5 comments about Folded Leaf (Nonpareil Book, 20.).

1. I agree that Maxwell wrote quite well, with very descriptive language, detail, and believable dialog. However, I found the story itself to be only mildly interesting. The relationship between the two main characters was unusual, of course, and complex in some ways, while lacking in breadth in many other ways. For example, there is neither significant action nor sophisticated philosophical discussion.

   Some of the scenes are strong, especially when the adults participate more. I wish the girls had more character development, as Maxwell created some interesting individuals, but left them to relatively secondary roles where a longer book could have expanded their characters and interaction.




2. The Folded Leaf is beautiful and lucid, a compelling read and useful for showing us what life was like for a young man in the 20s. Some of the story doesn't seem to add up- for example, I never was convinced that Spud was a compelling character but hey, maybe he just wasn't my type. And the ending is tainted with the histrionics that seems to characterize so much early gay fiction (and so much of it written now). But in the end, this may not really be a gay book, so much as a book about one boy who loves another, and how they both dealt with it.

   Final analysis, the book is warm and generous and kind, beautifully written and quite bold. I can recommend it without hesitation to a general audience, and some should read it as a classic text (and you know who you are).




3. This is the best William Maxwell novel I've read and one of the best novels I've ever read. I found the writing in this book to have the quality of a daydream and for the situations to ring true to life. The novel unfolds as life does and the details fall right into place. The characters themselves often engage in daydreams, which helps give it that life-like quality. Anyway, with most novels you get a sense of a strong authorial voice behind the words, as if someone is telling you the story. With Bellow or Cheever or Nabokov, for example, Maxwell's contemporaries, all of whom I like, you get a strong sense that their voice is theirs alone. With Maxwell, the authorial voice is much more gentle, almost as if the author were vanishing and his words were rising up off the page like vapor. It's interesting that Maxwell's voice seems somewhat different, novel to novel. There are some stunning passages in So Long, See You Tomorrow, but this is my favorite of the Maxwell I've read. It captures time and place so well. The midwest in the 1920's. It's very endearing - Sally says things like, "in a pig's ear" - yet still mysterious and, finally, heartbreaking. I've read it three times in the past nine months and it is a book I'm sure I'll return to again.



4. Long before he was editing the likes of Nabokov, Updike, Salinger, Welty, and Cheever at The New Yorker, William Maxwell had established himself as a moderately successful novelist and story writer. Although "The Folded Leaf" is not his most acclaimed or famous novel, it probably has the most devoted (indeed, nearly cult-like) following. Its charm is its utter simplicity; a coming-of-age story, it is also a passionate tale about love--between two men. Yet this is no classic of "gay fiction" (although it will certainly appeal to gay readers); instead, "The Folded Leaf" tells about the intensely intimate, innocuously physical, yet almost entirely platonic relationship between two boys who don't quite fit in with the crowd and who grow up to be very different men. Published in 1945, this is the type of novel only the bravest of straight male authors would be comfortable writing today--and, in a way, that's too bad.
   
   Lymie Peters is the ectomorphic and studious introvert who meets Spud Latham, a dim yet muscular teenager who serves "as a kind of reminder of those ideal, almost abstract rules of proportion from which the human being, however faulty, is copied." Latham is new in town--his father has lost his job, and he lives with his family in a cramped apartment--and he inexplicably gravitates towards Lymie. At first Lymie's own feelings about Spud's attentions are ambivalent: "He couldn't help noticing the scales of fortune were tipped considerably in Spud's favor, and resenting it." What the boys have in common, though, is an undercurrent of barely suppressed fury that the people they know and the world around them aren't the stuff of their daydreams.
   
   Maxwell is compelling in his ability to transform what should be two excessive stereotypes into recognizable and believable flesh and blood. Even though Lymie almost sycophantically fawns over Spud (even serving as his towel boy at the gym), Spud in return offers emotional protection, social acceptance, and true friendship; in spite of Spud's increasing popularity, it is a relationship of equals, and the pair is inseparable. Maxwell has re-created the ideal friendship, which many of us once had, if only briefly in our youth--or in our imaginations. Ultimately, however, as with any relationship this close, the snare of jealousy and the fear of being alone gradually introduce crises that build to a startling crescendo.
   
