Product Description
One of the most admired American poets of his generation, James Wright (1927-80) wrote contemplative, sturdy, and generous poems with an honesty, clarity, and stylistic range matched by very few--then or now. From his Deep Image-inspired lyrics to his Whtimanesque renderings of Neruda, Vallejo, and other Latin American poets, and from his heartfelt reflections on life, love, and loss in his native Ohio to the celebrated prose poems (set frequently in Italy) that marked the end of his important career, Above the River gathers the complete work of a modern master. It also features a moving and insightful introduction by Donald Hall, Wright's longtime friend and colleague.
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Customer Reviews (7)

Above the River: The Complete Poems of James Wright
James Wright is a terrific, though not well known, American poet of the 1950's and 60's.Along with Robert Bly and William Duffey, Wright helped to open a new page in modern poetry which encouraged writers to break from the restrictions of traditional British formats.Personal and reflective, the poems focus on nature and have a strong touch of influence from ancient Chinese poets.Though the collection is filled with great stuff, my favorite is "Northern Pike."

Sublime Poetry Slightly Flawed by Format
I hate to give this work anything less than 5-stars, because at themoment (and probably most future moments) I revere James Wright's poetry.He makes blue collar blackened river Ohio come alive riven death with darkness and life.So this book is a must for poetry lovers.

Where it distracts me is the attempts at completeness is a difficult editor's dilemma and one that doesn't serve the poet or the poet's reader well here.There are two James Wright's out there (this book presents three), as is true with most sublimated artist that pass through a learning phase before hitting on their voice, their style.

James Wright started as a formalist (not my favored style) hailing structure and rhyme sometimes at the expense of meaning and language (disclaimer...one man's humble opinion belies a personal taste and no two taste buds seem the same).The book of course being a complete work, offers all of those poems of bandied prose.And then the editor offers a bridge or break of sorts in Wright's translated works of German and Spanish poets.Wright was a great poet in English, but the gift of gifted translation should have been left to the likes of W.S. Merwin, Anthony Kerrigan, Charles Tomlinson, and Stephen Mitchell for Neruda, Paz, and Rilke.

So, Wright's "Above the River," really first breaks the surface on page 119 after his epiphany to all thing free form.It is then that his poetry sings darkly.I leave you with some of Wright's beautiful language (there's plenty to be had).Buy the book for the rest.

In Fear of Harvests

It has happened
Before: nearby,
The nostrils of slow horses
Breathe evenly,
And the brown bees drag their high garlands,
Heavily,
Toward hives of snow.

flawless poetic mastery?
James Wright was of course one of the 20th century's great master poets.Each poem in this book bears his stamp of completely precise, beautiful communication.His writing can teach about the art.It does, though, seem kind of pretentious to me the way this one approach to poetry, which has its sense in it, is the only way for the words to be poetry, which James Wright must have believed or he wouldn't have done it that same way every time.Allegedly, his writing got experimental by his third book, but it didn't change THAT much.

flawless poetic mastery?
James Wright was of course one of the 20th century's great master poets.Each poem in this book bears his stamp of completely precise, beautiful communication.His writing can teach about the art.It does, though, seem kind of pretentious to me the way this one approach to poetry, which has its sense in it, is the only way for the words to be poetry, which James Wright must have believed or he wouldn't have done it that same way every time.

Universality in Regional Voice
This collection of Wright's work includes his experiments with formal blank verse, translations of German poets, experimental prose pieces, and characteristic free verse that made him one of America's strongest national poets with a regional identity.Wright's topics range from the pastoral landscape of people, wildlife, and industry near his Ohio hometown to the philosophical challenges of individuality, death, renewal, and union.The gray mountains, coal trains, steel bridges and murky Ohio River take their places beside docile horses, musical insects and colorful characters.But never does Wright falter to the mere reporting of a landscape through his poetry; the vision is always fresh, exacting, tense, and redemptive.I have used his work with many of my English students, and the feedback is celebratory.If you are a fan of poetry or a student of the craft, familiarize yourself with this book.Donald Hall's wonderful preface does justice to one of America's most fondly remembered poets. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of authentic, profound and beautiful poems. ... Read more

Product Description
Award-winning author James Tobin has at last penned the definitive account of the inspiring and impassioned race across ten years and two continents to conquer the air. For years, Wilbur Wright and his younger brother, Orville, experimented in obscurity, supported only by their exceptional family. Meanwhile, the world watched as Samuel Langley, armed with a contract from the U.S. War Department and all the resources of the Smithsonian Institution, sought to create the first manned flying machine. But while Langley saw flight as a problem of power, the Wrights saw a problem of balance. Thus their machines took two very different paths--Langley's toward oblivion, the Wrights' toward the heavens--though not before facing countless other obstacles. With a historian's accuracy and a novelist's eye, Tobin has captured an extraordinary moment in history. To Conquer the Air is itself a heroic achievement. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

A Fascinating Book!
What an inspiring well told story of 2 bicycle mechanics who achieved what the best scientists of their day couldn't accomplish. Just amazing.

Excellent biography
An informative and entertaining book about the Wright Brothers and how they got the world to fly.

great
Service was prompt and excellent. The book is in great condition just like it was stated.

