Yvonne Bradford

The book is typically Wodehouse, and very funny, but there is a major error in it: In Thank You, Jeeves, Pop Stoker barges into Bertie's seaside cottage around two or three in the morning, and demands to know the whereabouts of his daughter, Pauline. When Bertie plays dumb, Stoker replies, "Yes, my daughter, Pauline, my one and ONLY daughter." This is the error, for Stoker has another daughter named Emerald, who, in a later story, becomes a temporary cook at Totleigh Towers and elopes with Gussie Fink-Nottle, a visitor there. It seems Gussie's fiancee, Madeline Bassett, has forbidden Gussie to eat meat, and Emerald Stoker, sympathizing with his plight, sneaks him steak- and-kidney pie. This kindness induces Gussie to fall in love with Emerald and break off his engagement to Madeline. So, in Thank You, Jeeves, Pop Stoker has obviously forgotten all about his second daughter. Which is hard to do, considering Wodehouse later describes Emerald as having a face like a Pekingese. Stoker has a lot of room to talk when he disparages Bertie's mental capacity -- it seems Pop's own capacity's not up to speed, either!

For the life of me, I just couldn't get into this story. The phrase "verbal diarrhea" aptly applies to ALL of James' writing, even his most excellent stories and novels, but in The Great Good Place, our affected friend exceeds even himself. As is his wearisome wont, it takes him an hour to extract the tooth the dentist down the hall could have yanked out in three minutes. I will NOT believe that even the most consummate of James snobs could find this story compelling. I would have loved to have been present at the festive old Boston breakfast table when Mrs. J. unwittingly asked Henry to please pass the maple syrup. There she is, slumped over in her Queen Anne chair, the lace tablecloth impressing its intricate pattern on her forehead, while Henry, oblivious to all but the everlasting Niagara of his voice, takes the request and turns it into a 100,000 word "short" story.

I was intrigued by the book but can't understand why Alexander didn't mention feeling Jesus' presence in the Core; or why Alexander didn't even address Jesus' role or the Bible's role in "Om"'s Plan for Creation...after all, we Christians believe in a Trinity and are taught that Jesus is not only the Son, but the Word, the Light, and God Himself...that as the Son He was with God and was God from the very Beginning. Why, then, was Jesus so disturbingly absent during Alexander's visit to the Core? Perhaps, while in the Core, Alexander actually sensed Jesus, but purposely avoided mentioning this in his book so as not to offend non-Christians. Any mention of Jesus and Alexander might risk losing credibility with Jews, Muslims, and others who don't hold with a triune God. I would expect and hope that ALL information Alexander was Divinely privileged to gather on such an extraordinary trip should have been offered up in its entirety -- NOTHING should have been suppressed if it was truly Alexander's intent -- and God's Will! -- to present the world with a truthful recount, unbelievers be damned. If Alexander was CHOSEN by God for this purpose, then Alexander failed by omitting such crucial information. God would NOT invite a visitor into his Holy of Holies and find Himself in the position of apologizing for the absence of His dearly beloved Son. Nor would God fail to impart absolutely crucial information about the Bible, particularly in these troublesome days when so many are turning to it for help, hope and guidance. If Alexander made deliberate omissions, wouldn't this be a grievous sin? Wouldn't his entire visit have been for naught? If, on the other hand, Alexander never even sensed Jesus' presence in the Core and received no information concerning the Holy Bible (yet, strangely, other matters, such as the structure of the multiverse, were imparted to him!), then, as a Christian, I must either doubt Alexander's ability to neutrally present all the facts with veracity and accuracy or else I must doubt that his journey ever occurred at all.

She's spectacular, both in form, face and voice. The songs she sings are haunting. I admire her. I think as I lay dying I'd very much like the lovely Sarah to softly sing me out of this world.

I'm so sorry about all this...loved the Garage Sale series. Feel sorry for the cast members who find themselves suddenly out of work; feel sorry for all the fans who loved to cozy up with this show. I feel sorry for Lori, too. She made a grave error in judgment, but she needs friends now, not enemies. We all make mistakes.