Product Description
It has been said that Japanese is 80% verbs and their endings. Japanese Verbs: SayingWhat You Mean guides the student of Japanese through the verbs, along with their variousforms and conjugations, in short, clear lessons. While the book is written to be"beginner friendly," it is also packed with tips concerning the actual use of thelanguage in modern settings, which will be useful to students well advanced in theirstudy of the language. All forms include examples to illustrate their use.

Based on the popular online version, which receives hundreds ofhits per day, the book includes example sentences in Japanese in addition to the romaji.It also includes a supplement containing a brief general overview for brand-newstudents, a guide to the particles, and a guide to the various name suffixes that are sovital in Japanese society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

I wouldn`t buy it again
Yes, as stated in the reviews above, this book is quite well written. However, in my Japanese study I found it to be completely useless, and actually a distraction. Perhaps it is meant just as a reference. And if that`s the case then this is a great book, but I expected to learn something and in the end, I didn`t learn anything from this book.The essential thing this book is missing are multiple examples and practice questions.Each of the 82 grammar points that the author describes in this book are only supported by 1-3 example sentences in Japanese. And there is not a single practice excersice of review question in the entire book.

A much better option is Mina No Nihongo Volumes 1&2 and the English Translations.Almost everything and more that is covered in Matheson`s book is covered in those 4 textbooks. And also those books have about 5 examples and 5 practice questions for each grammar point. Also there are 10 review tests. This is a much better way of retaining the information you are learning. Also I reccommend Pimsleur Listening CDs - all three volumes. And Study Kanji about 10-20 minutes a day. Excel@japanese is a good program. You can google excel@japanese and download it for free. After doing those 3 things over the course of a year, I am at an intermediate level.

Sorry to give the guy a bad review because it is well written, but this book ultimately wasted a lot of my time. If Matheson adds about 820 examples to this book to go with the 82 lessons, it gets 5 stars.

Good book with potential to be excellent
This is a good book. I've been studying Japanese as a hobby for a year or so and making slow but steady progress. I use this book all the time. I love the author's clear, pleasant style, through which I discern an amiable, helpful, knowledgeable person. Reading this book is like being helped with your Japanese by a good friend. I would recommend this book to anyone.

I hope the author does a second edition and alters it slightly. The book's major problem from my perspective is that the author did not decide whether he wanted to write a reference grammar or to write a textbook to teach Japanese verbs.

If it is meant to be a reference grammar, it minimally needs a good index and an informative table of contents. As it is, it is really hard to find anything in the book. Sometimes I know I have seen something in the book, but I am reduced to going through the book page by page to look for it. There is no index, and the table of contents, which consists solely of entries like "Base 1 + nakareba," would only be useful to someone who already knows the stuff in the book. It might be nice also to tighten up organization a bit. As it is, the book is studded with subsections that begin something like "Oh, as long as I'm telling you this, now would be a good time to mention this." So important topics get buried in sections nominally covering other topics. And, since so much in this book depends on the bases from which verb forms are made, it might be nice to have one section where the formation of all the bases is laid out in methodical fashion so that the user, confronted with some utterance like "'you desu' after base 3," can easily track down what base 3 is without paging through the whole book.

However, the author actually seems to have set out to write more of a textbook than a reference grammar because the book generally assumes that the reader knows what has already been covered earlier in it. If that is the case, the author needs to include exercises so that students can actually practice what he is explaining and to give more thought to systematically building up vocabulary and grammar from the rudimentary to the complex as the book moves on. And even then, a decent index and table of contents would help.

I actually think this book would be easier to nudge into the direction of a reference grammar than a text book, and that's what I would advise.

But, please, don't let my comments deter you from buying this book. It has been a great help to me and it will be to you, too.

Excellent guide
I found this book through the author's website, which offers an excellent explanation of Japanese verb use. The book is fantastic, really helpful. I recommend it.

One of the finest books for intro to japanese
I started learning Japanese last summer. In the past year I ordered may be 20 introduction level Japanese books. This one is among the ones I read most often (beside Japanese dicitionary). It is very well written and easy to understand with a lot of examples for each of the different verb forms. You will find yourself still be able to pick up something even when you are skipping chapters because each indiviuals lesson is organized very well. So when you are reading some Japanese book and find yourself stuck by some verb form that you don't understand, you can go ahead and find the answer without flipping back and forth looking up some other unknown terminology. This book is well worth the price.