Fascinating
This is a review of the audio CD version of the book, which I listened to four times, but which is an abridgement of the print version. As another customer wrote in his review of the book, this book is primarily a story, or a set of interweaved stories, of intellectual discovery, by aviation pioneers Samuel Langley of the Smithsonian Institution, Orville and Wilbur Wright (the stars of the book), and, to a lesser extent, Alexander Graham Bell. Other pioneers of aviation are also covered to a still lesser degree than Bell. I'm not quite sure why, but it wasn't until I got about 75% of the way through the audiobook the first time that the book finally hooked me and I decided I liked it. During my next three listenings, I enjoyed the book from start to finish. The point to be made here, perhaps, is that if you find the book a little boring at first, stick with it; you'll probably eventually enjoy it. One weakness of the book, and maybe it's a weakness of just the abridged audiobook edition which I listened to, is the shortage of relevant political, social, economic, military, scientific, technological, educational, and cultural context which must have impacted in various ways, either directly or indirectly, aviation in its embryonic stage and infancy. Still, the story of the Wright brothers, as told by the book's author, James Tobin, is fascinating. It's a story that would be great for the big screen, or at least for a made-for-TV movie.

Provides a very good context within which to situate the Wright brother's single most famous act.
I received this audiobook as a gift for Christmas and it took me a little while before I screwed up the desire to listen to it. I have a lot of podcasts and other audiobooks vying for my attention and don't want to spend time with things that aren't really interesting to me.I was pleasantly surprised. Like most Americans I was pretty ignorant of many of the details surrounding not only the Wright brother's landmark powered flight, but also around their attempts to market the idea in their own country.
The infamous Kittyhawk flight is at about the middle of the book. I had rather assumed that it was a fait a complete, that once they had proven their technology the rest was as easy as pie. But nothing could be further from the truth.
A very worthwhile read / listen if you have any interest at all in the social politics behind one of the greatest accomplishments of the 20th century. ... Read more

Product Description
When it comes to new manufacturing processes and products, many investors fail to look past the novelty of the new, putting blind faith in potentially faulty business plans.Now there's a way to accurately measure the real risks of highly complicated projects. Wright outlines a step-by-step process that shows bankers, venture capital companies, and investors how to:

* Determine if technologies are valid to ensure, for example, that pilot-plant results can be duplicated at full-scale * Use process design methods to analyze new and emerging technologies used in proposed investments* Use the author's scientific approximation to handle unsymmetrical distributions common in the evaluation of potential investments* Use Monte Carlo Analysis to quantify the uncertainty of a plan -- and determine the potential for making a profit. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Uniquely quantifies the risk associated with investments.
While, for many decades, simulation has been the most commonly used technique available for risk analysis of a variety of complex systems, its meaningful popularity, outside engineering and the sciences, has only started to build. James Wright's book provides a comprehensive guide to the application of the Monte Carlo simulation tool as a means of uniquely quantifying the risk associated with any technical investment project. Even though Wright's book specifically addresses the most complex case of evaluating "technical projects" the process is readily applicable to evaluate high-tech and other investment projects.

In Part I, Wright's innovative method of presenting technical due diligence, with its step-by-step approach to building a complex system, contains several practical examples. It is an excellent introduction to the use of Monte Carlo simulation to a broader audience with common interests in venture capital. In Part II, he covers different commonly used discrete and continuous random variables with relevant examples. In this part, Wright's extensive reviews of triangular and angular random distributions, and their applications in analyzing risk for technical projects, provide a helpful approach to simplify the application of the Monte Carlo simulation in other areas. Several user-friendly computer files in an accompanying CD offer opportunities to quickly simulate different systems.

Monte Carlo Risk Analysis and Due Diligence of New Business Ventures is an excellent reference for MBA programs with a concentration in finance, entrepreneurship, and technology management.

Wright clearly explains Monte Carlo analyses of businesses.
As a VC (Venture Capitalist), I am always seeking better methods to analyze investment opportunities. Jim Wright's book takes that analysis to the next level. Monte Carlo simulation techniques have repeatedly proven their value in addressing some of the world's most complex problems. Unfortunately, the technique is inherently very compute intensive, until now placing its use beyond the reach of most business analysis. A combination of Moore's law, and Wright's very clever unsymmetrical Gaussangular DistributionsTM, now permit ordinary PC/spreadsheet users to employ this very powerful tool.

Wright has distilled his many years of field experience into an easily followed, step-by-step, approach to providing very insightful statistical evaluations of complex technical projects. Implementation is facilitated by ready-to-use software and support included on a CD with the book. Monte Carlo Risk Analysis is not only suitable for the most complex problems; it can very usefully be applied to most any business analysis. Within the context of VC investments in speculative, new technologies, Wright's book provides a very potent approach to identifying and quantifying the metrics for success. I highly recommend Wright's book to anybody analyzing business ventures. ... Read more

