Book Description
Agastya Sen, known to friends by the English name August, is a child of the Indian elite. His friends go to Yale and Harvard. August himself has just landed a prize government job. The job takes him to Madna, “the hottest town in India,” deep in the sticks. There he finds himself surrounded by incompetents and cranks, time wasters, bureaucrats, and crazies. What to do? Get stoned, shirk work, collapse in the heat, stare at the ceiling. Dealing with the locals turns out to be a lot easier for August than living with himself. English, August is a comic masterpiece from contemporary India. Like A Confederacy of Dunces and The Catcher in the Rye, it is both an inspired and hilarious satire and a timeless story of self-discovery.
Customer Reviews:
Nothing Special.......2007-02-18
This is quite a pleasant read and the author has quite a funny turn of phrase, but overall the book is nothing special. It's hard to enthuse about a book where the main charachter goes to the middle of India, has no interest in his job, and nothing really happens. So what?
I found there were an excess of charachters in the book, who didn't really add anything to the story line. Also, the author is over-fond of pooping jokes. Quite funny in the first chapter or so, but by the time you've read your hundredth one towards the end of the book, they really start to grate.
The great Indian novel?.......2006-08-30
Here's a slightly over-the-top review I wrote a few years back...
This, by far, is one of the best books I have ever read in the English language, and not just by an Indian author. It's based on the author's experiences in the first few months of being an IAS officer when he is posted to a small township in the middle of nowhere (Looks like AP in the movie based on the book). This autobiographical background gives authenticity and depth to the novel. Not surprisingly, a major theme of the book is the isolation the author experiences, and the impossibity, considering he's a city boy, of his coming to terms with his new rural status.
The book has a deliciously irreverent air about it, about life and the IAS, which is what makes it such compelling reading. It's the first job the protagonist has ever had and one finds it very easy to relate to the dilemmas and challenges he faces therein. The book is a welcome change from pretty, pansy-ish works of fiction written by ex-pats sitting in the US or UK whose descriptions of India, in my opinion, border on magic-realism. The example that comes to mind is Rohington Mistry (Such a Long Journey, I think was the book) writing about Parsis in Bombay - found the description too sanitized and artificial - maybe not being a Bombayite makes it difficult for me to appreciate it. This book on the other hand has character and a very 'real' feel to it, it scores high on originality, everything about it feels new, the author seems to be covering ground not covered before by any other author.
The book is quite critical about the bureaucracy and some of the characters the author mocks are easily recognizable, I am told, as being based on real people he encountered when he was in the town that serves as the model for Madna. No surprise then that the book caused quite a few ripples in the IAS circle when it came out, which is of course another reason to read it! Upamanyu Chatterji, while on the subject, has apparently left the IAS and is a full time author now - a decision that has my full support based on the reading of this book. No wastage of talent happening here.
The book is incredibly funny (I feel it's tough to make people laugh and this book manages to quite well), even through the dark parts (unfortunately, there's plenty of that too) there is this wry humour thing going on which surprisingly makes the protagonist's lows a more endurable shade of blue. Another interesting thing about the book is that it seems to have been addressed to those of us who are well on our way to having 'good' careers but are not really sure if that is what we really want to do. And how this uncertainty forces us to ask ourselves what our purpose for being here is. The book doesn't answer these questions but gives legitimacy to these questions, and suggests this phase of questioning ourselves is one that all of us must pass through at some point in our lives. August joins the IAS because 1) his dad was an IAS officer, 2) he's not sure what he wants to do and 3) has some vague notions about helping India. But he gets pretty disillusioned in Madna - about the bureaucracy, the sycophancy, the corruption, the feudal attitude of the IAS officers and life in general - and is amazed at how the big Indian machine continues to move forward despite all these spanners in its works. Some of the themes explored in the novel: boredom, existential crisis, scarcity of women, masturbation, bouts of intensive exercise alternating with extended dope sessions (I have no idea what he's talking about, honest).
This book makes me proud to be an Indian, this is the Great Indian Novel.
A Brilliantly Funny and Irreverant Coming of Age Story in India.......2006-07-31
Imagine combining Salinger's THE CATCHER IN THE RYE with Roth's PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT and Kevin Smith's CLERKS and setting the whole story in rural India, using for a protagonist a college-educated, citified, pot-smoking, Marcus Aurelius reading, half-Bengali, half-Christian slacker whose friends have Anglicized his Bengali name, Agastya, into August. All this and more are accomplished in Upamanyu Chatterjee's hilarious 1988 novel ENGLISH, AUGUST. Whether you view it as a coming of age story or a slacker novel, this book is a comic masterpiece, THE GRADUATE in India without a Mrs. Robinson.
