Remarkable Explorations
359224
Alan Hardy once again impresses me with his unique depth and wonderfully intense and imaginative writing style. This collection of short stories captured my attention right away and sustained my curiosity throughout the book. From the otherworldly protagonist facing extinction in the first story to a man contemplating murder, to the sexual frustrations and incongruities of myriad couples, Hardy presents a collection of pieces that explore and re-evaluate what it means to be human (and inhuman). I thoroughly enjoyed these stories and look forward to reading more from this talented author that surprises me time and time again. This is recommended reading--it's smart, fresh, and sometimes altogether delightfully strange. Don't pass Alan Hardy up!
1091345
In this lively, entertaining, endlessly digressive travelogue of a walking tour along the coast of Norfolk and Suffolkone of the least-touristed parts of EnglandSebald manages to accumulate a marvelous group of miscellanea which collectively demonstrate that, despite the march of science and the levelling effect of mass production, life can be as curious and full of wonder as it has always been.  He also demonstrates how human beings' often irrational notions can leave small, but indelible traces upon human history, andwith some randomnessleave traces in the landscape.  At the same time, the other Sebaldian themes of the elusiveness and ultimately irrecoverable nature of the past, and the way the world ultimately frustrates human dreams and desires, are made manifest throughout this meditative memoir.  Not since Sir Thomas Browne's immortal Hydriotaphia, Or Urne-Buriall, have seemingly unconnected oddities been so well linked, although Sebald's common threads are very different from Browne's.  A singular reading experience!
4501246
A masterfully-crafted field-guide for exploring the vast terrain of the heart. Mark Matousek takes readers through a step-by-step journey outlining several major areas of self exploration.

Each chapter presents penetrating, thought-provoking questions/writing prompts to help the reader uncover their deepest thoughts, beliefs, desires and truths, many of which may have never been explored before.

Mark draws on his own experience and carefully guides the reader from one area to the next. The book is filled with many enlightening words of wisdom as well as powerful, real-life examples from writing students that bring each area of exploration to life.

By the end of the book, the reader will gain a wider perspective of their sense of self and connection to the sacred.
3378657
Candito's collection is a revelation. Her vision is highly personal-a mixing of Jungian psychology and archetypes slyly turns into frustration with California-but also deeply thoughtful and eerily intuitive-she inhabits the voice of Cady from Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" to bring us the deepest fears of the great author's most wounded but sensitive character. Some poets use imagery from the contemporary world to shock; Candito never does. This is our world she sees, and she wants us to understand how neon, parties, travel, failed relationships and flowers fit into the deepest human experiences. In synthesizing so much, she demonstrates her keen and eerie appreciation of what it means to be human. One has the feeling of falling into the murky psyche itself, which is at work, filtering information, sending out observations and uncomfortable emotions and motivations. And then these impressions are flung back out onto the page. Then there is the language itself, which is gorgeous, and leaves an impression on the mind and heart, like the very best music. The range Candito covers is also impressive--inward poems, poems about places, poems about other people, poems about paintings and fictional characters . . . this is a broad and highly intelligent mind at work, synthesizing and finding connections between the many things that are all around us. I look forward to her next collection.
1948860
This travelogue represent a versatile book that not only offers descriptions of some masterpieces of art, but also provides their interpretation - refreshingly unorthodox for the most part. The author draws the reader in with her explanations of works of the masters, and even some modern artists, through demonstrating communion and continuity in art, confirming the Latin expression "eadem sed aliter", i.e.the same but different way. Also deserving of attention are the very pithy discussions between the aothor/guide and her companions. Finally, of great interest are some personal memories. Perusing them enables one to immerse in the sort of very proper upbringing and education that the author had received, which enables her to wtite this unusual and interesting book.
3234829
An enchanting and idiosyncratic collection of essays that manages to weave together the geological origins of the Italian peninsula and the physical and sometimes mystical attachments of the Etruscans, Virgil, Dante and Da Vinci to very specific features of the Italian landscape.  A renowned geologist, Ms. Pizzorusso takes us on a charming journey and pauses along the way to point out details and connections that few of us would ever be likely to observe.  There is even a delightful side trip along the way to examine the jewels referred to by Pliny and others, including the authors noted above, and the implicit allegorical meanings of these stones to those writers.  Lavishly illustrated with photos, prints and famous artwork this book is a fascinating collection of arcana within a robust scientific framework.  Ms. Pizzorusso writes in a warm conversational tone which feels as if one were sharing a glass of wine with an entertaining and particularly erudite friend.  A wonderful read, and highly recommended, this reader couldn't put it down.
2477650
The fist journey through this collection feels like some kind of voyeuristic eavesdropping. It was as hard to identify my own feeling as it was instinctive to identify Ms. Olds' as she details the profound shredding of what she thought she knew.  When you go back and find the poems that truly moved you, the others light up the room. This book is an amazing achievement.
3800121
Debu's journey brings together many opposites: east and west, thoughts of  adults on the young, old country -- new country, Hinduism -- Christianity,  tradition and modernity.  His odyssey takes him from an ancient land to a  new one; sacred rivers flow through each, he creates himself anew as he  moves between cultures.  It is a voyage of discovery, but not just of  places and environments and new friends and colleagues; there is an inner  voyage that takes place too.  In this kind of journey -- which takes place  over decades, on several continents -- although most of these stories are  set in Idaho in the last 20 years -- there is ample room for reflection,  and doubt and crises of identity.  Do I belong to one culture?  Or another?  Or does that question even have meaning any more?  Not least of the gifts  of this book is that as Debu ponders the changes that have come about in  himself, among his fellow Indians who have come to the United States, and  in everyone who has come to the American West, he sees himself in new ways,  and we see ourselves in a new light too.  That is a valuable gift.
1554632
A wonderful book chronicling fascinating travels and an interesting (certainly not ordinary!) life interspersed with moving insights into the author's psyche - past & present.

