Books

Finding the Deep River Within: A Woman's Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life

Average customer rating:

Great book
Life doesn't have to be fast to be fun!
Great Guidance for a More Meaningful Life
choose Abby Seixas new book,Finding the Deep River Within
Easy to Use

Finding the Deep River Within: A Woman's Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life
Abby Seixas
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0787980978

Book Description

For over two decades, Abby Seixas has taught women how to slow down and reclaim their lives from the tyranny of their to-do lists. Based on the experiences of women whose lives have been transformed by her workshops, this highly anticipated first book presents her comprehensive program to nurture contact with the Deep River Within, the soul-nourishing dimension in each of us that flows beneath the busyness of daily life. With gentle encouragement, practical guidance, and compelling stories of struggle and success, Finding the Deep River Within details the three preliminary doorways and six core practices for inviting the rich resources of our deeper nature into everyday life.

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-03-08

I love this book. It has practical advice for helping women to evaluate their lives and find balance. It is not another "how to organize" your life book. It truly invites one to take stock of what is important from inside out. It is a great resource for me as a retreat director.

Life doesn't have to be fast to be fun!.......2006-10-28

"A deep river" is a marvelous alternative metaphor for living that feels like endless "white water." While Seixas' advice to take time for yourself, befriend your feelings, and do what you love is not new, her written expression is compelling--even enchanting. For a more thoroughly Christian perspective on slowing down and living delight, see Addicted to Hurry: Spiritual Strategies for Slowing Down and Holy Play: The Joyful Adventure of Unleashing Your Divine Purpose.

Great Guidance for a More Meaningful Life.......2006-10-05

The six practices Abby Seixas describes in Finding the Deep River Within contain sound psycho-spiritual skills that bring me home to myself and provide excellent guidance for my clients. The great value of this book is that Seixas has laid out these essential skills in a coherent, well-organized way that's easy to understand and inviting to use. Her writing is direct and intimate, and her message is desperately needed to create balance in our demanding world. Valuable wisdom for enriching one's life, and a treasure to give to your women friends.
Jean Guenther, Psychotherapist, Burlington, VT

choose Abby Seixas new book,Finding the Deep River Within.......2006-09-19

Amidst the clamor of self help books, take a quiet moment to reach out and choose Abby Seixas' new book, "Finding the Deep River Within: A Woman's Guide to Recovering Balance and Meaning in Everyday Life."
This jewel of a book is not another guide on how to become more organized; to "pack more into already overbusy schedules," nor is it a solely spiritual guide to meditation and slowing down. In a personal, accessible style, Abby takes on the plight of real women in 2006, who hunger for something not yet named, perhaps....the sacred in daily living.
She starts with guidance to identify and begin to tackle the external blocks to living more mindfully , providing good solid tools. Then, she takes us inside to explore the blocking beliefs there, giving gentle guidance and practical advice along the way. Finally, she addresses (in a way that draws one in) the larger implicatons of this culturally radical shift in relation to self.
Abby fills in the space between most self help books of our time. As a therapist and busy woman, I can say this is a must read for all women struggling with balance and meaning, today.

Easy to Use.......2006-09-18

For people like me, who move at too constant and rapid a pace, a book like this needs to send a understandable and concise message. It also needs to be well-organized and formatted for easy usage. I found all this to be true about *Finding the Deep River Within.* In a clear and concise format, this book gave me great tools for slowing down and finding my way back from all the busyness, to ME! I also found the quotes particularly helpful. The author found beautiful and inspiring passages from widespread sources, which will continue to inform me for years. I plan to copy several of them, and keep them in my day planner for a "Deep River boost" when the pace of life gets the better of me.

Average customer rating:

A good read
Simply Marvelous
Innocent Until Proven Guilty
Forced Into Action
Riveting!!! Could not put it down.

River Woman: A Novel
Donna Hemans
Manufacturer: Washington Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0743410394

Book Description

In an unforgettable debut, Donna Hemans crafts a haunting novel of promises kept and promises broken, exploring the unyielding bonds joining mother and child -- bonds that neither time nor betrayal can sever.

As she washes her laundry in the river, Kelithe is startled from her daydreams by the sound of women screaming. It is not until she sees a small body in the shallow water that she realizes what has happened. Her young son, Timothy, has drowned in the Rio Minho.

The women of Standfast, Jamaica, whisper that she stood and watched Timothy die so that she could seize her chance to join her mother in America. Numb with grief, Kelithe lacks the strength to confront them. She can only wait for the funeral. And for her mother to come stand by her at last.

It is into this cauldron of guilt, grief, and suspicion that Sonya returns to bury the grandson she has never seen. Fifteen years ago, promising to send for her five-year-old daughter soon, soon, Sonya set off for America. Year after year, she struggled to get settled enough to do right by Kelithe. But even as Sonya married and had a second daughter, Kelithe grew to womanhood under her grandmother's care, found fleeting love in a stranger's arms, and had a shame-filled pregnancy of her own. And when Sonya was finally ready, there was room only for Kelithe. Timothy would have to stay behind. Kelithe would have to abandon him as she herself had been abandoned. But Sonya would send for him soon, soon.

What really happened at the Rio Minho? It is a question Sonya cannot ask, and an accusation Kelithe will not answer. And it lies at the heart of this shattering novel. In spare, powerful prose, Donna Hemans lays bare the human heart, and the many facets of truth.

Customer Reviews:

A good read.......2006-11-06

River Woman was very interesting. At times I thought it was slow moving and it was hard to tell sometimes whom was talking. After a while I wanted to stop reading it because I thought it wasn't moving fast enough but somehow the characters drew me in. I wanted to continue reading to find out if Kelithe allowed her son to drown. This book is very sad just reading about Kelithe's mother did not stand by her or feel like she was her daughter. Her mother Sonya is a hypocrite because she attempted an abortion when she was pregnant with Kelithe. It made me wonder, why couldn't Sonya show her daughter any love? And the reaction of the town was just aweful but this book made me think. This is not a book for entertainment but for thinking and seeing a trajedy from a different perspective.

If someone is interested in a funny and entertaining book this one is not it. This is a riveting book that takes you places where most of us have never been.