Product Description
Geordie 'Tappy' was there at the beginning when Eric Burdon and the boys formed the Animals and when they recorded their anthem 'House of the Rising Sun'. He was there at the end when they re-formed for a world tour in the early 80s. He was also there when unknown guitarist Jimi Hendrix played to a handful of punters in a smoky American club and next day recorded one of his biggest hits 'Hey Joe'. He regularly took Jimi and his band to the VD clinic as groupies gave them more than their bodies. Among many others, Tappy looked after superstar Tina Turner and her fiery husband Ike on their first ever tour of the UK. He has seen it all, done it all, been jailed, 'press ganged' into the US Army as a deserter, came close to joining the Monkees, was witness and victim to early racism in the music business and has seen drugs kill and destroy. He single-handedly defeated the Spanish Armada's attack on London, during a bad acid trip on LSD. And he knows the real reason Hendrix and his manager Chas Chandler parted company at the height of his fame.Funny, revealing, even frightening in parts, the author blows open the world of rock and roll in the 60s, 70s and 80s, including an explosive revelation about the death of a rock legend that will shock the music industry. Tappy's love of music and his ability to be in the right place at the right time have led to a fascinating life: from playing 2nd guitar with the Animals as they began to form, to working with rock legends from Tina Turner, Little Richard and The Who to Sammy Davies Jnr and Dusty Springfield. He now divides his time between Florida and his native Whitley Bay near Newcastle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Looking forward to a second book!
While I did not experience the '60s myself, this book was written in a manner that made me feel as though I could have.I found the Prologue intriguing, encouraging me to read more.The Introduction demonstrates the author's clarity and understanding of who he is as a person.The book provides details only someone who had these experiences could have written.A mix of humorous, serious, and unfortunately also tragic stories round out this book.I felt a heartfelt appreciation from the writer of having lived the life he did, being fortunate enough to have first-hand encounters with names such as Hendrix, Elvis, the Animals and Tina Turner.Overall, I found it enjoyable and look forward to reading more in a second book.

Amazing unique insight into some of music's greatest stars
As a long term fan of rock and soul music and especially Jimi Hendrix I was eagerly looking forward to this book and was not disappointed.

The book is completely full of great little anecdotes and stories - some are a different view on well known rock events (like Hendrix burning his guitar at Montreux, where Tappy was the person who handed him the lighter fuel!), others are enthralling accounts of spending time with some of the greatest musical acts such as John Lennon, Elvis, The Animals, Tina Turner, Little Richard and of course Jimi Hendrix.

It's important to view this book in the correct light - as I've come across some reviews that appear to have missed the point. This is not supposed to be some sort of great literary work of art looking for a Nobel prize for literature. Rather, it's an honestly written first person account of fascinating experiences with some of the world's greatest ever music stars.

For those of us who are really huge Jimi Hendrix fans there's something special in this book. I don't want to spoil it but let's just say you'll find out the real reason Hendrix parted with his manager Chas Chandler - and you'll also find out the incredibly explosive truth about how and why he died!

So, look beyond the writing style and the gratuitous sex and drugs (there's a lot of that ) and instead see, laid bare, the amazing life and times of someone who really was there at the birth of rock 'n' roll, through the 60s and 70s and who recounts everything from accompanying Hendrix on his first flamboyant shopping trips in Carnaby Street, to catching him in bed with Brigitte Bardot!

One other unique aspect to this book is the insight to one of the most secretive characters in rock - (aside perhaps from Elvis's manager The Colonel) Michael Jeffery. Tappy recounts working with Jefferey's through many projects and bands and sheds light on one the shadiest characters in the music business.

There's a treasure trove of amazing stories in this book - so enjoy it!

To be a fly on the wall
Awesome book and an great look into rock and roll history. What great memories good or bad. What a fabulous story life is, thanks for sharing it with the world.

