Cunningham Reviews

This book made me incredibly angry. In a nutshell, it is the horrifying story of one woman's life and legacy of ignorance, immorality, illegality, and vice. It's a very compelling read and well-written in terms of the subject matter, but there is a consistent theme throughout the book of "failure of the system," which I found insulting considering Rosa Lee and her family's grave manipulation, exploitation, and abuse of every helping hand extended.

The subject is depressing, but the research and writing are superb. ROSA LEE is a lengthy and well-chronicled look into the daily lives of one multi-generational family in an environment of poverty and drug-infestation, where routine crime and imprisonment are accepted as normal, and where escape is possible, but extremely rare. I'd recommend this book to anyone seeking to understand the mentality and hopelessness of drug addition. This story couldn't have been written any clearer than Leon Dash did in ROSA LEE.

Leon Dash outdid himself on this writing. As an educator within the school system I have seen these families and the devastating affects that drugs and crime have on their lives. Dash cuts Rosa Lee no slack in telling her story, he does not seek to excuse her behavior by blaming a racist and oppressive society, nor does he condemn her for the hiddeous behavior she exhibits and has exhibited over the years. He simply tells her story with the bone chilling truth that must be told. The underclass in America has not just begun it has been hundreds of years in the making and Dash allows his readers to understand not only the past forces that helped create this class but the current forces as well. This is a powerful writing and should be required reading for every Urban Planning, Social Work, and Sociology major in this country. Excellent writing, five stars does not begin to give this book what it deserves.

For any experienced teacher, Cunningham's condescending, dogmatic style borders upon the insulting. Carefully read, her "best methods" approach, "research-based" book is neither supported, cited nor properly footnoted within the confines of her book. In spite of that fact, her books are being implented as if they were "Bibles" in numerous districts throughout the USA. In fact, the bureaucrats of the state of Illinois are requiring that we teach her methods!
Most of the material covered in her books is so very basic that most any teacher does a great deal of it already while this author gets rich.
Teaching is an art not a Patricia Cunningham book.
I recommend that you save your money and buy something creative and thought-provoking to make teaching exciting and not (any more) exhausting.

Classrooms That Work has a multitude of ideas that actually work in the classroom to help students become better readers and writers.

This book is written in a reader-friendly format. It is provides many useful strategies which are easily adapted to individual classrooms. The authors reference specific books which lend themselves to cited strategies. ( Some books will prove hard to come by as they are out of print, however.) Current reasearch is presented in a clear manner.
Both authors are noted in the field of education and their ability to provide a resource for teachers that is not overly dry and overrun with statistics and obscure studies makes the book a very useful tool in today's classroom.

ADAM BEDE is a thrilling read, though it may seem hard to believe given the unpromising setting and the stilted way Eliot introduces her story. But after the first few starchy chapters, abruptly, something wonderful happens: she gets wise to herself. It's as if you can see her realize that the upright characters she *thought* she was pinning her story on, dull Dinah and Mr Irwine, aren't really the stuff of which fiction is made -- so she shoves them aside and takes up the flawed characters of her triangle, who resonate with possibility at every turn. Suddenly, miraculously, with almost no warning, all Eliot's amazing gifts as a writer take center stage: Her psychological insight. Her phenomenal wit. The dramatizing genius that allows her, effortlessly, to plot the most intimate narrative developments against the gigantic backdrop of a county-wide feast or funeral. Her fearlessness and surefootedness in picking her way (and ours) through the tangle of social and class relationships of an entire village. In this embarrassment of riches, maybe most rewarding for a reader like me is Eliot's unerring ability to pay off her plots: here, ladies and gentlemen, is a writer who knows how to write the hell out of a climax -- George Eliot's big confrontation scenes never, ever disappoint.

