With her detailed verse, Belting traces the shadowy rituals and superstitions that colour English folklore.
Alan Cober's strange illustrations add to the sense of supernatural.

i've just bought the set, but don't wish to keep it for personal reasons. The set is in mint condition, would anyone like to buy it?

I admit that my knowledge of Janet Flanner was hazy when I bought this book, my exposure to the "New Yorker" limited to a few issues per year only in the last ten years. That wasn't the selling point for me -- I had read good reviews that this was the memoir of a boy raised in a non-traditional home in the 1940s and that detail fascinated me.

This is a crisply written, completely fascinating account of William Murray's gypsy childhood in the literary circles of New York, Fire Island and Rome. It is a story of becoming a man, of weathering stormy relations with parents, and about his own struggles to make a life for himself as a writer.

There are two generations of literary lives detailed: I was fascinated to learn how much professional writers struggle even after achieving success. Janet Flanner lived in hotels across the world, constantly missing her deadlines; the author himself resorted throughout his 20s and 30s to gambling and part time jobs to scrape by. Even his first two years working as a writer for the New Yorker came and went without him getting an article published. This is the dark side of the artist's life, and one we hear too little of.

My only disappointment with this book -- and it's minor-- is that it is really the story of an artist's life, not the story of being the child of a lesbian. Janet Flanner's role in the author life could just as well be that of a step-father; the fact that she is a lesbian is superfluous. But, maybe that in and of itself makes a point.

A fascinating and well written memoir -- worth reading.

I just finished this book and enjoyed it tremendously. This book appealed to me on several levels. As an American ex-patriate living outside Paris, I could relate to many of the comments Janet made. Although I love France, I will always be an outsider. This book is not so much an homosexual story as it is a love story among these people. It is a testament to how love can endure long distances, different cultures and social constraints. I recommend this book highly to anyone who enjoys reading historically based biographies with a love story intertwined. Besides, I can't resist buying a good book with good photographs.

When I look back on the many books I've read over the past year (easily 50 or more), I can say emphatically that this was one of the best and most memorable. I can remember where I sat (by a fountain) when I began the book, and where I was (at a garden) when I closed its cover for the final time. Murray captured the essence of a very complex, yet loving relationship between two sophisticated, intelligent women. After I finished his book, I yearned to learn more about them, and read a biography of Flanner, Murray's mother's book of correspondence between herself and Flanner, and several of Flanner's New Yorker compilations. A heartfelt thanks, William Murray.

This book was read read to me throughout my childhood, so i am saddened to see such a short synopsis. Granted that is the essence of the story, but what is most important about it, is the sense of interconnectedness in nature that Nathalia illustrates. Many different organisms live in a less glamorous way and often go underappreciated in environmental texts. It's about time that bugs and worms had their say, too. I thoroughly recommend it.

"Once There Was A Tree" was originally published in the Soviet Union in 1983, and if there are those who wants to see socialist notions of communal property in this charming little story about a stump in the forest and who it belongs to, then there is little to do but pat them on the back and tell them everything will be okay. The story by Natalia Romanova is about an old tree that is split by lightning and then felled by a woodsman so all that remains is a stump. However, the old tree is not really dead, for beetles, ants, birds, a bear and even a man find ways to use the stump as the seasons change. All of them believe the stump belongs to them and them alone. But as Romanova gently reminds us, the stump is part of the earth, and the earth belongs to all. This simple tale is illustrated with extraordinary pictures by Gennady Spirin, which are graced with a softness that belies their realistic depiction of life in the forest around our little stump. His picture of the Woodsman has a quality that I can only describe as being from realistic fairy tale. I find his gnarled old trees marvelously creations and love the detailed craftsmanship evidenced by all the golden and silvery leaves adorning the living trees of Spirin's forest in some of these paintings. "Once There Was A Tree" is one of those children's books where the illustrations are so compelling you almost forget there is a story being told and a lesson to be learned. As long as children do not mind the creeping crawling things that like to nest in and around the stub of a tree they will find this little look at nature to be compelling. However, I bet it is parents and teachers who are going to like this book more because of Spirin's exquisite illustrations.

What a beautiful, rich book! I can't believe I've never seen this book before a friend passed it along. Besides magnetizing illustrations, the whole story concept of the cycle of life is sensitive and calming. I as an adult find myself reading and pouring over it again and again. My 4 year old liked it at age 4 and now loves it more than ever. I also like that it was originally written and published in the "Soviet Union" so the perspective is a little different than the usual American fare.