On the right road but falls short
James (Tappy) Wright's autobiography, `Rock Roadie' covers the years up to 1973 and the death of Mike Jeffery, manager of The Animals and Jimi Hendrix.Wright provides some interesting insights into the pop music scene of the sixties through his work as a road manager with The Animals, Ike and Tina Turner, Peter Noone, Jimi Hendrix and even Jayne Mansfield and Perry Como. As a member of The Wildcats, with Hilton Valentine, Wright moved over to The Animals when Hilton was recruited as their lead guitarist. Since he had a van, Wright became the Animals roadie.He apparently played rhythm guitar on some of the tracks on The Animals first album as well. The book includes stories of some of the heavyweight managers of the era (Peter Grant, Don Arden and, of course, Mike Jeffery) and their organized crime undertones. It also presents a number of amusing anecdotes regarding the individual members of the original Animals and their rise to fame. Unfortunately, instead of providing much in-depth looks at the individuals, Wright takes the easy route of focussing on the groupies and sexual encounters of both his employers and himself.At times it becomes another book on the reminisces of a middle-age man (actually he becomes a senior citizen later this year) on getting laid when he was young. The inclusion of more detail on his relationships with his employers that did not just relate to sex would have been a welcome addition to the book.He has interesting stories about his encounters with Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Perry Como and Ike and Tina Turner that do not involve groupies and even some about The Animals but I would have liked to have read more of these.For instance, Wright didn't like Dave Rowberry who replaced Alan Price on keyboards in 1965. Rowberry apparently treated Wright like a roadie, instead of the sixth Animal, as he had become accustomed to being. Rowberry is therefore given about two paragraphs in the book.There is no mention of Barry Jenkins who replaced John Steel on drums in late 1965, although Wright does talk about the recording on the album, `Animalism', in Bermuda when Jenkins was in the group.
In the Forward to the book, the old cliché `If you remember the 60s then you weren't there' is brought up as a lead in to the fact that Wright's only vice was women, not drugs and booze, therefore he has a clear memory for the events of the decade. However, the book demonstrates a number of lapses in his memories of these years.The story of recording the television special, `The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood' with Liza Minnelli is placed in the discussion of events from 1964. Wright states that Sammy Davis Jr was the Big Bad Wolf and that he'd rant on about how these new groups were scruffy layabouts. The show was actually recorded in 1965 and the part of the Big Bad Wolf was played by Cyril Richard, the white, Australian-born actor, not Sammy Davis Jr.Also, according to Wright, in the fall of 1964, he accidently auditioned for The Monkees and met Jerry Lewis during his filming of `Three on a Couch'.The auditions for The Monkees were held in September 1965 while `Three on a Couch' came out in 1966, so Wright's memories are off by a year here.At the end of 1964, Wright tells a story about The Animals appearing on Ready Steady Go along with The Rolling Stones and a joke that Eric Burdon plays on Mick Jagger's girlfriend, Chrissie Shrimpton. Eric was caught up in the atmosphere of the groups playing live on the show, according to Wright.Actually, Ready Steady Go was still having groups mime to their songs until April 1965.Wright also presents some revisionist history in the book.More than four decades ago, in an interview in Eye magazine, he described the recording of `House of the Rising Sun' as The Animals entering the studio, setting up their equipment, doing a partial run-through of the song to set recording levels and then sending Wright out to buy milk for tea.When he returned a few minutes later, the song had been recorded in one take. The story now changes to the song being recorded later in the day, after most of the other tracks for the first album had been recorded and while the producer Mickie Most (not Mickey Most as incorrectly spelled throughout the book) is in the bathroom.
Criticizing these `lapses in memory' may seem like nit-picking, but they raise questions as to Wright's recollections of the two big events exposed in his book - Chas Chandler's resignation as Jimi Hendrix's producer during `Electric Ladyland' and Mike Jeffery's murder of Jimi Hendrix.Wright claims that Chandler quit as producer in the early months of 1968 at the same time that he separated from his wife, Lotta, whom he never spoke to again.However, the two had a son, Steffan, who was born in 1969 and according to some sources, did not divorce until 1977.It has also been written in other biographies of Hendrix that he visited Chas and Lotta the day before he died to see their son and to discuss Chas fixing up some recent tapes of his.Although the suggestion that Hendrix was murdered by Mike Jeffery is plausible, Wright could have strengthened his case by addressing the confusing statements in other books as to where Jeffery was at the time of Hendrix's death.Some say he was in Spain, others say he was briefly in England that week, looking for Hendrix.It is surprising to me that Wright makes no mention of any contact he had with Jeffery the day Hendrix dies.Jeffery was Wright's boss and you would think that Wright would be in contact with him that day.
In conclusion, I found `Rock Roadie' to be an easy read and it did add to my knowledge of The Animals and others from the 1960s. There are two main faults with the book, in my opinion. The first is its preoccupation with the sexploits of Wright and others at the expense of providing more insight into other aspects of the music scene (concerts, recording, interactions between groups) that Wright was so involved in during an important time in musical history.The second is the number of errors in dates and events that are distracting to students of musical history, question the accuracy of Wright's description of events, and lead one to call for better confirmation of Wright's statements on Chandler's resignation as Hendrix's manager and Jeffery's murder of Hendrix.I rate the book as more than three stars but less than four.
... Read more

Product Description
The first selected poems of a major poet who "wrote with more heart than any other North American poet of the twentieth century" (Rodney Jones, Parnassus)

More than any other poet of his generation, James Wright spoke to the great sadness and hope that are inextricable from the iconography of America: its rail yards, rivers, cities, and once vast natural beauty. Speaking in the unique lyrical voice that he called his "Ohioan," Wright created poems of immense sympathy for sociey's alienated and outcast figures and also of ardent wonder at the restorative power of nature.

Selected Poems fills a significant gap in Wright's bibliography: that of an accessible, carefully chosen collection to satisfy both longtime readers and those just discovering his work. Edited and with an introduction by Wright's widow, Anne, and his close friend the poet Robert Bly, who also wrote an introduction, Selected Poems is a personal, deeply considered collection of work with pieces chosen from all of Wright's books. It is an overdue--and timely--new view of a poet whose life and work encompassed the extremes of American life.
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Customer Reviews (1)

An excellent introduction to a major poet
Among 20th century poets Wright stands as singular in his evocation of pathos without heavy-handed sentiment, his use of clear language without being predictable, and his imagery which loves the "things" of the world without being objective or cold. There are few poets of the last fifty years, if ever, who can make the grand claims that he does without sounding excessive, and in that he seems to be a great poet of timing. How else can one be moved by such lines as "Suddenly I realize/That if I stepped out of my body I would break/Into blossom" without the cumulative effects of image and rhythm? Bly does an excellent job of introducing the reader to the major features and periods of Wright's poetry, breaking things into times of darkness and light (and pointing out how it is that Wright, in his peculiar fashion, could find light and hope in moments of despair), as well as giving clear definition to Wright's major influences and pertinent details of his biography. Anne Wright's foreward is also a great asset, as it briefly shows some of the process into making a selected volume, given both her lack of experience as an editor and her emotional connection to the poems. As she suggests, it is hard to find consensus as to which poems should be included from Above the River, the complete volume, yet the major poems are all represented, as well as some prose pieces and the formative early poems that show the influence of John Crowe Ransom over Wright, then his student. In all, this should stand as an excellent introductory volume of a poet who stands as one of the few originals who cannot be immitated but also cannot be ignored. ... Read more

Product Description
This moving, eighteen-month exchange of correspondence chronicles the friendship-through-the-mail of two extraordinary writers.

Leslie Marmon Silko is a poet and novelist. James Wright won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for his Collected Poems. They met only twice. First, briefly, in 1975, at a writers conference in Michigan. Their correspondence began three years later, after Wright wrote to Silko praising her book Ceremony. The letters begin formally, and then each writer gradually opens to the other, venturing to share his or her life, work and struggles. The second meeting between the two writers came in a hospital room, as James Wright lay dying of cancer.