Simply Marvelous.......2005-08-12

I loved the story, although very sad. The language is simple, lyrical and beautiful.
The death of Timothy, Kelithe's son highlights the dilemma that every mother could face. I guess society expects mothers to support their children, guilty or not guilty. I have seen mothers of serial killers, murderers and rapists standing behind their sons/daughters and being present during court proceedings. What does it take for a mother to defend her child?
This is a good debut by Donna Hemans and I look forward to her new novel

Innocent Until Proven Guilty.......2003-05-06

"The people saying she watch the baby drown to get the chance to go a foreign." In Donna Hemans' debut novel RIVER WOMAN, the townspeople of Standfast, Jamaica cry in outrage as 20 year-old mother Kelithe Williams remains free after she allegedly observed her three-year old son, Timothy, drown in the Rio Minho River. Set in a rural community of Jamaica, the citizens of Standfast (stand fast) mourn, riot, protest and in some instances attempt to stone the main character Kelithe, in order to receive justice for a crime they feel has been committed.

Kelithe's mother, Sonya receives news in Brooklyn, NY of her
grandson's tragic demise and her daughter's rumored
incrimination. It has been fifteen years since she last laid eyes on her daughter with a promise of "soon-soon I come for you." Three weeks before Timothy's death, Sonya sends for Kelithe, but with one exception; Timothy must stay behind. With searing questions, Sonya returns to her homeland-to bury a grandchild she never knew and face a daughter she abandoned
long, long ago.

We read Kelithe's painful story as she sorrowfully retreats within herself, never fully mourning the loss of her beloved son, and Sonya's quest for answers as the "country women" relate the purported crime. What really happened that day at the Rio Minho River? Could a mother be guilty of such an act? Could Sonya be partly to blame?

RIVER WOMAN is a mesmerizing narrative, filled with heartrending

emotion of a child's endless quest for her mother's love and
acceptance, and a community's cry for justice . Donna Hemans
expertly intertwines Jamaica's patois with folklore adding credence to this fascinating tale. At times, I found myself laying the book aside as I shed tears of sorrow for the main character, and outrage at a mother's lack of solace. Donna Hemans has placed her mark in literary fiction with this lyrical debut novel!

Reviewed by Nicki Lancaster
APOOO BookClub

Forced Into Action.......2002-11-12

River Woman is a haunting account at one woman's pain of lost love and an entire town's pain of justice denied. Kelithe is a nineteen year old woman whose son, Timothy, drowns in the Rio Minho River as his mother washed laundry. The other women at the river say that Kelithe stood by and let her son drown so that she could go "foreign" with her mother; a mother that left her in Standfast, Jamaica fifteen years prior.

Enter Sonya, Kelithe's mother, who arrives back in Standfast for the wake. Kelithe denies her role in her son's drowning, while Sonya contemplates her daughter's role by shifting back and forth between blaming and not blaming her and listening to the natives' account of the drowning.

The uniqueness of this story comes in the form of Kelithe and Sonya's contemplation through the reader only. Never do they deny or blame each other verbally for the drowning, the love denied, the false promises or the betrayal. The river and river women are symbolic as they represent all that Standfast has endured since Sonya was a young girl in Standfast and before. This incident forces the town into action and produces emotions that the island of Jamaica has never seen by the residents of Standfast.

Written in a very lyrical tone, River Woman is a novel that will have you contemplating the ramifications of Sonya's actions fifteen years prior and her actions in the present. This is a sad account that leaves you wondering what exactly happened at the river that day and why.
Reviewed by Dawn R. Reeves, Apooo BookClub

Riveting!!! Could not put it down........2002-10-23

I think Donna Hemans did a masterful job with this novel. I picked it up and was unable to put it down until I finished it. The storytelling is wonderful and the character portrayal was first-rate. I would recommend this book whole-heartedly. I am looking forward to Donna's next book.

Shooting the Boh: A Woman's Voyage Down the Wildest River in Borneo

Average customer rating:

More than she bargained for
Compelling but too self-absorbed
There are better Borneo adventure books to read...
One of my all-time favorites
Shooting the Shallows

Shooting the Boh: A Woman's Voyage Down the Wildest River in Borneo
Tracy Johnston
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0679740104
Release Date: 1992-09-01

Amazon.com

Some women seek adventure to test their mettle, suck down jolts of adrenaline, and prove they haven't grown old and indolent. In Shooting the Boh, journalist Tracy Johnston identifies other motivations for joining a group scheduled to raft down a previously uncharted section of the Boh river in Borneo. "I am by nature a passive person who likes excitement; a person with no magnificent obsessions who loves to participate in them," she says. And, too, if she agreed to write an article about it, the trip was free.

So began an arduous, ill-conceived journey that started with her losing a duffle bag of top-notch river gear and swiftly ran up against treacherous rapids, foot rot, hot flashes, Tarzan-like leeches, clouds of sweat bees, and other nerve-racking flora and fauna. While traversing a section of steamy rain forest, Johnston says, "a quarter of the things I touched had thorns or sharp spines and the rest were covered with ants." She replays the highs and lows of the trip in Technicolor, summing up her fellow travelers and their wild ride in fluid, punchy prose. --Francesca Coltrera

Book Description

A thrilling, touching, and densely instructive book, Shooting the Boh is also a frank self-portrait of a woman facing her most corrosive fears--and triumphing over them--with fortitude and unflagging wit. "A captivating and truly offbeat rite of passage."--Eric Hansen.

Customer Reviews:

More than she bargained for.......2005-11-23

This book tells the story of a journalist who nearly got killed adventuring in the backwoods of Borneo. At a party in San Francisco, Tracy Johnston met the president of Sobek, an outdoor adventure company. Sobek planned to offer a new white water route down the Boh River in Borneo. They were looking for crew members for the test-run, and were delighted to find Johnston, a proven writer who had previous white water experience. They offered her a free ride in exchange for publicity materials about the trip. So one fateful summer day in the early 1990s, Johnston landed in Jakarta to join the trip. Unfortunately, her luggage didn't land with her, but that was only the first of many challenges to come. During the course of the next few weeks, Johnston would find herself hurtling down an uncharted river, scrambling down muddy boulders, and swimming to save her skin, all while living intimately with folks that had been perfect strangers just days before. If the river trip in itself hadn't been enough, Johnston was also faced with coming to terms with changes in her own body, which had begun to develop the aches and pains of middle age. She found herself constantly comparing her performance, condition, and appearance to those of the others in the group, all younger than her.