Too, some wizardry seems to keep her narrative touch both incomparably delicate and completely unflinching at the same time. At the heart of ADAM BEDE is a story so sordid I wonder whether it could be broadcast on network TV today, and Eliot tells it without vulgarity but without ever shying away from its ugliness. My most serious criticism of the book is that Eliot didn't quite trust herself enough not to tack an unconvincing (and, worse, uninteresting) happy ending onto her story. But the hair-raising drive of the middle two-thirds of the book is something you'll never forget.

I just finished "Adam Bede," turning to the novels of George Eliot after a long stint of reading only Thomas Hardy. A long-time fan of Hardy's work, I thought him to be my favorite English author -- George Eliot, however, has proven to be quite the challenger to Hardy for a place in my heart.

"Adam Bede" is the tale of simple people making their way in the world, each of them encountering hardship and sorrow along the way. Eliot's style is immediately engaging: she addresses the reader directly, and it seems like she is behind the scenes everywhere, pulling up a curtain to reveal vignettes in the lives of her characters. She forces the readers, almost, to fall in love with Adam immediately -- the strong, righteous man whom the story will carry along its rocky path. Similarly, Dinah emerges immediately as the source of peace and goodness in the novel, and it is always refreshing when, in times of turmoil, she appears.

I was bothered by only one element of the story, but I think it is rather easily overlooked: Adam's unrelenting love for Hetty. Eliot gives little background as to why his feelings for her are so strong, and all we really know of her personality is that she is incredibly vain because she is incredibly beautiful. Adam never struck me as a character who would fall for such a "surface" woman. His final choice for a wife (which I will not reveal in case amazon.com surfers haven't read the book yet) seems much more appropriate.

All in all, the journey through this book is a most rewarding one. I look forward to my next Eliot read!

Adam Bede, the titular hero of George Eliot's first novel, is of a character so sterling that one little anecdote serves to define his whole life and work ethic: He's a carpenter, and he had done some work for a lady whose father, an old squire named Donnithorne, suggested that she pay him less than the fee he requested. Adam insisted that he would rather take no money for the job, for to accept a reduced amount would be like admitting he overcharges for shoddy work. By standing on his principles, he won his full fee in the end and cemented his reputation as a businessman of honor and acumen, proving his fairness to both his customers and himself.

Thus he seems an unlikely match for Hetty Sorrel, the prettiest girl in the village of Hayslope. Vain, selfish, materialistic, hating her laborious farm chores, Hetty bears more than a passing resemblance to Flaubert's Madame Bovary. However, while Madame Bovary's unattainable dream world is inspired by her reading romances, Hetty "had never read a novel" so she can't "find a shape for her expectations" regarding love. Unable to foresee any possible consequences for her actions, she allows herself to be seduced by Arthur Donnithorne, the old squire's grandson, who stands to inherit the land on which most of the Hayslopers live.

Arthur is a radiant example of Eliot's mastery in complicated character creation. Acutely aware of his position in society, he has the kind of charisma with which he can talk to his tenants politely but with just the slightest hint of condescension and completely win their respect for his authority. In fact, he is so accustomed to receiving nothing but admiration for his apparent moral integrity that it comes as a genuine shock to him when Adam, a man he truly likes, reproaches him for his reckless behavior with Hetty, a girl both he and Adam truly love. And the tragic irony is that Hetty doesn't really deserve either of them.

Religion plays a curious role in the story. Adam's brother Seth is infatuated with a woman named Dinah Morris, a cousin's cousin to Hetty and a Methodist evangelistic preacher who was inspired by Wesley in the flesh. Her influence among the villagers comes to the attention of the Anglican Rev. Dauphin Irwine, the vicar of Hayslope, who visits her to try to figure out her game and concludes that she's essentially a good woman with a good heart. Indeed, she is the first one to sense that Hetty may be headed for troubled waters and earnestly offers her spiritual guidance, to which Hetty responds with distrust and irritation.

