Austin Reviews

Clarke's wide ranging selection of reviews,spanning a period of fifty years, reflect an intellect seriously and, in my opinion, immorally, neglected by those claiming to be students of English literature. His incisive comments and criticisms on the work of many of his contemporaries, coupled with his vast knowledge of poetry and the means of critique offer today's students a window into the mind of one of the greatest writers to come out of Ireland this century. Long in the shadow of Yeats and Kavanagh, Clarke has yet to take his place among the greats of Irish literature. This worthy book will go some way in placing him where he belongs, alongside the more easily recognised names to come to prominence .

This fourth exploit of Dr. Thorndyke, the last until 1922, is steadfastly entertaining in its account of the doings of a mutton-headed and impetuous young medico, very much a template for John Dickson Carr's heroes, who stumbles upon disappearing corpses on Hampstead Heath and patients who die under suspicious circumstances in Jacob Street, and is nearly murdered for his troubles. Despite the excess of melodrama typical of the period and the extraordinary coincidences, many of the scenes are excellent, with just the right touch of the picturesque to suggest the "Baghdad-on-Thames" common to Stevenson, Carr and Freeman. Where the book suffers is by comparison to the later D'Arblay Mystery (1926), which reuses the plot to much greater effect. There are two surprising errors, the first on mirrors (p. 147 of the Stratus edition); the second, it does not stand to reason that only a professional criminal would wear gloves.

I've read many books in the self-improvement genre, but I felt this one was very readable, and more accessible to the Western mind than a lot of what is on the market right now. The author uses a nice blend of Transcendental thought, religious consideration, and (although he may not know it) "yogic" beliefs to help an individual who may be considering their self worth. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has read Deepak Chopra, but may have found it hard to follow, or hard to "access." The themes of love and sex I found very profound. The only thing that kept me from rating this 5 stars is that I found the organization of the topics to be a little clumsy, but over all, I found "Soul Matters," to be an excellent read.

Nifty collection of vignettes, featuring 'the old detective' (Nick Danger?) bantering with a screenwriter, trying to cash in one last time on his eventful, twisted life. Great story within a story, as the detective balks and stalls, then proceeds off on another tangent.

The 'detective' appearances are interleaved with other stories, so your entertainment is varied - there is a 'coming of age' story that should bring back personal memories of when you first hit the wide world, where there were all kinds of people, not put there for your approval - and doing just fine, thank you!

The best story is never mentioned in other reviews! - "The Precipice of Angels" - about a lateralist in LA. What's a 'lateralist'? You'll have to listen to the story, I can't do it justice! It's laugh-out-loud funny, and heartbreakingly sad, all at the same time - I don't know how he did it. Filled with home town LA landmarks - I spent several years in LA, I can appreciate the surrealism of 'careening through all the rain water on Sepulveda' (from the first "Nick Danger" appearance).

It didn't happen often - like having a collection THIS good!

I am a preschool teacher, I need as much free stuff as I can get my hands on in a typical school year. This book helped me to get alot of things for free or reduced prices. GREAT BUY!

This book is an excellent review of domestic terrorism in the 1980's. Among other dynamics, a shift from left-wing terrorism to right-wing terrorism is explored as well as a profile of the demographic characteristics of the terrorists are presented.

Girl staters in Texas will never forget her. Francis Goff is an important lady in Texas history because she had three wonderful careers. First, she worked as a legislative aide and State Budget Director. Then, she put in countless years at the famous M.. D. Anderson Cancer Center as special assistant to its founder Dr. R. Lee Clark. Finally, she served for decades as the director of Bluebonnet Girl's State where thousands of Texas high school girls got their first glimpse of real politics. Francis Goff is a Texas legend who was friend to George Bush, Barbara Jordan, and Lyndon Johnson. This book has some wonderful photos and includes a forward by Ann Richards.

During the course of this book, one of the main characters travels near light speed to a certain place and back. In layman's terms, this means that she ages about a year while the other characters age about 40 years. While this is all written very well and realistic (for sci fi), it makes the book seem very discordant, like a trio of well-developed mini stories somewhat shoved together and on top of each other.

Worth your time to read, however, and although it doesn't leave any lasting memories, it does have some cool points in it. It's a good book to just sit back and relax and enjoy the story.

If you're getting married in Austin or around Austin, this is the book for you! It has all kinds of information, from type of wedding to where to find a videographer. All of the numbers and addresses are there for you, without you ever having to search through the phonebook. A great help!

The author relies on Austin's newspaper (no longer in print) called the Reese River Reveille to describe what every day life in Austin was like, from its founding in the 1860s to about the 1950s. Most of the book focuses on the 1860s, when Austin was founded as a mining town. The book then discusses its growth and development, the struggles of its inhabitants in an isolated location, and the hopes for Austin's own "place in the sun" as a premier western town.

The book is easy to read and very enjoyable. Having spent about a month in Austin this summer, I was pleasantly surprised to find this book in my college's library. Recommended for anyone interested in frontier history.