My father gave this book to me 6 years ago and and I reread it every few months. The true story of author's childhood is told in a bluntly honest and often painful way. This is a book that all writers interested in writing creative non-fiction need to study carefully. Kusz has mastered the craft. She takes us from California to Alaska with her family in 1969. We are enchanted by her family and the difficult path her parents chose to take in the effort to give their children something more. Even after loss and struggle, when you want to fault her parents for the choices they made, you cannot. Kusz understands them and helps bring you in. Kusz stays away from describing the harsh landscape of Alaska, but the harshness of the land is illustrated when she tells of the family. This book is my favorite memoir to date.

This book was published too soon. It came out in 1990, long before the current memoir craze took hold. That's really too bad because this book is what memoir-writing is all about. Natalie Kusz' story is truly beyond belief; it reaffirms my faith in the whole genre. Here then is the story of a how a seven year old child (Natalie) had her face ripped apart by Alaskan huskies and survived to write about it with an unerring voice. If you don't love her family almost as much as she does by the end of this book, then you're not human. This book is every bit the equal of "The Color of Money" (and probably surpases it as a memoir), a book that became a national bestseller. This one deserves that status as well. Please seek out and read this page-turner of a memoir. You won't be sorry.

I picked this book up in the Alaskana section of Title Wave, a used bookstore in Anchorage, thinking it was going to be an Alaskan story, but happily it's much more universal than that. Natalie Kusz's book delivers two parents who are beautiful misfits bearing difficult baggage--her mother's mother is mentally ill; her father's wartime experience is horrific. That they stay together is enough of a feat, but the love they instill in their children and the family they create with so little material goods is truly amazing. On one hand, it's a story of overcoming hardship, and Natalie's ordeals, while more than any child deserves, are not her father's fault, as one reader's comments seem to imply. That they shape her life and choices, ultimately leading her to life as a writer, is the larger story. One facet of this book no one has commented on is the language and style with which this book is written. It's luminous, courageous, and deserving of continuous reprint. Here's hoping Natalie is hard at work on another book. I for one would be first in line to buy it.

I am a music student in college, and this book was a Godsend for me when I found a Rachmaninoff song I wanted to sing. Not many musicians in the US know Russian and this book made pronounciation very easy. The word for word translation was also very important. I think all college music libraries should have this book.

I had no idea where to begin when I began working on my Rachmaninoff song. Then, I found this book and it did wonders for me. It is clearly the most complete and best organized guide to pronouncing Russian. I recommend it for anyone who is interested in singing in Russian. It is a little costly if you are only doing a few songs, but the trouble, frustration and anguish it will save you is well worth it.

The Folger Library series are your best Shakespeare source. They specialize in Shakespeares' greatest plays and are quality books that are perfect companion and translator to Shakespeare. It is loaded with page after page of translation from the Old English expressions that are no longer in use to our modern talk, and pictures as well as historic background information on th Elizabethan era and Shakespeares' life. Hamlet is without question Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, remaining in our theatrical culture to this very day. It has become a conversation piece for English professors, dramatists and screen actors (Mel Gibson tackled the role in 1991) and even psychologists, who claim that Hamlet had the Oedipal complex, especially when they read the scene in which Hamlet is in his mother's bedroom. What makes Hamlet so great ? Why does this old play still come alive when performed on the stage in the hands of the right actors ?

Shakespeare, believe it or not, was a people's person and knew about the human condition perhaps more than anyone in his day. Hamlet deals principally with obscession for revenge. Hamlet is a prince whose father has been murdered under the evil conspiracy from his uncle Claudius and even the support of his mother, Queen Gertrude. Depressed, wearing black all the time, and very much as solitary as any "Goth" would be in our day, Hamlet laments his situation, until his father's ghost appears and urges him to avenge his death. The mystery still remains, is this ghost real ? Is it, as many in Elizabetheans thought, a demon in disguise ? Or is it simply a figment of Hamlet's own emotions and desire for revenge. At any rate, Hamlet's father appears twice and Hamlet spends most of the play planning his revenge. His most striking line that reveals this consuming need is "The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king!".

