The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (The Best American Series)

The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (The Best American Series)
Average customer rating:

A must buy for fans of the authors

First Rate Anthology - Good Selections from Ten Decades

This book is boring.

As good a collection of mystery stories as you'll get.

Good Collection

The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (The Best American Series)

Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Anthologies | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Hillerman, Tony | ( H ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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The Best American Mystery Stories 2006 (The Best American Series)

The Best American Mystery Stories 2005 (The Best American Series)

The Best American Mystery Stories 2004 (The Best American Series)

The Best American Mystery Stories 2003 (The Best American Series (TM))

The Best American Mystery Stories 2002 (The Best American Series)

ASIN: 0618012710

Amazon.com

Anthologies are tricky things for editors: to select a story for inclusion is to make oneself a target for readers who wonder hotly why X or Y or Z wasn't chosen. And to be so brash as to deem an anthology the best anything of the century practically invites scorn and condemnation. But with The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century, Tony Hillerman, Edgar-winning author, and Otto Penzler, founder of the Mysterious Press, step boldly to the firing line with a salvo of 55 stories that are so devious and absorbing, challenging and rewarding that most readers will hold their fire.

The collection stretches from O. Henry's 1903 tale of a bank robber who abandons his trade ("A Retrieved Reformation") to Dennis Lehane's unsettling sketch of a post-Gothic southern town and its canine conundrum ("Running Out of Dog," 1999), and brings together authors who at first seem uneasy bedfellows. William Faulkner and Ernest Hemingway jostle for space with Donald Westlake and Stephen Greenleaf; Willa Cather and Flannery O'Conner stare combatively at Sara Paretsky and Sue Grafton. But as one reads along, these potentially tense alliances relax: the boundaries between "modern" and "classic," "pulp" and "literature" evanesce, leaving instead a shimmering web of serendipitous affiliations: O. Henry and Stephen King nod amiably to one another, united by the skill of their devious narrative twists.

Hillerman and Penzler's selections reflect a century-long shift in mystery fiction from an emphasis on an exterior landscape--replete with the tangible artifacts of who, what, where, when, how, why--to a growing interest in the geography of interiority. This landscape thrives on the amorphousness of its own features. In Tom Franklin's "Poachers," for example, the puzzle hardly matters at all: real people, and their endlessly convoluted relationships, do. Three orphaned brothers who live as predators in the swamps of the Gulf Coast, the old widower who loves them, the sheriff who pities them all--who kills two of the boys and blinds a third? We never really know. In any case, Franklin's infinitely shaded nuances of silence and speech matter far more than the violence of the crime itself.

And for those readers who, when all is read and done, still insist that they could have done a much better job of judging, Penzler's disarming editorial shrug serves to remind that any anthology should be approached with equanimity, a touch of resignation, and not a little humor: "There are no scientific instruments that can tell a reader which of Harlan Ellison's two Edgar-winning short stories is better. It is a coin toss, and it can't be anything else. Let's just live with it." Happily, The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century is an extraordinarily rewarding companion. --Kelly Flynn

Book Description

In THE BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY STORIES OF THE CENTURY, best-selling author Tony Hillerman and mystery expert Otto Penzler present an unparalleled treasury of American suspense fiction that every fan will cherish. Offering the finest examples from all reaches of the genre, this collection charts the mystery's eminent history from the turn-of-the-century puzzles of Futrelle, to the seminal pulp fiction of Hammett and Chandler, to the mystery story's rise to legitimacy in the popular mind, a trend that has benefited masterly writers like Westlake, Hunter, and Grafton. Nowhere else can readers find a more thorough, more engaging, more essential distillation of American crime fiction. Penzler, the Best American Mystery Stories series editor, and Hillerman winnowed this select group out of a thousand stories, drawing on sources as diverse as Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Esquire, Collier's and The New Yorker. Giants of the genre abound -- Raymond Chandler, Stephen King, Dashiell Hammett, Lawrence Block, Ellery Queen, Sara Paretsky, and others -- but the editors also unearthed gems by luminaries rarely found in suspense anthologies: William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, Damon Runyon, Harlan Ellison, James Thurber, and Joyce Carol Oates. Mystery buffs and newcomers alike will delight in the thrilling stories and top-notch writing of a hundred years' worth of the finest suspense, crime, and mystery writing.