Most powerful of the novel's images is that of Hetty wandering through the darkness and dangers of the English countryside in desperate search of the departed Arthur, carrying with her a symbol of their tormented love, and oblivious to the goodness of Adam, whose only desire is to protect her from the disappointment, shame, and disgrace that result from her pitiful reliance on Arthur's ability to buy her pretty things. But Eliot is too fond of her hero to let him suffer for long when the tides of fate come crashing violently to their inevitable shores, and the ultimate product is a novel of great compassion for its characters.

I love to read about dream houses and people getting their wish fulfilled so this story of the poor little orphan from the bronx, who grew up in city apartments, seven people in three rooms, really moved me. The story is as sad as Angela's Ashes but funny as The Egg and I--It is a really fascinating mix of memoir and how a city person can live in the country. I could not put it down as Miss Cunningham lucks out and gets a romantic estate in upstate New York. The writing is as beautiful as the travel books but I liked it more as it is about our home country. It is not pretentious like some of those books --You don't have to be a millionaire to have a dream house come true! This is also a beautiful memoir of a special family. You have to read the first book, too, Sleeping Arrangements, because it dares to go where few writers are willing --the true secret unexpurgated lives of city kids. I was one too! LOVED THIS! What a pair of books! If you ever wanted country property, get this quick!

Thank you, Laura Cunningham, for telling us more about your world. Having read SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS at least three times, I was delighted to see a new memoir and hear some more about those wonderful uncles. This is not another superior-city-person-goes-to-the-country (or out of the country, in most cases) Provence/Tuscany tale. Most of us dream of other lives, and this book tells us of one. For anyone who has ever wanted a country house, or a different kind of home than the one they have. And for anyone who loves beautiful writing! I couldn't put it down and was sorry when it ended. Great Christmas present or hostess gift!

I found this book very habit forming and was so interesting I just had to keep reading. The tales of going to camp and her guardian Uncles were strange, but funny also. Sad at times and frustrating making her swimming pool out in the field. What a job.
Finding out that the old folks were so poor they had to sell off pieces of the property to keep their heads above all the finances assoiated with such a large estate and they didn't tell her right away.
They weren't allowed to walk where they had been since moving there as the new tentents were not as friendly and didn't want the infringments of strangers on the front of their property. Also the cows in the fields near by in the back fields were quite a surprise to picture all that.
This book was very informative. I really enjoyed reading it!...

I recommend this book to anyone who is active in watersports. It made me aware of the seriousness of some dangers I didn't think much about before (like hypothermia). Some stories have happy endings and some don't. Every story is analyzed to determine what the participants did right and what they might have done differently.
My only criticism is that most of the stories are centered around one particular geographical area (Pacific northwest). I wish there were more stories having to do with different conditions (whitewater rivers, flatwater, etc.) and in other parts of the country so that we non-coastal people could relate more. Still, a fine book.

This book is fascinating. It covers a range of mishaps experienced by kayakers of all skill levels from novice to expert. Several themes run through the book: disregard for water temperatures, unexpected changes in weather and seas, kayaking in conditions beyond the paddler's skill level, failure to consider all available information about the planned route. Some of the stories turn out well, others turn out tragic. Sidebars in the text offer valuable insight into various safety topics. This book is a must-read for anyone who wishes to paddle in open or tidal water.

Know that most, but not all, of the incidents reviewed oiccur in the San Juan Islands or nearby locales, and that many of the stories are from the mid 80's. However, the authors write in a manner that makes it easy to see yourself in the difficult situations discribed. I wonder whether, with the rise in popularity of kayaking in recent years, if this book could be easily updated with more recent events. The authors would do well to continue their efforts on a regualr basis to promote safe kayaking practices.

Kayaking can be great fun, but it can be dangerous.

These are stories of kayak emergencies, some but not all of which ended in disaster. The emphasis is on learning from the mistakes of others -- how to dress, what to bring along, what skills to practice, when to stay out of the water.

These are experiences it is better to have vicariously - and to learn from.