Solid Reference
I bought this book because I started teaching myself Japanese with the Pimsleur audio series.The series is a great way to practice hearing and speaking a new language, but despite claims to the contrary, I think you really have to learn the grammar if you want to speak competently.I found this book to be a great supplement for exactly that reason.Whenever I ran into a verb construction in a specific context, I could always look it up in here and learn the details of application and how to generalize the expression.

It's absolutely worth the price to have around. ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: Madman Muntz, Jim E. Mora, Michael Shermer, Tim Matheson, Robert Englund, Larry L. Maxam, Claudia Christian, Gregg Zaun, Elvin Bishop, Nathan Kress, Joe Hahn, Karl Yoneda, Irv Robbins, Jim Horne, Julia Ann, Burt Baskin, Dennis Muren, Dawn Bender, Bob Flanagan, a Martinez, Mark Allen, Nicole Castrale, Joseph Stroud, Ronald W. Ellis, Ralph Winter, Steven Rothenberg, Bob Dillinger, Vardan Adzemian, Tom Kindness, Jonna Lee, Greg Kriesel, Gary Walker, Harry Todd, Gary Ilman, Tatev Abrahamyan, Troy Archer, Brennan Howard, Patty Petersen, Emily Lesueur, Tigran Arakelyan, Robert Francis, Ira Angustain. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 175. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Earl William "Madman" Muntz (January 3, 1914 June 21, 1987) was an American businessman and engineer who sold and promoted cars and consumer electronics in the United States from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He was a pioneer in television commercials with his oddball "Madman" persona an alter ego who generated publicity with his unusual costumes, stunts, and outrageous claims. Muntz also pioneered car stereos by creating the Muntz Stereo-Pak, better known as the 4-track cartridge, a predecessor to the 8-track cartridge developed by Lear Industries. He invented the practice that came to be known as Muntzing, which involved simplifying otherwise complicated electronic devices. Muntz produced and marketed the first black-and-white television receivers to sell for less than $100, and created one of the earliest functional widescreen projection TVs. He was credited with coining the abbreviation "TV" for television, although the term had earlier been in use in call letters for stations such as WCBS-TV. A high school dropout, Muntz made fortunes by selling automobiles, TV receivers, and car stereos and tapes. A 1...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=553588 ... Read more

Product Description
Magnum Force is the 1973 sequel to the 1971 film Dirty Harry, starring Clint Eastwood as maverick cop Harry Callahan. The film was released in 1973 and directed by Ted Post, who also directed Eastwood in TV's Rawhide and the feature film Hang 'Em High. The screenplay was written by John Milius (who provided an uncredited rewrite for the original film) and Michael Cimino. This film features early appearances by David Soul, Tim Matheson and Robert Urich as the vigilante traffic cops. It is also the longest Dirty Harry film, clocking in at 124 minutes. ... Read more

Product Description
Thrust into a world of lies and treachery, adventurer Tori Nunn must face her deadliest enemies, aided only by her chief rival. 2 cassettes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Jackory
The White Ninja just wasn't as good as it was supposed to be. It had all the elements to become a great third volume, but the focus and the structure simply drifted away. Although writing is superb, the story line was often directed into mundane and non-central characters. In my estimation, the book had 5-6 parallel story tracks, out which Nicholas's track got about 20% of "air time". To me that was way too little for the main character to have, especially since his story line was the most interesting to me (and that of Nangi's, but that became also incredulous after the midpoint of the book). It seems that Lustbader has become more concerned with length of a book than tightly written story, a sort of Tom Clancy syndrome (with his latest books). Less is more is a good way of putting it, after reading some 650 pages of the White Ninja.

Not Free SF Reader
This is the third of Eric Van Lustbaders spies and ninja and ever the twain shall meet series.

Nicholas is in Tokyo, doing the corporate executive thing for his technology company, but is losing touch with the whole ninja thing.

Needless to say, that is when a nut will start running around, that needs stopping.This is also tied into an important contract to supply a new type of computer chip to the government.

More ninja magic and mayhem.

Best of the Ninja series
Nicholas Linnear is back in this, the third book of a series. He and his wife stayed in Japan. The book opens up with them mourning the death of their baby daughter. At the same time he comes under an unknown attack that causes him to lose his martial arts abilities. Then a murder spree breaks out in Tokyo which seems linked to his family. Washington politics become involved in this story because of Linnear's companies computer chips and a new computer the govt. has developed.

