create for themselves with the road as open as the possibilities.

If, after reading this you think that you are ready, waste no time! Go buy the bike, get some rain gear and saddle up. If you have doubts, put down the book, back away from the bike and grab a remote, perhaps a sailboat is more appropriate.

The Modern Outlaws may not be the most literary book I've written, but it's easily the most accessible and the most fun. It has generated minor but voluble complaint based on subjective violence to a tattoo artist and on its profile of a bornagain Christian. These complaints are also subjective. As an open road riding experience, The Modern Outlaws offers insight to a modern phenomenon and ventillation for those who hate the destruction of wilderness that now prevails, but feel helpless to respond. Moreover, it's a page turner. Good reading--Robert Wintner