Pretending to be mad, he scorns even the love of the woman he genuinely loves, Ophelia, whose mind is shattered and heart is broken and who has an impressive mad scene. The deaths of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are also in Hamle'ts hands and a consequence of his revenge. The famous soliloquy in the play, is of course, "To be or not to be", taken on by such great actors as Lawrence Olivier and Orson Welles. Hamlet muses on the brevity of life and the suffering which can only cease through death, as he holds a skull and is evidently suicidal. Finally, the last scenes are the most dramatic. Hamlet duels with Laertes, Ophelia's brother, and with Claudius himself. The deaths of the main cast, including the Queen, goes to show how tragic the human desire for greed and revenge is.

This is Shakespeare's finest tragedy, and quality drama, best seen in a live stage performance, but that also works as a film. As for this book, as I said before, this is the Hamlet to have. You will become more acquianted with Hamlet and Shakespeare even more than taking a year's course with a teacher. This book itself is the teacher.

A tragedy by William Shakespeare, written around 1599-1601. Before the play opens, the king of Denmark has been murdered by his brother, Claudius, who has taken the throne and married the queen, Gertrude. The ghost of the dead king visits his son, Prince Hamlet, and urges him to avenge the murder. Hamlet, tormented by this revelation, appears to be mad and cruelly rejects Ophelia whom he loved. Using a troupe of visiting players to act out his father's death, the prince prompts Claudius to expose his own guilt. Hamlet then kills Ophelia's father Polonius in mistake for Claudius, and Claudius tries but fails to have Hamlet killed. Ophelia drowns herself in grief, and her brother Laertes fights a duel with Hamlet.

Hamlet's dilemma is often seen as typical of those whose thoughtful nature prevents quick and decisive action.

Hamlet contains several fine examples of soliloquy, such as " To be or not to be" and Hamlet's earlier speech lamenting his mother's hasty remarriage and Claudius' reign which opens "O! that this too too solid flesh would melt". Much quoted lined "Neither a borrower nor a lender be", "Something is rotten in the stste of Denmark", "Brevity is the soul of wit", "To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;" The lady doth protest too much, methinks," and "Alas, poor Yorick". Arguably Shakespeare's finest play and one that can be read again and again.

If you could read only one thing in your lifetime Hamlet should be that one thing. It is Shakespeare's best work by far, and within its pages is more meaning than you could find within the pages of an entire library full of books, or plays as the case may be. A mere review, a couple words, cannot do Hamlet justice. At times I realize that the language of Shakespeare can be difficult that is why I recommend the Folger version because it helps to make the images expressed by Shakespeare's characters clear to the reader, and allows them to get their own deep personal meaning from Hamlet, Shakespeare's greatest work, with out being bogged down in trying to decipher and interpret his antiquarian English. Don't just listen to what I say, or read what I write, read the play on your own outside the cumbersome restraints of a classroom and see for yourself what I mean.

This book is good for entertainment; in fact, it's a page-turner. It's like a really long "Mademoiselle" article. I wasn't sure who her intended audience for this book was--I don't see _BLM_ as scholarly. Also, I think it's a little ignorant to say that natural blondes are as rare as albinos. My relatives always told me when I was a child that my hair would turn brown in my teens. I'll be 26 in October, and my hair is still the same color it always was. At the beginning, Ilyin talks about her cyclical ritual with getting highlights and then "double-processing" and then dyeing it brown again. I wonder, why doesn't she just stay blonde all the time if that's what she likes? Still, I recommend it: I would put it in the same category with humorous books by Maryln Schwartz like _A Southern Belle Primer_ and _New Times in the Old South_.

Unlike the author, I'm a currently natural blonde, so I know I'm not her target audience. That hardly matters; any woman could relate to this book. Natalia Ilyin's point isn't really about "going blonde": it's about being female.

Ilyin does a lovely job of dividing and defining the different kinds of women we choose to be, and what those types mean in a world where we are always visible. It's postmodern and funny -- wait for the scene where the recently-retired "Armpiece Blonde" meets her male counterpart on a plane -- and the author's tone is resolutely cheerful. Natalia Ilyin is like a good friend who mixes a great martini: a few pages in you'll feel fabulous, you'll be laughing, and you'll have no idea why.

Natalia Ilyin has written a masterful little book, filled with insights on the blond archetype in our culture, brilliant descriptions of blond subtypes (the "Armpiece Blond" and the Martha Stewart segments are hilarious), and warm memoirs of her own blond childhood to adulthood.