Customer Reviews:

A must buy for fans of the authors.......2006-03-13

Editors are always a little presumptuous when they use a title starting with "The Best..." The editor of this volume has selected 46 American authors from the 20th century, and included one story by each author. He has included some well known novelists like Faulkner, who were not known for writing short stories or mysteries; and excluded some well known mystery writers who are known for writing short stories, e.g., Marcia Muller, Lawrence Sanders, Michael Collins, etc.

Some of the stories are crime stories rather than mysteries, i.e., you know who pulled the trigger. It is a good collection of stories (in spite of omissions) starting with O. Henry's "A Retrieved Reformation," originally published in 1903, and ending with Dennis Lehane's "Running Out of Dog," originally published in 1999. In Between there are stories by Dashiell Hammett, Ring Lardner, John Steinbeck, Damon Runyon, Raymond Chandler, William Faulkner, Ellery Queen, John D. MacDonald, Ross MacDonald, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Sue Grafton, and many other writers. The short stories can be read in any order, starting with your favorite authors, and can be read at leisure. It includes stories like Cornell Woolrich's "Rear Window," later made into a motion picture.

Many of the authors included are best known as novelists. It is necessary to track down their short stories in order to have a complete collection of their work, and that can be difficult as many magazines have gone out of existance, and the stories may or may not be included in anthologies.

The collection is a bargain buy with 800 pages of stories. There are short biographical sketches of the authors at the end of the volume. Many of them died young. Jacques Futrelle went down with the Titanic, staying behind after helping women and children into the lifeboats.

Most modern authors do not write many short stories. As one author noted, it takes a significant amount of time and intellectual energy to write a good story, and there is very little financial return. Consequently, it is a rare find when you encounter a short story by an established author.

First Rate Anthology - Good Selections from Ten Decades.......2006-01-03

The Best American Mysteries Stories of the Century, compiled by Tony Hillerman and Otto Penzler, is a remarkably good anthology. The editors imposed few rules on themselves, other than identifying the best stories. Some years are skipped while others have two or three offerings. They did limit their choices to only one story for a given author, perhaps unfairly penalizing exceptional writers like Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Harry Kemelman, Ellery Queen, John McDonald, and Ross McDonald.

In general (but with clear exceptions like A Jury of Her Peers by Susan Glaspell), the earlier stories are largely puzzle mysteries, ones that challenge the reader to outsmart the author, while the later stories offer more character development and psychological depth. Readers less familiar with puzzle mysteries may find the earlier stories a bit foreign, and might benefit by reading the stories in this collection in reverse chronological order, thereby, beginning with more familiar terrain.

My favorites span the 1930s thru the 1950s, a period in which American authors began that major transformation of the American mystery as best characterized by the writing of Raymond Chandler. With Chandler's guidance, the pulp mystery fiction of earlier decades metamorphosed successfully into what might be called formal literature, writing more concerned with character development and with social issues.

More recent decades include great stories like The Comforts of Home (Flannery O'Connor), The Possibility of Evil (Shirley Jackson), Do With Me What You Will (Joyce Carol Oates), The Parker Shotgun (Sue Grafton), and Poachers (Tom Franklin).

Fortunately for the avid reader of mystery stories, many authors successful in other genre have seemingly been unable to resist trying their hand at the mystery story. In this anthology we find, for example, O. Henry, Willa Cather, John Steinbeck, Pearl Buck, William Faulkner, and Flannery O'Connor.

Not all stories will likely appeal to all readers, but there is a treasure trove of gems in this collection. There are 10 stories dating from 1900-1928, 16 from 1933-1957, 9 from 1962-1978, and 11 from 1981-1990. This is an exceptional anthology.

