Book Shelf

Other People's Dirt

A Housecleaner's Curious Adventures,
also available on Audio Cassette, read by Louise Rafkin
published 1998, paperback from Plume

In this fresh, funny strikingly original memoir, Rafkin talks about her invisible status as a domestic worker in a world of illicit sex and secret lives, of closet alcoholics and binge eaters, unlikely spiritualists and revealing celebrities,("My closest claim to fame is that I once heard Barbra Streisand's voice on an answering machine at the precise moment I had both hands in the toilet."

Other People's Dirt reveals something about our values, our society, and ourselves.  From the detritus of out lives, this book gives us something at once delightfully entertaining and profound.

What Do Dogs Dream?

(Alison Bechdel Illustrator)
Published 1998 Andrews and McMeel, $6.95

Dog lovers will roll over for this cute gift book twenty ruff and ready canine dreams. What DO dogs dream?

"When I barked nothing came out! Unbelievable! Me!"
Puck, Jack Russell Terrier

"... and I was black with white spots and I was saying,
See? I CAN change."
Trixie, Dalmatian

WHAT DO CATS DREAM?

(Alison Bechdel Illustrator)
Published 1999 Andrews and McMeel, $6.95

What Do Cats Dream? "I dreamed I could work the can-opener" Hans "I dreamed they had to wear stupid sweaters" Binky, hairless

The Tigers Eye, the Birds Fist : A Beginner's Guide to the Martial Arts

(Leslie McGrath Illustrator);
published 1997, Little, Brown and Co.

In this expansive book, the underlying concept of the martial arts -- that a strong, disciplined mind is as vital as a powerful body -- is explored through legends, stories and biographies.

With a simply written text liberally sprinkled with diagrams, vignettes and photographs, The Tiger's Eye, the Bird's Fist is a thought provoking, easy to digest volume that is the perfect introduction to the martial arts.

Louise holds a third-degree black belt in Poekoelan Tjiminde Tulen, an Indonesian martial art, and teaches Poekoelan and self-defense in the Bay Area.