Chatterjee's story centers around a recent college graduate named Agastaya Sen. Known to his friends as August and to his family as Ogu, Agastaya lives the dissolute, carefree life of the privileged in Delhi, his father being the Governor of Bengal. Unfortunately, his mother, a Catholic from Goa, died from meningitis when Agastaya was just three years old, so he was raised largely by aunts. He passes seemingly effortlessly through college, acquiring a hybrid Western/Indian lifestyle that includes ample quantities of alcohol and marijuana. His major goal in life is simply to be happy, to live contentedly and not be bothered, and certainly not to fall into the rut of commuting to an office, working, commuting home, and then rising the next day to do it all again until he dies.
Having successfully achieved a high score on the national examinations for government service, however, August consents to a position in the Indian Administrative Service and a posting to a distant country town named Madna. Once there, he begins a training period and proves himself to be a heroic shirker of work, an incorrigible pot smoker, a compulsive freeloader, and an almost pathological liar. He arrives at work at 11:00 in the morning and works until lunch, then repairs to his private room for the rest of the afternoon, getting stoned, listening to music, reading some occasional Marcus Aurelius, and sleeping. Still, despite his best efforts to do little or nothing, August ingratiates himself into the local society and actually learns bits and pieces of his future job. Along the way, he develops friendships with an iconoclastic editorial cartoonist named Sethe, a good-hearted alcoholic government worker named Shankar, and Madna's police chief, Kumar. When he finally moves into a position of modest responsibility as a Block Development Officer in the even smaller and more backward village of Jompanna, August surprises himself (and us) by unexpectedly, and modestly heroically, solving the village's water shortage problem.
ENGLISH, AUGUST is subtitled An Indian Story, and indeed it is, yet it is also a universal story about growing up and finding one's place in the world, about giving up one's ideals and acceding to the tedious realities and responsibilities of adult life. Chatterjee's is a tale of India's multiple worlds, from the West itself (represented by England and America), the cosmopolitan strivers of the big cities, the ineffectual but lifetime-employed government workers, and the countless millions of Indians living in the rural countryside. Chatterjee reminds us constantly of India's many languages, of the difficulty that the people of one nation can have in understanding one another's lives as well as their speech.
No doubt the most noteworthy aspect of ENGLISH, AUGUST is its humor. Agastaya is a comic hero, wise-cracking and irreverent with regard to India's social and cultural institutions. One of his first observations in Madna is an excruciatingly ugly statue of Gandhi, with his walking staff now being used to prop up the statue from behind in a particularly unsightly manner. Each time he is asked the meaning of his given name, Agastaya, August invents (and sometimes actually spurts out) an outlandish explanation. When a frog takes up residence in his Madna room, August decides to leave him there and even gives him a name. The best of Chatterjee's observations concern India itself. He describes his father's serious approach to life as a blend of Marcus Aurelius and Reader's Digest, describes an over-Westernized college classmate as the kind of person who would love to get AIDS because "it's raging in America," and notes that "most of us seem to be so grateful that he [E.M. Forster] wrote that novel about India." Referring to an Indian movie director, August's slacker pal Dhrubo (who ultimately takes a job at Citibank) comments that "he [the director, Ritwik Ghatak] was awful until the French said he was good, and now he's a Master."
Chatterjee creates an exceptionally strong sense of place and a strong cast of distinctly memorable supporting characters (mostly male) who orbit dizzily around August's search for himself. August's boss, Srivastav, is a portly, bloviating big shot, yet a surprisingly good-hearted and efficient administrator. Another government administrator named Bajaj is described as "very tall and worryingly thin, with large woebegone eyes and a receding chin, as though his progenitors had been a female spaniel and Don Quixote." Then there is August's cook, Vasant, and Dhrubo and Sethe and Shankar and Agastaya's hilariously sarcastic uncle Pultukaku, and Mohan Gandhi with his wife Rohini, and the strange story of John Avery and his Indian wife, Sita, who set out to find the place where Avery's grandfather was devoured by a lion a half century earlier.
ENGLISH, AUGUST offers a marvelously entertaining passage to modern India, with all its complexities and paradoxes and sufferings and inanities. Along the way, Chatterjee drops little observational gems on the path, as when he observes that most Indians "would never read Gandhi, much less implement him" because "it was always much easier to deify a hero than to understand him." This is a first-rate comic novel that presents life in a country few Americans understand.
Slacker Satire Fails to Spark.......2006-07-18
This semi-autobiographical satiric debut novel follows the year in the life of a young man entering the Indian Administrative Service in the mid-1980s. These well-paid entry-level positions in the IAS are so coveted that only one applicant in 25,000 is accepted. One such lucky entrant is the 20-something slacker protagonist Agastya Sen, the Westernized son of the governor of Bengal. Having spent his entire life in Delhi, he is posted to the remote fictional town of Madna ("the hottest place in India") for his training as a bureaucrat. Such fish-out-of-water scenarios are a staple of comedy, and here Chatterjee uses the scenario as a backdrop to the never-really coming of age of the dissolute Sen.