This was an amazing book. Elaine Cunningham lets readers into Arilyn's complicated mind and the strange powers of the Moonblade become more apparent and it's demands worsen upon it's half-elven bearer. I enjoyed every page of this book, the plot, characters and setting were masterfully put on paper but...
You might wonder why I only gave 4 stars when this book's plot and characters are obviously 5-star material. While Elaine did an amazing job for this book whoever edited it did not. I am no english grammar whiz but still there were obvious mistakes that should never have been printed. For example, on one page a halflings name is Sandusk and on the next it is Suldusk. Also, the land which this tale takes place in is named Tethyr, it says so in the map in the front of the book but throughout the pages it is misspelled, one sentance it is Tethyr and on the next line (really!) it's spelled Tethir. I know these are just annoyances but that's it!
I enjoyed the premise and style of this book, I love the way Elaine Cunningham writes but I was thoroughly annoyed by the editorial mistakes.
A 5 star book
A 3 star editing job
Please overlook the bad editors and read what Elaine Cunningham is saying, it's a wonderful book, please read.

Silver Shadows is one of the best TSR books, well worth reading. But to get the most out of it, I suggest that you read the two prequels for it first: "Elfshadow" (Harpers 2) and "Elfsong" (Harpers 8). They are essential for understanding the small subplots and undercurrents of "Silver Shadows." Another useful prequel reading for this book is a thirty page story by Elaine Cunningham in the Forgotten Realms anthology "Realms of Valor." This story, called "The Bargain" is directly related to "Silver Shadow" and explains the reasons behind the Harper mission which landed Arilyn Moonblade and Danilo Thann in Zazzespur and their respective introduction to the Assasin's and Wine Merchant's guilds.

The Forest Elves are being framed for attacks on caravans.And if this was'nt bad enough an army of mercenaries are destroying their villaiges & enslaving the elves, those are the lucky ones... Becuase those who don't get enslaved are dead..Arilyn seeks answers about herself & searches for away to keep from binding herself to the Moon Blade but it may cost her everything she's ever wanted & loved..This book is the third of a great series by E. Cunningham.The characters are so well formed that you feel you're right there with them.The series spans 4 books ELFSHADOW,ELFSONG,SILVER SHADOWS,& The DREAM SPHERES.The characters grow & learn more about themselves as you do.This is one of the best series I have read,& I've never seen a story unfold & evolve better than this one..

Rosie Shaine, mother of Cunningham's alter-ego, Lily, insists her husband is still fighting overseas four years after World War II has ended. Uncle Len, tall and thin as Lincoln, wears a pith helmet as he cooks popcorn and tuna croquettes in his pressure cooker. Lily's grandmother, "Etka from Minsk," steals Lily's clothes and jewelry and stashes them under her mattress in their shared bedroom.

What a cast of characters! Yet no matter how peculiar their appearance nor how inappropriate or predictable their behavior, each character in this book reflects a dignity and humanity that makes them larger than their foibles. All the more difficult to achieve when the family is her own, and their behaviors border on the bizarre.

One of my favorite things about this book is its intimate look at the secret language that springs up in families. One day Lily comes home to find her grandmother in distress, pacing, refusing to say what's wrong, until finally "she begins to 'oikah' ('oikah' is a verb in our home, applicable when someone, usually Etka, begins to repeat 'oy-yoy-yoy' by the hour)."

Laura Cunningham's gift -- and the charm of this book -- is her ability to transform the wild neuroses, annoying habits and predictability of her relatives into a portrait of abiding love and understanding. Under her deft hand, and with great helpings of hilarity, 1950's New York and this devoted family come alive.

Laura Cunningham's book starting with her early life with her mother is so infused with symbiotic love it will take your breath away. When her mother dies, she is only 8 years old with no visible support system and no father. Her two bachelor uncles, true eccentrics, take on her care lovingly if not clumsily. They are intelligent and gentle, not of this world. Their way of looking at people and life with break your heart. I could not put the book down and finished it within hours. I laughed out loud at her ability to tell her story, and yet often was so moved by her heartache I had tears in my eyes. I am now looking for everything that Laura Cunnhingham has written and have become a big fan. Do not miss this one!