The New York Times wrote something of Wright that applies to both writers-- of qualities that this exchange of letters makes evident. "Our age desperately needs his vision of brotherly love, his transcendent sense of nature, the clarity of his courageous voice."
Amazon.com Review
This tender volume follows the blossoming friendship through letters between Pulitzer Prize-winning poet James Wright and the then-young poet and novelist Leslie Marmon Silko. The charming correspondences, which unfurled over the final year and a half of Wright's life (1978-1980), are all about the difficulties and sweet pleasures of life, work, writing, and encounters with mean roosters. Silko considers the ways in which her work is imbued with the spirit of her Laguna Pueblo Indian heritage. Wright discusses the need to let a poem sit for a while before showing it to the world, as a poem "goes through changes ... when you leave it alone patiently, just as surely as a plant does, or an animal, or any other creature." Together they explore the catharsis of storytelling, the overwhelming power of words ("how deeply we can touch each other with them," writes Silko), and the beauty of a gentle yet passionate friendship between like-minded souls. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A moving, personal exchange of letters
_The Delicacy and Strength of Lace_ is an incredibly moving exchange between two great American poets who only met briefly on two occasions:Wright heard Silko read from her work which initiated the correspondence; Silko visited Wright on his deathbed.In between they exchanged letters about their everyday existences, everything from Silko's rooster to the nature of another animal, the human animal. Wright's inititial letter told Silko of his high regard for her book, _Ceremony_ and it's importance and stature in American literature.The letters quickly take on the knowing, personal feel of two people who have known each other for years.The reader is drawn into their lives and, especially, their visions.I recently re-read the book, and once again found myself examining along with the writers the very heart and nature of our existence in this vale of tears. Fans of the poetry of either will find this exchange especially enlightening, but I came to it unfamiiliar with either and found its simplicity and yet its warmth and vision compelling.I often give it as a gift.My copy has been around the world. This is a book to read, relish and re-read.Most readers will probably move next to the works of these two wonderfully compassionate soulmates.Many of Silko's poems appear in the letters. ... Read more

Product Description
In celebration of fifty years of publishing, Wesleyan University Press is pleased to present a special miniature edition of this best-selling volume of poetry by James Wright. Originally published in 1963, The Branch Will Not Break was one of the first volumes of poetry published by Wesleyan. The entire book is reproduced in this appealing small format. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

The branch will not break, poems by James Wright
I must say, this book was so very tiny, I thought it was a joke. Don't get me wrong, it is very cute and adorable but at 3 1/4 inches long, it makes for a better conversation piece than reading matteral! I've always been told you can't judge a book by it's cover, so I guess I'll give it a try...okay, so I'm trying to give it a try, but the print is so little, it's giving me a head ache!I'm just glad I'm not a little 'ole lady with bad eye sight, I would never be able to read it! How many of this teeny tiny books are out there?Bye for now, I'm gonna go see if I can find the 'teeny tiny woman' so she will have something to put in her teeny tiny cabnet. Have a nice day.

Not worth it
I'm young and my vision isn't too bad, but the book is a mini-book, and the font is about a 4 point.I regret not reading the reviews of this book before I bought it, so buyer beware!

An insulting reissue of a great book
Be warned: This book is a MINATURE version, and I mean minature. It is literally 2 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches in size. The text is so small that it is almost unreadable, and certainly not enjoyable to read.

Do yourself a favor and buy the Collected Poems instead.

Read the fine print
Lesson learned is to search everything about these items for sale.To my surprise I got a hard bound book I can't read!It's tiny....maybe 2.5" x 3.25" and 1/4" inch thick.The font is miniscule....maybe a 1.I doubt anyone can read it without a magnifying glass.This fact was NOT readily apparent and I am greatly disappointed.First bum sale I've had with Amazon.com.

Let the buyer beware....or as my title suggests, slow down and read the fine print.Good thing I have other poems from James Wright.

Bob Hancock

Dark Midwestern Beauty
James Wright is a modern American master who wrote poems that are accessible yet transcendent.His works are centered in the Midwest of his birth, yet they resonate like the Chinese lyrics of Tu Fu and Li Po.This is book in which he truly found his own voice. ... Read more

Product Description
Liberty Kovacs' life story has all the elements of the American Dream, both its myth and its reality. Breaking free from the patriarchal rule of her Greek immigrant family, she set an uneasy but independent course that led to her becoming a nurse and marrying fellow Ohioan, the poet James Wright. Headed for the fabled Land of Happiness, Life broke in with all its unpredictable misery: living in Minneapolis with their two sons, the marriage was soon riven by alcoholism, angers, unspeakable trauma and eventually bitter divorce. Bereft but courageous, Liberty set a new course and headed west to San Francisco where she had a scholarship to study psychiatric nursing. A single mother, she experienced triumphs in her profession, married again and bore a third son - that household too fell victim to unhappiness and despairs. Yet with each blow, her spirit rose again and again, never giving up on herself or her sons, whom she writes about with disarming openness. -Merrill Leffler, publisher of Dryad Press, author of Partly Panemonium, Partly Love, Take Hold ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Escaping Patriarchy
One in a series of "True Stories of Courage and Inspiration" offered by RDR Publishers, Liberty's Questtraces the strenuous journey to personal freedom by the daughter of illegal Greek immigrants.Liberty, known to friends as "Libby," was an independent adventurer even as a young girl, barely keeping inside cultural limits set by her patriarchal father who saw no life for her other than to marry a man he chose from his circle of Greek friends in the Ohio Valley.A life-long learner, Libby sets out in fascinating detail her strategy to be a "good girl" so her father would let her finish high school, followed by her tough choice to be disinherited so she could go to nursing school rather than settle into a traditional domestic role.