We then follow Linnear as he tries and regain his powers and seek revenge for the death of a friend, he journeys to China to learn a martial art he thought was legendary and regain his powers. This is written in the same fine Lustbader format with political intrigue, new high technology, and he continues his look into the Oriental mind.

Review of audio book version...
1) Tim Matheson isn't necessarily boring to listen too, but nowhere near the acting and voice over abilities of Roddy McDowall as a reader on the L. Ron Hubbard works. Different voices and more "acting" on the voice inflections of the characters (fearful, excited, nearvous, etc) would have made this a more enjoyable story.

2) A "popular" story that includes Ninjas? Yeah, right! Well, this is the case here...this is a very popular work but it is more of a crime-drama with a heavy emphasis on romance/pornography. Thought I'd mention this in case you have different expectations of what the story is about.

3) The ninja portion heightened the action and suspense as these "unstoppable" forces of good and evil work towards a face off. Anyone experienced (really experienced) in martial arts will get an appreciation of the power of the ninja characters and their art.

4) Can anyone say, "SEX!!" Wow! There was a lot here even in the abridged audio book version. Obviously not for everyone regardless if it is "more realistic" or not or however else it can be justified.

5) Some interesting characters...more is spent on the psyche of the "bad guys" and thus you can't wait to see what they do next.

Just not good enough
Maybe it's my adult tastes. I'd picked this book up after several years to finish it off, I'd started with The Ninja back when I was a teenager, and I feel like I've grown up with the hero of the book, Nicholas Linnear. I was told there's now 5 books in the series. I just hope the rest aren't like White Ninja. Though a wonderful writing style, I found the book lacked imagination. Some of the scenes became so unrealistic, put there to inject a sense of drama and climax, but looking out of place. The climax to the book by the way was awful. What a complete disappointment. It slowly builds, then nothing. Nicholas does his usual three fingered gut thrust and monkey blow, but no twists, nothing that makes you think wow, that was a good read. ... Read more

Product Description
Written by and for Ontario gardeners, this book features almost 100 accounts describing 481 woody varieties, cultivars and hybrids. Includes practical advice on pruning, optimal location, mature size, planting and pests and diseases. ... Read more

Product Description
Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Not illustrated. Excerpt: Dame Karen Hope Dunnell, DCB (born 16 June 1946) was National Statistician and Chief Executive of the Office for National Statistics of the United Kingdom and head of the Government Statistical Service from 1 September 2005 until retiring on 28 August 2009. Since its inception in 2008, she was also the Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority. . Born Karen Williamson in Los Angeles, USA, she moved to Britain when she was a young child and was educated at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls and Bedford College, London. Her father was a US serviceman during World War II and her mother, who is English, was a teacher. Karen Dunnell has been married twice to Keith Dunnell (1969-76) and Professor Michael Adler (1979-94). She has two adult daughters by her second marriage and two grandchildren. She lives in London and has a home in the Var in SE France. Karen Dunnell studied sciences at school because she wanted to go into medicine. However, a growing interest in politics and society led her to study sociology at Bedford College, London, from where she graduated in 1967. She began her career as a health care researcher with the Institute of Community Studies, where much of her work involved healthcare surveys, and, in 1972, she wrote a book, Medicine Takers, Prescribers and Hoarders with Ann Cartwright,. This established a measure of morbidity and the relationship between medicines acquired through the NHS and over-the-counter. Dunnell then joined the Department of Epidemiology ... Read more

Product Description
Christopher Buckley, the bestselling author of the comic classics The White House Mess and Thank You for Smoking, returns to the funniest place in America: Washington, D.C.
Elizabeth Tyler MacMann, the First Lady of the United States, has been charged with killing her philandering husband, the President of the United States. In the midst of a bedroom spat, she allegedly hurled a historic Paul Revere spittoon at him, with tragic results. The attorney general has no choice but to put the First Lady on trial for assassination.
The media has never warmed to Beth MacMann (her nickname in the tabloids is “Lady Bethmac”), and as America girds for a scandalous, sensational trial, Beth reaches out to the only defense attorney she trusts, Boyce “Shameless” Baylor, who charges $1,000 an hour and has represented a Who’s Who of scoundrels: murderous running backs, society wife-killers, Los Alamos spies, and national-security sellouts.
Why Boyce Baylor? Because Beth loved him once, when they were law students. Boyce wanted to marry her, but Beth chose the future President instead. Now, after all these years, Boyce has a second chance. To what lengths will a shameless lawyer go to win the Trial of the Millennium and regain the love of his life?
Buckley has been described by the Los Angeles Times Book Review as “one of the best and surest political humorists in America” and by Entertainment Weekly as “a superb writer of politically incorrect satire.” No Way to Treat a First Lady is flat-out hilarious. And furthermore, it’s a love story for our time.


