1 comments about The New Country Style England.

1. I was a little disappointed in this book because I expected the cover photo to be more indicative of the content; ie, a conventional décor book filled with photos of English Country house interiors - my favourite décor style. I wanted to take away a star for this, but I will try to rise above & rate the book for what it is. After all, a book ought to expand one's horizons & push one beyond the comfort zone.
   
   It is more a celebration of the photographer's eye and the nostalgia for life in the English home and countryside. It is all about atmosphere and detail, flashes of color and slashes of line, suggestion more than substance: red-soled rubber boots striding across a stubble field; a William Morris cushion on a faded wine sofa; an old wooden bowl filled with oranges and lemons ("say the bells of Saint Clements"); a white seagull perched on a stone chimney pot against a vivid blue sky; a collection of well-used kitchen knives hanging on a blood red wall; a saddle at the foot of a bed made of logs; a heavy iron door latch; a straw hat on an ancestral bust, a chipped enamel teapot on a floral table cover, a scarred blue trunk juxtaposed with a vibrant red woven cloth; a carpet of silvery & taupe oak leaves littering the ground; gothic stained glass; silver candlesticks; old leather books, the green arc of a fern frond...
   
   If that is what you want, it is quite beautifully done.

1 comments about Gardens of New England.

1. Great book...the photography is amazing and captions are well-written and informative. I actually bought several copies as gifts and one for my coffee table!

1 comments about Union Oyster House Cookbook: Recipes and History from America's Oldest Restaurant.

1. Now for the very first time, America's oldest restaurant offers its history and traditional Yankees recipes in the Union Oyster House Cookbook.
   
   Established in 1826, Boston's Union Oyster House is the country's oldest continuously operated restaurant. The building itself is so old that municipal records do not record its original function.
   
   From 1771 until the beginning of the Revolutionary War it was the home of "The Massachusetts Spy," long known as the oldest newspaper in the United States. During the war it the pay-station for early Federal troops. Louis Phillipe, later King of France, was a guest and taught French to prominent Bostonians. Daniel Webster was said to drink a tall tumbler of bandy and water with each half dozen oysters.
   
   Famous patrons of the Union Oyster House have included Paul Newman, Muhammad Ali, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, Ozzie Osbourne and Edward Kennedy. John F. Kennedy preferred Booth 18 upstairs which now has a dedication plaque. In 2003, the Union Oyster House was named a National Historic Landmark.
   
   As well as recounting the 180-year history of the restaurant and its Boston environs, Union Oyster House Cookbook has sixty of the restaurant's most famous recipes adapted for home use, including:
   
   Oyster House Clam Chowder
   Lobster Scampi
   American Bouillabaisse
   Shellfish in many forms: raw oysters and clams, Oysters Rockefeller, Clams Casino, Baked Stuffed Cherrystones, boiled and broiled lobster
   Pan Seared Haddock
   Boston Baked Beans
   Hot Indian Pudding
   Boston Cream Pie
   
   Illustrated with historic photographs and artwork in color and black and white and including interviews with the owners Joe Milano and Mary Anne Milano Picardi, chef William Coyne and other long-time employees, this a both a practical cookbook and a testament to a restaurant that has been part of the fabric of Boston for 280 years.
   
   Foreword by Senaator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy
   
   About the authors:
   
   Jean Kerr is author of Mystic Seafood: Great Recipes, History and Seafaring Lore from Mystic Seaport. She is Editor of Taste of the Seacoast, the Boston-Portland, Maine food and wine magazine.
   
   Spencer Smith is a publisher and writer based in Maine

5 comments about Spiked Boots: Sketches of the North Country.

1. Robert Pike grew up in northern VT at the turn of the 20th century, and steeped himself in the lore of that area and era: the loggers, the eccentric woodsman, the singular history of the most independent of the United States.

   Throughout his long life, Pike wrote several books about the North Country. One book, "Tall Trees, Tough Men," has been in print since its original publication in 1967, but most of his other books were self-published out of his house in New Jersey.

   "Tall Trees" is his most respected book among historians, but "Spiked Boots" is his most beloved. His love of the region and its characters comes out in full, and his penchant for story telling, especially tall tales, is razor-sharp.

   "Spiked Boots" had been previously re-issued by Yankee Press. In this latest re-issue from Countryman, it is augmented with a new foreword by his daughter, Helen-Chantal Pike, and new photos culled from Pike's extensive personal archives. To read "Spiked Boots" is to truly travel back in time to a unique American era.