She persists on her pathway of education via formal schooling through a PhD leading to her career as a marriage and family therapist.Libby searches for ever deeper understanding of herself and others inside many settings: from relationships with two husbands--both troubled and charming, motherhood to three challenging sons, whitewater rafting including down the rugged Colorado River twice, and--at what she calls the "fringe of old age"--continuation of her search for meaning in this memoir recounting her unique traveler's tale, a beacon of wisdom for women who yearn to escape 2,000 years of patriarchy and discover who they can become.A fascinating and provocative read!

Liberty Eventually Fulfills Her Quest
Liberty is the quintessential Mother, mother to all, even those who are not her children. She lives, or at least everyday strives to, "with love, acceptance, and generosity," and it seems she is only met with the opposite. Her Greek family was utterly traditional, in the sense that the men were oppressively dominant. When she breaks away from her father's plans, she starts a family and a career, thinking that the worst is behind her. Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for all of us that now get to indulge in her tale, she falls back into a familiar cycle of adversity.

In the kind of uplifting human interest depiction that goes right along with the season, Liberty shows the absolute fortitude and indomitableness that even the most poised and graceful of us envy. It is not sickly sweet, it is real and quite open with its honesty-and in its rawness it is inspirational. This book will light the fire in your hearth, switch on the festive lights in and hanging from your home, and give you perspective about your problems.

Inspirational message from her very soul
Reviewed by Danelle Drake for Reader Views (10/08)

With great will Liberty Kovacs lives her own epic tale.Never has life been easy, never has she succumbed to a challenge, never has she shown anything by incredible courage and grit.

We begin the journey in the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea of Greece where although very beautiful dealt Liberty a life full of challenge.The father was master and all other family members were to know their place.Explaining the culture of Greece gives great insight into Liberty's young lifestyle and shows the reason she chose to follow her own heart and astronomical courage it took for her to do so.Liberty heard many, many times growing up the little ditty, "A man may work from daylight to dusk, but a woman's work is never done."She knew the work she was to do would be of her own choosing.

This simple sign showed her the way out:

YOUNG WOMEN WANTED
TO JOIN THE NURSE CADETS.
AFTER TWO AND A HALF YEARS OF TRAINING
IN A NURSING PROGRAM,
THE GRADUATE WOULD CONTRIBUTE
TWO YEARS OF SERVICE
TO THE ARMY NURSE CORPS.

From there we travel with this extraordinary woman thru love, marriage, child-birth and a path of amazing careers.

Never giving up, a fierce spiritual warrior, conquering any and all obstacles thrown her way, Liberty Kovacs is a great life to read in "Liberty's Quest."Family was always greatly important to Liberty and this woman shows us we can have it all!

Paddle on!

The Myth and Reality of the American Dream
"Liberty's Quest" is the amazing memoir of Liberty Kovacs. Her family roots go back to the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean Sea of Greece.
The book is divided into three parts.Part I includes her early family life which was centered on the customs and beliefs of the Greek Orthodox Church,

Liberty tells of her paternal and maternal roots, their marriage, her birth, and her siblings.She relates stories of family feuds, memories of school, her love for reading and of the impact of WWII on her family.

Part two covers her marriage and the ensuing years as the wife of Poetry Pulitzer Prize winner, James Wright. She brilliantly describes her multi-faceted education in nursing, Jim's family background, his teaching job in Texas, and of their sojourn in Philadelphia. Jim then enrolled for a year at the University of Vienna. With amazing insight and openness Liberty describes the psychological difficulties of their marriage. While in Vienna their first son Franz was born. (Franz also became the winner of the Poetry Pulitzer Prize).

As a result of a contact with a friend in Vienna Jim enrolled in the graduate program in English at the University of Washington in Seattle. Jim excelled in his studies. Liberty found solace in her work. Jobs in Minneapolis and a new son, Marshall did not eliminate the alienation of a broken relationship doomed from the beginning.

Part III tells of Liberty's from Minnesota to California and of how she created a whole new world for herself and her two sons. In her job in San Francisco she was given advanced training ford medical, public heath and psychiatric nursing. In 1965 Liberty married Miklos M. Kovacs.Liberty gave birth to her third son, Michael Kovacs in 1966. The intervening years tell of more unhappiness and despair.

I found Kovac's attention to detail in the historical and cultural perspectives of her family both interesting and engaging. Her insights into relationships and the psychological needs of the individual are profound. Her writing is strong, open, and well organized.

"Liberty's Quest" is an inspiration, courageous and triumphant in spite of unhappiness and despair. An amazing epic of a person's search for personal freedom.
... Read more

Product Description
Regardless how you interpret the statistics, the divorce rate in the United States is staggering. But, what if the government could change this? Would families be better off if new public policies made it more difficult for couples to separate?

This book explores a movement that emerged over the past fifteen years, which aims to do just that. Guided by certain politicians and religious leaders who herald marriage as a solution to a range of longstanding social problems, a handful of state governments enacted "covenant marriage" laws, which require couples to choose between a conventional and a covenant marriage. While the familiar type of union requires little effort to enter and can be terminated by either party unilaterally, covenant marriage requires premarital counseling, an agreement bound by fault-based rules or lengthy waiting periods to exit, and a legal stipulation that divorce can be granted only after the couple has received counseling.