   Although there is enough going on to move the story along, Maxwell's concern is psychological portrayal--and several of the pivotal scenes (even how the two boys meet) are completely left to the reader's imagination. But what makes this book memorable is Maxwell's lyrical and understated prose. This is a novel that invites hyperbole: the descriptions are disarmingly beautiful and the revelatory passages are quietly powerful. Lymie and Spud are so lifelike and, at the same time, so idealized that, when you've regretfully reached the last page, you'll be hungry to know even more about these two friends.



5. William Maxwell writes in the small spaces. He explores the little sad areas of our lives that are comprised of looks that are not returned, thoughts that remain unuttered because we simply cannot figure out how to say them, and embraces we wish we have shared but did not because we lack the courage to put our arms around the person we love. The Folded Leaf is a beautiful, melancholy story by an author whose understated value has sadly caused a lack of popular appreciation compared to his flashier contemporaries - Hemingway, Nabokov, Bellow, Updike, Roth.
   
   The Folded Leaf is the story of Lymie and Spud, two young boys who share a strong friendship, even though they seem utterly different. The novel is told primarily from the perspective of Lymie, a shy, withdrawn, introverted and very sensitive young man who loves Spud with all of his heart. Spud, on the other hand, is something of a strong man, an athlete who does not understand, but is able to appreciate, the sensitivity of his friend. They compliment one another, with Lymie taking security from Spud's strength while Spud draws another kind of strength from his friend.
   
   The two boys love one another, with Lymie's love much the stronger, but the love remains platonic. It is the casual, affectionate, innocently physical love of young boys who become college men understanding that there is nobody else in the world more compatible with them than the other. A girl, of course, shatters this, but even though Spud may lose that first blush of pre-sexual affection, Lymie does not. The novel moves very slowly from the boys' strong relationship to a rather one-sided, heartbreaking examination of what happens when one friend moves on and the other cannot.
   
   Is the story a homosexual one? It is hard to say. Spud and Lymie are physically affectionate, going so far as to spend almost their entire college life sleeping in the same bed. Note: Sleeping. While there is a lot left unsaid about Lymie's true feelings - he wonders, every now and again, when he shall meet a woman of his own to marry, but the wondering is academic rather than passionate - my reading of the novel is that Maxwell was happy to have Lymie's feelings remain ambiguous. Lymie is very much in love, and it is to the author's credit that the love does not have to be defined as sexual or emotional - it is simply what we see on the page. Lymie loves Spud and Spud loves Lymie: in different ways, it is true, but what they both feel is what we would call love. Maxwell is shrewd in avoiding the question of romantic or platonic love - what we have is love, just love, and it is shown to be enough. I highly doubt Lymie would have considered his feelings for Spud as anything wrong, and Spud - athletic, not very intelligent, given to boisterousness - certainly has no problem with his diminutive friend.
   
   Maxwell shines the brightest when he is delving into Lymie's thoughts. We understand most of the novels scenes, from their school days to when they bunk together at university to when Spud becomes a (rather ignoble) boxer to Spud's engagement with Sally, from Lymie's perspective, allowing us to see the friendship in a way that Spud, and an outsider, never would. Consider this long quote: 'Lymie didn't know what the trouble was, but he was not dismayed. He had worn Spud down once before and he was sure he could do it again. Every day between four-fifteen and four-thirty he appeared at the gymnasium and stood a few feet away from the punching bag where Spud, if he wanted his gloves tied on or any small service like that, wouldn't have to go far to find him. When Spud came up from the showers, Lymie was there waiting by the locker, like a faithful hound. He made no move to open the lock, or to touch anything inside the locker that belonged to Spud. Occasionally while Spud was dressing and afterward on the way home, Lymie would say something to him, but Lymie was always careful not to put the remark in the form of a question, so there was no actual need for Spud to reply.' This is unrequited love at its most honest. Sadly for Lymie, Spud of course does not appreciate the layers of meaning and feeling behind Lymie's behaviour, and of course there is conflict that ends in tears. The novel ends the only way it should, but there is hope for the friendship and hope for Lymie, forced by circumstance to face the reality that even though his boyhood love may never have lost its intensity of feeling, Spud's certainly has.

No comments about Grandma's Tea Leaf Ironstone.