2. This book is aptly titled as it concerns those hard-working, hard-living souls who were all but born wearing spiked boots and is a continuing saga of this section of New England known as the "north country". These true accounts of activity in the wood and lumber industry are well detailed from early in the 1800's until the last drive in 1915. Interspersed in these narrations are related stories of heroic deeds, impossible feats of skill, strength and daring; folk lore, superstition and camp fire tales all of which are skillfully described by Pike. These are so well presented that at times it is not easy to separate fact from fiction. Only after years of traveling in the north country, re-living the camp life and winning the confidence and respect of the woodsman was Robert Pike able to put together this story of a by-gone era. He tells it in true vernacular-a peavey is a peavey that was the the everyday tool of the woodsman. The bridal chain was the brake that held back the sled load of logs going down the mountain. His description of the lumber baron-good or not so good- is true to life. No artist could paint a better picture of those spiked boots living in that ice water for days, and weeks, on end. Hardy souls that respected their fellow workers is the tribute describing the strong men of the north country. Spiked Boots is one segment of our culture worth knowing and re-reading.



3. Spiked Boots is among a rare breed of books, either fiction or fact, that can take the reader directly into the minds of the characters and places the author is talking about. Robert Pike approaches the tales of Vern Davison, Jack Haley, and a host of others with such clarity you are transported directly back 100 years to the logging industry of the "north country." You sit in your chair reading the book and the words slowly turn into the wind rushing by your face as you are transported into the horse drawn carriage with Vern Davison and Robert Pike, and you find yourself slowly engulfed in another era.

   Not to be overlooked in the new Countryman Press edition is the foreword added by Helen-Chantal Pike, Robert Pike's daughter. The foreword adds a look into Robert Pike's life that only a daughter could bring into the book, from the tales of the original "peddling" trips, to the meaning of his writings to himself, to the intimate detail of Robert Pike reading a well worn copy of Spiked Boots over and over again during his last years of life.

   Also added to the new edition are several photographs culled from the Pike Archives featuring a rare photographic glimpse of the scenery and people that the tales of Spiked Boots originates from. One can fully appreciate the men spoken of as they gaze at the picture of Ginseng Willard next to the coffin he slept in for two years to, "get used to it."

   For fans of America, for fans of history, for fans of self-reliance, the new edition of Robert E. Pike's Spiked Boots is not one to be missing from the shelves of the library. It offers a rare glimpse at a by-gone era, of men and women that no longer exist in this form of ruggedness that made America what it is today.




4. Robert Pike's Spiked Boots is a rare sort of history book, one that a reader loves to come across in the arid sea of historical work out that chokes the shelves of book stores. Presented as a series of vignettes on subjects ranging from haunted hunting camps to Ginseng Willard and his homemade coffin, Pike provides an important insight into the history and society of the northern reaches of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. It is a presentation of a world that is now gone, pushed through the chutes in the style of the great logging rushes that Old Vern, the cagey ex walking boss and Pike's guide through this world, once worked. The presentation of this world is not of a Hesiodic Golden Age, when men were men and trees were more plentiful. It is a presentation of a world where some men worked hard, some women harder, and some not at all. It is a memoir of hard working lumbermen and guides -- how they worked, how they played, and for some of them, the mistakes that they made that took their lives. Pike was a fortunate man to have encountered Vern, for the history that was handed to him is beyond value as a vision into a bygone age and an area that is sometimes forgotten. And the characters are unforgetable also.



5. As someone who grew up listening to my Irish Grandmother tell tales of her Father sneaking out in the middle of the night to catch fish to feed the family which was illegal in enslaved Ireland at that time, I've always been a sucker for a good yarn. (Sorry for the run on)
   
   Spiked Boots is like sitting on the front porch of some old timer who is telling stories to pass the time. In this case however, the listener must have dashed inside to jot everything down every 15 minutes or so. Wow the stories and information never cease. It's wonderful but sometimes the conversation is a little long, hence the 4 stars.
   
   It's a lot of Northern NH and Maine logging stories but really it's all the interesting stories in an area whose main income came from trees at that time. Admittedly, a lot of my enjoyment of this book came from my life long connection to NH and Maine, 2 states I love. There is woods lore, ghost stories and a little ichthyology thrown in for good measure for the fisherman.
   
   Worth your time if these things are of interest to you. I will read Tall Trees, Tough Men" next.

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Round-Trip to Deadsville: A Year in the Funeral Underground

Posted in New England (Saturday, August 30, 2008)

Written by Tim Matson. By Chelsea Green Publishing Company. The regular list price is $22.95. Sells new for $5.43. There are some available for $5.02.
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5 comments about Round-Trip to Deadsville: A Year in the Funeral Underground.

1. Very enjoyable and easy to read, you'll feel like you're riding right beside Tim Matson the entire ride. I read this book in one evening (couldn't put it down). A suprise ending that befits its title! Good work.