Those with similar travel experience will enjoy being taken back to favorite places.  Those who could never hope to travel so extensively are treated to remarkably descriptive memories that are an adventure in the reading.  A perfect "curl up in your favorite chair" companion that is charming, captivating, and extraordinarily touching at times.

I wish the author peace.
4705391
This is a beautiful BIG book - so much more than an illustrated history book. It is a Trip through Time.
Before starting, you are instructed how to 'travel' through the many colorful pages, researching human origins or choosing to just wander back and forth enjoying human progress around the globe. You will be acquainted at a glance with how people lived, what they ate and their cultures. Their creative art and the advance of the technology of the time.
The team of Smithsonians have put together a wonderful collection of interesting material on a number of major civilizations stimulating readers of all ages to want to search  for more as our human history unfolds.
2704276
I was always fascinated by the great explorers; Columbus, Magellan, Da Gama. The stories that we learned about these men in school seemed like cliche's. What were they really like? What were they really looking for?

This scholarly yet accessible book tells their stories as well as the tales of many explorers we have not heard about. Dr. Fernandez-Armesto probes deeply yet prudently. In a mere 400 pages he covers the history of exploration in chronological fashion. We travel across the sea to Brasil with Cabral. We visit the polar regions with Amundsen and Scott. Captain Cook takes us everywhere. We go into the Amazon and the heart of Africa.

This book is a marvel. Your children will be enriched. Adults will be illuminated. Beautifully written, smoothly flowing, a wonder to read. This reviewer came away stunned and delighted.
2017681
A Long Night's Sing & other stories are stories worthy of pondering--no, worthy of a deeply probing exploration. While the characters clutch universal hopes, dreams, and feelings, you can't help but feel their grip is tenuous. There are times you might feel like a voyeur, spying on someone's vulnerability; a witness, watching truth develop. I believe it's obvious in each character that the author created these stories in search of understanding.

A Long Night's Sing & Other Stories is a curious look at life. You'll think of the characters often, and you'll want to read these stories more than once.
86992
In Laith Biltaji's debut "Inspirations", a collection of poems, songs and reflections, the words reach you in an effortless style yet leave you contemplating the diverse realities we live in at different levels of consciousness. His words are our own dissected, fashioned and molded in a synergy of the simple and intricate; feelings that we all identify with but fail to express or communicate.