Alas, this is hardly the comic masterpiece some make it out to be (and here, I consider P.G. Wodehouse as the height of comic writing) and is far from memorable. Sen is certainly a subversive force -- forever sneaking out of mindless meetings to while the afternoons lying in bed smoking pot or drinking with a few liked-minded cynics snarkily putting down various petty-minded officials. However, it's hard to get involved with a character who's so relentlessly self-involved, self-pitying, filled with boredom and a sense of entitlement, and completely incapable of action (or as he puts it "interested in nothing"). While some flashes of humor are to be found at the expense of various wives, visitors, servants, and officials, the overall impact of this quasi-slacker narrative is minimal. Few will be surprised to learn that the privileged urban Sen feels like a foreigner in his country, and few will be surprised by the biting portrayal of the IAS. And while one gets a rather vivid picture of an Indian backwater, nothing really ever happens in the story. So, while the book may be considered commendable for "telling it like it is", it's a fairly plodding tale which fails to resonate.
Note: The book was turned into a film of the same name in 1994, and a sequel was published in the U.K. under the title "The Mammaries of the Welfare State".
A witty, humorous, charming, and philosophical novel written in elegant prose.......2006-07-07
This funny and thought-provoking first novel by the Indian writer Upamanyu Chatterjee was first published in London by Faber and Faber in 1988, and in India by Penguin Books India. It became a best seller mainly through word of mouth and excellent reviews, and also nearly unanimous acclaim from the critics. Now, eighteen years after it was published in London, it has been published in the USA by New York Review of Books. The saying: Better late than never, is certainly true in this case. Back in 1988, The Times Literary Supplement declared: "A remarkably mature first novel", and the Glasgow Herald enthused, "Brings a breath of fresh talent to Indian fiction". Now, even the hard to please and frequently acerbic Kirkus Reviews has declared: "Excellent stuff. Let's have Chatterjee's other novels, please." Well, if they wish to read more novels by Upamanyu, three more are available: the sequel to this novel, titled "The Mammaries of the Welfare State" published in 2000, The Last Burden (1993), and Weight Loss (January 2006).
The novel is about a well educated young man named Agastya Sen, from a prosperous family. His father is the governor of Bengal. Agastya takes the Civil Service exam with the hope of joining the elite, exclusive, and high-paying Indian Administrative Service(IAS). For his training as an Assistant Controller, the government posts him to a tiny village named Madna, "the hottest place in India". The novel covers the time, one year, the hero spent in the village for his training. Writes Upamanyu in simple, elegant, unadorned and crystalline prose: They smoked. Dhrubo leaned forward to drop loose tobacco from his shirt. "Madna was the hottest place in India last year, wasn't it? It will be another world, completely different. Should be quite educative." Dhrubo handed the smoke to Agastya. "Excellent stuff. What'll you do for sex and marijuana in Madna?"
From the first sentence of the novel, a reader can sense that he is reading the work of a notable prose stylist. "Through the windshield they watched the silent road, so well-lit and dead. New Delhi, one in the morning, a stray dog flashed across the road, sensing prey." Quite a few of his sentences reminded me of the great writer Arundhati Roy, author of "The God of Small Things". "Then the rains came to Madna. Suddenly a roar and a drumroll, as of a distant war. The world turned monochromatic...cloud, building, tree, road, they all diffused into one blurred shade of slate."
There are several fascinating, memorable and well-drawn characters in the novel; bureaucrats and their snobbish wives, a visiting westerner, a holy man, and there is even a police chief who likes pornography.
This novel is hilarious and unforgettable. Long after you finish the novel, don't be surprised if you burst out laughing suddenly, when you recall an especially funny sentence, or two, from the book.
A thoroughly entertaining movie based on this novel, and directed by India's Dev Benegal, was released in 1994.
Average customer rating:
- One of my favorite books - not for people prone to apathy.
- Awesome!
- Indian Raj
- Hilarious..
- Amazing
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English August: Indian Story
Upamanyu Chatterjee
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| Classics
| Comic
| Contemporary
| Literary
General
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0571151019 |
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorite books - not for people prone to apathy........2005-02-22
A brilliant, hilarious though dark book. Agastya's apathy is contagious, and so I'd suggest people prone to apathy and cynicism - stay away. Chatterjee manages to capture the red tape surrounding much of Indian governing to perfection, and does it with the perfect dose of humor and self-deprecation. Agasta's constant lying to the people around him really brings out his disdain for the world around him - however, what makes this book funny is his equal disdain for himself. Agastya is the antithesis of who I want to be, and yet, scarily, I see myself in him. And that is why I love this book.