From the Hardcover edition.Amazon.com Review
Christopher Buckley is not so much a novelist as a free-ranging satiristlooking for targets. In Thank You for Smoking it was big tobacco andearnest reformers; in God Is My Broker it was business and religion;and in No Way to Treat a First Lady, it's the entire legalprofession, not to mention the Washington establishment. The novel openswith the President of the United States returning to the conjugal bed afteran illicit Lincoln Bedroom romp with the Streisandesque Babette Van Anka.His wife, the long-suffering Beth McMann, promptly clocks him with a PaulRevere spittoon. Several hours later he dies. "Lady Bethmac," as the FirstLady is immediately dubbed by the media, is put on trial, and the resultingmedia circus gives Buckley lots of opportunity for nicely observedskewerings of legal culture. "Judge Dutch creaked forward in his chair. Thisis the source of the aura of judges: they have bigger chairs than anyoneelse. That and the fact that they can sentence people to sit in electrifiedones. It's all about chairs." He gets in some neat neologisms--a lawyerperforms a "credibilobotomy" on a witness--and sends up the pretensionsof law TV: at a roundtable discussion, the guest from Harvard Law is invited"to provide gravitas and to shift uneasily in his seat when the other guestssaid something provocative." Buckley's Trial of the Millennium is sofar-fetched that it seems entirely possible. --Claire Dederer ... Read more

Customer Reviews (60)

An easy, enjoyable, insightful read
I have a hard time laughing with written material; maybe my senses have been dulled by too much television and movies. Be that as it may, Christopher Buckley's satires are perhaps the only novels that have me laughing out loud, and they do so consistently. The formula is familiar and effective: essentially his novels revolve around the image problems of the rich and the powerful in Washington, D.C. and in a world where image is everything, they will go to impossible lengths to protect theirs. Buckley's novels seem exaggerated, but only at first glance: one has only to crack a newspaper and scan the 'Washington' or 'Politics' section to see that our elected officials and their money launderers are capable of the most logic-defying, morality-trampling maneuvers to save their skins. Someone has said that human folly is the essence of comedy, and if so, then Beltway politics, bursting with the former, must be a goldmine for the latter. As Christopher Buckley has proved again and again.

I'd have to agree with reviewers who say that this is an unusually plot and character-driven novel for Buckley. It centers around the assassination trial of former First Lady Beth McMann, after the Commander in Chief is found dead in his bed with the clear imprint of Paul Revere's spittoon in his forehead. The circumstances are suspicious enough to convince at least 75% of the American people that Beth is guilty. In her desperation, she turns to the most infamous and successful trial lawyer in the country, Boyce "Shameless" Baylor, for help. The wrinkle is that Beth had stood Boyce up in order to marry a sort-of dashing Naval hero who became the Commander in Chief. Will he help her now for old times' sake, or will he take this opportunity to exact revenge on her by subtlely throwing the case? Throw into the mix unscrupulous journalists who screw for stories, a CIA defector to China looking to embarrass his former employer, an inept judge, an assistant D.A. out for blood and a clueless starlet bimbo and you've got yourself a good few hours of solid, comic entertainment.

Buckley's characters in this novel are unusually well-drawn and compelling. Beth struggles to project an image of stability and poise as the whole country is gunning for her, while Boyce is still sore over her rejection and is putting his reputation on the line as well in defending her. Secondary characters, including a wimpy, perpetually second-place vice president who suddenly gets the opportunity of a lifetime when the president dies, are also compelling enough, with one exception: Nick Naylor (what is it with Buckley and alliterative names that end in '-aylor'?), the savvy spinmeister from "Thank You For Smoking" has a cameo here as the head of Babette Van Anka's PR campaign, but he doesn't really have much to do and comes across as rather flat and uninteresting.