As a brunette with a California blond daughter, and an East Coast mother who had a blond childhood but elected to grow out of it, I was intrigued to find every blond I've known (practically) described almost flawlessly in this little book. The value we place on golden hair is obvious in this society. But as we become more diverse, and as people with darker hair and skin become more dominant, the value may change. I recently had a compliment from an African-American woman who admired my summer tan. "But you're not dark enough," she added.

It would be interesting to have had a footnote, at least, from the author with some comment about women of color. I wonder, will the value change enough as our races merge so that blond eventually looses some of its mystique.

"Blond Like Me" is a quick read of interest to both scholars and casual readers. It should be taken seriously by reviewers and social commentators.

Vladimir Putin's "First Person" is a biography in question and answer format. It gives a great insight into the man who is the leader of the largest country in the world. There are questions and answers from not only Putin himself, but also his old school teachers, KGB collegues and his wife and two daughters. Even so, this biography does not give a 'full picture' of the president as a person and much of his past (for example KGB) is not mentioned in great detail (that's why I took off a star) and does not give a deep insight as the book implies. This aside, and all considered, this is a good read and a good introduction to Pres. Putin.

First Person is a transcription of a series of interviews conducted by three Russian journalists with Vladimir Putin, his wife and daughters, friends, teachers, and colleagues. The book is written in a question-answer format which is usually effective but occasionally leaves the reader in doubt as to who is answering a particular question: Putin or one of the other interviewees.

Don't read this book expecting deep insight into Putin's political philosophy or details of his experience in the KGB. With that said, First Person is a useful and interesting account of Putin's life, family, and experiences. An occasional bit of insight either slips or is inserted into the conversations. (It's hard to believe that someone as in-control as Putin would really let something slip. I don't mean to be suspicious or derogatory, I'm just recognizing that Putin is a successful politician who climbed one of the most difficult -and dangerous- ladders in the world.) One bit of possible insight is the fact that Putin was KGB station chief in Dresden, East Germany, at the time that the Berlin wall was pulled down. He shared a facility with the Stasi, his East German counterparts. When mobs approached the Stasi facility. Putin cabled Moscow for help and direction. He received neither and left active duty with the KGB soon after his (premature?) return from that assignment. I'm sure he was a bit disillusioned by this experience, but the degree and nature of the disillusionment is not developed. No surprise here; successful politicians don't intentionally walk into mine fields.

Overall, the book was an interesting and light read. Putin describes himself as a hooligan in his youth who mended his ways primarily to achieve his goal of going to law school in preparation for a career in the KGB. He chose that career path after seeing a movie entitled the Sword and the Shield (the KGB logo) which prompted him to walk uninvited into the local KGB office in Leningrad to seek employment. The officer who met him advised him that the KGB seldom considered walk-in applicants and that he should attend university and study law as a means of preparing himself. Rather amazingly, he did exactly that and was recruited immediately upon graduation.

The book also contains numerous details about Putin's early political life in the administration of Anatoly Sobchak, the reform-minded mayor of Leningrad, and his subsequent steady rise in the national government as well as numerous anecdotes from his family life.

Once upon a time, there was a belief in America that anyone could rise from the humblest of beginnings -- such as Abraham Lincoln, born in a cabin he built with his own hands -- to become President.

In Russia, without political opinion polls, focus groups or special interest funding, Vladimir Putin rose from a rat-infested cold water apartment to become President of his nation. This book is about a man who spent his professional life assessing people and situations, and thus is not afraid to make tough decisions. In Russia, for the immediate future, tough decisions are needed.

Putin's hero, Czar Peter the Great, used his regal power to make Russia a great, rich and powerful nation. Putin intends to provide similar dynamic leadership with democratic principles. An example may be Singapore, a mix of authority, discipline and prosperity.

The question-and-answer format of this book is based on six four-hour interviews by three journalists. Putin admits he was, ". . . a pure and utterly successful product of Soviet patriotic education." He was smart, dedicated, hard-working and very good in his chosen career with the KGB. He wasn't a old cloak-and-dagger "sneak and peek" spy; he spent his time reading reports, assessing East German officials and skillfully pushing paper.

Trained as a lawyer, he was appalled at how Communist officials assumed they were the law simply because they were Party members. Putin was never a dissident, he was the ultimate Organization Man whose goal was a richer, happier, stronger and freer Russia. He worked hard to become an insider, and as such saw the total incompetence of the Party.

