Product Description
FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. The last thing a fourteen-year-old boy expects to find along an old Ozark river bottom is a tree full of monkeys. Jay Berry Lee's grandpa had an explanation, of course--as he did for most things. The monkeys had escaped from a traveling circus, and thereAmazon.com Review
Jay Berry Lee is happy until the summer he is 14 years old and discoversmonkeys living in the creek bottoms near his parents' homestead. Set in thelate 1800s, Summer of the Monkeys traces the boy's adventures as heattempts to capture 29 monkeys that have (it turns out) escaped from thecircus. With somewhat dubious help from his grandfather, and over theobjections of his mother, Jay goes about discovering that monkeys are muchsmarter and harder to catch than he thought possible. Woven into this storyis a second theme about his physically disabled sister and the family'sattempts to find money for an operation. As funny and touching as WilsonRawls's Where the Red FernGrows, this book will appeal to the young reader who has alwayswished for the freedom to run wild through the woods with nothing morepressing to do than find another rabbit hole--or escaped monkey. (Ages 12and older) --Richard Farr ... Read more

Customer Reviews (116)

great book for young boys
great book i remembered reading it as kid so i bought it to give to my kids

Summer of the Monkeys
Summer of the Monkeys This book was suggested by another teacher.She said her students loved it and wanted her to keep reading each day.It is a good read for students, full of descriptive language, similes, and helps them to see a time before handheld games, the Internet, and other devices we use daily.

Fantastic book for kids and adults alike
My 5th grade teacher read this book to our class way back in the day.I liked it so much, my Mom checked it out from the library and read it to all of my siblings.Now as an adult with 3 kids of my own, I just finished reading it to them.They loved it, I love it, my husband loves it. It is just a classic book that everyone should read.

Should be aimed at younger readers
Summer of the Monkeys may be historical fiction, but the dialogue is pretty modern and bland.More accurate dialogue would have added charm and humor.Also, the boy compares fireflies to "a million flashlights."The flashlight had not been invented.A quibble, yes, but come on.It takes you out of the story.I thought the challenge of the monkeys was funny, but everything else predictable. The denouement was beyond sappy, beyond belief, and way too saccharine.And the closing paragraph seemed tacked on and rushed.The book, I think, would be best enjoyed by 4th or 5th graders.The writing and plotting is just too simplistic for middle schoolers.

Summer of the Monkeys
This is the first time I have read "Wilson Rawls" and, although essentially a children's book, I enjoyed his writing very much.It captures the heart and touches some part of our childhood.The plot was quite interesting as well, with boy things versus girl things, having a sick child who finds a world of expression and selflessness and parents with only a hope of getting her treated due to lack of money, then the twist of fate in things turning out all right. ... Read more

Product Description
Provides an overview of the state of Oklahoma, covering its history, geography, economy, people, and points of interest. ... Read more

Product Description
An engrossing and intimate portrait of the Oklahoma-based psychedelic pop band the Flaming Lips, cult heroes to millions of indie-rock fans.

In July 2002, the Flaming Lips released an ambitious album called Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, which merged elements of orchestral pop, electronic dance music, and old-fashioned psychedelic rock with lyrical themes that were simultaneously poignant and philosophical and supremely silly. The album sold a million copies worldwide, introduced the Flaming Lips to a mass audience, and made them one of the best-known cult bands in rock history.

Staring at Sound is the tale of the Flaming Lips’s fascinating career (which, in reality, began in 1983) and the many colorful personalities in their orbit, especially Wayne Coyne, their charismatic and visionary founder. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews with the band, it follows the Flaming Lips through the thriving indie-rock underground of the 1980s and the alternative-rock movement of the early ’90s, during which they found fans in such rock legends as Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, and Devo, and respected peers in such acts as the White Stripes, Radiohead, and Beck. It concludes with exclusive coverage of the creation of the group’s latest album, At War with the Mystics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Essential
In addition to chronicling the long and winding history of the Lips, Jim DeRo also captures the band's magic and the deep philosophy of Wayne Coyne.I had big expectations when I started this book and it lived up to them and more.

Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Lips, d.i.y. touring, indie rock, the alternative boom or an interesting biography well told.

Great Book
This is truly an awesome book.Though, I wouldn't recommend it to the casual listener.It shares alot of background stuff that most people would find as interesting.However, if you own a few of their albums, then I would give it a try.

A Great Read
This is a wonderful book for anyone who loves the inspired insanity of the Flaming Lips! I could not put this book down and read it straight through the day it arrived. It is a must-read for any Lips fans out there.

A Quirky read
Staring at Sound is a pleasant little book that chronicles the career of the Flaming Lips. Many labels have been attached to the Lips in their over 20 year career but none more apparent that "hard-working band."

The book is a glossy read that really never equates to much more than a long magazine article. Maybe it is the author's background as a journalist or the simple fact that a quick internet search would dig up the articles and interviews that provided the basis for the book.

Needless to say, the writer never scratches the surface of the Flaming Lips. Their story goes beyond the cliché of sex, drugs and rock and roll, all though there is a little of that in there as well. The revolving line-up of musicians, out of control egos, the environment of alternative music in the eighties and nineties, and countless other factors could have fleshed the book out and gave it some depth.

Instead, we get a portrait of founding members Wayne Coyne as an oddly romantic and sentimental freak, the master of ceremonies and Michael Ivins as the shy guy with enormous hair and an interest n recording. The other musicians and hangers-on come and go without ever really impacting the story, apart from Stephen Drozd, whose heroin addiction and outstanding input within the band's music is treated with less emotion than a Hallmark commercial.

Therein lies the problem with this book; it is completely devoid of the passion, wistfulness, humor or any of the other hundreds of adjectives that can be used to describe the Flaming Lips music.

There is no connection with the band or any insight into much of anything. Staring at Sound shouldn't have been a book it should have been the cover story in a Rolling Stone.

For the casual fan, Staring at Sound explains the circumstances surrounding each Flaming Lips album, sometimes providing background into individual songs. Each chapter is broken up between albums, with the recording and subsequent tour comprising each chapter. Nothing revelatory can be found for the Flaming Lips faithful. If you are relatively new to the band, just check out the music, it is far more interesting than this white bread biography.

... Read more