Ford Reviews

...life forms are required to use a seldom-exercised ability called "imagination" which, with effort, allows the user to paint a mental tapestry that is superior in many respects to any computer generated image or subjective image of perfection.

(takes a breath)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy goes on a bit about the relative superiority of radio as a medium that stimulates the pleasure centers of the brain, but it also notes several references to various works that endure in a medium regarded as deader than the telegraph.

The Hitchhiker's Guide is not only proof that radio is still a viable medium for drama, but that Douglas Adams is a genius. The show, scripted week-by-week by DNA and Geoffrey Perkins was easily translated to books and television with minimal edits. Yes, the second series is a bit off the ultimate track, but it is quite original and the foot notes from Douglas and Perkins are very insightful. These footnotes exist as a log of what took place when it all began and, sadly, as the only memoir to them.

If you can find it, get it.

As a longtime fan of Adam's Sci-Fi Comedy series, I was delighted to discover this book. It was a lot of fun to read, and offered much insight into the process behind the Original Hitchhiker's Guide Radio Show. And there are a few scenes that never made it to the novels. Douglas Adams is funny in any form, and this was no exception.

It's a shame that this book sems to be so hard to find. I was actually introduced to the Hitchhiker stories through the radio show (the audio recordings of which are probably even harder to find), which was a marvel of storytelling and sound effects when it came out (it still is, of course). Ultimately, the script book is a much better read if you have heard the original radio series, but even if you haven't, check it out (if you can). The scripts are written in true Douglas Adams style, with directions written in there that often don't have to do with the show itself (such as Adams' long description of the Bugblatter Beast of Traal), and it may be your only chance to learn about the Haggunenonns, the super-evolutionary race of aliens originally put in place of the rock group Disaster Area during the black stuntship scene. Be warned, however, since the series was written episodically, meaning that Adams never had any grand scheme for the show, and just wrote it as he went along (explains a lot, doesn't it?). You may think that the plot of the Restaurant at the End of the Universe was convoluted, but I thought it made perfect sense in comparison to the plot of the two radio series. Either way, it's a crazy ride, and worth every minute spent trying to make sense of it. If you consider yourself a HHG fan, then take it upon yourself to listen to the original radio series, and then read the scripts (which clarify it a good deal). Just make sure that you know where your towel is first.

This book is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. It is equalled only by her second book, Sacred Poems and Prayers of Love. I am saddened to see that the book is out of print now, but am happy to see that the tape is available. The combination of Mary Ford-Grabowsky's selections, and Andrew Harvey's stunning reading should not be missed. I have given copies of this book and of the tape to some of my dying patients. They found it wonderfully comforting in their final hours. One woman also expressed to me how wonderful it was to have the book available to thumb through after her husband was gone -- she said it supported her through her immense grief. I anxiously await more from this author!

The author offers a path to real solace in a world, make that a country, where ethics just don't seem to matter. This book rekindles a spiritual connection that brings us back to a love for each other that will restore peace in our world.

A wonderful collection of prayers from all around the world and from a variety of traditions. Mary provides insightful introductions to each chapter. The book is beautifully printed and bound -- would make a great gift. Highly recommended!

On May 24 we had the pleasure of having Greg Atkinson visit our school classrooms at the University of Alberta Children's Hospital. Greg read his book, "Skuborm and his Super Hat". The children loved the reading. As educators we were most impressed with the quality of the story and illustrations. We are looking forward to the next publication in the series.

Edmonton Public School Staff at the University of Alberta Childrens Hospital

My kids LOVE this book. The story is entertaining, the illustrations are beautiful, and best of all my kids are left with a positive message. The transforming cow, and Skuborm's burp never fail to make my kids howl. The story is very creative in enticing children to learn and embrace the meaning of their name. If you appreciate "Oh the Places You'll Go", "The Giving Tree", or "I Love You Forever" then this book is a must.

Enhanced with colored illustrations by Melanie Ford Wilson, Skuborm And His Super Hat is a unique and highly recommended picture book with its story told in rhyming verse by Greg Atkinson about an ordinary boy in a whimsical town ("population unknown minus two") with a most unusual hat. Skuborm hates his name more than anything else, and wants to be just an ordinary Norm - but when he finds a way to become ordinary and unspecial, he realizes how much more important it is to be himself.

This is my favorite book by Philip Levine. Levine has produced many fine books, and many poems that are masterpieces, and yet I believe he has outdone himself with this ingenious book.