2 comments about Richard Scarry's The First Thanksgiving of Low Leaf Worm (Richard Scarry).

1. I am a historian and I have to say, while I might have passed this book up because of the cutesy characters and cover (although I have always loved Richard Scarry), it turns out this is the best young children's book on Thanksgiving that I have seen. I appreciated the accurate native American names and place names and the fact that the hardships - including the deaths of both English colonists and native Americans - are not sugar-coated or ignored. All the details are here about the Mayflower, native American life, the first winter for the colonists, and, of course, the Thanksgiving feast!
   I have to point out that the age categorization for this as listed above is *wrong* - this is NOT a baby-preschooler book, as many other Scarry books are. I would say it is more of a K-3 book - while the illustrations are friendly and cute, the text is very detailed, with more advanced vocabulary, the subject matter driven more by the history than a concise "story," and an in-depth timeline of the Mayflower voyage is included. My 2nd grader is an independent reader and enjoys this book either with me or on his own, but it would not hold the attention of a preschooler.



2. If you have a pre-schooler who loves Richard Scarry, STOP. Do NOT buy this book. This may be a great explanation for older kids (as the previous reviewer said), but I got it for a young 5 year old who loves Richard Scarry and was very disappointed with it. We love the Richard Scarry of Busy Busy World and Cars, Trucks and Things that Go. This kiddo is not ready for "some mean white people enslaved the Native Americans" and "Indians died. Pilgrims died. Everyone died." (obviously, these are paraphrases, but my point is, this is a heavy load of reality when my child was expecting Lowly in his apple car and Dingo the Dog.)
   
   I think the children who are likely to see this book and pick it up are probably not old enough for it, and those who are old enough probably would not pick it up.

No comments about Toronto Maple Leafs NHL Official Team Game Pucks.

1 comments about Gold Leaf Application and Antique Restoration (Schiffer Book for Woodworkers).

1. Waste of money...
   This book is good only for school projects and absolutely not useful for artists, restorers or woodworkers.
   Very amateur...Featuring stone age techniques, which can only discourage the follower.
   Don't give any choice of supplies, don't warn about possible mistakes an failures during the process and do not say how to avoid or fix those mistakes.
   Anyway... Following this book amateur will only get frustrated:
   Spend a fortune for supplies and sabotage there treasures...
   Professionals or semi-professionals - simply don't need it...
   Businesses which selling supplies and gold leaf offer a seminars and comprehensive guides "how to" for gold leafing. Much more useful...
   About restoration - still searching for good info...

1 comments about The Squad: Perfect Cover (The Squad).

1. Toby hates cheerleaders. She could care less about the God Squad, the most popular girls in school.
   
   Then she finds two coded messages in her locker inviting her to try out for the squad. At first she thinks these messages are a joke, but then curiosity gets the better of her.
   
   The first meeting is just an introduction to the squad, without practicing. At 5:30 the next morning, she attends her first practice. Toby is not a morning person -- her snark and wit come out full force at the thought of actually joining the squad.
   
   There's more to this bunch of cheerleaders than meets the eye and Toby is about to find out the uniqueness of the squad.
   
   PERFECT COVER, the first in THE SQUAD series, takes everything you think you know about cheerleaders and turns it upside down. Jennifer Lynn Barnes creates a new series full of surprises, wit, and a heroine who fights her destiny.
   
   Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel

1 comments about Gold Leaf Techniques.

1. This book is only for those looking to use gold leaf for signs. That is this book's complete focus - gold lettering on windows, cars/trucks, and wood signs. It goes into extraordinary detail and is excellent for people wanting to learn how to use gold leaf for making signs.

5 comments about Embraced by the Light.

1. THIS BOOK HAS BEEN AN UPLIFT TO MY SPIRIT
   I CAN HONESTLY TELL YOU THAT I BELIEVE IN EVERYTHING SHE SAID
   I CANT EVEN EXPLAIN IT BUT I KNOW SHE SPEAKS THE TRUTH
   A BOOK THAT WILL AWAKE AND SHAKE YOUR SOUL UP A BIT
   THANKS I NEEDED IT.



2. I too read this book a number of years ago and can still remember the feeling of warmth. Eadie wrote a sequel which was also quite good, but I forgot the name.



3. My wife told me about this book almost 5 years ago and I just recently finally got around to reading it. This book has really changed my life.



