The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (my thoughts) have produced some wonderful covers for this fantastic story. Take a look at the few below, tell me which one is your favorite. Cover of the 20011 Campfire Classics Graphic Novel Handmade oil painting reproduction of Front cover of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-94 c.1910, a painting by Edmund Joseph Sullivan. Jason Edmiston’s version from Required Reading Bookcover Remix My favorite is the Campfire Classics cover. The picture has many elements of the story, the laboratory, the duel personality, The green smoke, one red eye, even a different suite. So tell me, what’s your favorite? Zohar – Man of la Book Related articles Fun Facts Friday: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (manoflabook.com) Thoughts on: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (manoflabook.com) Book Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (blogcritics.org) 20 Brilliant Novellas You Should Read (listverse.com)

This week I reviewed The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, one of my favorite authors. While writing my post I found some interesting facts about the story. 1 )      Stevenson developed the story while a teenager. 2 )      Stevenson’s stepson, Lloyd Osbourne said that the first draft took maybe three days to for Stevenson to write. 3 )      Supposedly Stevenson burned the first draft (even though there are no evidence) so he’ll be forced to start the writing process from scratch. 4 )      Re-writing took Stevenson anywhere from three to six days, but continued to revise it for four to six weeks afterwards. 5 )      The book was initially sold for one shilling in the UK and one dollar in the US in paperback format. 6 )      The American publisher Bill Clinton published the book four days before it appeared in the UK (published by Longmans). 7 )      Stores would not stock the book until it was reviewed in The Times.  After a favorable review thought the book sold almost 40,000 copies in six months. 8 )      Over 250,000 copies were sold by 1901. 9 )      For many people this book was the…

As time goes on, this novella could be read in several ways. There is the most known one, that of split personality, but also could be a pathological angle of investigating the nature of mental illness.  In these days, where science, technology and medicine is much more advanced, the story could also be read as a warning on the extreme use of mind altering chemicals, drugs or alcohol and the self destructive properties of such actions.

Over the year and a half I’ve had this blog (could it be that long?) many people asked me where to get the books I read. Even though I try to provide links with each post, it’s sometimes difficult to find a book. Hence, I’d like to introduce… Man of la BookStore.   I put a link up on the top bar: As of now I only list World War II books as this is most of the requests I get, but I plan on adding more. Any constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Zohar – Man of la Book

Here are the books I enjoyed the most this year. This list is of books I read, not only published in 2011. First and foremost – this is THE best book I’ve read this year. From some reason it didn’t get much attention in the US. We, The Drowned by Carsten Jensen “We, The Drowned” (Web­site) by Carsten Jensen is a spell­bind­ing, award win­ning (Danske Banks Lit­ter­atur­pris) fic­tional book which spans 100 years in the lives of the inhab­i­tants of the small Dan­ish coastal town Marstal. Jensen’s debut novel is already hailed as an instant clas­sic and right­fully so. Non-Fiction: Auschwitz by Dr. Miklós Nyiszli Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eye­wit­ness Account by Dr. Mik­lós Nyis­zli is a non-fiction mem­oir of a Jew­ish Hun­gar­ian med­ical doc­tor who per­formed “research” on other Jews with the evil Dr. Josef Men­gele aka “Angel of Death”. This is not an easy book to read, but an impor­tant one. Elizabeth and Hazel by David Margolick Eliz­a­beth and Hazel: Two Women of Lit­tle Rock by David Mar­golick is a non fic­tion book about two ladies who were made famous by the press. The book looks his­tory square in the eye and doesn’t flinch. Gated Grief by Leila Levinson “Gated Grief: The Daugh­ter of a GI Con­cen­tra­tion Camp Lib­er­a­tor Dis­cov­ers a Legacy of Trauma” by Leila Levin­son who started the…

There are four hand written copies of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas known to exist. Three are in museums while the fourth was sold in 2006 for $280,000

This book has layers which allow the reader to think about and explore. Jealousy, friendship, envy, love, arrogance and, of course, redemption

President Clinton stopped by the Today Show yesterday and talked about the books he likes to read.  I was surprised and delighted to discover what the President read and to discover that we share the same taste. Image from http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/kids/html/bill.html Jerusalem by Simon Sebag Montefiore President Clinton says: “Truly a biography of the city“ Lincoln by David Herbert Donald President Clinton says: “A book you could read if you wanted to read a novel… an astonishing book“ The Way of the World by David Fromkin President Clinton says: “[A] one volume short history of civilization” Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow President Clinton says: This is a book for “anybody who really wants to understand how we started should read“ And I agree President Clinton also likes to read fiction, crime fiction nonetheless. His favorite fictional character is Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon and I must admin that it is mine as well. Check out Daniel Silva’s Amazon Page. I can recommend any of the Gabriel Allon books, but if you’re new to the series try to start at the beginning. As well as Gabriel Allon, President Clinton also said he enjoyed the Alex Cross series as well as books by…

About: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne is a classic science fiction novel published in 1870. The book’s original title Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, the literal translation would be “Seas” which might imply the seven seas. 416 pages Publisher: Naval Institute Press ISBN-10: 0870216783 My rating for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – 5 Buy & Save on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea through the ManOfLa­Book affil­i­ate account on: Ama­zon | Kin­dle | Book Depos­i­tory US | Book Depos­i­tory UK More books by Jules Verne Part of the League of Extra­or­di­nary Gen­tle — Men of la — Book Chal­lenge (Vol. 1) Thoughts: I have read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne in two languages and several versions. I have to say that this translation beats them all. The book shows Verne’s genius which is tough to translate, the characters come alive on the pages and the adventures they go through are exciting. The comedic tone and even psychology show well in this wonderful translation. As in the previous versions I have read, there are many “lists” and descriptions of the ocean life. I have to say that I did skimmed through the lists but read…

Image from http://zerotoinfinity.tumblr.com/post/718216792 A whole lot of hoopla has been raised the past two weeks with Amazon’s strong arm tactics giving $5 off any product you scan with your smart phone in a brick and mortar store, the Slate article which justified it and a whole bunch of others which didn’t. While I agree with some things in the article, I don’t agree with the spirit of it, but that’s another issue. I have been an Amazon customer for many years, to be honest I don’t have much to complain about. I get my orders in a reasonable amount of time, the price is good and the selection is unbelievable. What can I say, I love the ability to buy any book that was ever published at a reasonable price. I am also all for supporting your local businesses I, selfishly, also like to eat and have a roof over my head as well as give my children the holiday present they’ve been craving. Yes, Daddy will turn on the heat. But just for one day! Happy Holidays!! Enjoy!!! That being said, I cannot possible pay twice the price for a hammer at Mr. Cunningham’s Hardware Store than I would…