This book is boring. .......2004-08-19

I am surprised to see this book got 5 stars from all reviews. I have bought this book for two years now and I must have attempted to read it at least 7 times. Maybe it's the very small prints, maybe the very first few stories are just plain slow and boring, I kept putting it down and started reading other books. I even tried to read from the middle of the book to see if other stories would interest me. They didn't.

This is not even a good between books book.

As good a collection of mystery stories as you'll get........2002-06-21

Regardless of whether you agree with the choices of all the stories selected within this book, it is a great representation of american mystery stories in the 20th century. The inclusion of some of the centuries most prolific mystery writers, (Chandler, Hammett, Cain, MacDonald (Ross & John D.)), famous novelists (Faulkner, Steinbeck, Buck), modern writers (Stephen King, Dennis Lehane, Sue Grafton, etc.), and countless others make this a fantastic collection. Only a "sour grapes" type of personality could not appreciate this book. I guarantee that this collection will have you wanting to read more from some of these authors, and probably expose you to authors you weren't aware of previously. With stories varying from 10 to 40 pages, you can choose how long you want to read. I am an avid mystery reader, and I while there are many great books and stories I have read, I feel this is the best purchase I have made for the assortment of authors, styles, and stories I have been exposed to.

Good Collection.......2002-04-07

Some stories you've read, some forgotten, some never heard of before, are the rewards in this fine anthology. Take the time to enjoy this one.

Exeunt Murderers: The Best Mystery Stories of Anthony Boucher (Mystery Makers)

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Exeunt Murderers: The Best Mystery Stories of Anthony Boucher (Mystery Makers)
Anthony Boucher
Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0809310996

The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps: The Best Crime Stories from the Pulps During Their Golden Age--The '20s, '30s & '40s (Vintage Crime/Blck Lizard Orig)

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The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps: The Best Crime Stories from the Pulps During Their Golden Age--The '20s, '30s & '40s (Vintage Crime/Blck Lizard Orig)

Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Anthologies | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0307280489
Release Date: 2007-11-06

Carnival of Crime: The Best Mystery Stories of Frederic Brown (Mystery Makers)

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Carnival of Crime: The Best Mystery Stories of Frederic Brown (Mystery Makers)

Manufacturer: Southern Illinois University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Anthologies | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

In these 23 stories, Brown never rails to surprise and delight. Time after time the reader anticipates the ending only to discover that once more the author has proved too clever. Yet Brown never “cheats,” never feeds false clues, and his endings are always plausible. His imagination is by turns puckish, grim, outlandish—but forever fresh.

Brown’s stories run from the fifty-word “Mistake” to a novelette (“The Case of the Dancing Sandwiches”). In “Granny’s Birthday,” a two-page short short, with Granny supervising like a benign queen, the party goes splendidly, marred only by manslaughter and murder.

Cent a Story: The Best from 10 Detective Aces

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Cent a Story: The Best from 10 Detective Aces

Manufacturer: Bowling Green State Univ Popular Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 087972353X

A Cent a Story: The Best from Ten Detective Aces

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A Cent a Story: The Best from Ten Detective Aces
Garyn G. Roberts
Manufacturer: Bowling Green State Univ Popular Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0879723548

Fifty Years of the Best from Ellery Queen

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Fifty Years of the Best from Ellery Queen

Manufacturer: Carroll & Graf Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0881846325

Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner

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The Case of the Top-Selling Author

Secrets of the World's Best-Selling Writer: The Storytelling Techniques of Erle Stanley Gardner
Francis L. Fugate , and Roberta B. Fugate
Manufacturer: William Morrow & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

The Case of the Top-Selling Author.......2004-07-28

Erle Stanley Garner was a self-taught author who kept detailed accounts of the development of his writing method. This collection of millions of notebooks, letters, memoranda, charts, lists, and even phrases are in a Collection at the University of Texas at Austin. The authors distilled these papers into a 286 page book that has a Bibliography and Index. The Foreword acknowledges the people who helped the authors.