The thing I like most about Buckley's writing is that his comic zingers sneak up on you. One minute you're reading dry, perfectly straightforward prose and suddenly the words of a particularly apt and humorous turn of phrase form in your mind and you can't help but chuckle involuntarily. Right on the first page Buckley had me going when he reveals that the President referred to his extra-marital escapades as "Congress in session". As any reader of Buckley will know, such references pepper his novels, a large part of their appeal. I also greatly admire Buckley's powers of verisimilitude in describing Beltway dealings. I don't know where he gets his information, but somehow his narration of even the innermost dealings of top politicians seems completely plausible.

All in all, an easy but entertaining and insightful read, perfect if you want to laugh at our nation's political shenanigans. And at a time like this, how could you not?

Entertaining
I enjoyed this fast-paced send-up of the Washington establishment, the media, and the legal profession. Buckley's satire is sharp and on-target as he follows the "trial of the century" and makes this book somewhat of a legal thriller. It kept me guessing.

The political humor is terrific but I did find that some of it was repetitive. I do not need to be hit over the head repeatedly to "get" something. I also think that the book could have been just as funny had he not made so many errors of fact regarding the workings of the law.

The dialogue is really funny and the plot is plausible even as it went over the top and ventured into absurdity. It's a smallish book with not a lot of unnecessary padding.

Buckley kept me laughing and engaged. I love the way he coins words, such as "credibilobotomy". He is a very clever writer.

White House sexual escapades provide forum for skewering law and journalism
One might suspect that Christopher Buckley, our preeminent satirist ("Thank You For Smoking," "Florence of Arabia," "Boomsday"), would use White House sexual misconduct as a tool for skewering the hypocrisy of the American political class.But while nobody emerges unscathed in "No Way To Treat a First Lady," Buckley reserves his most toxic barbs for the politician's cousins and enablers, the lawyers and the journalists.

What happens when a First Lady is charged with not only murder, but the assassination of the President, when The Great Man is found dead in bed with her?After he'd been caught red-handed (so to speak) returning from an illicit liaison?Down the hall in the Lincoln Bedroom?For the fiftieth time?And a Paul Revere embossed trademark is found embedded in the Presidential forehead, one that matches a spittoon lying innocently nearby in the Presidential bedroom?With the First Lady's fingerprints all over it?

First, the First Lady gets charged with murder.Second, she calls the top lawyer in the land, who just happens to be her ex-fiance.

From this insane premise Buckley lets things spin more or less out of control as the nation is riveted to the Trial of the Everything.Before this story is done, the CIA, FBI, Secret Service, and virtually every other American institution will feel the bite of Buckley's rapier wit.

This story features all the usual Buckley characteristics.Hilarious dialogue, lots of sex, and a plot that is just sufficiently over the top to be plausible.A lean book, clocking in at under 300 pages, this is the perfect book for escaping into if you're trapped over the holidays with too many family members.

Always funny, occasionally sweet, and downright merciless in poking holes in pretense, Buckley's novel is a delight to read.

Solid
This novel is a parody of our media culture when it comes to high profile trials.

In No Way To Treat a First Lady, the protagonist, the profoundly immoral defense attorney Bruce Baylor, defends the first lady of the US against charges that she killed her husband, the President.But his true motives for taking the case are in question, as they happened to be a couple back in law school.The cast also includes an airhead Marilyn Monroe type mega star named Babbette with whom it turns out the President was having an affair.Nick Naylor from Thank You For Smoking also makes a few cameo appearances. Many prominent media personalities also make appearances throughout the work, with thinly veiled name changes (i.e. Greta van Botox).

Even when Buckley is not at his best, he is still a fun read.