Drawing on interviews with over 700 couples-half of whom have chosen covenant unions-this book not only evaluates the viability of public policy in the intimate affairs of marriage, it also explores how growing public discourse is causing men and women to rethink the meaning of marriage. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A must read for any Texas enthusiast!
Parks for Texas is a fascinating account of the creation of the Texas state park system. Steely deftly weaves political, architectural, environmental, and social history into a rich and compelling text.His examination of the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in Texas duringthe depression is meticulous, and is brilliantly placed within the anxioussocial climate of rural Texas.If you are interested in parks,architecture, political history or just want to know more about how we havechanged our view of landscape in the 20th century, this book is a mustread.Certainly, if you relish things Texana, this is an absolutenecessity for your library.Steely has produced an educated, insightfulwork, that will no doubt become a classic text on the revoultionary worksof FDR's New Deal.Enjoy. ... Read more

Product Description
"There is something about the very form and occasion of a letter--the possibility it offers, the chance to be as open and tentative and uncertain as one likes and also the chance to formulate certain ideas, very precisely--if one is lucky in one's thoughts," wrote James Wright, one of the great lyric poets of the last century, in a letter. A Wild Perfection is a riveting collection that captures the exhilarating and moving correspondence between Wright and his many friends. In the letters to fellow poets Donald Hall, Theodore Roethke, Galway Kinnell, James Dickey, Mary Oliver, and Robert Bly, Wright explored many subjects, poetic and personal, from his creative process to his struggles with depression and illness. Bright threads of wit, gallantry, and passion for describing his travels and his beloved natural world run through all these letters, which together form an epistolary chronicle of a significant part of the mid-century American poetry renaissance, as well as the clearest biographical picture now available of this major American poet. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

The Truth of James Wright
"A Wild Perfection:The Selected Letters of James Wright" is one of the most entertaining collections of American literary correspondence since Flannery O'Connor's "Habit of Being."The letters of poet and teacher James Wright, which have been selected and edited by his wife, Anne, and Professor Saundra Rose Maley, begin when he's a young man in the army in 1946 and continue through until his death by cancer in 1980.

If there is one salient trait that comes through in these letters, it is his deep compassion for others, the sense that James Wright was really a very nice guy.Despite bouts of poverty and chronic alcoholism, he never waxed cynical about the world or those around him.

His correspondence includes letters to Robert Bly, James Dickey, Mary Oliver, and Theodore Roethke, and Wright is at his most entertaining when he is related daily anecdotes.

In a letter to his friend, the poet Donald Hall, Wright wrote:"Whatever a poet has been in the past, right now he is defined, to me, as a man who has both the power and the courage to see, and then, to show, the truth through words. If I'm a bad poet, that means a liar."

The truth of James Wright resounds throughout these letters.
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Product Description
Exiled in Paris provides a compelling look at the personalities who fueled the literary and philosophical dramas of postwar Paris: James Baldwin, Alexander Trocchi, Boris Vian, Maurice Girodias, and many others. James Campbell provides a fresh look at Samuel Beckett's early career; reveals the facts behind the publication of the scandalous best-seller The Story of O; and tells the poignant story of Richard Wright's years in exile. He captures the sense of deliverance that Wright, so accustomed to daily humiliations in his own country, experienced during his sojourn on the Left Bank, where, for the first time in his life, he was treated as a great man of letters. Here, too, are all the circumstances surrounding Wright's mysterious death, which many close to him regarded as suspicious. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Porn in Paris
I purchased this book expecting to learn more about famous ex-pat authors living in post WW2 Paris. Indeed, the first part of the book, which concentrated on Richard Wright and James Baldwin, fully met my expectations. However after that the book details in minute detail the development of pornographic literature (heterosexual and homosexual)in Paris - authors and publishers. At some point I had enough and abandoned ship. It was just too boring.

Fascinating reading
After the end of the Second World War, a number of African Americans,including many of our most talented intellectuals, decided that America wasjust not a sufficiently hospitable home.Those who could left for Europe. Many, landed in Paris, which provided a far more civilizedsociety.

Literary giants like James Baldwin, Richard Wright and otherintellectuals found a place where their worth was determined by things moresignificant than skin color.This is the story of theirexperiences.

Another book worth searching for. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an incredibly informative and reader-friendly book about a common debilitating medical condition that goes largely undiagnosed and untreated. ADRENAL FATIGUE: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome is a very empowering work cram-packed with vital information about a condition that very likely affects millions of people. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (118)

Adrenal Fatigue
Very interesting and informative. I was a little skeptical when I realized there was a vitamin regimen that the author had conveniently made up and was available for purchase. But he does spell out exactly what you need and you can go to the vitamin store if you choose to.

Great book!
Everyone with a fatigue problem should read this book.Has great chapters on rest, food, stress and all the things needed to get your energy back. Very down to earth with no medical terms that we do not understand.Just because most doctors do not understand this very common syndrome doesn't mean that we can't do what the book says and regain our vitality for life.I won't say it is easy (changing the way we eat, sleep, etc) but well worth the effort to feel better.I wish I had read this book years ago.