I almost put this book down after the first few chapters, where Johnston comes across as a bit whiny or petty, and a not-so-skilled traveler, despite her experience. For instance, she explains how vital her air mattress was to her, yet she packed this item in her checked bag. Meanwhile, in her carry-on, she somehow had room for 2 sun dresses. She had already been to Indonesia the year before, but somehow during that trip, she had missed the fact that sun dresses are entirely inappropriate for the culture. We get rather shocked when French women take off their bathing suit tops on American beaches, but that pales to how Indonesians feel when tourists walk around showing bare shoulders and knee caps. For heaven sakes, when traveling, either follow local rules about covering parts of your body, or just stay home! Besides, Indonesia is one place to go where you don't need to pack any clothes at all. For women of average size, all you need to take in your carry-on (and checked bags, too, for that matter) is possibly a single change of shirt and some underwear. As soon as you arrive in the country, head to the nearest market, and you can purchase an entire wardrobe of attractive, comfortable clothing for less than what you might pay for a single outfit here. Meanwhile, in your carry-on, since you don't need to take other clothes, you'll have room for essentials like a camera, medications (especially aspirin and antiseptics), and maybe even an air mattress if you think you're going to need one. (Basically, the same advice goes for men, although larger men may have to look longer and go to tourist markets in order to find clothing in their size.) As Johnston meets up with the other female members of the crew, she is blown away by their beauty, and treats us to some catty remarks on their behavior. Finally, as the trip progresses, Johnston finds that in order to survive, she must become more introspective, and at this point, the story finally takes off. This is not a story about Borneo or Indonesia-instead it is a survival tale of hurtling down a river out of control.

Compelling but too self-absorbed.......2004-12-21

I have to give Johnston credit for being able to record and recount this arduous trip with such clarity. When one is exhausted, hounded by sweat-sucking bees, fearing that she may not survive, it takes a lot of persistence to keep a thorough journal. She's done this and written competently about the adventure, but this book ultimately is a let-down. Here's why:

Johnston is too self-absorbed and often expects others to take care of her needs. Her luggage is lost and even after another member of the trip lends her a sleeping bag, she's miffed that no one would loan her an air mattress. She feels that because she has a back problem every one should accommodate her needs. It's classic lack of self-responsibility - you often see this on river trips and other risky expeditions. Just as Jon Krakauer discovers on his "assault" on Everest in "Into Thin Air," people on guided trips expect all their needs to be met. Rather than thinking what she could do, despite her physical limits, to help the group, she castigates the others for not helping her enough.

As a raft guide, journalist, and author ("A Sense of Place"), I'm aware of the challenges Johnston faced, but I wish she'd painted a better picture of the other people on the trip. We hear about the guides' daring rescues and Sylvie's preening, but we don't get more than a two-dimensional view of the other guests on the trip.

And I notice that though Johnston often talks about the jungle spirits, she doesn't revere the life of the jungle. She goes out of her way to toss a centipede in the river, smear a leach to death even though it wasn't on her, and chortles over drowned bees. Of course I can understand this reaction to pests but it shows a lack of reverence for the place.

A couple of quibbles: she often uses "oar" as a verb, as in the guide was "oaring" the boat. You don't oar a boat - you row it. And the cover isn't a real image - it's two pictures, one of a longboat superimposed on the rapids. I don't blame Johnston for the cover - doubtless she had little or nothing to do with it - but it seems somehow symbolic of the book's lack of authenticity.

Despite all these faults, once I started reading I wanted to keep going to the end.

There are better Borneo adventure books to read..........2004-07-19

Unlike Redmond O'Hanlon's book on the same subject, which is hysterically funny, Shooting the Boh is midly funny and one that I think will appeal more to female readers (my husband found this to be quite dull) due to the self-confessed menopausal musings of the author on traveling down river with a boat full of men and a younger, svelte, pretty (French) woman whom Johnston claims seemed to be immune to sweating or even appearing the slightest bit wrinkled by their circumstances!

Unlike O'Hanlon's interactions with the locals or his constantt making fun of himself (and his effete poet traveling companion), at times Johnston seemed to turn her narrative too much to her own neuroses (and internal observations of herself & the other travelers) and thereby lose the experience of going down a river in Borneo for the reader... which is why I read the book in the first place.

Eric Hansen's STRANGER IN THE FOREST or O'Hanlon's book on Borneo are far superior.

One of my all-time favorites.......2003-03-29

I've bought this book as a gift for at least five other people and will probably buy more in the future.
Ms. Johnston uses the white-water rafting trip from hell as a metaphor for her voyage into menopause, lost youth, and self-discovery.
Don't miss it!

Shooting the Shallows.......2002-05-03

A band of adventure lovers tries to be the first to raft down the Boh River in Borneo. You'd think it would be a ripping good adventure story: they're out in the middle of nowhere with no rescue radios to call for help, on an uncharted river without good maps, riding in rafts that flip over when they hit the rocks wrong. They barely miss going over a waterfall, the three-day trip is on day nine, they're running out of food, and foot rot is making it really tough to walk.

But incredibly, the author downplays all these dangers and instead gives us a book-length musing on her fading youth and beauty.

She's endlessly fascinated with co-tourist Sylvie, a twenty-something fashion model whose reason for being on the trip is never adequately explained. She carefully documents Sylvie's laughing comments in French, the way she sleeps, her videotaped snapshots of the beautiful people on the trip, and her every mini-bikini and clean, dry shirt. With Sylvie around, says the author, "I could see that men were ignoring me and I didn't like it."

She gives us every nuance of Sylvie's jungle romance with Mike the hunky boatman, from his initial attentions to their every disappearance later on. The pair could have been used to good advantage, giving the author a chance to reflect on her own marriage to a man who doesn't accompany her on adventures. Kelly Winters is frank about her personal life in WALKING HOME, because her personal life has everything to do with why she's on the trip.