There are poets who would gladly sacrifice large chunks of their time here on earth to be able to write a poem like the title poem, "What Work Is." This poem is astonishing in its power and its ability to make the reader feel the harshness of the work world, and at the same time begin to realize what work is, and what it isn't, and thereby uncover a well of tenderness and love that had been hidden away, unknown even to that very reader, until that moment.

"Fear and Fame" is my next favorite poem in this book, and it is a truly thrilling and moving poem, about having a soul and working in a soulless workplace. Gripping and absorbing and magnificent.

This entire book is structured for power, from beginning to end, and the reader feels empowered by it, by being made to experience and know the personal power that exists within, but apart from, the economic and societal power structures that be.

The language of this book is astonishing, and riveting. This book is a masterpiece.

This book has soul, in all the best senses of the word. Soul.

I recommend this book to everybody.

It is sad that we in the United States do not appreciate the strength and the variety of the poetry that our country has produced. A major instance of a contemporary poet whose writing deserves attention from a wider readership is Philip Levine. His book, "What Work Is" won the National Book Award for poetry in 1991. He has produced an impressive quantity of poetry which, in its very restraint and poignancy, can help bring meaning to people.

This is a short collection, consisting of four untitled sections. Section III consists of a single extended poem, "Burning" which is broadly autobiographical in character. The remaining three sections consist of a number of short poems with essentially two themes: the lives of the working poor prior to WWII and Levine's experiences as a boy growing up in Detroit. The poems with these themes overlap and are interspersed throughout the book with the earlier sections emphasizing vignettes of individuals doing the ordinary, desultory jobs that are the lot of most of us (such as "Coming Close", "Fire", "Every Blessed Day" and "What Work Is") while the latter section emphasizes Levine's Detroit experiences, the toughness of being a kid, his relationship with his brother, his love of boxing, and his exposure to Anti-Semitism. ("Coming of Age in Michigan", "The Right Cross", "The Sweetness of Bobby Hefka" "On the River".)

The poems are lucidly written with understatement and a lack of sentimentality which underscores the emotions and the passions they contain. It might be useful to compare these poems to the work of three other writers.

First, the poems reminded me of Walt Whitman, in their compassion for an attempt to understand the American worker. They lack Whitman's bravura and optimism, however, and content themselves with painting harshness and with emphasizing the tenacity people need to get by.

A writer with somewhat similar themes to Levine is the under-appreciated Victorian novelist, George Gissing in his books of lower class life in Victorian London such as The Nether World. Levine has a similar sort of attraction to the life of the poor, the unsuccessful and the down and out. He has at once a sympathy for his characters and a distance from them that Gissing seems to lack, for all his portrayals and descriptions.

A third writer is the late poet-nnovelist Charles Bukowski, a favorite of "underground" readers. Bukowski writes of ne'r do wells, prostitutes, and drunkards, -- as well as doing a lot of writing about himself. Levine has some of the same attraction to the scorned of society, but his people are the working poor, and their stories are told with restraint and dignity, unlike those of Bukowski, and also unlike the work of Bukowski, with literary skill and grace.

This is a book of poetry that has both the sadness and the grittiness of life and the toughness to understand and surmount it.

A devotion of Levine's life's work, the world of work, at last becomes one of his book's true focus and shows Levine, one of our greatest living poets, at his best. The controlled lyricism of his narratives hone in with precision, as when he pulls in on a woman's forearm at work, a minute detail in a vast world of labor to show us the universality of a struggle Levine himself has endured. While not every poem lives in the factories and workplaces, the fundamental aspect of work in our lives manifests itself in each piece. The short lines and continual enjambment gives his stanzas both the feel and appearence of quality reportage and yet are infused with an empathy and passion for his subjects that both moves and educates. This is the democratization of poetry that Wordsworth aspired to and Whitman acheived. Levine carries on in that tradtion and concretizes, with this book, his place among those American poets to be read in the next century.

This book really helps the reader to understand who Henry Ford was and how is life took place. Very nice illustrations to help intepret the book even easier

I thought the book was very well written and a favorable portrait of the Ford Family

This book is very well written and would be of interest to kids from 4 to 14! I love the design - large photographs, and the little interesting details of Henry's life. For any child who prefers machines to marbles...