Erle Stanley Gardner set a record for the 'Guinness Book of World Records' as the best selling author. Gardner had ten year's experience as a trial lawyer, intensive study and writing, a hyperactive personality, and an incredibly agile imagination. Gardner became the greatest writer of mystery fiction who ever lived, only being outsold worldwide by the Bible (p.14). Gardner dropped out of college, clerked for a law firm, and passed the California bar at 21. he learned the importance of keeping records. ESG was meticulous in the use of facts in his fiction, since Perry Mason was scrutinized by lawyers.

Gardner's first stories were to wood pulp magazines. Then for the slick magazines, movies, television. There was even a short-lived comic strip (p.189). Some called it 'escapist literature', but they always dealt with real-world troubles than made humdrum lives seem better off. Chapter 4 lists what could be learned from writing for the pulps. These magazines were always looking for new writers who could be paid lower rates (Chapter 5). Gardner paid a disabled veteran to solicit comments on stories (p.84); this feedback was used in writing stories. Gardner also analyzed stories for their appeal (p.89). 'A single man, unaided, overcomes difficulties by the power that is within him' describes a lot of popular fiction (p.90). Gardner's comments are still educational (pp.93-104). This explains why Perry Mason's clients must never be guilty (p.99). A mystery consists of a series of interesting events with sinister implications, the logic of which cannot be instantly comprehended (p.101). To improve production, Gardner bought one of the first electrical typewriter (a Woodstock), but later switched entirely to dictations machines (p.109). Chapter 8 describes his writing life.

The titles for Perry Mason novels usually came from the opening mystery, rather than from the principal plot. They were carefully chosen to attract readers (pp.193-4). When ESG was in 'financial straits' he developed a new series writing a 'A.A.Fair' with a new style. Page 202 tells how he planted evidence to support the existence of this author. [But the 'legal skulduggery' suggested ESG]. Gardner wrote books for readers, not for snobbish critics. Gardner would start with an incidental mystery to intrigue the reader and introduce the characters. Then the murder would occur; it would be result of basic human motivation. As in life, there would be conflicts and obstacle to goals. There were few murders from a sudden rush of anger or passion. The murderer would be found out once false stories and clues were found out; this was his mystery story. There would be some minor facts that wouldn't mesh with the cover story; this would lead to the solution. Appendix I lists his 'Fluid or Unstatic Theory of Plots'. The other Appendices show Gardner's organized method for dealing with plots. What could Gardner have done with a personal computer in place of his mechanical plotting device?

The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (The Best American Series(TM))

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The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (The Best American Series(TM))
Editor-Otto Penzler; Editor-Tony Hillerman
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000M6EQQG

Average customer rating:

Best American Mystery Stories of the Century
Otto Penzler
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K5SFVQ

Book Description

If you want to be safe... mind your caste.

In a kingdom where all is measured by birthright, moving up in society is almost impossible. Which is why young Rani Trader's merchant family sacrifices nearly everything to buy their daughter an apprenticeship in the Glasswrights' Guild - where honor and glory will be within her reach.

But being in the wrong place at the wrong time places Rani in the middle of a terrible conspiracy that leaves the Royal Prince dead - and her guild torn asunder. Branded a traitor, she slinks through the city streets, changing her identity to avoid being caught. And as Rani rises from the city slums to the royal household, she uncovers an elusive brotherhood whose deadly venom reaches out to stain the heart of her guild, the heart of her family - and the heart of her king....

Customer Reviews:

What a disappointment!.......2007-09-12

This book did not even live up to the most ordinary of expectations, much less high ones. The main character is a static girl-child who never learns anything from her many mistakes. She is too dim to the see obvious and too weak to take control of her life. She is as thoroughly unsympathetic as the plot is stumbling, falling from one coincidence to another until it concludes with a deus ex machina. One hopes for at least some definitive opinion on the caste system from the author, but the themes are so shrouded in sketchy and flat villains and the commentary so bland and sparse, I couldn't discern the message at all. One of the worst books I have ever read.

Interesting fantasy.......2007-05-18

The beautiful cover art first attracted my attention to this book. The story is intriguing, with a heroine drawn by accident into a murder and forced to survive by her wits, forced to make choices despite the possibility that everything she has ever known may be wrong.

