This is my latest favorite photography book. I have a large collection that includes many with Manhattan as subject. The images captured by Levitt are stunning and the binding of the book itself is wonderful.

Helen Levitt is not one of those New Yorkers who look neither to the left or right as they travel the streets of the city. This is a book about life. The neighborhoods she shoots are generally poor ones, yet we see people that are involved; people who are actively engaged in life even when they seem to be doing nothing. Her subjects -often children- play, they love, they communicate, they are lost in thought, and occasionally are sleeping.

A fine sense of humor permeates many of the scenes. Some subjects are caught in contorted, puzzling positions. We see the incongruous position of objects: an old 33rpm record in the street; a pair of shoes sitting by themselves on a sidewalk; three chickens wandering around a decrepit room -where did they come from? A mother's head is buried in the bottom of a baby buggy while the tyke yelps with joy. A dog is caught in the act of mistaking his owner's leg for a fire hydrant while she talks to a friend.

In general HL catches the warm side of humanity. Only a couple of pictures look like they were taken from a file of Jacob Riis (a 19th century photographer of New York tenement life). There was one particularly sad shot of a woman and her three children sitting on their front steps. They are obviously impoverished. The two youngest children seem quite content, but the mother seems weighed down with her life, and in the teen-age daughter we see the beginning of lost hopes.

This book is a must for anyone interested in street photography. It will take you a long time to get through this book as each photograph will hold your attention for some time.

Helen Levitt's name is less well known than some of her images of New York street life. Perhaps that is the way she would wish it since she seems to have never sought fame. The book is as reticient as she and there is little commentary, but in truth little is necessary though I would love to know more about her and her work. This is a beautifully printed, organized and designed book and it was a pleasure to spend hours looking at the photographs. Often it was difficult to turn the page because each image is so compelling and resonates on many different levels. In a way, they are the perfect street images; they have the look of a snapshot but are so much more than that. Though they are all of New York they have a universal quality and speak about the truth of people's lives in a profound way. I admired the formal qualities of the photographs but what resonates most is the deep humanity of what she does, what she sees and records. It sometimes seems to me that photographers, in their quest for a good images,treats subjects with a level of distain and distance that is uncomfortable and ultimately manipulative. Crosstown is nothing like that and even when the photos are funny, and several are, they are funny in a very human way. There is nothing saccharine or trite in her work either and she has a great gift of photographing children without slipping into cuteness. I am a photographer and I treasure this book. I would certainly recommend it to others interested in photography, but I thinks its' appeal extends to anyone interested in the human condition and how we relate to one another.

Absolute Zero, the 2nd in the Bagthorpes series was the book that hooked me to the Bagthorpe series. The Bagthorpe clan with its outrageous personalities reminds me still of my own large eccentric family. One of my fondest childhood memories is the hours I spent laughing at the antics of Jack and his family. I found the feud between Uncle Parker and Mr. Bagthorpe to be hilarious. Mrs Fosdale is a wonderful minor character and her reaction to the pantry still dissolves me into hysteria. Jack Bagthorpe was as close as a best friend to me. His misadventures with Zero and his family still make me laugh, smile and want to hear more. If your child is not quite ready for Harry Potter or needs a fill in the Bagthorpes though a different genre will absolutely do!

Absolute Zero is the second book of the Bagthorpe Saga, and in my opinion, it's the best, although the first four in the series are all exceptional. I loved these books as a child, and I love them now as an adult - it's a pity they are out of print in the US. (They are, however, still available in the UK, and US readers can order them online from amazon.co.uk, among other online shops. Believe me, the extra shipping is more than worth it.)

Like Ordinary Jack before it, Absolute Zero chronicles the lives of the eccentric, lunatic Bagthorpes. Competition madness overtakes the family after the urbane Uncle Parker wins a Caribbean trip for two. Better yet, while Uncle Parker and Aunt Celia take their trip, their daughter Daisy, the world's only destructively creative four-year-old, is left with the Bagthorpes. Hilarity inevitably ensues, in the shape of Daisy-induced disasters, police involvement, and unfortunate prizes.

The dry humor and intelligent wit of the early books in the Bagthorpe series raise them above their genre, and the books are as fresh and entertaining now as fifteen years ago. Any adult who still knows how to laugh would enjoy these novels, and as for children - well, the danger isn't that they won't like it. The danger is that they will start tearing the labels off canned goods in their parents' pantries, in hopes of recreating the joy of the series.