This was a terrific story about the quest to find what is now Alaska. It gives insight into just how courageous these early exployers were. I can't comprehend of enduring those sort of hardships. Ford is also a good biologist and gives interesting commentary on the animal life. He also describes what may have been the first observation of a diving reflex in a marine mammal, the now extinct Northern sea cow. If you read this, it would be hard to complain about our current quality of life.

A true account of Vitus Bering's voyage from Russia to discover what is now Alaska. Anyone interested in the history of Alaska should start by reading this book, or someone looking for an actual true life adventure story that makes one appreciate the dangers encounted in the 1700's by these amazing explorers. This book is written from the journals of Georg Stellar, the naturalist on-board the boat that discovered Alaska. The first written account and identification of many species that Stellar discovered and writes about in his journals. One of which is extinct today and his writings are the only account of the massive Stellar Sea Cow. A fabulous account of these adventurors and their interaction with the beautiful, but deadly, Alaska coast and it's native people.

Excellent story of the discovery of Alaska by the famous explorer,Vitus Bering and naturalist, Georg Steller. Combines text from Steller's extensive notes and observations of the author.

This is an excellent book, and I suggest starting it when you have a 12 or 13 year old - an age when you still have a little control over them! I have the hard cover, which has nice artwork on the cover, and it would make a great gift.

My 14-year-old daughter uses this book very effectively to gently prod me on issues that need a little more attention. Every few months, she puts a few bookmarks in at carefully chosen points. I get to feel like I'm doing most stuff OK, and she gets to give constructive criticism without a fight. THANK YOU

This book offers quick simple tips to solve any number of situations a parent encounters with a teen. Helpful advice will enable the adult to apply sound principals to parenting (and sometimes cause the adult to re-think the way we deal with our teen).

Our Texas Hill Country is indeed a little-known source of beauty to outsiders. Because of its depressed condition for decades in the past it was overlook even by Texans. Today, however, we are able to see this area for what it is: rolling hills, tumbling streams and rivers, and a great view around so many curves in its small secondary roads. Though West Texas is well-known for Big Bend, the sheer area of this part of our State, combined with sparse population, means all of us can enjoy peace and solitude--this is where the South turns into the Southwest.

Mr. Ford's book reflects a love of the area, combined with excellent directions and documentation of sights. The book is divided into geographic areas, and within those areas, into tours of a day or longer. He has also done an excellent job of rating the difficulty of the tours, and why he has come to those conclusions.

Though I have only cycled a small amount of this area, I would also recommend this book for those who would like to tour by car. I've traveled almost this entire area by car and wish I'd had this guide then. Additionally, I found the photography very well-done--particularly in view of the price of the book.

This book is a valuable resource, and a terrific buy for the price!

I have cycled only a few of the book's listed road rides in the Hill Country but I am familiar with portions of several other roads in the Hill Country and West Texas via automobile. These are truly great rides with well-thought directions and information. It's so good that when Mr. Ford says you will have to "shoo" sheep and livestock from the road, it really must be done! I eagerly await even more rides with the next edition of the book.

This is a book sure to delight any Ford lover and especially anyone who loves classic Fords. The photographs are a major bonus. Readers get treated to some really cool pictures of some really serious cars, e.g. Ford Falcons and soaring Thunderbirds.

I like the way the equipment and number of automobiles manufactured is included. I also really liked some of the classic photographs, such as a beautiful 1961 Ford Falcon in a showroom and sale pictures as well. This is a comprehensive, well researched book that certainly lives up to the classic Ford slogan, "Drive a Ford! It's a Better Idea!"

This book has to be one of the best titles in the Crestline series! Endless pictures and information make this book hard to put down.You cannot look thru this book without learning something you did not know about Ford. I am not sure but it seems as though there is a picture of almost every Ford ever made.You will not be disappointed with this title.

This book provided a wonderful way to reflect on being pregnant and the many ways it impacts your life. While many books are available to discuss the physical changes and how to best care for your body, this one talked about the emotional, mental, and spiritual changes and how to care for your soul. Written in short "devotionals," the topics range from the silly (why you should feel ok in a bathing suit) to deep (handling fears of miscarriage). Since being given this book in my own pregnancy, I have purchased it for each of my friends who are expecting. Many first time mothers told me it also helped keep themselves focused on the miracle they were experiencing.

"Blessed Expectations," is a book that resonates with a woman during her pregnancy. The words are alive and have deep meaning. It is a joyful book filled with spirit and love. It is a beautiful gift for a mother-to-be, and a wonderful reminder for those who have given birth.