2. No pun intended, this short (144-page) journey through funeral homes, cemeteries, and crematoriums with side trips to probate lawyers, casket-makers, astrologers, and stone-cutters (among others) is truly an underground classic and a MUST-READ for baby-boomers. Once you start talking about it, you will be surprised how many of your contemporaries have read it. Matson doesn't have all the answers, but he raises thought-provoking questions about dying (and what happens next) in a manner which will bring a smile to your face while enlightening you about things you never thought about, much less knew--although you will quickly sense that you DO need to think about them and DO need to know about them.



3. A compelling look at death and the funeral industry. It's extremely well-written. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. I highly recommend it.



4. This book raises the key questions about the Funeral Industry.
   It was very instrumental in my changing careers and becoming a funeral director. It is quite an exciting journey and the author gives you an exiting ride to deadsville and back. The book needs an update and that is why there are only four stars. Several years ago it met my needs, and answered a lot of questions. It is a book I would still purchase today, but is not the first book on funerals I would recomend. It is very descriptive and I especially enjoyed the section on Casket making.
   
   
   
   
   yourfuneralGuy, Funeral Director.



5. It is a rare day when you remove a treasured book from the bookcase and sit down, with memories flooding back, to re-read a prized possession. Today I had the time to once again enjoy Tim Matson's engaging exploration of a "Round-Trip to Deadsville" written in anticipation of his own demise. His trip into the future examines what he will do with the shell that is his body when he leaves this earth.
   
   In the concluding paragaph of his chapter called "The Astrologer" Matson says: "I still don't want to know when I'm going to die. But it's comforting to think that if the day has already been determined, there's not a thing I can do about it."
   
   With chapters named such things as "The Coffin Maker", "The Gravedigger" and "The Cremator" a reader might think that this small, 146-page book will be very depressing. It is not! Matson succeeds in introducing humour into this dreary subject by examining his own feelings as he educates his readers about life, death and what to do with one's body when life ends.
   
   Toward the end of the book when he leaves the Cremator he tells us "I pull off the Interstate at the next exit, find a Quick Stop and buy a beer. The hardest part of this whole thing is giving up the attachment to my body. Making plans to drop my corpse in a hole in the ground or incinerate it in an oven feels like treason. Maybe I should think of it as if I'm being....fired. But it's a job I hate to lose."
   
   Ten pages later the author comes to the conclusion that "As the Stone Carver said, the hard part's not the dying, it's the living. The fear of death I was hoping to overcome was part of a larger fear that had crept up on me, a fear of life. It was the weight of fifty years of hard living, booze, divorce, and dreams that would never come true....But I knew I hadn't felt so alive in years, making my funeral plans." It is that kind of honesty that makes the reader feel the value of this book.
   
   This volume is a treasure to keep and pass on to your children. It will give them the wisdom to endure sad times with inner strength. But long before that time comes have them follow the advice Matson provides in the book's concluding chapter:
   
   "But it's really a time of celebrating the astonishing fact of being alive, not dead, and bragging like hell about it. Forget the sanctimoniuos humility and the trembling fear of death. Get drunk, get laid, revel in being on the right side of the grass. As Ethan Allen said, 'Goddamn 'em, let the angels wait'."
   
   As you close this tiny treasure enjoy the wonderful picture of Tim Matson on the inside back flap of the book's jacket. It is the craggy face of the writer framed by a mop of white hair. It reminds one of Clint Eastwood, after he got old enough to be sexy.

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King Edward III (The New Cambridge Shakespeare)

Posted in New England (Saturday, August 30, 2008)

Written by William Shakespeare. By Cambridge University Press. The regular list price is $16.99. Sells new for $3.00. There are some available for $0.50.
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3 comments about King Edward III (The New Cambridge Shakespeare).

1. The New Cambridge edition provides an extensive introduction passage with the history and background of the play, as well as lengthy footnotes and annotations to the text, which makes the play difficult to read. And if you're not familiar with British history, you'll find yourself constantly flipping back to the introduction, trying to find out exactly what's going on, or who is on what side.

   The book also provides plenty of illustrations pertaining to the actual dating of Edward III, footnotes and academic guidance, and a small textual analysis. The 'academic guidance' claims to be nonobtrusive, but as you read the actual play you find countless annotations and notes that may take up half the page. Nonobtrusive, you say? The illustrations are interesting, and the stage history can be intriguing. But, as mentionned before, the names are barely recognizable. You honestly don't know what they're talking about.

   Shakespeare's tragedies and comedies are mostly good reading. Some histories like Richard III and Henry V as well as Henry IIX can prove interesting, too. And they're much easier to comprehend once they've been made into movies. But if you're not into Elizabethian English -- or simply can't understand it -- it's best that you leave Edward III for another time if you really want to read it, or learn the language. And while you're at it, refresh your knowledge of English history. It's that confusing.

