BookWire BookWire captivates with interesting, insightful and intelligent commentary on nearly everything related to the publishing industry. I could easily spend hours at this site, each and every week. There's a seemingly excessive amount of material here, though none of it is gratuitous. BookWire simply has a huge agenda - and tackles it well. Point your browser, put on your reading glasses, and prepare for volumes of content.

At times, organization seems a bit lacking, but how could we expect otherwise. There is more content included in this one domain, Bookwire.com, than on the sites of several major publishing houses combined. Teaming up with *Boston Book Review*, BookWire sponsors dozens and dozens of new reviews each month spanning topics as diverse as fiction, poetry, technology and social commentary. And *Publishers Weekly* supplies the site with weekly best sellers lists, and special features like the "Best of 95." For those who *aren't* interested in the latest Stephen King thriller, Danielle Steele romance novel, or, egads, Bill Gates' new personal literary tangent, BookWire also accommodates with The Hungry Mind Review, a must for independent publishing fans. Each quarter, the Hungry Mind addresses a specific theme. In winter 1995, the theme was Science and Faith. Hungry Mind also sponsors a Web-only section titled "Hot Off The Press," which contains dozens of reviews that don't necessarily fall into the specific theme category.

The reviews are of course brilliantly constructed criticisms, and fine literature in and of themselves. In addition to all this, BookWire houses the Web site for *The Quarterly Black Review* (QBR). Though this area was still under serious construction when I last checked, it did offer a wonderful interview with writer Terry McMillan on the screen adaptation of her novel "Waiting To Exhale."

QBR also offers a list of Black Classic authors. Clicking on Maya Angelou links you to a bibliography on her work. Unfortunately, there is no additional information about either the author or the texts, but it's a good start and I applaud the effort. Finally, the "BookWire's Best Bets"area is a wonderful link list of book-related resources. Unlike other book resource lists, this one has a heavy emphasis on children, paying special attention to young writers as well as adults writing for young people. There's also a separate section of the site completely devoted to the publishing industry: Who works for the 500-plus national publishers, and how does one contact them? The entire area is searchable.

BookWire is an outstanding accomplishment, and should pique the interest of book lovers and the publishing industry. Fantastic. -SK

A

Anne Rice and The Memnoch Ball I find few things more upsetting than crystal-rubbing sprites spouting off about the coming Millennial shift. Come to think of it, only vampire wannabes annoy me more, and we have Anne Rice to blame for the gothic revival we're witnessing. There is an enormous amount of Rice-related paraphernalia online, and heaps of it can be reached from this site. Images, related links, instructions on making custom fangs - you'll find it all here. Spooky types will love this site; pay particular attention to the transcript of Anne Rice's answering machine greeting. -SS

B

Bill Gates The Road Ahead Assume Bill Gates owns half of everything worth owning. If every second he purchased half of everything he *doesn't* already own, how long will it be until we're all working for Microsoft? This is a fine looking site put together by top-notch Web artists. But tell me: Is there really a need for an entire site devoted to *The Road Ahead*, Bill's book? And even if the book merits a site, does it really deserve its own domain name? This is one of the greatest privileges of wealth: People think you actually have something worth saying.-SS

C-

bukowski
You'll find them in every college town: no talent twentysomething slackers drinking beer, telling stories about girlfriends they never had, quietly trying to play out a Bukowski story they once may have read. Admittedly, some Bukowski can be amusing, but most of his hard-drinking tales bore me. Visitors to this site will find a few pieces of Bukowski art, some sound files, a brief bio, and the various other items one typically finds at a small fan site. Pleasant enough, but this is certainly not the definitive Buk space. Interested parties should try a net search.-SS

C+

Haiku for People
You'll find answers to various haiku-related questions, and plenty of haikus by famous and not-so-famous poets. Nothing more. But that's OK. The poems are wonderful (for haiku aficionados, at least) and the How and What sections are informative, and should be useful for would-be haiku writers. The site is simple and to-the-point, accomplishing its intended goals. I like that.-SK