Awesome!.......2004-11-23
Bright, breezy and jazzy, this novel is downright cool! The entire process of writing this novel must have been one long trip for Upamanyu, much like life was for Agastya, the main character in the book. I have ordered through Amazon,and eagerly await the next 2 novels by this guy, much like I used to await a new Greatful Dead album, while they were creating still. Upamanyu freely improvises like Jerry, so I am a big fan.
Oh, also, anybody who listens to Keith Jarrett deserves a read.
Indian Raj.......2003-06-29
"English, August" is the story of Agastya Sen, a young civil servant who is posted to Madna, a small town in rural Deccan. His experiences of Madna bring into sharp focus the vast social, cultural and economic differences in India.
Agastya's urban upbringing makes his start in Madna very uncomfortable. Here is a very different India from the one he was brought up in - but is it the "real India"?
At times, "English, August" is a very funny book, as Agastya meets the locals and becomes acquainted with their habits and peculiarities. In many ways, it's a kind of colonial story - are Agastya and his colleagues much different from their British counterparts under the Raj?
Enjoyable.
G Rodgers
Hilarious.........2003-05-17
I would say this book is hilarious; upamanyu's imagination is extreme..his description of instances created a fun riot of sorts..and all this while I would turn the next page of the book thinking what was on the Agastya Sen's mind..i simply loved this book and this remains my best read..though, at some points, agastya sen would indulge in excesses..yet, I would think that characterized the immatured arrogance of young Agastya..and it fell within the context and it was still entertaining..Must Read!
Amazing.......2003-01-22
No one has captured the widening chasm between urban and rural India as brilliantly as this. An average Indian growing up in an Indian megapolis like a Bombay or a Bangalore will tell you that he feels more at home in New York or London than in a place like Madna like rural India. A host of Indian authors like Rushdie and Naipaul write books for the westen audience, but this one is written for the Indian one - in a satirical style, totally against the current trend of Indian authors who write in a moving, spiritual and philosophical way. While I find Naipaul eternally pessimistic and defeatist and Rushdie amazingly reminiscing, Chatterjee is a realist. Agastya Sen, the main character (called August), is the average Indian you meet in your everyday life. He basically cares about India and genuinely wants to make a difference, but knows that it is not his cup of tea and so accepts the reality and tries to live through it by looking at the whole experience through the prism of satire. Truly, if there is an Indian author who deserves accolades as much as Rushdie, Naipaul or the grossly over-rated Arundhati Roy, it definitely is Chatterjee. I have also read the sequel to English, August - Mammaries of a Welfare State. It is as good if not better than English, August but I had to order the books through rediff since I couldn't find them anywhere in the USA.
Customer Reviews:
Never Heard Dinosaurs Called Dragons..........2005-06-27
The first reports of "feathered" dinosaurs (aka dragons) came out of China in 1997. Here in the U. S., Dr. John Ostrom examined one he termed BABGIRAPTOR FEINBERGI in October, 1997, in Montana. At the Fort Lauderdale Convention Center in April, 2000, he gave thirty-five talks about his find. Michael W. Skrepnick made the unusual illustration of this 'find' which looks like a giant baby duck. This is the cover for "Feathered Dragons."
Dr. Ostrom revealed finding a DEINONYCHUS in 1969, an unusual discover in paleontology which shows that dinosaurs were the logical ancestors of birds. Guess they at a lot to get so big.
It was thought that they were a primitive form of Asian bird. The early dinosaurs had avian traits and could fly. They laid eggs like birds do, but fish do, too. They could be a combination of the two but how'd they get so large.
The feathered COELUROSAURS were found in China and the SINOSAUROPTERYX were in Patagonia and Mongolia. The editors all all specialists in the field of dinosaurs. There were various contributors to this study of feathered "dragons."
"Life of the Past" was by James O. Farlow.
Customer Reviews:
Pretty good, not salvatore but still entertaining.......2002-05-24
There are plenty of worse forgtten realms novels out there (Once Around The Realms anyone?) but regardless of what the other reviewer would have you believe this is not one of them. Its a fun series to read with a different culture and approach than most of the typical sword coast/waterdeep clones we see a lot of from tsr authors. I admire the courage it took to write something not all Realms readers would try out with open arms, and even though the story/writing isn't top notch all the time, let's ask ourselves how often is that the case with tsr books? Yet we still buy them anyways and read them because deep down we all know that if tsr wasn't around putting out semi-good/semi-weak books like this, who's going to- you the critical reader? Let me know when you all write the next tolkien, I'd love to read that too!
all bad.......2002-04-22
in continuing my reviews of this series: At this point in the story, you may be relieved that you are almost going to escape this historical [book] that can't decide whether the bad guys are truly bad, and vice versa. Unlike the 2 previous books, there isn't a child skewering to show you how bad the good guys are (yes I said good guys), which is supposed to make you feel that they are actually not bad. Confusing? Yes it is. How about the big final battle between 30000 orcs and trolls and 1500 humans who somehow hold the enemy at bay on a flat battle field! Wave after terrifying wave but the good/bad guys win. Ick.