Very Enjoyable
This is a laugh-out-loud novel and I highly recommend it for anyone that sees the human in the follies of Washington D.C. ... Read more

Product Description
In the tradition of John Grisham's Skipping Christmas, Mary Higgins Clark's Silent Night and Richard Paul Evans' The Christmas Box, a holiday tale that offers humor, romance, mystery and a reminder of what Christmas is all about-by the seven-time New York Times bestselling author.Tom Langdon, a weary and cash-strapped journalist who was banned from flying in the U.S. when an overly probing search wand caused him to blow his top at LaGuardia Airport, must get to Los Angeles for Christmas so that he can be with his girlfriend, straight-to-video movie actress Lelia Gibson.To circumvent his flying problem, he comes up with the idea of a story about a train ride taken during Christmas season, which he pitches to his ex-flame editor, Eleanor. Thereupon begins one of the most hilarious-and heartwarming-train rides ever. This story will reacquaint you with what makes Christmas truly special. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (168)

ANOTHER OKAY CHRISTMAS BOOK
AN OKAY CHRISTMAS BOOK.AN EASY, QUICK READ.
THE WHOLE PART ABOUT THE AVALANCHE----UUUHHH???---
WELL--THAT WAS A BIT MUCH.BUT ALL-IN-ALL, IT WAS OKAY

Everything But The Kitchen Sink
This tried to be everything: a romance, a mystery, a travelogue, and even contained several references to Mark Twain--but in the end failed to live up to this reader's expectation of anything but a Christmas story, and not a very well thought-out one at that. The train lore and geography were its saving features. From the author of "Absolute Power," I would have thought there would be more action, but no--this too fizzled out after straining the limits of believability. Way too much coincidence and sappiness, even for Christmas. For a Christmas suspense novel in a snowy English country setting, try Christmas is Murder (A Rex Graves Mystery), which at least doesn't try to be serious.

Charming
I don't know what took me so long to find this little gem.I read Baldacci AND read him while I ride trains!What an oversight on my part.

This book has it all:A cross country train trip, star crossed lovers who rediscover each other, a film crew, a boy's choir, an avalanche, crooks, men of the cloth, sage car attendants, circus folk, young starry eyed elopers,Amtrak lore and a big dose of holiday cheer.

OK, this is not university level literature but it sure is a good yarn.bg

A great adventure
This book was sensational!My husband and I travel as often as possible by train and this book just made us want to travel more.

There was a little bit of everything for every reader and you don't need to have traveled by train before for this book to be interesting for you.You meet great people on board a train and The Christmas Train laid this out perfectly.

Great book...exceptional read!

Cozy Christmas Journey..
The Christmas Train is a pleasant read at any time of the year although especially at christmas.You feel like you are reading a cross between the warmth of 'Polar Express' and eccentric Miss Marple. From almost the first page you meet unusual characters and as the train journey travels on you are drawn more and more into the lives of everyone on board.
Helpful staff, gusty carol singers, eccentric old women and a priest (to name just a few) all come together for a journey of a lifetime.

Sit back relax and enjoy the ride,as that is what this book is all about. The story begins slowly idling along perfectly for the beginning of the story,then toward the middle of the book it picks up memento and there you are hurtling towards the stories final destination! A heart warming light read, great lovable characters, engaging tale and surprising twists......

Enjoy this book for what it is a sweet, warm, cozy, Christmas 'Journey'

... Read more

Product Description
This resource book provides a higher level, integrated thematic unit of study. Individuals or teacher teams can use this complete, in-depth resource to implement an interdisciplinary program. ... Read more

Product Description
A collection of beautiful reproductions of paintings, drawings, photographs and sculpture. High-quality sepia tone printing on heavy satin-finish paper enhance the coffee-table quality of this unusual volume of dark art. This issue features the work of Eric Dinyer, Robert Gregory Griffeth, K.D. Matheson, Dan Montano, R H Phister and many others. ... Read more

Product Description
The New York Times bestselling novel that inspired the Oscar-winning movie! What happens to us after we die? Chris Nielsen had no idea, until an unexpected accident cut his life short, separating him from his beloved wife, Annie. Now Chris must discover the true nature of life after death. But even Heaven is not complete without Annie, and when tragedy threatens to divide them forever, Chris risks his very soul to save Annie from an eternity of despair. Richard Matheson's powerful tale of life-and love-after death was the basis for the lavish 1998 film starring Robin Williams.Amazon.com Review
A classic novel of love after death, from one our greatest fantasy writers. The premise is deceptively simple: Chris Neilson has died in a car accident, but his life-force--his spirit--is still conscious of this plane of reality. And he is still too in love with his wife, Ann, to completely let go. She in turn does not want to go on living without him, as each regards the other as their soul mate. What Chris will do to get back with Ann after she dies makes for one of the most unusual love stories ever told. Even though the story can be enjoyed as pure fantasy, what makes What Dreams May Come unique is how the author spent years researching the subject of life after death. (An exhaustive bibliography is included to verify this.) And while Matheson admits that the characters are of course fictional, he also states that "With few exceptions, every other detail is derived exclusively from research." Whether, after reading this novel, one believes in life after death is of course a matter of opinion. At least you'll entertain the possibility that, even though we may not live forever, true love can be eternal. --Stanley Wiater ... Read more