(NB: The last few books of the series - I believe it's now up to seven or eight books - are not at all worth reading. The first four in the saga are musts, and true Bagthorpe fans will probably enjoy book five and even book six, but after that, don't bother. Spare yourself the pain of seeing one of the best humorous series of our time go to pot.)

This is part 2 of Helen Cresswell's "Bagthorpe Saga", a truly hilarious series about a bizarre British family. As an adult, I still treasure these books and read them when I'm in need of a laugh. (For more description of the Bagthorpes, read the first review of "Ordinary Jack", the first book in the series. I agree with that reviewer's comments.)

I think part of the reason these books aren't very well known in the US is that the reading level is quite high, especially compared to most contemporary kids' series. A young person who's a gifted reader and appreciates British-style humour - a la "Monty Python" or "Fawlty Towers" - would surely enjoy them. I'd suggest checking used bookshops (e.g. through Bibliofind web site), or the Amazon UK site. You won't regret getting to know the Bagthorpes!

I live in the neighborhood that Teresa and Bianca live in and have met girls like Bianca. As a young mother myself, this work really hit home. It's hard to understand the emotions and anxieties of a "child having a child," but Ms. Benedict truly knew how to do it and I praise her for that. Ms. Benedict captured the uncertainty, immaturity, and boldness of a "teen" so realistically. The best thing of all is that she let this child achieve maturity on her own after witnessing the destructive & selfish path she had created for herself and her family. She realized she had to think of her baby daughter -a very adult thing to do. So she made the best decision for her daughter. This book is a real tugger of heart-strings. I highly recommend.

This book was very good. S9ince there are many of our children are getting pregnant at a young age.

I absolutely loved Bad Angel. It was so gripping, and it really takes the reader inside Bianca's life. I really cared about what happened to her and her family.

"Hamptons Bohemia" is a lovely coffee table book, but it is much more than that. It is a well-researched, thorough history of the artistic life of the Hamptons from the 18th Century to the present day.

The illustrations were an important part of my enjoyment of this book. Almost every page contains a painting by a Hamptons artist, or an offbeat photograph of a group of Hamptons writers or painters. And the illustrations are beautifully done.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

It's no surprise that artists and writers were among the first to be inspired by the natural beauty of the Hamptons. It's also no surprise that celebrities, hangers-on, and wannabees followed soon after. What some may not know is that the Hamptons exerted their draw on the creative community long before Jackson Pollock and his pals put it on the map. This book eloquently conveys the allure of this magical place and the entertaining goings-on that occur when the world's finest artists and writers intermingle.

I was given this book as a "must have" gift. So very true. The stories and photos are sublime. I'll never look at this place in the same way. Highly recommend it.

The world's oldest subway tunnel, the second largest art museum in America, and the greatest concentration of historic houses in New York. These are just three of "Brooklyn's Best" described in this book. Every time I visit New York I always spend time in Brooklyn and with this excellent guide in hand, I now have even more reasons to visit. Brooklyn is huge-it would be the fourth largest city in the States on its own. The authors, both Brooklyn residents, manage to pack an enormous amount of information in its compact 160 pages: shopping, sightseeing, restaurants and "happy wanderings." Few guides to New York City spend much time covering Brooklyn except for the three "B's"-the huge Brooklyn Museum (which has a real mummy), the Botanical Garden (go in May for the cherry trees), and the most famous bridge in New York (which happens to be named after Brooklyn.)

The book's chapters are short-usually two pages-and conducive to browsing. Before you know it you've read half the book and learned that Brooklyn has 93 ethnic groups, the Park Slope area has one coffee shop per adult resident, and the tallest building is the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower which, by the way, is every bit as impressive as anything in Manhattan. You'll also learn where to find the colonies of parrots that thrive in Brooklyn, or the floating barge that hosts chamber music recitals. From its colorful cover to its list of web sites, this is a handy and attractive guide to the best of Brooklyn.