   As for whether Edward III really belongs to Shakespeare, the form is just about the same as the rest of the Bard's work. With some very rare exceptions the lines are in iambic pentameter. To the reader not very familiar with Shakespeare's works or English history, he would not be able to tell the difference between Edward III and any other history play.

   I was surprised to find the history play tiresome, weary and bland, which led me to wonder whether the great Shakespeare really wrote something this dull. But one can't expect all of history to be interesting. Many writers chose historic subjects partly because they want to record history, not necessarily for entertaining purposes.

   Even then, to read one of the six doubtful plays of Shakespeare could prove interesting. If you do decide to order it over the Internet -- as it is not available in Thailand -- and sit down and read it, make sure you know your English history and Elizabethian English. It'll be a tough and challenging ride. This work was edited and published with the more intellectual in mind.




2. You know you're in trouble when the introduction has footnotes. The time period is the beginning of the Hundred Years War (actually 116 Years). The introduction gives you maps of Crecy and Poitiers (major battle sites) but that is silly because the book will pound you with Shakespeare's historical inaccuracies and compare them to the real record: Edward III's founding of the Order of the Garter to His Bloody Rape of Countess Salisbury (glossed over by the Bard). You don't need a family tree of British Royalty either--just remember the order of the history plays: Edward III, Richard II, Henry IV (1), Henry IV (2), and Henry V.

   Edward III resembles Henry V--probably because for 116 years they've been fighting the same war against France: Edward III (Sluys, Crecy, Poitiers) Henry V (Agincourt). Henry V is far superior to Edward III.

   The footnotes in the text have references to other Shakespeare plays--so read this one last--; the Oxford English Dictionary; and notes on the Sources, Froissart and Holinshed, which are written in Middle English; Running Commentary on Shakespeare vs. The Historical Record.

   The Appendix has a scene by scene account of the sources.

   This is a scholarly work--as an English Grad I say Bravissimo, Giorgio! However, for the general reader I recommend the Riverside Shakespeare (Complete Works). Yes, it's bulky but accessible to everyone. The Cambridge Edition is portable but its arcane language is accessible mainly to specialists in the field. I can understand the difficulty the reader from Bangkok, Thailand had in reading this edition: She's right on target.




3. im not sure where i stand on the authorship of this play just yet, especially in an age which happily shuns the two noble kinsmen entirely. I would say this is worth a look if you're a scholar, but beginners need not take it as shakespearean cannon. the inclusion of edward III into shakespeare's corpus is a little hasty here.

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The Hurricane Of 1938 (New England Remembers)

Posted in New England (Saturday, August 30, 2008)

Written by Aram Goudsouzian. By Commonwealth Editions. The regular list price is $12.95. Sells new for $7.06. There are some available for $4.35.
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1 comments about The Hurricane Of 1938 (New England Remembers).

1. This is a very worthwhile book from the human standpoint. It contains a wide variety of stories from those who were actually there, but could have used more facts. I still wonder, for instance, what caused an Atlantic hurricane to suddenly turn and attain a forward speed of 60 mph.

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Slightly Offshore: More Reflections on Contemporary Life from a Small Maine Island--By Down East Magazine's Award-Winning Essayist

Posted in New England (Saturday, August 30, 2008)

Written by Caskie Stinnett. By Down East Books. There are some available for $1.45.
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No comments about Slightly Offshore: More Reflections on Contemporary Life from a Small Maine Island--By Down East Magazine's Award-Winning Essayist.

Bay Tripper: Chesapeake Bay Travel Guide

Posted in New England (Saturday, August 30, 2008)

Written by Whitey Schmidt. By Marian Hartnett Pr. There are some available for $0.05.
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1 comments about Bay Tripper: Chesapeake Bay Travel Guide.

1. This book (ISBN 0-9613008-2-5) is actually titled "Bay Tripper Chesapeake Bay Travel Guide Volume II Western Shore" and is not to be confused with the other edition "Volume I Eastern Shore".

   This book is a handy guide to have with you as you explore the many small towns along the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay. The book lists attractions, lodging, restaurants, and more for each town.

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25 Bicycle Tours in the Adirondacks: Road Adventures in the East's Largest Wilderness (25 Bicycle Tours)

Posted in New England (Saturday, August 30, 2008)

Written by Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern and Mitchell Hay and Barbara Lemmel. By Countryman Press. The regular list price is $15.95. Sells new for $9.42. There are some available for $9.28.
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1 comments about 25 Bicycle Tours in the Adirondacks: Road Adventures in the East's Largest Wilderness (25 Bicycle Tours).

1. It's not often that real authors (Bill McKibben and Sue Halpern) get in the outdoor guidebook business. This bike book is a winner.

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