Average customer rating:
- la ciencia ficciòn de la metafisica
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The Feathered Dragon
Otto Von Bertrab , and
Otto von Ber74054.trab
Manufacturer: KIN
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Magic & Wizards | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9709182412 |
Customer Reviews:
la ciencia ficciòn de la metafisica.......2002-03-26
Cronologicamente caotico... pero nunca carente del orden del reccorrido en la espiral que surge al buscar la verdad...
fuera de este mundo... material... Bastante inteligente.
leelo y vivelo... buen recorrido para la mente... que si se logra traer al cuerpo seguro te iluminas, o acabas en casa de la risa... suerte.
quizá y si comprendes a los dioses del México escondido te paresca una simple fotografia de El recorrido...
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-08-01
Easily the weakest Wild Card novel so far, there is a good story about the four people that are caught up in the body of the joker/ace, Oddity though. The detail about Jerry Strauss isn't bad, either.
The conflict between Dr. Tachyon and his extremely powerful and untrained relative Blaise, continues to escalate.
The main problem starting here is a group that is able to 'jump' into different bodies, in a mental sense. This makes them very hard to control. Shadowy figures are at the heart of this menace.
Wild Cards 08 : 01 Nobody's Girl - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 08 : 02 Luck Be a Lady - Chris Claremont
Wild Cards 08 : 03 Nobody Knows Me Like My Baby - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 08 : 04 Horses - Lewis Shiner
Wild Cards 08 : 05 Mr. Nobody Goes to Town - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 08 : 06 Snow Dragon - William F. Wu
Wild Cards 08 : 07 Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 08 : 08 Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing - Victor Milán
Wild Cards 08 : 09 You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 08 : 10 Sixteen Candles - Stephen Leigh
Wild Cards 08 : 11 My Name Is Nobody - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 08 : 12 The Devil's Triangle - Melinda M. Snodgrass
Wild Cards 08 : 13 Nobody's Home - Walton Simons
Wild Cards 08 : 14 Dead Heart Beating - John J. Miller
Wild Cards 08 : 15 Nobody Gets Out Alive - Walton Simons
Ape recovery
3.5 out of 5
A new Doc in Jokertown.
3.5 out of 5
Shapeshifter settling.
3.5 out of 5
Veronica tries the other team, but goes back.
3.5 out of 5
Jerry does some investigating.
3.5 out of 5
Lazy Dragon shows his other side, amidst aces and jumpers.
4 out of 5
Hiram's trial gets rowdy.
3.5 out of 5
Radical search means no Trips.
4 out of 5
Digging deeper into the Jumpers with Jay.
3.5 out of 5
Interior Oddity, Bloated.
4 out of 5
More PI type stuff.
3 out of 5
Doctors date as Blaise Jumps.
3.5 out of 5
Kenneth killed as Jerry watches.
3 out of 5
Kien's aces, conflicted.
4 out of 5
Jerry corners Latham, fends off Jump.
3.5 out of 5
enter the Jumpers..........2002-11-15
This definitely isn't the best the WC series has to offer, but I still found it a very enjoyable read, if for no other reason than the introduction of the Jumpers, and the Oddity. The story of the Oddity (three people merged into one gigantic, misshapen body) was both beautifully tragic and romantically entertaining, while the Jumpers (seemingly normal kids who have the ability to switch bodies with people by looking into their eyes) thrilled me with the creative possibilities that they presented. I remember when I read this book for the first time, hoping that these characters would be explored further. I was not dissappointed. This is only the beginning for the Jumpers, and in future volumes, it will be seen that they have a very important part yet to play.
One Eyed Jacks, One starred Reviews.......2001-04-04
Well, this is an unfortunate accident. In all eight Wild Cards books, this is easily the worst. Which is a shame, because it came after a series of above average Wild Cards novels (Down and Dirty/Ace in the Hole/The Dead Man's Hand), WC 5 and 7, especially, were the best in the series in my humble opinion.
The list of authors was by itself a bad sign: no George R. R. Martin, no Roger Zelazny, no Pat Cadigan or Walter Jon Williams. In other words, with the exception of Stephen Leigh, the heavy guns of the Wild Cards are missing.
Also, Leigh and Miller, who can generally guarantee entertaining stories about their characters, Greg Hartmann and Yeoman Brennan, aren't writing about them. This is particularly irritating in the case of Leigh, because his Hartmann stories are amoung the best things the WILD CARDS have to offer, and in this point in time, we're especially interested in where they're going.
OK, enough about what there ISN'T in this novel. What IS there? well, the sad truth is, not much, and sadly very little we haven't seen before.