But not Johnston. Not even the onset of hot flashes crack her. Proof that her childbearing days are over (even if she does survive the trip) provoke no thoughts on the choices she's made. We are given no information as to whether she has kids or not, or whether her career has worked out the way she'd expected. Menopause hits and she never once thinks about what might have been. She never once wonders if she's made the right choices.

Indeed, her major annoyance is not her hot flashes (or the bees, leeches, or poisonous snakes) but the fact that Sylvie is consistently failing to loan her an air mattress. Of all the nerve, can you believe it? An air mattress, the one thing she cannot live without.

And why doesn't Johnston have an air mattress? Well, her luggage never made it to Jakarta. She went out shopping for replacement supplies, but was apparently too jetlagged to remember anything that she'd spent months acquiring back at home. She only manages to buy tennis shoes ("too large"), a flashlight ("too powerful"), a towel ("the size of a doily"), a pair of shorts, and unsatisfactory flowered bedsheets.

But sirrah! The intrepid adventurer doesn't turn back, she goes anyway...and spends the entire trip begging foot powder and flashlight batteries from everyone there, even the river guides who need them. She makes no attempt to adequately explain her problem to anyone, and when they react badly, she wants us to pity her.

Oh, and she'd injured her back a month before the trip and can't do any heavy lifting.

She was no more revealing about anyone else on the trip, either. Not once is anyone shown to be, for example, *afraid*. No one is described in any revealing detail. Her big revelation has nothing to do with death or life, but rather that Sylvie's constant body checking for blemishes, and her huge wardrobe packed in double plastic bags is a good set of living skills for the rain forest.

Meanwhile, all the real dangers are waved away; they're the guides' problem. It's all too clear that this tourist has paid her money and will sit in the raft and be one with the rain forest and write in her journal until it's time to beg for stuff.

An unsatisfactory adventure all around.

Woman of the River: Georgie White Clark, White Water Pioneer

Average customer rating:

Life and Times of a River Rat
Trips, travails, and triumphsý

Woman of the River: Georgie White Clark, White Water Pioneer
Dick Westwood
Manufacturer: Utah State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0874212340

Book Description

Georgie White Clark became one of the best-known river guides on the Colorado River. By pioneering the use of large rubber rafts, she helped turn an elite adventure sport into a widely enjoyed outdoor activity.

Customer Reviews:

Life and Times of a River Rat.......2005-07-27

A biography of one of the pioneers of commercial river rafting on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. Georgie--adventurer, raconteur, eccentric--started by swimming the rapids in the river, and continued running large commercial trips into her 80's in the 1990's.

Trips, travails, and triumphsý.......2001-08-02

You may be as surprised by this book as I was - I bought it thinking that I OUGHT to read it to learn more about a river-running legend, but I didn't expect to enjoy it all that much. I was wrong. Author Richard Westwood engagingly tells the story of Georgie White Clark and how she came to be one of the most celebrated pioneers of Western United State river-running, especially on the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. In surprising detail (including the names of many of her passengers and boatmen) this book describes the trips, travails, and triumphs of Georgie's long career here in the United State and elsewhere. The book gives brief details of Georgie's early years, but focuses on her river-running years starting in 1945 when she and Harry Aleson swam from Diamond Creek to Lake Mead, through 1992 when she died.

To the author's credit he does not dodge the controversies that have marred Georgie's legend. Westwood frankly acknowledges and, in some instances, documents the validity of some of the criticisms leveled at Georgie over the years. He states what he knows or what his considerable research revealed, and leaves the conclusions up to the reader.

Through this book you will get an unvarnished portrait of a unique individual, someone who left her imprint on a sport that largely didn't exist when she started and was a multi-million dollar industry when she died. You'll learn about an incredibly complex person: alternately engaging or aloof, compassionate or driven -- but always a pioneer. This very readable book includes over 50 photographs and maps that bring to life much of what is written, and give the reader a glimpse of Georgie's world.

Driftwood Valley: A Woman Naturalist in the Northern Wilderness (Northwest Reprints Series)

Average customer rating:

Driftwood Valley ý Worth Re-Reading
A Field Naturalist's Classic
awesome
Move Over Annie and Tell Henry David the News

Driftwood Valley: A Woman Naturalist in the Northern Wilderness (Northwest Reprints Series)
Theodora C. Stanwell-Fletcher , and Wendell introduction by Berry
Manufacturer: Oregon State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0870715240

Customer Reviews:

Driftwood Valley ý Worth Re-Reading.......2001-06-28

I have an autographeed copy the ©1946 edition of Driftwood Valley. I had the privilege of growing up in the same rural Pennsylvania town as Ms. Fletcher. When I was a teenager, I was employed by Ms. Fletcher to clean house for her one summer while she was away. She is a very nice woman with a remarkable background. She has set aside a nature conservatory in Northeast Pennsylvania which is open to the public. She has always been active in protecting the environment and wildlife. I re-read Driftwood Valley every couple of years and just love the adventure and challenges of this true-life story. What made it even more exiting for me is that the author was from my hometown.

A Field Naturalist's Classic.......2001-02-17

I am pleased to see this book has recently been reissued. I have an old, but treasured paperback copy. The author is observant of, informative about, and acutely responsive to the environment she describes. Having experienced winters in that region I would say she is especially adept at rendering the harsh, but radiant winters.

awesome.......2000-01-05

This book is an amazing journey into the frontiers of nature, exploration and science in the 1930's.

Move Over Annie and Tell Henry David the News.......1999-12-19

Do not buy one copy of this book! When you finish you will press it on a friend, who in turn will press it on another. In a month it will be out of the county; in two out of the state. You will not see the book again and you will sorely miss it. So buy two copies: one for re-reading, one for evangelism.

Driftwood Valley is easily the best book written on an outdoor theme by a woman. Why it remains buried in obscurity is a wonder. The best contemporary writing in the genre connot match it. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek comes close; but to read the two books successively is to realize the limitations of Annie Dillard. Stanwell-Fletcher stands in better company with Thoreau. In her depictions of winter life in particular she approaches the master. One is reminded constantly of "The Pond in Winter", "Brute Neighbors", and "Winter Animals". There is some of the grandeur of Thoreau's contemporary, Francis Parkman, in her prose, too, when she lifts her eye to sweep the horizens of the immense British Columbian landscape.