Learn more about Adrenal Fatigue also known as Adrenal Insufficiency
I was hesitant to read this book when it was suggested to me because I thought it would be just one more crazy idea. I also have a lot of knowledge about the body and stress because I'm a retired registered nurse. I've suspected for years that I had Adrenal Fatigue because I've experienced a lot of trauma and a lot of stress. I've also been diagnosed with FMS and CFS. No one knows the cause of these diagnosis nor do they have proven treatments other than potent drugs. The author of this book points out that these two diagnosis are often made because Doctors don't recognize or diagnose Adrenal Fatigue unless you are in crisis. Blood test results show only the highest levels of Adrenal Fatigue so many are not diagnosed. I almost stopped reading after the first chapter because I didn't learn anything new. I decided to skip around and read other chapters. I'm so glad I did. When I read about nutrition I got really excited because it sounds like exactly what I need for my own health. Some people would say it's junk or snake oil medicine. I believe it's well worth giving it a try. I've believed in natural medicine for a long time and this book gives very easy to understand explanations in detail about Adrenal Fatigue and some good ideas of how to treat it without strong medicine. Most people want quick fixes so they ask for drugs to treat every diagnosis. This isn't always the best option because some drugs can cause damage to the body if used over a long period of time. The drug most often prescribed for Adrenal Fatigue is steroids such as prednisone. I know enough about that drug to know I'd much rather try natural treatments first. As this book points out; natural medicine takes much longer to show results than drugs, but the results can be more long lasting without side effects. It also points out, correctly I believe, that most mainstream doctors would discourage you from trying this as they more often than not discount Holistic or Natural medicine.I believe the author of this book who holds 2 Masters degrees and 3 Doctorates has the knowledge to teach me and others some important information.If you havesuffered due to trauma or experienced a lot of stress, have been diagnosed with depression or any of the above diagnosis I highly recommend this book.

Adrenal Fatigue Understood - there is help and hope!
This book was referred to me by my doctor who recently gave me a positive diagnosis for Adrenal Fatigue (different from, but can be connected to, Chronic Fatigue). I have found it very easy to read and understand and it certainly hits the nail on the head!! The explanations are clear and the diagrams really help too as I am a visual learner! Recovery from Adrenal Fatigue is a journey and this is proving to be a very useful tool on this journey. Thoroughly recommend that any one struggling with dragging fatigue, lack of energy and enjoyment of life reads it - it may just be your answer too.

Excellent!
This book was fantastic.I have adrenal fatigue and it explains your symptoms and the reasons for your systems.It is easy to read and understand and has funny comic pictures of the symptoms.My husband was even interested in reading this book.He couldn't put it down. ... Read more

Product Description
James Wright was a towering figure in the American literature of the late twentieth century. This book gathers elegies from many of his greatest contemporaries (Robert Bly, Galway Kinnell, W.S. Merwin, C.K. Williams, and more). Interspersed with these elegies are poems by a younger generation inspired by Wright's work. This collection offers interesting insights into the relationships among the great American poets of recent years, and it testifies to the ongoing power of James Wright's achievement. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Poems for a Great Poet
From the Other World: Poems in Memory of James Wright is a wonderful tribute to a great American poet. There is a haunting sadness and a lyrical beauty to James Wright's poetry, and the same can be said for the poems in this new collection, elegies and appreciations from many poets who knew him and from some who did not. Lovely in their own right, the poems are served well by an arrangement that seems to place them in conversation with one another. For example, Stanley Plumly's prose poem about the Annual James Wright Festival speaks of Galway Kinnell's sadness the year after Wright's death. Plumly's piece is followed by Kinnell's own, and justly famous, elegy to Wright. Many such effects occur throughout this collection, for which the editors are to be commended. The book is a must for James Wright lovers, and a good place to start for others who want to learn more about him and his relationship to his contemporaries. ... Read more

Product Description
This book contains the original story of the LostCement Gold Mine "somewhere on the headwaters of the Owens River,"exactly as published in the San Francisco Daily Evening Post in thefall of 1879. Included in this volume are historic maps and accountsof Monoville and Mammoth City mining camps, along with Mark Twain'sstory of his midnight expedition to locate the legendary mine(accompanied by drawings from the 1872 first edition of RoughingIt).

Among hundred-year-old files of the San Francisco DailyEvening Post, Richard Lingefelter discovered this story of the LostCement Mine by James W. A. Wright. Wright wrote his account in thefall of 1879, after a summer visit to Mono County's mining camps ineastern California.

Wright's report is partly hearsay, partly a day-by-day account of thecountry he traveled between Monoville and Mammoth City. So detailedare his descriptions that you can locate today many of the places hewrote about more than a hundred years ago. For example, you can easilyfollow his route up Red Mountain, south of Mammoth City, to the top ofhis "highest gray granite peak."There you can enjoy the samemagnificent views that enthralled him on the eighth of July, 1879, andthat he wrote about at length in the Introductory.

Exclusive to this edition are three historic maps, additional notes,Mark Twain's full account of the Cement Mine, and Nina Kelley'sdramatic illustrations. Perhaps, one day, somewhere on the headwatersof the Owens River, you too may hear the tap! tap! tap!of aprospector's hammer, just as Wright did over a hundred yearsago. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Lost, but not forgotten
For what it's worth, I am a female prospector, concentrating on the Sierra Nevadas.Most of my work is done in the Northern, but this summer afforded me a look into the Eastern Sierras and what it had to offer.I was leddown Hwy 395, in Eastern California to the lost mines of the Mammoth Lakesand came upon the Lost Cement Mine.Cement mine?That's what I said! But, further investigation led me to this book that gives a bit of thehistory on the mine.At times, I had a hard time following the story line,especially in the end, but read it cover to cover in one sitting and wasanxious for more.It's a fun book that takes you back a hundred or soyears to yet more perils of the gold prospector in the never-ending questfor glitter.Thank you, James W.A. Wright, for a journey I have justbegun. ... Read more