About half of the novel is written by Walton Simons, and details the happening of that guy who used to be the giant Ape. I admit to have little urgent wish to learn about him, and his story, while not particularily bad, isn't very engaging. Also the titles, all puns based on the word Nobody, are particularily weak.
(BTW, I got a suspicion that all the stories'names here are based on titles of Rock songs. But that might just be because Lewish Shiner used 'Horses' the name of Patti Smith's classic, for a completely Horses free story).
Anyway, the plot, as far as there is one, focuses on a new bunch of ace kids, who can switch bodies with you and kill you. Sounds unexciting? It is. Not nearly as interesting as villains as the Astronomer was, they seem to be made of the 'forgettable' kind. I'm awfully uninterested in them.
Snodgras gives us another Tachyon soap opera. After I almost learned to like him again in Martin and Miller's The Dead Man's Hand, Snodgras abuses her little character again. She really shouldn't have been allowed to write any more Tachy stories after her very first 'Degredation Rites'. This one is particularily awful, as it involves Tachyon's falling for a doctor in the clinique ( who had LOVE INTEREST written all over her), and Blaise's final move into the dark side. This I found completely unappealing. Blaise seemed much more interesting as a guy who was neither here or there, someone both good and bad. Making him finally a villain just made him tedious. Although, Snodgras does give him some great lines "It was FUN being a terrorist'.
Miller gives us a story about conspiracies within the Shadow Fist organisation. That was pretty well executed, even if it didn't always make much sense. Definetly the best use of those jumper kids in the book.
The best piece here was, not unexpectedly, Leigh's story 'sixteen candles'. A pretty good tale about The Oddity, a threesome locked into one body, and their advanture. It is well written, but it suffers from a tame plot and uninteresting background character. Also the Oddity, as fun as he/she/it is, isn't nearly as interesting as the Puppetman.
All in all, it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good. The WC, perhaps expectedly, is a really unequal enterprise, and this was on the weak side. Let's hope that the next one will be better.
Book Description
Ambrose “Bitter” Bierce, San Francisco's infamous and legendary newspaperman and sometime sleuth is hardly surprised to be hired by William Randolph Hearst when his mistress receives threats.
In steamy Sausalito, the playground of the rich and famous across the bay, Hearst's isn't the only case on the boil. While Ambrose and his sidekick, Tom Redmond, hunt the killer of a hard-partying yachtsman, Tom becomes entangled with the queen of the Portuguese Pentecostal feast. When Hearst's house photographer turns up dead Ambrose faces a web of murder and mystery.
Customer Reviews:
The Hardy Boys for adults........2007-08-16
Ambrose Bierce is a cynical writer for the San Francisco Examiner who likes to investigate mysteries. In this story, set in 1891, he delves into the murder of a notorious British yachtsman who is luring young ladies to his boat. The story is told from the perspective of his fellow reporter and side-kick, Tom Redmond, who falls in love with the mysterious Eliza Lindley, which is half the story. Bierce is also smitten by another reporter. The book is mildly amusing and a quick, easy read, but not memorable and therefore hard to recommend.
false advertising.......2003-03-19
The plot is predictable; the setting ill-developed; and the characters are shallow. The novel could have been as easily set in the LA of the 1930s as SF of the 1890s. Each chapter is preceded by an entry from the Devil's Dictionary the relevance of which for any given chapter is often problematic. What really rankles me is that although Ambrose Bierce is featured in the title he is a VERY minor character in the novel coming across as a somewhat cynical middle aged de facto bachelor smitten by a rather supercilious newspaperwoman. On the positive side the novel is short and not demanding--a perfect soporific.
Customer Reviews:
One of my favorite books ever........2005-07-20
I don't know what I expected when I picked up this book, but I definitely did not expect to read one of the funniest and most memorable books I have ever read. I found myself laughing out loud several times during this book (loudest perhaps at the scene where Mack walks, reluctantly, down the Holy Road).
Much like in "White Widow", the author does a wonderful job of taking you to another time and place.
Soon after I finished this book (years after it was written) I was thrilled to learn that there is a continuation of the life of The One Eyed Mack, in "Crown Oklahoma". I can't wait to start it.
Don't miss this one!.......2003-08-09
Who would ever suspect that veteran newsman, Jim Lehrer, would be one of the most delightful comic writers ever. Kick the Can is one of those rare laugh aloud books that keep the reader chuckling from beginning to end. In addition to the "One Eyed Mack" the hero of the story, he introduces us to other such unforgettable characters as "Pepper" Bowen and Brother Walt. This book is just as funny the second or third time you read it - a real treat. Read it! You'll like it!