Ultimately, this is a big, confident, heroic book. No trembler in the world's genetically reductionist sphere is Theodora Stanwell-Fletcher. She sees Heaven's glory shine, and revels in it. So will you when you read this most neglected of American masterpieces!

A last note: Ms Stanwell-Fletcher is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College. I learned this from the bookjacket of the original edition I picked up for a dime at a yard sale. Having spent a year at Mount Holyoke as an exchange student, I took special heed of this and called their library seeking information. Was she still alive, etc. But no one there had heard of her! Later, a friend in South Hadley went to the alumni office, learned that she is indeed still with us, and was able to forward a fan letter to which she received a gracious thank you. I would suggest that any Holyoke grad reading this get the book, read it, contact your alma mater, and demand that they honor this lady. Ms Stanwell-Fletcher deserves it!

Average customer rating:

If you can't afford to buy this book... then steal a copy!
A must for women starting out in the sport

Fly Fishing: A Woman's Guide
Dana Rikimaru
Manufacturer: International Marine/Ragged Mountain Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0071581855

Book Description

"I knew I was in trouble when I began to dream about fly fishing ... Fly fishing had become a passion, not just a pastime. I was hooked," writes author Dana Rikimaru, one of America's leading fly fishing instructors, of her beginnings in this poetic sport. Filled with adventures and encouragement contributed by women who are already fly fishing, this woman-to-woman guide gives you everything you need to wade right in ... to know where to go ... what to take ... and how to savor every moment of discovering a new sport. It even provides resources that can connect you with other women fly fishers. So whether you fly fish "to catch fish" (even if you release them to be caught another day) or because, as the author says, "trout live in beautiful places," this guide is a woman's path into a very special activity.

Customer Reviews:

If you can't afford to buy this book... then steal a copy!.......2001-05-15

Prior to reading this book, I found I had so many questions, and that was after taking a 3 day class at a local fly shop. I blundered about all summer trying to remember how to do this or that. Dana answered ALL of my questions on general fly fishing in this one book. She covers everything from gear to safety (for women fishing alone), from knots to bug selection, from casting to playing fish. And all in clear, concise words... and she does it without putting you to sleep.

You WANT to go out and fish the second you finish reading it. I am sending my copy to a close friend, who wants to learn (her grown sons insist she is too old to learn!) And fellows, don't let the title fool you, this book works for you guys too (even if you hide the cover or pretend it is for your wife or girlfriend!)

I was lucky enough to watch Dana in action teaching this month. I watched her take 12 kids, ages 14-18, who had no prior fishing experience (let alone fly fishing!), and teach them so well that they all caught fish over the next few days! (These fish were in Colorado, on water that gets pounded by tourists and are educated and wary trout.) She even made knot tying fun!

Read the book! And if you are very lucky, you might just get a chance to take a class with her or watch her teach! I can honestly say, whether in the flesh or in print, she is the finest and most passionate instructor I have ever seen or read.

A must for women starting out in the sport.......2001-02-20

As a new member of the fly-fishing community I was looking for a book that would shed some light on the world I was entering. I found this book to be very helpful and informative. Rikimaru's writing style is conversational, while still being educational. The book is filled with great tips and stories, as well as many appropriate illustrations. I lent this book to a friend, an avid fly fisherwoman, and she was very impressed with the comprehensive content of the book.

Nile River Woman: The Very First Poems by Kola Boof

Average customer rating:

Haunting and Very, Very Rare
Poetry with Soul and Depth
A rough life does not equal good poetry
Black Beauty's Totem (A True Queen)
Sex-Kitten.net Review

Nile River Woman: The Very First Poems by Kola Boof
Kola Boof
Manufacturer: Door of Kush
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 097120196X

Book Description

Released for the first time in the United States, "Nile River Woman" (a 2004 Black History Month Selection) is the provocative poetry collection that got its author, Kola Boof, kicked out of Morocco in 1997 and threatened with death by her former lover, Osama Bin Laden, in 1998.

Widely regarded as a classic of Post-Colonial African literature, "Nile River Woman" (originally released as "Every Little Bit Hurts") tantalizes and engages the reader's imagination as Kola Boof uses conversational motifs, both political and sexual to conjure a dreamily erotic and angry bossa nova type landscape.

Most of Boof's most famous poems are collected here--including the scary but poignant "Fly Away Sleeping", the sweetly hopeful "Black Beauty's Totem", the understated but evocative "Ebrig: Gone Dry", the hauntingly triumphant "Bint il Nil" and countless other gems...from the freshly original "The Conquering Lion" (A poem honoring Malcolm X) to Kola Boof's inclusion of Queen Nefertiti's favorite menstration song--"The Written Words of Faceless Women"--which was originally sang in the 3rd Century B.C. by Black women of the Nile River Valley.

The 28 brand new poems that have been added to the collection (college radio favorite "I Love My Man" is included here) only further prove the viability and strength of Kola Boof's artistry.

Boof's willingness to flaunt a surprising vulnerability along with her trademark rage and sex tease infuses the book with a futuristic edge that only enhances an already solid and powerful anthology.

--Hans VolloKerk, Editor of the original version of "Nile River Woman" ("Every Little Bit Hurts").

Customer Reviews:

Haunting and Very, Very Rare.......2006-06-11

I was washing the dishes the other day and some of the poems from this book kept interrupting my thoughts. Ditto driving in the car to pick up my son. This is a new classic if for no other reason than it will shake you up "racially" and "sexually". The poems are not only spare and powerful with many double meanings, but they're also relentlessly personal and will hit too close to home for some readers. Overall, this book oozes with pain, beauty and rage. What makes it a spectacle is that the author doesn't care about what people thinks. She bares her soul and it is a glorious soul.

HIGHLIGHTS:

"Got a Moon Above Me"
"I Am My Own Daughter"
"Fly Away Sleeping"
"THanksgiving Day"
"Baby It's Cold Outside"
"Nile River Woman"
"Bint il Nil"

Poetry with Soul and Depth.......2006-06-05

I just want to say that it's not everyday we get to hear the perspectives of Black people who come from Egypt and Sudan as the gifted Ms. Kola Boof does.