A

Hunter S Thompson
I sometimes puzzle over that age-old question, Is a self-destructive lifestyle an essential part of genius? Case in point: Hunter S. Thompson. Few would argue the brilliance of his political journalism. And few would argue the fundamentally unhealthful lifestyle he has pursued - for decades, if reports are to be believed. Another mundane fan site, there is little original material sitting here. Of greatest interest to Thompson fans will be the related links, which feature images, reviews, and more. A useful point to jump into the Web, but don't expect to spend a great deal of time parked here.-SS

C+

John Keats 1795 1821
This site is served by Portico, the British Library's Online Information Server. One might expect it to be a vast clearinghouse of Keats-related information. If these were your expectations, you would be mistaken. Visitors will find a brief biography of the poet, a few digitized images of early manuscripts, and little else. The available material is well-presented, but a Keats researcher will be disappointed by the paltry selection. The especially troubled might enjoy the audio file of Sally Brown's reading of "When I have fears that I may cease to be." -SS

B-

kathy acker hoam paige I had never encountered the work of Kathy Acker prior to this page. This may be a good thing - my fragile psyche is still in pieces over the way "Cheers" ended. This site offers extensive selections from Acker's work, in addition to news, reviews, and related links. The organization and presentation in no way dampen the intensity of the writing here. The word "postmodern" appears numerous times in this space, and this definitely works for me for if "postmodern" can be considered synonymous to "mad as hell." Overall, a collection of disturbing and pointed writings that no doubt have quite a following.-SS

B+

kids lit "Designed for kids and adults interested in quality kids literature."Buy books, submit art and stories, read letters to Santa - a little dated, indeed- sign a guest book, and submit your personal comments. This site features all the typical Web ammenities, and is a great space to share with the wee ones. It could use a little layout help, but overall, it's on the up.-SK

B

Literary HyperCalendar
December 12, 1889: Robert Browning dies in Venice. January 4, 1960: Albert Camus dies in a car crash. See the connection? Perhaps this site will help. Here we have a hyperlinked literary calendar with a few pieces of literati trivia for each calendar day. This site reminds me of those kooky-themed desktop calendars that were so popular a few years back: a wacky Winston Churchill anecdote for each day of the year. And so forth. The site creator appears quite interested in user feedback; always a good sign. As more bits of trivia augment the database, the site will grow more interesting.-SS

B

Shakespeare Illustrated I must admit that I began composing this review as soon as I saw the site's title. "How nice," I thought, "Shakespeare's plays...with pretty pictures." It turns out the site is nothing of the sort. Instead, what one finds are digitized images of paintings related to the various plays. The images look good; care was taken in their translation. Most definitely a work in progress, we can hope that time will nurture a growing collection of images to be browsed. Both art types and Shakespeare fans would enjoy this site, yet still rue its small size.-SS

B

The Beat Generation
As a documentary site, it's fine - other than a few presumptuous declarations like "Walt Whitman, The Original Beat," or, in reference to Columbia University, "This grand old Ivy League university may not even want to be the birthplace of the Beat Generation." (Come on, Columbia is as liberal as Ivy gets). This aside, the pages offer biographies and pictures of Beat heroes, presenting an informed and sensible historical perspective. It's slightly dry, which is unfortunate, as it unravels such creative writers. -SK

C+

The Consummate Hitchhiker's Guide Here you'll find extensive information on Douglas Adams and the ever-growing Hitchhikers Guide To The Universe cybercult. This is quite a database of related resources. But be warned, young travelers, the collection is merely a stockpile of hyperlinks, most of which flash the yellow "new"starburst logo; no original content here. Links are poorly organized, and the layout is distasteful. But it's still a comprehensive list for those who want to skip the likes of Yahoo and Lycos.-SK

B-

The Sherlockian Connection Any mention of Sherlock Holmes brings a wry smile to my face. Such nice stories, and the Holmes fans I've met are all such nice people. No surprise that they should at last turn up on the Web. Here you'll find a standard fan site with links to Holmes-themed external pages, and a "What's Happening" area for fans in Baltimore. There is also a great deal of information here about an e-mail list for the faithful. Pleasant, nothing exceptional, much like the stories themselves. Holmes enthusiasts will feel at home.-SS

B-

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