The heroine is a youthful 13, but the story is gripping enough to hold the adult reader's interest, and the content is not inappropriate for the heroine's age group. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.

The Glasswright's Apprentice.......2006-05-11

"The Glasswright's Apprentice" has a strong beginning, a strong ending, and a weak middle. I like the beginning because the action is rolling by the end of the first chapter. I like the ending because it flies in the face of expectations. In this book, there are no neat and clean solutions, no easy divides between right and wrong, and no happy reunifications. It's truly a formula destroyer, but before you reach you do have to cope with that middle.

The characters, particularly the heroine, are fairly dumb. I grew tired of her own apparent inability to remember that she's trying to project a new identity. She'll start a sentence and get halfway through, then suddenly recall that she's in a different persona. For some reason, the people listening to her never catch on. Klasky doesn't seem to have too much respect for the reader's brains either. How many times to we have to be told that our heroine is angry and then get a big paragraph explaining why she's angry?

There's one last thing that I just have to mention. Much of the story is set among a band of street children, who rifle through garbage for their dinner and dive into garbage cans to avoid law enforcement. Unfortunately, we have to read their dialect: "Can oo' see er' th' top". Here's a tip for aspiring writers: never, ever, ever try to put broken dialect down on the page.

A struggle to read.......2006-01-09

This first book is like a preview for the rest of the series, wherein the heroine stumbles along from one dangerous situation to the next, escaping with her life and virtue not due to any talent or cunning of her own, but through sheer dumb luck. "Dumb" being the key word here, because she doesn't appear to possess any of this thing the rest of us know as common sense. She opens her mouth when it's obvious she, and everyone around her, would be best served by her keeping it shut, she takes things at face value even when hard experience should have taught her better and she constantly acts without any consideration of the consequences, no thought involved whatsoever. She's just a puppet and everyone else is pulling her strings. That's not what I care to read about in a heroine.

Both sides in this story, the monarchy and the ones trying to overthrow it, are distasteful. I'm supposed to think well of an institution that orders the thumbs cut off of children to persuade people to talk? It may be realistic, but it's not my definition of moral high ground or a side I can view as just. There really are no "good guys" in this story, or in the series, and it's very off-putting.

I had to struggle through this book and the ones after it, and I finally gave up before finishing them all. The whole story just left me cold.

Finally! A realistic female heroine!.......2005-09-08

I was very excited to finally get my hands on this book, as I have heard some good things about it and have been waiting to get it from the library for ages! At first, I had a tough time getting into it. In the first few pages, Rani came across as being sort of a spoiled brat, not caring about other people at all. I was slightly disappointed in her because of this. But at the same time I felt sorry for her when she was treated terribly by the guildmasters.
Rani lives in a country where everyone is divided into classes. There is the royalty and priests, the soldiers, the guildsman, the merchants and the homeless Touched, casteless ones. Rani is a trader whose parents bought her way into the glasswrights guild.
On the day the heir to the throne is to be announced, Rani sneaks into the cathedral to watch, and sees something she will regret forever. As the rites are being performed, Rani sees an archer aiming at the prince and shouts a warning. The prince turns around, directly into the path of the arrow and is assassinated. Rani, terrified, flees the cathedral, and heads back to her guildhouse. They won't open the door for her, so she sneaks in, only to witness the destruction of the guild by the soldiers who have somehow found out that it was someone from the glasswright's guild who commited the murder.
After she sees her fellow apprentices tortured and beaten, she realizes she must save herself (though in the rest of the book, she feels that she abandoned her friends and is filled with inner turmoil) and hides in the street like the touched. She meets a Touched child named Mare who is leader of a gang, and Rani becomes Rai (the amount of syllables in names determines class) and joins the band.
However, this is not to be for long. Soon, Rani is swept away in the intrigue and danger raging through the city as the king searches for her. Eventually, she winds up hiding in the least likely place: right under the royal nose, in the palace as the First Pilgrim, again with an assumed name.
However, Rani's one surviving brother seems to have had something to do with the murder as well and Rani feels more and more torn about the right thing to do, especially after she befriends the next prince in line, Halaravilli, or Hal.
This was a very unusual fantasy and one that I really enjoyed. I would recommend it to those in search of a more realistic, gritty plot and heroine, and to those who want a lot of character development. I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

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GLASSWRIGHTS' APPRENTICE
MINDY L. KLASKY
Manufacturer: Roc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MDA3Y8

The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late
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What a Breath of Fresh Air!

interesting to read

Parents: Read this book and its companion immediately.