Her poetry is not only sublime, but her themes are highly original and her voice is so raw and full of thunder that many thin-skinned folks just can't get it. Others, who hate Kola Boof for her political and social views, are totally scared that she is going to be heard and understand by the masses.

This is a masterful poetry collection that dramatically and emotionally exposes the true heart of a very brave African woman. Poetry doesn't get any better than this.

A BLACK MAN.

A rough life does not equal good poetry.......2006-05-27

Yes, she's had a rough life. Does that make her poetry good, or even bearable? Unfortunately, no it does not. It would indeed appear that reviewers are praising this author for having survived many difficulties rather than taking an objective look at her poetry.

When I read poetry I really don't care about the author's personal history. I only care whether the poetry is worth reading. This is not. Reviewers who write excessively about the author's personal travails, her gender or her race, rather than discussing the meat of her writing, are impliedly admitting that the poetry is not worth discussing.

Black Beauty's Totem (A True Queen).......2006-04-30

I had the opportunity to hear Kola Boof's lecture this past week at CAL LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY. I was blown away by her beauty and her presence. Plus she's brilliant. I consider her to be one of the few artists and writers I know who is brave enough to refuse "assimilation" and do it openly in their work.
That is why I have to give this book, and her autobiography "Diary of a Lost Girl" 5 STARS each.

I'm not the most sensitive brotha down with the "women" issues and stuff, but this woman and her books have unhinged me. I feel like a part of me is waking up from reading her. My favorite poems in "NILE RIVER WOMAN":

"THANKSGIVING DAY"--TIGHT--every black family should adopt this
for the holidays.

"EVERY LITTLE BIT HURTS"---deep

"THE CHILDREN WITH AFRICAN HAIR"--man, man!

"MY MASTER, MY HUSBAND"--just plain sensuous for lovers

"I CAN DIE"--another good one for lovers

"BINT IL NIL"--some serious DEEP thoughts on religion

"CHRISTMAS ON THE NILE"--amazing yall

"ESTHER ROLLE"--I love this poem! It's a salute to the mother on "Good Times".

"FLY AWAY SLEEPING"--the deepest poem in the book (*NEW CLASSIC), but it gets tough competition, because this whole book is pretty deep.

"BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE"--Absolutely Classic!!

"TO BE INVISIBLE"--this poem is just COLD. I love it.

"BLACK BEAUTY'S TOTEM"--I read this one to my woman cause she's a black Queen and I love her.

Sex-Kitten.net Review.......2005-08-25

A collection of poems by Kola Boof. Kola herself says "'Nile River Woman' was my earliest, angriest book, and it will be interesting to see whether or not a White woman can really review it." Does Gracie get it? Yes. No. Maybe so.

I don't know how any woman can read, and not feel how Kola bleeds ~ not realize that it is our blood too. But if it's the sorrow that haunts, it's the strength that awes.

White, black, green, you'll be moved if you read with your soul.

As a white American woman, I may not know or fully understand the violations. I may not fully appreciate the experiences which the author has endured. But reading her words, it is possible to recall my own pain ~ and Kola's words pry such wounds open ~ and multiply it for events such as she shows me. Her pain is not my pain. To pretend such would be a lie. But her pain becomes one with my pain... the energies touch... and sitting alone in my quiet space with them all, I care for them all ...and I pray for a Goddess to come carry them all away.

Are there angry, accusatory lines which point themselves at me? Yes. No. Maybe so. At my whiteness, yes. At me as a person directly, no. As a privileged person, who by my white American-ness, can be seen as a threat? Maybe so. Does this anger me? Yes. But it is not the anger of a defensive person. Rather it is the anger of an activist. The anger of a woman, a being, a spirit that feels shame at what horrors exist, and knows that in order for it to end, we must all first see and acknowledge it.

I do not need to be responsible for what someone else has done, but I am responsible for my choices: Am I to turn a blind eye, to twist words, or join the revolution where we all may dance.

If you can be larger than what divides us, yet smaller than what holds us together, as people, then you will enjoy Kola's poems. Yes, 'enjoy.' For like a good cry with a dear friend, the release brought of sharing shows more than sorrow. It's an expression of trust to speak the truth, even through the pain: Where there is integrity, there is hope.

(Condensed Review)

Average customer rating:

A warm, introspective read, filled with lush imagery of beautiful natural wonders.
Not the most uplifting book I've ever read, but.....
Another great book by Rick Bass.

PLATTE RIVER CL
Rick Bass
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Lives of Rocks
The Hermit's Story: Stories
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In the Loyal Mountains
The Sky, the Stars, the Wilderness

ASIN: 0395680808

Customer Reviews:

A warm, introspective read, filled with lush imagery of beautiful natural wonders........2007-06-09

Award-winning author Rick Bass presents Platte River, an anthology of three novellas each of which presents a human heart experiencing the infinite majesty of God's natural creation. "Mahatma Joe" is the tale of an evangelist who makes a home for himself in Grass Valley, Montana, and the woman who falls head over heels for his vision of the world; "Field Events" is the story of a woman who pines for an athlete who is even more muscular than her discus-tossing brothers; and "Platte River" is about a man's meditation on the nature and meaning of loneliness, peace, and the search for love. A warm, introspective read, filled with lush imagery of beautiful natural wonders.

Not the most uplifting book I've ever read, but............2001-04-30

You get an overall sense of gloom from the peoples lives in the book, but I believe the author wants you to look deeper than just that. One story is basically the more the change, the more the things remain the same. Another looks at peoples strengths vs. weakness's and surprisingly where you will find them. And, finally, another looks at looking inside yourself. Among this, is the most beautiful and desriptive narrative of mother nature in all her glory. You can easily picture Exactly where and what he is talking about. It never fails that a few words thrown together will bring back memories of your own that you had long forgotten.