This brings back memories.......2002-12-14
My brother gave me a beat up copy of this book when I was about 12 years old. I haven't seen a copy in years! I read this book countless times and found it to be a very interesting and humerous read. I'd recommend this book to anyone that comes across it anywhere. I don't know what compelled me to like this book so much. Maybe it was the reasoning the the lead character "The One Eyed Mack" exhibited throughout the book. I can tell you that I am definately going to get another copy to add to my collection
A delightful romp for people who enjoy the political scene........1999-11-04
KICK THE CAN is the first of a series of novels by Lehrer, and the book is the beginning of a wonderful tour through middle American politics. It is a great treat for people who take their politics with a grain of humor. It is hard to believe that this series is known about only by word of mouth. It should be seen in great books reviews and mentioned in the media.
Average customer rating:
- The Horror!
- Basically worthless and self indulgent
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Brando Rides Alone (The Terra Nova Series)
Barry Gifford
Manufacturer: North Atlantic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Movies
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History & Criticism
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ASIN: 1556434855
Release Date: 2004-01-05 |
Book Description
Part critique, part witty polemic, this revisiting of one of the 1960s' most tortured and misunderstood productions finds a flawed masterpiece that survived multiple writers (including Stanley Kubrick), an egomaniacal star with no previous directing experience, and a virulent critical reaction to become, in retrospect, a crucial rethinking of the Western genre. Included is an excerpt from a screenplay cowritten by Barry Gifford and James Hamilton that retools Brando's characters into the hapless inhabitants of a noir Old West.
Customer Reviews:
The Horror!.......2005-10-04
This review refers to "Brando Rides Alone - A Reconsideration of the Film One-Eyed Jacks" by Barry Gifford
This is my 620th review. Of those 620 reviews, I believe I have only ever given a 1 star rating 3 other times. Two were for household products that didn't work as claimed, the other a classic film(that I loved) on a DVD transfer that was so bad, it ruined the film. Now here I am giving 1 star to a book, which I have never done, as I feel the Author's work and love of their story is always worth something. But to quote the author, who quotes Brando.."The Horror, The Horror!" Barry Gifford, uses this book to get fans of Brando's "One Eyed Jacks" to read his own mediocre screenplay("Black Sun Rising")..."THE HORROR!"
'A Reconsideration of the film One Eyed Jacks'..I don't THINK so Mr. Gifford. First we have some very short biographical info on the key players of OEJ. Anyone could have found this info at the Internet Movie Data Base. Finally we get to Part 2 titled "Brando Rides Alone". This is all of about 9 pages where Mr. Gifford, mostly talks about what other critics thought of the film when it first came out. The only statement Gifford makes that is remotely a consideration or response to the critics of the film is that(in speaking to finding art, even in a violent film), "In OEJ the violence is seldom sudden;neither is it inexplicable" DUH! I think anyone who is a fan of this film has probably viewed it many times... are you telling us something new Mr Gifford?
And so goes the first 37 pages of the book. The rest of the book, which is an "Epilogue" is Gifford's Western screenplay that he wrote with James Hamilton. The "epilogue" is 45 pages. More time then he gives to Brando or the one film that Brando fans can savour as his only directoral effort.
The reason I am going only one star, is because I felt duped into reading this. I am a big fan of the film. Brando does a wonderful directing job, and uses the beautiful California coastline as a character in the film(Gifford does make mention of this).I really thought I would read more on the filming of OEJ. I don't think Mr. Gifford told me any more then I would have learned by simply watching Robert Osborne's(who is always informative and entertaining) intro to the film on TCM.
A little more effort on the author's part, to actually discuss this film with it's fans, and MAYBE it 'coulda been a contendah!'
Laurie
Basically worthless and self indulgent.......2005-07-06
I love the movie "One Eyed Jacks." I've seen it a dozen or more times, and had the good fortune to attend a screening in 1972 with the composer, who provided a lot of insight into the film's making, post production and history (none of his stories or anecdotes are included here). I therefore had great anticipation for this book. It turns out, the book is basically a padded-out excuse for the author to include a portion of his own unfinished western screenplay, as if anyone would care, and to vent about the critics that gave the film bad reviews. The amount of information actually about the film would fill less than a chapter of a normal sized book, and this is NOT a normal sized book -- it's a slight whisp of a book, with double spaced type and lots of blank space. There's not much new or unique in here about "One Eyed Jacks" that you haven't seen in a decent biography of Brando, Peckinpah or Kubrick. So save your money and save your time -- this book is a waste of both.
Average customer rating:
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The Authentic Death of Hendry Jones (Crest Book, No. 368)
Charles Neider
Manufacturer: Fawcett Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Genre Fiction
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| Action & Adventure
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| Sea Adventures
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| War
| Westerns
ASIN: B000M4XLZU |
Average customer rating:
- One Eyed Mack is Back
- Inadequately sourced
- Wonderful mirror of the mindset and humor of the Okie!