My child was labeled PDD too.

Excellent help in understanding my son

The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late
Thomas Sowell
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Child Psychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books | Development | Psychology
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ASIN: 046508141X
Release Date: 2002-12-24

Book Description

The Einstein Syndrome is a follow-up to Late-Talking Children, which established Thomas Sowell as a leading spokesman on the subject. While many children who talk late suffer from developmental disorders or autism, there is a certain well-defined group who are developmentally normal or even quite bright, yet who may go past their fourth birthday before beginning to talk. These children are often misdiagnosed as autistic or retarded, a mistake that is doubly hard on parents who must first worry about their apparently handicapped children and then must see them lumped into special classes and therapy groups where all the other children are clearly very different.

Since he first became involved in this issue in the mid-1990s, Sowell has joined with Stephen Camarata of Vanderbilt University, who has conducted a much broader, more rigorous study of this phenomenon than the anecdotes reported in Late-Talking Children. Sowell can now identify a particular syndrome, a cluster of common symptoms and family characteristics, that differentiates these late-talking children from others; relate this syndrome to other syndromes; speculate about its causes; and describe how children with this syndrome are likely to develop.

Customer Reviews:

What a Breath of Fresh Air!.......2007-09-13

This book is wonderful for people like me.

I, myself, was a late talker; strongly considered becoming a professional musician (changed my mind my senior year of high school); am married to a fine musician in her own right, and work in an "analytical" job, namely, software development.

When my son was born, he seemed "smart" in virtually every way but one, he's a "late talker". He loves puzzles, and surprises us with his ability to understand language, even though he's not really using it yet. He's currently approaching his second birthday, and has a few words; and uses sign language sometimes, so he's a bit different than the "worst" cases in these books (I say worst in quotes, which you will understand better if you read this book). He does not have any of the social problems exhibited by children with autism, so it just didn't seem right when some of the "experts" were tossing around this diagnosis as a possible answer for us.

My son seems to have been misdiagnosed as needing speech therapy by one particularly misinformed speech therapist who worked for a profitable local treatment center (she didn't know some basic, basic stuff about early childhood development that I knew from reading a couple of books on the subject).

We had him reevaluated by a state program and we were told "he is a bit of a late talker, but fine everywhere else". We were very impressed with this speech therapist - she knew her stuff.

If you read this book, you will see that my son is pretty much the perfect example of the cross-section described in this book.

One final note, and the author says this as well: do not take this book as the end-all / be-all of your searching for an answer as to why your child is a late talker. Please have them evaluated (I would recommend a state program - they have no reason to "under-evaluate"), but also read this book to recognize some of the shortfalls of such an evaluation. In the end, you must make the choice about whether your child needs therapy.

This book finally gave me some peace-of-mind that my son will be fine. We will continue to have him evaluated, but we do so with a bit more knowledge and understanding that many kids like him wind up to be just fine.

Children are so much fun to watch grow up, and this book restored some of the "fun" to my parenting that had been lost in worrying that there was something wrong.

interesting to read.......2007-08-31

My daughter has 15 words/phrases at the age of 2. I've had her evaluated by two separate pediatricians, had her hearing checked, and had her evaluated by a developmental specialist. She is "typical" or "advanced" in all areas, barring language. She understands you perfectly well, and the 15 phrases she has, she is able to say very very clearly. In other words - she's bright, and developmentally typical, she just doesn't talk yet.