Another great book by Rick Bass........1997-04-10

These stories are about something that no one else I know of is writing about. I can't make out what it is exactly. I'll leave lists of superlatives to professional book reviewers and just give you what for me is the bottom line -- this book is important

Average customer rating:

If it doesn't have punctuation in the title, it's not really Faulkner
Modernist Faulkner
"The Wild Palms"--used as a meditation by Thomas Merton
Buy it, read it
A Great Introduction to Faulkner

Wild Palms
William Faulkner
Manufacturer: Modern Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Absalom, Absalom!
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The Hamlet
Light in August (The Corrected Text)

ASIN: 0394605136
Release Date: 1984-11-12

Customer Reviews:

If it doesn't have punctuation in the title, it's not really Faulkner.......2006-12-11

I supposed this was not a major work because I hadn't heard about it before. Nope, it's major. The most popular form of this book is to rip it in half and such that Old Man is by itself as a short novel. That's really a shame. Old Man, is a rollicking story of a man swept away on the Mississippi during the flooding of New Orleans in 1927 (Hoover's deft handling of the crisis is a large part of the reason that he became president). However, the story doubles its power when it is juxtaposed with the story of two lovers flooded out of civilization by their aching need for each other. You get two uncontrollable forces of nature, both horrifiying to encounter, and both demolishing the prisons within which the protagonists of each story are previously held (let's say the medical career path of one, and actual prison for the other). A primary question in each is whether it's better to be back in the prison or not, and there's a strong case for yes in each.

Both stories are good, but what makes this spectacular is simply the fact that the experiment is attempted. Who does things like this? There's a thematic link between the stories, but it's fairly loose. However, the back and forth interspersion paces the stories perfectly. In non-stop presentation, I think the tone of either of these would be too much to take. As it is, though, this is actually a page turner. More impressively, these aren't two stories that were slapped together (a la the Golden Slumbers medley (God forgive me) or Scenes from an Italian Restaurant) but were written at the same time after a major heartbreak. There's also the greatest two word last line of any novel that I'm aware of. I won't spoil it.

This isn't a great introduction to Faulkner, but it's a fantastic example of why people who love him love him. Milan Kundera singled this one out, maybe not as a favorite, but as a book that should be more highly recognized. I couldn't agree more. Faulkner has the problem of too many masterpieces. At this stage of his career, it's hard to ignore any of them.

Modernist Faulkner.......2006-10-08

Wild Palms

This is a Faulkner must-read, but not without some problems. "Wild Palms" is as modernist a novel as anything by Virginia Woolf. The alternating stories - which seem to have no surface relationship whatsoever, is daring and artsy stuff. But does it work? The "Wild Palms" portion tells the story of two lovers, one who is married, who cast everything to the wind in order to live a bohemian life devoted to Love. I noticed one reviewer commented that theirs was a selfless love. Quite the contrary. Oh, within their bubble, Charlotte and Harry are as devoted to each other as Dante's Paolo and Francesca. And like those two, Harry and Charlotte are immolated within their own choices, their own lusts. The impact on others is never a real consideration, as they act out, with heroic resolve, their devotion - to Love. There are passages within the Wild Palms portion that are simply soaring in their beauty. It will have you recalling, A Farewell to Arms, especially the part that takes place in the Western mountains.

Old Man, which is much anthologized and thus regrettably removed from the context of this novel, in contrast to the tragic Wild Palms, is almost like low comedy - Faulkner style. There is of course powerful writing - especially the great descriptions of the Flood, that sounds like a King James appendix from Genesis. What's interesting is how the characters of Old Man are never really revealed as they are in Wild Palms. The poor convict, who shepherds the woman and her infant child along, is always having bad stuff happen to him. And he deals with it. And the woman herself, you hardly even know. She's a presence, a responsibility, a reminder if you will, of perhaps a higher order that we as humans should respond to. The two operate as archetypes more than multi-faceted characters, but archetypes have great power, as any reader of the Bible knows. On the other hand, Charlotte and Harry serve only themselves, and we are intensely aware of every shift in emotion -- and its cause. Faulkner clearly was aware of this contrast, and how you chew on it will determine what you think of the novel - and it is a novel, not just two separate stories. Faulkner links the two with Hope, as Harry makes a choice while looking through the prison bars at the end: Grief is better than nothing, which is a no-brainer for the convict of Old Man. What is also interesting is how Faulkner timed the portions. Wild Palms, which starts the book, takes place in 1937. Old Man takes place in 1927. Only ten years separates the two, but the time of Old Man is already nearly a mythic one, much like the Old Testament. The 1937 portion is hardly New Testament, and more likely an indictment from Faulkner. The modern world, with all its dehumanizing aspects, presses down and around Harry and Charlotte. There is No Exit - except the one they've sworn to as a couple. And there is something in that, however charged with Right and Wrong such a choice may be. At least Harry and Charlotte are still human. Read it.

"The Wild Palms"--used as a meditation by Thomas Merton.......2006-01-26

This book was recommended to me a few months ago by Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk who died in 1968. How this happened is as follows: I was looking through some book cases in the back of a local Catholic church, when I found some audiotapes of lectures given by Thomas Merton to monks in training during the early 60's. I had read his biography, "The Seven Storey Mountain," and wanted to hear his voice and get an idea of what he was like. I listened to many of his tapes--some were good, some not so good--but one of the tapes, titled "The Deluge," was particularly interesting to me. It discussed how the monks could use the writings of William Faulkner as inspiration for meditation on the eternal Truths of the human condition. Most of Merton's discussion was about Faulkner's book "The Wild Palms." I recommend Merton's tape "The Deluge" for those who want an interesting perspective about this book.

As for my comments about this book, I believe it is one of the most pro-life books I have ever read, particularly with its theme of abortion in "Wild Palms" contrasted with the theme of the birth of a thriving infant during the flood in "The Old Man." Also, this book shows that you never know where you will encounter virtue. The convict displays great virtue in "The Old Man" while the modern, educated people in "Wild Palms" show an obvious lack of it.

In summary, if you liked "The Wild Palms," you should listen to Merton's tape, "The Deluge." You can probably still get this through the Merton Society.