4. What a great Journey you are taken on with the Author to be able to get chances in life and to get a chance to die and come back to share with others , just how wonderful beautiful etc life is and that there is more to life than just here.. Take the journey with her, and love one another .. Nicole author of rainy day poems and more 1 and 2



5. This book is a must read I believe for anyone who has lost someone or has had a near death experience. You can probably read this book in one day.
   Loved it!

No comments about Sweet Valley High # 2: Secrets (Sweet Valley High).

5 comments about Sweet Valley High #1: Double Love (Sweet Valley High).

1. As a longtime fan of Sweet Valley High I both love and hate these new editions! Although they did a pretty good job of modernizing the series there are a lot of changes that the original fans will not appreciate! All the same- a Sweet Valley book is a Sweet Valley book and how can any fan resist?!



2. I am an old SVH addict. I admit it, even as my 34 year old self, cringes a little bit. I stopped reading the series when I was about 19, too old for the books even then, I guess. About three years ago, when I was home for weeks on medical leave I ordered some online (my originals being long gone) and voila, in a few weeks I was the proud owner of the entire original SVH series, AGAIN. I read them until my six weeks of leave ended but I still kept collecting. So its very odd to me, that just a couple years after I start thinking about them again, they pop back up with a modernized version. I was excited. I have a twelve year old daugter. I wanted nothing more than some cool remake to renew the names of Jessica & Elizabeth Wakefield in today's culture. I eagerly sank into these books when they arrived. I was disappointed beyond belief to see the Dairi Burger completely gone to make way for a funky named Mexican restaurant. What, there aren't any small independent burger restaurants in small sunny California towns anymore? The twins are a perfect size 4 now instead of a 6. There are no sororities and fraternities (which seems legit to me as even in the 80's I never knew a high school with them) Enid has straight hair instead of curly hair, which makes me wonder if they are modeling her after the actress that played her on the tv series. Most of these changes are ok with me, I guess. I don't like that Bruce seems to be missing his 1Bruce1 license plate. I don't like that Dana Larson has become a goth girl imitation of herself. I don't like that Winston seems to play a geekier role than before, if possible. I know I will still buy each of these books. I am dying to see young girls devouring these remakes like I did (hopefully), I am dying for the appearance of the much anticipated Sweet Valley Confidential set when the twins are 26 years old, and I am dying for this New Kids on The Block reunion. Hey, I said I was all about bringing the 80's back.



3. I went to my local bookstore and saw they were re-releasing Sweet Valley High and I was excited because now I could finish my collection, I had no idea they were rewritten and when I was reading one of the books in the store I was shocked to realize this. I almost flipped out.
   
   I can see the whole email thing and cell phones but changing story lines and characters and other stuff wasn't necessary they pretty much rewrote the second book. This is very upsetting.
   
   They didn't need to change their sizes from a 6 to a 4. Teenage girls already have issues about that and now they are trying to say a size 6 is too fat? Since when?



4. I was so thrilled when I found out they were rerelasing the SVH books.
   
   Then, I found out the shocker: As if a size 6 wasn't perfect and threatening enough, they've gone and made it a size 4!
   
   Come on, people! There's enough pressure out there today. Why not the perfect 10, 12 or 14..or why "perfect" at all?!?!
   
   I, for one, will spend my money on the rereleases of LJ Smith's novels, and the new Baby-Sitter's Club graphic novels. There, the only pressure we felt was to find a guy as hot as Adam/Stefan/Damon/Julian, and to find clothes like Claudia!



5. Identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield couldn't be more different.
   
   Jessica loves boys, flirting, and fun, while Liz takes a more serious approach to life. But these sisters stick together through everything.
   
   When a date goes wrong for Jessica, she finds herself in major hot water. Only, the people rescuing her think that she's Liz. Suddenly the whole school is buzzing about the wrong twin and Liz's life is falling apart. Her best friend defends her, but for how long? Todd, her crush, now seems to be attracted to her sister. Will Liz forgive Jessica this time?
   
   DOUBLE LOVE is the first book of the old SWEET VALLEY HIGH series that has been updated to include cell phones and the Internet, but still contains the same plot. It's a great book for the beach.
   
   Reviewed by: Jennifer Rummel