This novel is a gripping and fascinating view of the life of a woman rebel who refuses to be kept in the gilded cage crowded with the other privilged women of her time. Nina De Bonnard is the heroine who although at first goes along with the patterns decreed by her set--going to party after party, finally realizes there should be more in her life than clothes, jewels and social dictums. She turns down marriage proposal after marriage proposal until she is near to being named 'a jilt.' The young American men seek the aid of a slightly older rake who has a few years of living in Europe and returned with a sophisticated veneer they admire. He agrees to revenge them by teaching the beautiful Nina a lesson. But she is more of a challenge than he expected, because she is not playing games. She is seeking a way of life that has meaning. There is fun and romance in the duel of wits between the hero and heroine, but there is more to this novel than just romance. For the writing raises the novel to the level of Jane Austen and Edith Wharton. Helen Argers has been compared to both those authors by reviewers and academia. The writing is rich with epigrams, nuance and sentences that suddenly reveal the inner soul of the characters. And then there is the author's use of humor. She captures her characters' inner selves in comic scenes such as depicting the reactions of different characters attending the grand opening of the Centennial Exhibition of Americana in Philadephia of 1876. The upper class women are shocked by the new inventions, critizing them for the noise and preferring the much more silent servants who already do those tasks without making such a fuss. When one of the young ladies, determined to outdo Nina De Bonnard in smashing appearance, appears wearing her corset laced to such a punishing degree that she faints--the women are shocked by her lack of protocol. One of them, known as the arbiter of taste, exclaims, "We're causing comment on the promenade!" and the young woman is quickly removed to the Ladies' Comfort Station, where the torturous corset is unlaced so she can breathe again. But Argers captures not only the mores of the time but the politics when she has Nina De Bonnard joining Susan B. Anthony in a protest at the conclusion of the Centennial Ceremonies. As well as opening the portholes to the past, Argers also reveals characters that believed in romance--a love that will not be denied despite the difference between the hero and heroine and Nina's determination to live a life free of the restrictions of marriage. Here is a novel that gives us a heroine for all time, for Nina De Bonnard is the first of today's women who want love, but also want respect for themselves and in addition for the rest of the people.
Reading this novel is like stepping back into the past and yet discovering that the past is a mirror to our own times--as we are slowly sinking into a new Gilded Era today. Just as the people then, even those in conditions of extreme poverty, spent of their little to buy newspapers to read about the extravagant parties of the upper class and bought pictures of the heiresses, we today are also celebrity followers. Nina De Bonnard's escapades, changing gowns as often as she did beaus, would make her an object of attack today as she was then. THE GILDED LILY is a must read on several levels. For those who love great romances and the extravagant lives of the super rich, this is for them. For those who want to understand how this country has veered dangerously close to becoming a second Gilded Era, this novel will show them the seeds. For those who value beautiful writing, impressive descriptions, humorous dialogue and comic events, plus overall intelligence and talent, this novel is for them. It is a rare novel that is both fun to read and worth rereading.

Absolutely authentic and gut wrenching, this book describes how 2 NYC police detectives solved the "Metropolitan Opera Murder Case" of 1980. Much more than a real "Whodunnit", this true tale says a lot about society and crime, real police work, and all the personalities from the victim, the cops, the suspects, the artists and stage crew, the courts and lawyers, DA's, judge. Simply among the best ever written!

I stumbled across this book several years ago and its images have affected my art work (painting) ever since. This remarkable photographer captured the lives of families living in New York during the 1940's, as they transfered their lives out onto the streets. These streets and sidewalks became their living rooms and realms of intimate interaction. Children are frozen in games reflecting their magic and carefree spirit, at times forshadowing more conflictive and painful realities. This book is a treasure which reflects back to us the profound beauty of human existence.

this is my favorite book. if anyone has similar taste to me then i highly recommend them to read it. i was getting so into reading it that i never wanted it to end. to last forever. so i tried to do so by reading a limit of pages each day. i live in NYC and by reading the book i had grown a stronger love for the city and thats another reason i loved the book. the down fall of the book? well, it was and made me sad. it was kinda a depressing book. you now. like a heart-acher.

it was indeed a pleasure to read and in the future, if you do read it, i hope you injoy.

thats my review! i hope i helped!

Streets: Memoir Of The Lower East Side was written in 1922 and published for the first time in 1955. This remarkable memoir of a young Jewish girl's coming of age in the tenement slums of New York's Lower East Side is gritty, candid, vivid, engaging, sensitive, and streetsmart. Bella Spewack overcame obstacles of gender, background, and religious discriminations to succeed as a celebrated journalist, playwright, and screenwriter. Streets is highly recommended, articulate reading and will prove of special interest to students of American Jewish history, Women's Studies, and biographies reflecting the triumph of the human spirit over social and cultural barriers.