Buy it, read it.......2004-10-08

This is the 4th or 5th Faulkner novel I've read. I think it should be better known. The tile of the novel is important, The Wild Palms: [If I FORGET Thee, Jerusalem]. Memory is an important theme of the novel. Pay attention to it. "The Wild Palms" is a New Testament parable, of sorts. The other novella, "Old Man," is an Old Testament parable. Escape is an important theme. Wilbourne (=Will Born, Still Born) and Charlotte travel to New Orleans, San Antonio, Chicago, etc. trying to escape. From what? From whom? On the flip side, the convict can't escape, he's a convict. But he gets an opportunity to escape in the big flood (Noah) but doesn't. Why doesn't he try to escape? Charlotte should be compared to the woman with child the convict "saves" in the flood. Abortion is a theme. Mysogony may also be a theme. Is it? Willbourne is weak, Charlotte is strong. The convict is stupid--his girlfriend, is she smart, in a calculating way? In the end, is Faulkner obliquely saying the wrong people "hooked up," that Willbourne should have ideally met the woman who has the baby, and the convict should have met Charlotte, who in the beginning of the novel just want to "escape" with Willbourne?

If you keep the above points in mind as you read the novel, perhaps it will draw you in, then you too can drown in the flood of myriad meanings and multiplicity of inferences. Overall, a good, if not great novel. Dark, brooding, nihilistic--very tasty, though! Enjoy!!

A Great Introduction to Faulkner.......2002-07-08

I love this guy Faulkner. I read another half chapter of The Wild Palms on the train.
Never read anything by him before.

Faulkner's characters don't sit around and examine their navel. They just Do. Yes act on their passions they Do. His characters are not beautiful people. They have scars, injuries, poverty, depraved morals, injustices, suffering upon suffering. What makes the Wild Palms beautiful is the passion of people living life right on the bone.

A married woman is planning on abandoning her husband and two kids and running away with another man. The other man asks her what about her two kids. On page 41, she answers, "I know the answer to that and I know that I cant change that answer and I dont think I can change me because the second time I ever saw you I learned what I had read in books but I never had actually believed: that love and suffering are the same thing and that the value of love is the sum of what you have to pay for it and anytime you get it cheap you have cheated yourself." No Catholic saint-mystic ever said it better. Pretty good for a crazy Protestant drunk.

You hear talk about stream-of consciousness with James Joyce and Jack Kerouac and so on. This guy Faulkner captures the way our minds think and our mouths talk more realistically than anybody.

Of Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor said, "Nobody wants his mule and wagon stalled on the same track when the Dixie Limited is roaring down."

Something about this book reminds me of the Stephen King material set in the south, the Southern-ness of it and the same kind of characters.

The omniscient author technique is frowned on in serious, modern literature. I don't knw if this aesthetic rule post-dates Faulkner, but he uses it to no ill effect. There's very little difference between when a character is speaking and Faulkner is speaking. It gives the effect of us reading the characters thoughts rather than Faulkner telling us what they are. It works perfectly.

Few to none of the characters in any of the standard, best-seller type books have any inner life. When most of the authors try it, they are quite pathetic at it. I suppose that's because the authors have no inner life themselves. Faulkner does not show us the inner life of any of his characters either. However, as Faulker presents his characters, the reader induces their inner drives from their actions. It works very, very well. Stephen King's characters are like this also.

Stephen King by the way is very steeped in American literary tradition. Essentially, he's New England gothic. He is to Nathaniel Hawthorne what the Frankenstein, the monster, is to Dr. Frankenstein. King is clothed in Hawthorne, bathed in Faulkner and inebriated with Poe. To look at the connection further, I suggest you read the short stories of Hawthorne.

The Way of the River: Adventures and Meditations of a Woman Martial Artist

Average customer rating:

Read this book!
Great Book Bad Cover
The Way of the River...A MUST READ FOR ANYONE...
The Way of the River - Enlightening!
This book is a gift to share.

The Way of the River: Adventures and Meditations of a Woman Martial Artist
BK Loren
Manufacturer: The Lyons Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Similar Items:

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ASIN: 1585743011

Customer Reviews:

Read this book!.......2006-01-15

Whether you practice martial arts or not (I don't), this book will fascinate from beginning to end. It is a story of strength, beauty, joy, and healing. It's a gift, and I'm lucky to have come across it. I recommend it very, very highly.

Great Book Bad Cover.......2004-08-16

This is a great book with a misleading cover and an indescript title. IT IS NOT ABOUT MARTIAL ARTS. If you want to read a poetic memoir that is written like a dream, read this book. If you want to learn about strength and struggle, read this book. But if its martial arts you're after, find a different book or better yet, get out of your chair and go get yourself a good teacher.

The Way of the River...A MUST READ FOR ANYONE..........2004-06-14

I am not a marital artist, and from the moment I picked up this book, I COULD NOT SET IT DOWN! This book is a WONDERFUL read. I recommend it to anyone that enjoys reading someone's story in a way that makes you reflect on yourself and see things in a new way. BK Loren is inpsiring and touches you in a way that authors rarely do. I HIGHLY recommend this book. This book should be in several categories including inspiration and self help. BK Loren is a wonderful author. I CAN NOT WAIT her next piece of literature is available.

The Way of the River - Enlightening!.......2001-07-25

"The Way of the River" is a compelling, beautifully written book that goes far beyond the subject of enlightenment through the study of martial arts. Ms. Loren has the uncanny ability to draw the reader completely into her autobiographical anecdotes, to the point that I absolutely shared her hopes, fears, triumphs and losses keenly. It is a page turner, and I learned a great deal from reading it.

Martial artists and students will benefit from her insightful perspective on life and perhaps confirm or renew the spirital and philisophical core of their chosen disciplines. Non-martial artists will be equally captured by her flawless prose, lovingly-crafted descriptions, and beatifully-paced chapters. Ms. Loren has a bright future as a writer, and she will definitely join Mark Salzman's company as an author who secures mainstream popularity outside the martial arts genre.

This book is a gift to share........2001-07-14

I have just finished reading this book. I have not yet read this book. This is a book you will want to read and revisit and cherish.

BK Loren uses words like brushstrokes in painting intimate images quietly charged with feelings, emotions and insights gathered from a life well lived and grounded in the flow of the martial arts. Unpretentious, she directly shares what she has learned and experienced and seen and felt. Her essays -- meditations -- gradually unfold and grow on you with the resonance of life and clarity. They grow like flowers, well rooted in the earth and opening to reveal personal memories and lessons learned. The cumulative effect stays with you.

I don't know that my words do her book justice. At the very, very least this is a great read. But it goes beyond that. This book is a gift to share with others. Read it and you'll know why.

Highly recommended!

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