Customer Reviews (216)

Excellent!
I had seen the movie but the book goes into so much more detail and it is based on research - as much research as one can do about the afterlife - which I believe gives it a little more credibility.
A must read for everyone wondering about the after life.We all know what happens when we first pass over but then what?This book answers that.

Arbitrary rules and empty romance make for a heartless, joyless book all around. Not recommended
After his death in a car accident, Chris Nielsen awakens in a dreamlike plane between this realm and the next. What follows is his journey to heaven and ultimately to hell, in search of his wife and soulmate, Ann. What Dreams May Come may have inspired the film of the same name, but the similarities between the book and film are slim--and the book is far inferior. Would I find the book so disappointing were I not an avid lover of the film? Perhaps not. But these criticisms still stand:

Matheson's concept of the afterlife is sometimes creative, sometimes peaceful, but rarely transportive. Arbitrary rules abound (particularly in relation to suicides, and therefore to Ann's journey), stripping away any sense of universal truth and making heaven into a dry, lifeless place; worse, the arbitrary rules are arbitrarily enforced. And there is much emphasis on rules, and customs, and the specific nature of the afterlife: what purports to be a lovestory is bogged down by constant worldbuilding in the form of dry infodumps, which disrupt the pacing, feel unrealistic, and are often, frankly, boring. Also dry is the narrative voice, which even further slows the book's pace--especially in the climax, where repetitive descriptions and the constant interruption of explication strip away both suspense and emotion.

Not that there is much emotion in the first place. Chris seems to view Ann more as an archetype than a person: she is a woman, therefore his wife; she is childlike, therefore in need of rescue. Her actual personality and mental state are merely glimpsed. Often, the reader is expected to take Chris's desire to be with her, to save her, at his word--rather than sharing his emotions. A hasty, impersonal conclusion caps off the would-be love story. The relationship between Chris and Ann is overshadowed and unexplored, and what is seen of it borders on demeaning and offensive; it's poor motivation for such a vast journey through the afterlife. In the end, Dreams is sterile and dry, heartless and joyless; the plain narration is easy to read, but infodumps bloat the book and slow it to a slog. There's some familiar characters, plot points, and even lines for fans of the film, but its heart is entirely different. I adore the film, and readily admit my bias towards it--but as the film's original and as a novel in its own right, I found the book to be a distinct disappointment and don't under any circumstances recommend it.

How far would you go for your soulmate?
This amazing book takes you on a journey that is so unexpected and exciting. Life after death can be one of the scariest concepts to wrap your head around because no one knows. It is inevitable yet we spend most of our lives fighting it.

It was interesting to read about many theories all put into one cohesive book that makes it so possible its very eerie. Through much research, Richard Matheson takes you on his journey of discovering what everyone wants to know, what happens after we die?

Richard also delves into the explanation of soul mates which is another greatly explored subject in the book. The main character, Chris (recently deceased) and wife Ann are determined by the higher powers to actually be "soul mates". This makes matters complicated when Ann can no longer live in a world where her other half does not exist. Chris never waivers in his determination to be with Ann again which makes this a heartbreaking tale of love lost. But after the journey has ended, it leaves great hope that life does go on, just not as you think it may.

Convincing life changing book
This book was very powerful for me. I have a relative that has cancer and their condition is deteriorating week by week. This book made me feel a little better about the afterlife. Most of the book is very believable and seems like this is what it could be. I love the idea that the afterlife is what you make it and there is no punishment from god, just your self punishment if any. This is a book I'd recommend to those that are trying to find answers to what happens after death. Though this is fiction, the way it is written is so thought provoking and so believable.

My Personal Opinion
Richard Matheson is a very talented and precise author. [If you're not a Christian, feel free to skip the rest of this review]. This book specifically and viciously attacks Christianity at the finale. It was not for me and I regret reading it. I recommend Heaven by Randy Alcorn for a far more positive image of Heaven. ... Read more