Rating: 
Summary: OY! Tannenbaum
Review: Best Christmasy book I've read in a while. No pictures, no floating angels.Astin is a good writer. At times it's heavy handed which may be 'cause it's either a new inexperienced writer or a plot tone that I missed. Very different. The characters are good. Lose the Chief guy. Reminded me of Chief from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Now there's a book. But I enjoyed it.
Rating:
Summary: Contains no fear or trembling
Review: Blessed was the book, the book that was written by Phil Austin, the book about angels and suffering and a whacked out family requiring a miracle, the book.Blessed was the book, the Phil Austin book, the book with Giorgi, the charming, sick old Russian, the book. Blessed was the day that Giorgi went to the hospital, the place where sick old Russians go when they're sick, the hospital. Blessed was Chief, the native American who hated his job who had once been bad but was now reformed, amen, I mean praise the Great Spirit, Chief. Blessed was the day that Chief and Giorgi met in the hospital, the place where sick old Russians go when they're sick, and place where Chief had to clean floors even though he hated it because he had once been bad but was now reformed, the hospital, Chief and Giorgi. Blessed were the languages the two men exchanged, Abernaki, Russian and let's not forget the mother of all oppressive languages: English, Abernaki, Russian, and English. Blessed was the angel, the woman from Giorgi's childhood who now appeared at the end of his life with an identical gift to remind him that miracles are consistant and to give the book a plot, the angel. Blessed was 'da' the Russian word for 'yes', which Giorgi said after every sentence because that must be what charming, sick old Russian men do, da. Blessed were the story's homosexual undercurrents which I can't discuss here because that's a job for naive young critical theorists, washed up academics, or activists with wishful thinking, the story's homosexual undercurrents. Blessed was the book, the book that was written by Phil Austin, the book about angels and suffering and a whacked out family requiring a miracle, the book.
Rating:
Summary: A near-perfect Christmas book, great for gifts
Review: Christmas books are usually sappy. "On Bethel Ridge" manages to tell a compelling, convincing story about a real family --including the complex dynamics real people have with one another-- and still convey the angelic magic of Christmas. Phil Austin's prose is exquisite, without being self-conscious.
Rating:
Summary: A near-perfect Christmas book, great for gifts
Review: Christmas books are usually sappy. "On Bethel Ridge" manages to tell a compelling, convincing story about a real family --including the complex dynamics real people have with one another-- and still convey the angelic magic of Christmas. Phil Austin's prose is exquisite, without being self-conscious.
Rating: 
Summary: Timely and sensuous
Review: Finally, we have a book that combines romance with the very real possibility that the Earth has received--and continues to receive--visitors from outer space. Austen writes in gripping, pulling prose about the relationship between Andolnok a genetically engineered hymaphrodite from the planet Morg with "Chief" a noble savage whose ancestors once constructed primitive runways for alien vehicles. When the two entities encounter each other, the strain of invisible recognition kicks in and the reader is hooked. I could not put it down. Well done!
Rating: 
Summary: The essential magic of Christmas and the feel of a classic.
Review: from "Spirit of Change, New England's Holistic Magazine": On Bethel Ridge is a wonderful Christmas story weaving together themes of coming home for the holidays with its intergenerational tensions and joys, the magic of gifts, the importance of families and the elusive way that everyday angels appear and disappear in our lives. This heirloom true story of three generations converging in Vermont has been passed along in a New England family. It begins in the rough Russian winter of 1927 where Giorgi Orlovsky saw an angel when he was a boy of 10. Now that small boy has become an old man walking into the woods of Bethel Ridge to cut a Christmas tree and he unexpectedly meets the angel again. This story of a family with deep Russian roots and a tangle of family connections has the essential magic of Christmas and the feel of a classic. An excellent gift choice with a red ribbon bookmark and attached metal charm.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I glanced through Austin's book while searching for Christmas materials for my son, Jody, da? Unfortunately, the book's dialogue stereotypes Russians and Native Americans, da. How many Russians do you know who say "Da" after each sentence, da? And I guess every Indian's name is "Chief", da? To make matters worse, Austin's prose is amateurish at best, da? Still, I slogged through the book hoping that somehow it would redeem itself, da? And there was light at the end of the tunnel, da? Nyet.
Rating: 
Summary: I had mixed feelings about the book.
Review: I had mixed feelings about the book in question. I am a Native American from the South Western part of this country. While I was glad that an "anglo" such as Austin had the cultural awareness, sensitivity and diverstity to take an active interest in Native American issues I was also insulted by it. I felt that his portrayal of Native American's was as stereotypical and two dimensional as in a John Wayne movie. I drew a small measure of comfort from the fact that no matter how he portrayed my people it was less cliched than his portryal of the Russians in his masterwork. I also couldn't escape the feeling that this author was just another Anglo from the Suburbs who chose us poor "Indians" as his cause of the moment. I hope I am wrong about that because it would be nice to see more Anglos taking in interest in Native American issues but could we find one who did without portraying us in generalizations, two dimensions?
Rating:
Summary: Sparkling, pure.
Review: I liked it. It was good. Intensely liberating and soulful. My old woman is reading it now.
Rating: 
Summary: Warm and very sensitive
Review: I'm usually not sentimental about Christmas books, but I'm not afraid to say that this one gave me a warm, creamy feeling inside. Pil Astin's delicate prose pokes and tickles the reader in the intellectually sensitive zones before suggesting a glass of red wine. Afterward, Astin sits the reader down on the fire side sofa and regales the reader with tales of angels, mystical old Russian men in hospitals and beefy Indian chiefs in tight fitting tank tops and leather pants scrubbing hospital floors. Then when the reader is feeling, hot, flustered and ready for anything, Astin's tense, suspenceful plot suddenly jerks the reader off to a whole unexpected conclusion that is both satisfying and unsentimental. The hospital scenes between Giorgi and Chief are some of the most daring and erotic passages in modern literature. On behalf of all angels, Russians, and beefy Native Americans in tight sweat covered tank tops and glossy leather pants, I applaude Pil Astin for his courage and origniality. You go, boy friend!
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