The poems unveil the ambiguity of our feelings and inject life in our thoughts as a fresh misty breeze in a wavering sail. Laith shares his personal experiences in a temporal world and offers his impressions many of which we may not muster the courage to articulate.

Laith presents an array of delightful poems with ethereal lightness. He strings words that echo our feelings, passions, fears of loneliness not aloneness, trepidation, and anxiety into a collage of songs, poetry and poignant reflections, some hitherto not contemplated.

Exhilarating reading I simply could not put the book down.
2426071
Wechler's exploration of wonder through the objects contained in David Wilson's store-front museum in Culver City, California is truly thought-provoking, often subversive.  Gratefully, we are often suspended in the what seems to be the same world of belief/disbelief created by Mr. Wilson's remarkable conjurations. Part mystery story (what items in the museum are actual, what are embroideries of facts and what are out and out hoaxes, and more mundanely, where did Wilson get the idea for that strange collection of cities listed in the frontispiece of his catalogs) and part meditation on the history of wonder (and anti-wonder) as exemplified in the museum from the early modern period to the present day, Mr. Wechsler tells us about the work David Wilson in such a way as to excite our enjoyment and intellectual play. One can only hope that this book will create enough interest in the work of Museum of Jurassic Technology to keep it going for a long, long time.  Next time I'm in Los Angeles, it'll be my very first stop.  Great illustrations, too!
3853250
Through a series of engaging stories, "No One But Us" invites the reader on a
remarkable intellectual and spiritual journey.  The unfamiliar concept of a Sufi's
exalted status may be surprising to a Western reader.  Dr. Simhai's multicultural
perspective and profound insights into  the parallels within art, music and
literature, and their potential for enhancing spiritual interconnectedness prove
extremely rewarding.  This book is truly "art which is enlightening".
250440
I'm seldom impressed by other people's travel experiences, secretly considering my own to be far superior. This is not the case with The First Ride. This is great reporting on a remarkable journey. In addition to the details and mechanics of the trip, he also relates his emotions and interactions (both good and bad) with his companions. I also found myself pondering some of the larger questions he raises in the course of his adventures, leaving the reader to make their own judgements.

Traveling with others, while it can make a trip even more special, can also become awful. Mr. Rosenberg addresses this brilliantly in the book. Here's an introductory quote: "The road changes people, not all, and not at once, but it still affects them much like water affects stones with its gentle, ceaseless pressure."

I also loved the descriptions that gave me such clear visuals: "His potbelly was arrested by a trouser belt locked by a golden buckle, both belt and belly engaged in a war of freedom and restraint, with freedom looking to win sooner rather than later."

Then there's how he relates some of the sheer joy one finds in travel. That joy at new experiences that fires me to keep doing it. Here's an example: "Sometimes, all of the first impressions from visiting a new country can be reduced to one very small thing- a lime sliced in half. I kept staring at it, enjoying the bright orange color of its flesh..."

Mr. Rosenberg allows the reader such access to his thoughts and impressions, it's like having a friend telling you about their epic  adventure after they've returned home- except way better!
2846568
I was amazed to discover so much in a book so compact. But, Rose Holton chooses her words carefully, creating extraordinarily vivid imagery with language that is concise, yet filled with complex meaning. The reader is cast across a cosmological horizon where space and time are infinitely skewed. A line is crossed and blurred between what is real or thought to be real. I found myself quickly immersed in a world of anonymous characters, startlingly not unlike people we may know, who live their lives in layers of separate realities. When I first picked up Serial Desire--not knowing what to expect--I was astonished to find its intense plot and unique mix of poetic storytelling to be a great deal more captivating than I had originally anticipated. I have returned to its pages, rereading the book several times now and will, no doubt, return to its pages again. Not that several readings are necessary to experience and fully comprehend Ms. Holton's ingenuity. With each additional reading, however, I delve deeper into her world of darkness, finding subtle new treasures and profound insights. Serial Desire is poetry reborn. Don't expect rhyming couplets, iambic pentameters or the austere style of poetic memoir found in modern verse. Ms. Holton's style has taken poetry into unexplored territory. A story skillfully realized in only 70 pages. Simply extraordinary.