We do fit in the description of the Einstein Syndrome subset; my family is composed largely of musicians, my husband's family are mathematicians. But, my daughter is still a little too young to see just how well she continues to fit this pattern. This book has been fairly reassuring that my daughter is not the first or only child to simply not talk.

However, I don't think any parent should use this book as a sole excuse to not have their child evaluated. Read it with a critical eye for your life and your child, and also research other possible explanations for your child's lack of speech...only if you research many possible alternatives can you really be sure you're making the right choice for your child.

Parents: Read this book and its companion immediately........2007-07-09

[This book is a companion followup to "Late-Talking Children" which is also by Dr. Sowell. Most of following is taken from my review and comments regarding the earlier book.]

Dr. Sowell has done all parents a tremendous service, but this book is especially helpful for those parents who are questionning their child's development. He reminds us that "every child is different." We've all heard that expression used to catch the vagaries of the development process, but you'll never realize how hollow it can ring until some childcare type tells you that they think your child may be developmentally delayed. This book helps deal with the certainty that your child *is* different and puts it in perspective. It should be read along with the earlier book "Late-Talking Children."

This text augments the earlier one with more scientific documentation and more of a discussion about "early intervention" and "testing" and their potential dangers. Dr. Sowell also focuses more on the role of a child's own wishes and motivations in "testing" at young ages, something I've not seen elsewhere.

After two years of self-study in this area, I still found a great deal to learn in these books. Most of all, I found a lot of hope and perspective regarding kids that don't sit up and elocute at 18 months.

The best advice in this book: take your children with you everywhere, expose them to everything possible. When they're ready to communicate, you'll have lots to talk about. My son is still working his way along, but we've made great progress, as others have, by letting him have some space and grow at his own pace.

Another great idea reinforced by this book: Don't assume that your child doesn't understand or is behind because they don't speak. I've seen childcare "professionals" that make this mistake every day.

Finally, this book hints at the danger of over-assessing children and the problems of the incentive structures within public schools. I have seen first-hand how problematic the opinions of pseudo-professionals can be, and how unscientific things can get. This book contains a better discussion of this than the first book, and documents the current trend toward assessing first and asking questions later. There exists incentives on the part of school officials to over-diagnose "PDD" and autistic-spectrum, and we've found that many of the folks doing the evaluating really have no idea what they're talking about. More funding, it seems, flows to those districts & schools who have the most children with "special needs." This book helps put all of this in perspective, although it doesn't dig out the basis of all of it, which I believe is probably IDEA.

Most importantly, this book helped me help my son, and that's the important thing. We are in debt to Dr. Sowell for bringing this issue to light.

My child was labeled PDD too........2007-05-14

We went through the entire process of testing and speech therapy and our son did terrible. He wouldn't even try to stack three blocks for the evaluator and refused to even pick up the crayon to demonstrate his fine motor skills. We were told he was retarded, had brain damage, would never learn to speak or that he had Pervasive Developmental Disorder. We were understandably devastated.

I was at the end of my rope when I happened on this book and it changed my world. I finally had something that justified my lack of belief in the diagnoses of the "experts". Like the children in the book our son figured out the child locks in the kitchen at six months old, he loves legos and puzzles, his father is a System Administrator and plays the piano, our son is myopic too. It was eerie the similarities, kind of a Village of the Damned thing.

The school district wanted to put him in a class with 'similarly' disabled children. We saw some of these kids; droolers, self stimmers in wheel chairs and autistic kids in helmets rocking in corners and I was horrified. My son did not belong with these kids and I was worried what would happen to him if he was put into a class with all of these damaged children.

But when we told the school we wouldn't put him in the special class, it was like turning down a Network Marketer, they kept calling, stopping by and trying to scare us into putting him in there, "he could lose his chance to progress,""you are doing irreperable harm keeping him from school," etc. Scary and intimidating.

He is seven years old now and reads at a ten year old level, he can put together a seven hundred piece lego set alone and fixes things around the house with his father's tools.