This is a coming of age story depicting the harrowing early life of an extraordinary talent. Told with an amazing eye for detail and a highly developed sense of humor, this is one of the most moving autobiographies I have read. Bella Spewack writes of her thirst for knowledge and determination. In later life Bella invented the Girl Scout cookie, became a noted journalist and wrote successful plays and movies. Streets tells of the difficult circumstances of her childhood.

Though I have never read Thomas Hardy before, I shall again very soon. I greatly enjoyed Far From the Madding Crowd. I kept associating Bathsheba, the heroine, with Scarlett O'Hara. They are both women from the past who are struggling for a place where only men typically tread. Unlike Scarlett, Bathsheba's emotions are more restrained. She's so young, but matures through the book. The reader yearns for the day she finally matures to the point that realizes she needs a partner in life, and her perfect partner is Gabriel Oak, her steadfast mate of fate.

I definitely recommend this book for one of those cold rainy weekends curled up on the couch.

I am looking forward to diving into my next Thomas Hardy novel, Jude the Obscure.

I've always condidered myself to be sort of an optimist; so it is really odd that I've always really loved Thomas Hardy's books. I count Tess of the D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure among my very favorites, and whether or not it is my favorite, I think that The Mayor of Casterbridge is marvelously written. Still though, reading all of that fatalism and cynicism can be a little much. It was really nice to pick up this novel and not read so many grim scenes.

Far From the Madding Crowd is a pretty simple love story driven by the characters. First, there is Bathsheba Everdeen. She's vain, naive, and she makes the stupidest decisions possible. Yet, you still like her. Then there are the three guys who all want her: Troy who's like the bad guy straight out of a Raphael Sabatini novel, Boldwood who's an old lunatic farmer, and Gabriel Oak who is a simple farmer and is basically perfect. The reader sees what should happen in the first chapter, and it takes Bathsheeba the whole book to see it. The characters really make the book. The reader really has strong feelings about them, and Hardy puts them in situations where you just don't know what they're going to do. The atmosphere that Hardy creates is (as is in all of Hardy's novel) amazing and totally original. I don't think any other author (except Wallace Stegner in America) has ever evoked a sense of place as well as Hardy does. Overall, Far from the Madding Crowd is a great novel. I probably don't like it quite as well as some of his others, but I still do think it deserved five stars.

This book was a required read for Academic Decathalon but I was handed the cliff notes and told to study them if I didn't have time to read the book. I dislike cliff notes unless I have already read a book and I need to review so I chose to listen to it on tape. I was thoroughly surprised to find myself laughing at the overly-honest Gabriel Oak proposing marriage to Bathsheba Everdene, I had been informed that this book was something of a rural comedy but I had not expected such preposterous situations and ironies. The novel centers around Bathsheba though I would not label her the heroine because the reader is often frustrated by her behavior and even annoyed by it. She is quite poor but a smart girl and a particularly beautiful one as well. Gabriel meets her and soon decides he must marry this young woman. She declines deciding that she can't love him and soon moves away. Gabriel loses his farm in an unfortunate event and through circumstance comes to be in the same part of Wessex as Bathsheba. She has inherited her uncle's farm and is now running it herself and she is in need of a sheperd and sheperding happens to be Gabriels forte so he is hired. Farmer Boldwood who runs the neighboring farm becomes smitten with Bathsheba too when he recieves a prank valentine saying "marry me" on the seal(this valentine was sent by Bathsheba and her maid/companion). He soon asks for Bathsheba's hand and Bathsheba who feels guilty for causing this man's desire says she will answer him upon his return in two months time. The union with Boldwood is not to be since Bathsheba falls deeply in love with Frank Troy and soon marries him. An ex-girlfriend of Troy's shows up but dies shortly after giving birth, Troy is heartbroken and tells Bathsheba that he loved Fanny more and still does. Troy leaves and soon is assumed dead but is truly only missing. Boldwood moves in one Bathsheba again but in a set of bizarre events Troy returns to take Bathsheba from Boldwood once more. Boldwood is infuriated and turmoil ensues. This is an escapist novel in these times and is well worth reading. Weatherbury and Casterbridge will charm you and allow you to experience the little oddities of Victorian Era rural life in the pleasantest way imaginable.