His wife says, "He always lived for the sake of something. There are some people who work hard for money, but he works hard for ideas." When first married, they had a 10-foot by 12-foot room in his parents' 275-square foot apartment. Try and think of any American president since Lincoln -- another idea man -- who lived in any similar conditions.

Like Lincoln, whose greatest idea was "to preserve the Union," the prime challenge for Putin is to preserve Russia. His practical experience taught him that a free market economy is far superior to the chaos, conniving and cronyism of communism. He says the Soviets failed because they ". . . had a terminal disease without a cure -- a paralysis of power."

Two things are clear; Putin is not afraid to act, and he will never betray Russia. He learned from his father's World War II experience, ". . . there are always a lot of mistakes made in war. That's inevitable. But when you are fighting, if you keep thinking that everybody around you is always making mistakes, you'll never win. You have to take a pragmatic attitude." He approaches life in that fashion.

His political heroes also rebuilt shattered nations. Charles DeGaulle saved France from itself; while in Germany, Ludwig Erhard succeeded because ". . . his entire conception for the reconstruction of the country began with the creation of new moral values for society." The Soviet collapse created a similar challenge for Putin. This book explains what his "effective authority" is all about. It's the best book available this year about a politician with new ideas.

This is a refreshingly candid portrait of the soul of the new President of Russia, a fascinating contrast to "personality politics" that mask any inner feelings of American politicians. Putin trusts the Russian people enough to be honest; our politicians hire spin doctors to create "centrist" or "moving to the right" or "compassionate conservative" images. The contrast is ominous.

Then, stop and think. Does America really need tough, effective authority? Or are we better off with superficial candidates and trivial issues? If Putin succeeds, he will outdo Peter the Great. In America, do we need a great crusade? or merely to be left alone? Another Lincoln? or a Shrub?

"Havana Dreams" was written as a memoir, Wendy Gimbel's attempt to capture the romance of Cuba in its heyday and the heartbreak of Cuba today. The premise is great, but the execution doesn't hold up as well. Gimbel is a strong writer, and her narrative is evocative and moving, but she organized her material in the wrong way. Instead of a memoir, she should have just written about someone else. What's really interesting here is the story of Fidel Castro's lover Naty, her mother Dona Natica, and Naty and Castro's daughter Alina. It's got everything: passion, intrigue, mystery, and betrayal. If Gimbel had concentrated on Naty and the Revuelta family, the book would have been much stronger. For example, by inserting her own maternal abandonment issues into Naty's story, she weakened the book overall. On the other hand, it can't have been easy to try to pull the truth out of these women who each wanted to control their stories, none of whom were above changing details to make themselves (Dona Natica and Alina) or Castro (Naty) more sympathetic or more impressive. Although flawed, "Havana Dreams" is a poignant, romantic tale, much like that of Cuba itself.

Havana Dreams scans the 20th century in the unforgettable account of a Cuban family, descended from aristocrats, who live the high life before Fidel, and the heartbreak after. This is the story of Naty Revuelta, and four generations of Cuban women. In 1952, Naty met Fidel Castro, a young revolutionary, and although she was married, began a passionate affair with him that resulted in his unrecognized daughter and his rejection of her mother. Despite the large number of friends and family who fled Cuba, including Naty's husband, a doctor and their daughter, Nina, when Fidel took over, Naty stayed with her mother, Dona Natica and her daughter by Fidel, Alina, in hopes that she and Fidel would eventually be together. This is the story of her hopes and dreams, as well as the heartbreak of lost love and a disentegrating society. We trace the lives of Naty's daughters and their daughters, who all end up in the States, one with an ordinary confortable life, and the daughter of Fidel who longs for the acceptance and position she feels she deserves. This is truly a powerful story, even moreso because itis true, of passion and what revolution can do in the light of modern Cuban history.

What a great read! Wendy Gimbel gives her readers the tastes and smells of Castro's Cuba and a sense of its place in history, while presenting a story as subtle as it is dishy! This is like a Cuban "Bill and Monica" as told by Tolstoy!

Gimbel's account presents four generations of women whose lives are not only caught in the history of modern Cuba, but shaped by one woman's actual love affair with Fidel.(Gimbel even managed to get Castro's love letters!)

The grace of Gimbel's prose makes Havana Dreams an aesthetic--almost musical--pleasure to read.