But we still have to fight against the prejudices of friends and family who think our son has Aspergers or PDD because of his narrow focus on projects (he will sometimes spend hours working on a lego project. They don't see his sociability and his love of reading, robots, dragons and painting.

But, I do think you have to be as objective as possible as a parent. It is seductive to think that your late talking child will just 'grow out of it.' We found a good speach therapist and for the first time, at age three and a half were able to speak with our son. The reality is that most late talking children do not go on to successful careers in information technology or engineering. Many have delays that affect them the rest of their lives and will need years of specialized therapy to compensate. The children described in The Einstein Syndrome are a narrow, specialized subset of late talking children. I agree with Dr. Sowell that getting tested is essential. There can be medical reasons for late talking, deafness for one.

BUT if you have a child that seems different from the diagnoses that they have been given, I would suggest reading this book, you might be surprised, as I was, at how closely your child fits the pattern of Einstein Syndrome children.

Excellent help in understanding my son.......2007-05-07

This books is so very helpful. The fact that it was written by someone who actually had a child who talked late makes it even better. Tremendous encouragement to me that my son is normal. Some kids are just different than the norm, and I've seen his language skills really beginning to develop rapidly now. Sometimes, all those "experts" aren't right and it's so good for parents to get "another opinion." Mr. Sowell has written a great book for worried parents (who've been made worried by the experts who make money off of labeling children). Buy this book!

Book Description

Warner taps years of personal experience to profile the history, tradition, and brewing techniques of this truly unique beer style.

Customer Reviews:

Text is great, info a little outdated........2006-04-05

This book was published in 1992, you can get just about anything these days as far as ingredients, and equipment is so much better. With that said, the history and text on Weizen bier is excellent. Take note the line about "never" put a lemon slice or any other fruit in your weiss bier, it would be an insult to the Bavarian brewer, prost to that one Eric ! Of the many times I've been to Germany only in the recent past have the bar tenders been offering a lemon slice due to the demand of tourists. Read this book and learn about a great bier.

Recommended for afficionado and brewer.......1998-12-22

German Wheat Beer covers many aspects of the important styles: Weizen, its most popular variations (Dunkles, Krystal, Weizenbock, etc.), Berliner Weisse, and its cousin from Bremen. Starting with his personal discovery of Hefeweizen, Warner takes us through the history, discusses brewing techniques, and describes the many sensory features which make these styles unique. It is a fascinating story for the person who enjoys wheat beers, as well as a resource for the craft brewer.

Reading this book has heightened my appreciation of wheat beers. I learned that it is not just the amount of phenolics a beer contains, but the type, as well. I had previously associated "phenolic" with a medicine-like taste; Warner showed the way to another type of phenolic, which gives a pleasant clove taste and aroma. Knowing not only what I enjoy about a particular beer, but why, as well, has been a pleasant experience.

Warner starts the book with mention of his apprenticeship at a Weissbier brewery and study at Weihenstephan, and ends with small-batch recipes and a discription of several different brands. The latter tells you where in Germany these brands are brewed, and he encourages you to visit and taste in person. I would like to arrange a side trip to Freising and other Weissbier towns during my next trip to Germany!

My sole (and relatively minor) criticism is directed not so much at this particular book, as it is at the entire series. The non-brewing reader may find some of the information uninteresting, while the brewer is hungry (thirsty?) for more detail. Is the Classic Beer Styles series for homebrewers? Or is it for people who happen to enjoy good beer? I don't think it is a bad idea to try to serve both (albeitoverlapping) markets, but there are some areas that definately are of more interest to one than the other. The glossary at the end, however, will be of interest to both types of reader; several German technical terms used in the text are defined.

Nevertheless, I found German Wheat Beer to be a fascinating book about some unique beer styles. I recommend it for both beer afficionados and craft brewers alike.

Very good text for the all-grain brewer........1998-08-24

As with all the books I have read in the Classic Beer Styles series, Warner's book on German Wheat Beer is excellent. Warner interestingly details the characteristics and classic processes used in brewing German Wheat Beer, and includes recipes for the various styles of Wheat Beer. A must read for anyone serious about brewing this style.

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