...THIS BOOK SPOKE TO ME ALMOST AS NO OTHER. I LAUGHED AND CRIED AND TOTALLY IDENTIFIED. a little girl lost and saved.
CHERISH THIS BOOK,

Once again, Elaine Cunningham returns to the lands of Faerûn, known to many as the Forgotten Realms. Considered by many to be one of, if not the premier Realms author, we are once again reassured of her talent for storytelling.

In "The Magehound", we receive the first serious look at the lands of Halruaa since the age-old "Shinning South" Game supplement. Before I picked it up, I was concerned whether a novel could maintain my interest, and any semblance of consistency in a land so saturated with magic. Legends and tavern tales proclaim that even the lowliest barmaid can wield a minor spell or two to lighten their load. How then could a problem of manageable scale arise and be solved in a matter of one novel? Well, I am happy to say, it is and it is not. I don't want to ruin anything, but I think it was well managed in achieving some sort of conclusion, while at the same time allowing enough questions to linger for the next book in the series; as I was pleased to learn this was to be series, as opposed to a one shot view of that fabled land.

The novel's tone and voice are easy to follow, and make for a swift read. The characters are interesting, and while we only learn so much, the depth is there, but as yet untapped; and if I can cling to her previous works as evidence, I believe these characters will become as real as Arilyn and Danilo. For that reason, and the fact I liked the story, I have to recommend this title, give it a read.

This book was a cool read. It has some interesting creatures, and I am not just talking about the laraken either. I have enjoyed reading Forgotten Realms books off and on for years. They are easy to read and enjoy. Elaine Cunningham is one of the best writers for F.R. since R.A.Salvatore. I am looking forward to reading the last two books in the series. Peace.

As with most tales begun in a new and enchanting land, The Magehound begins with a hefty dose of introductions. Here you'll meet Matteo: Jordaini counselor, his counterpart Andris, a strange girl named Tzigone, and Kiva: an elven inquisitor that isn't what she seems. Then the plot kicks in, and it would do you well to keep up.

Author Elaine Cunningham demonstrates remarkable creativity and subtlety with her stories, and The Magehound doesn't disappoint. Behind all the magic and swordplay, something else is going on. But what? Keep reading, and you'll see.

While this novel is an excellent start to a great trilogy, I must say I wouldn't recommend it so highly if taken alone. To truly appreciate the Counselors and Kings saga, you must get to the conclusion! In a manner of speaking, the trilogy is just one long three-book story, and this is just the beginning. There's more- much more- to come.

This book was a gift from a 'southern' friend in an effort to explain the 'southern psyche?!' Good, lord, I thought I'd die of hackneyed plot development and platitude! The truly interesting aspects were never persued nor explained -- the mother--southern woman personified and yet left to hang -- the ill-fated father -- zip! Ultimately a mawkish effort at 'southern literature' that leaves the reader unfulfilled and the genre stagnant. I am shocked to learn this thing has been compared to Harper Lee and Truman Capote! Are people just not reading anymore, are they just stupid, or what? After a brief while; you just don't give a damn and want to finish the thing. If this is the present/future of 'southern letters,' I'm even more glad the North won the Civil War!

Even after a month has passed, I still find myself thinking of this book, and when I was reading it, I couldn't put it down. Devoto tells a story of childhood in the South (northern Alabama) in the early 1950s, where fear of polio and segregation were pervasive realities. 8-year-old Tab (Tabatha) is friends with a boy whose mother, fearful of polio, makes him stay in the basement while she's at work. Tab's other friend is Maudie May, a 13-year-old "colored" girl whose younger twin brothers (known only as the Brothers) tag along around, kept in check by their strong-as-iron older sister. It is a time when children really were free to spend their summers with little adult supervision during the day. As a result Tab and her friends have some amazing and funny adventures, including an unforgettable episode on the Tennessee River in a rickety rowboat they've borrowed. I laughed out loud at a number of points in this book, both from the funny situations and the funny commentary by Tab.

This book is a keeper.

This book reminded me a lot of my childhood. Long summer days, Roy Rogers, the polio scare, hideouts, and long-lost childhood friends.

It is the story of Tab Rutland who lives in a small Alabama town in 1954. The 1954 polio scare is on, and all of the swimming pools are closed in the town. So with her new friend, Maudie (who is the daughter of the neighbor's African-American maid) they set about to build a fort in a kudzu vine thicket which they nickname Fort Polio. They then begin a summer spying on the local moonshine maker, taking a fishing trip to get money for school supplies for Maudie, Tab's friendship with her neighbor's son, John (who is brilliant in his own right), in addition to other adventures. Meanwhile, Tab's mother is blackballed by the venerable Ladies Help League and especially by the head of the League, Mrs. Grace Poovey.

But the summer ends--and what happens to Mrs. Poovey? And--what happens to Maudie and why does she have to leave town?

This is a wonderful coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s and those have grown up in this time period will enjoy this book immensely.

Well I must say I enjoyed this novel, especially with the prequel having left me in a state of "Gee, and how can so little happen on so many pages?" puzzlement. Elaine Cunningham did her best to save the plot (was she aware of this after the first book came out?) You can tell she feels much more comfortable with the setting being outside the underdark, which she has already shown in great harper novels. Her underdark just didn't work for me (much less her drow), and this book shows how great Cunningham can really write. The story unfolds with great detail and less of the confusion which "the Daughter of the Drow" previously held in store for us. The storyline on the sea is great and I really did get to like Fyodor and Liriel (especially her sense of humor) but I also must say that the Ruathyms did annoy me quite a bit and I would not have shed too many tears had they failed to defend their little island. Plus I had to grit my teeth every time Shakti Hunzrin appeared on the scene. Gimme a break Elaine! That character was sometimes just outright ridiculous! All in all a good novel with a good story (& a good logical end). You will like it if you overlook the annoying characters. I still think Elaine Cunningham is THE best author for elf stories, but I will now limit that judgement to the elves who dwell on the surface. Like Elaith Craulnobur (*hint hint hint*, Mrs. Cunnigham.)

Divination

I enjoyed this book more than any of Elaine Cunningham's other novels because I felt as though Liriel and Fyodor were much better developed than Danilo Thann and Arilyn Moonblade. Liriel in particular developed into a fascinating character. She has a wicked sense of humor, and seemed to struggle with the notion of herself as a "goodly drow". She developed through this novel into one of "those who dream".

The only thing I did not much care for was Liriel's relationship with Lloth and, to a lesser extent, Ellistrae. I realize that a goddess of chaos can act however she chooses, but I agree with some other reviewers that Lloth seemed to answer Liriel's prayers frequently, without much reason. Moreover, the way in which Liriel finaly escaped from Lloth was a bit of an anticlimax to one of the central struggles within the book: Liriel's relationship as a "good drow" with an evil goddess. Finally, mere minutes after renouncing Lloth, Ellistrae enabled Liriel to perform a resurrection. That seems like a lot of magic for a fledgling priestess who has just renounced her goddess.

All in all, though, I really enjoyed this book, including the twists at the end, even if I did find the clerical aspects to be somewhat unbelievable, the characters themselves were so rich that it made up for a lot.

Following on the footsteps of Daughter of the Drow, Cunningham brings our favourite mischeivous drow back in all her elven glory. Truly, I have never found anyone who writes elves as well as Cunningham. The dark elves, or drow, are by far the most difficult to write. Yet Cunningham pulls it off with brilliance! Liriel continues on with Fyodor to solve some mysteries and bring her adorable impish charm into our hearts and minds. Again, I rave about Cunningham's talent in bringing her characters to life. Few authors pull this off as well as she does. You simply can't stop reading!