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Crown Oklahoma (One-eyed Jack Mystery)
Jim Lehrer
Manufacturer: Council Oak Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Comic
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ASIN: 1571780408 |
Customer Reviews:
One Eyed Mack is Back.......2005-08-03
I read this book because I loved The One Eyed Mack in "Kick the Can". I did enjoy "Crown Oklahoma" very much, but I must say that it is no "Kick the Can".
I was particularly intrigued by the story line, and how timely it is today in light of the Jayson Blair and Dan Rather scandals. It is almost as if Mr. Lehrer predicted such events.
It was great to be reunited with Mack, Jackie, and "Leutenant Dad", and it was a very enjoyable book. I highly recommend that you do not read this until you have read "Kick the Can" first.
Inadequately sourced.......2003-07-19
Crown Oklahoma is shorthand for putting a dome on the capitol. The narrator is the one-eyed lieutenant governor of the Sooner State. The lieutenant governor is also referred to a the second man. His son Tommy Walt plays semi-professional baseball. He is a pitcher. His wife is the founder and the owner of a chain of drive-through markets. Tommy Walt seems to collapse at his job handling baggage for the bus company. He does a riff on lost and mislaid luggage when his father locates him. There is a concern, raised by a national television news story, that a Mafia-type organization exists in Oklahoma. The narrator runs down one suspect, Boomer Sooner, who is in the transportation business as the driver and owner of a single bus. This is not a good prospect for the role of master criminal. Then a bomb blows the guy to bits. Investigators surmise that since the news reports indicated Boomer was part of a new group impinging on mob activity, the mob had him killed. The fallout from climbing the golden ladder to anchordom is described and elaborated in the book. The tales get taller as things proceed. Son Tommy Walt continues to experience difficulty and the excuse given is that he is a pitcher. The crown Oklahoma project is laughable, particularly when planners wonder if it could be made to pay for itself. Oklahoma Indian Territoy was opened up on first-come basis for land claims. Sooners were cheaters, they snuck in ahead of time.
Wonderful mirror of the mindset and humor of the Okie!.......1998-03-22
Wonderful expression of the Oklahoma spirit, mindset and humor! A terrific place and a delightful book.
Product Description
Piano Solo sheet music for Theme of the film "One Eyed Jacks", as featured in the movie.
Average customer rating:
- Great Recipies
- Good basic cookbook
- Help Fight Off Unwanted Pounds
- So Sensible
- Joslin Diabetes Quick & Easy Cookbook
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The Joslin Diabetes Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Recipes for 1 to 4 People
Bonnie Polin Frances Giedt
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Similar Items:
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Betty Crocker's Diabetes Cookbook: Everyday Meals, Easy as 1-2-3
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The First Year: Type 2 Diabetes: An Essential Guide for the Newly Diagnosed (First Year, The)
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The Type 2 Diabetes Cookbook : Simple & Delicious Low-Sugar, Low-Fat, & Low-Cholesterol Recipes
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One Pot Meals For People With Diabetes
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Fix-It and Forget-It Diabetic Cookbook: Slow-Cooker Favorites to Include Everyone!
Accessories:
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Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor
ASIN: 0684839237 |
Amazon.com
If you have diabetes or cook for someone with diabetes, and you have a busy life, this cookbook will solve several problems for you. All 200 recipes follow the low-fat, high-fiber, moderate-protein guidelines, and all can be prepared in 30 minutes or less with familiar ingredients from your pantry or supermarket. These recipes are tasty, providing satisfying, healthy eating for the whole family, not just the person with diabetes--no more separate meals. Imagine a breakfast of Asian Omelet with Crab (like egg foo yong without the fat and salt), Breakfast Burrito (10 minutes to prepare), or Potato Pancakes (baked instead of fried). Lunches include a variety of soups, sandwiches, and salads. Dinners emphasize pasta, seafood, poultry, and lean meats, sometimes with an ethnic flair, such as Mushroom Ravioli, Spicy Halibut Fillets with Pineapple, Sausage and Mushroom Pizza (only 16 percent fat), Shrimp Fajitas, Cajun Grilled Chicken on Yellow Rice and Peas, and Turkey Sloppy Joes. Nutritional breakdown is provided (calories, fat, protein, carbohydrate, dietary fiber, cholesterol, sodium), along with exchange information. Designed to feed one to four people, the book includes savory dishes for all meals, plus exchange lists, answers to medical questions, and two weeks of menus (for both 1,200- and 1,800-calorie daily allowances). --Joan Price
Book Description
At last, great-tasting healthful food -- in thirty minutes or less!
If you have diabetes, then you're careful about your diet. But living with diabetes doesn't have to mean being limited to bland, tasteless foods, nor should you have to spend excessive amounts of time planning and preparing complicated meals. Now the same authors who brought you the award-winning Joslin Diabetes Gourmet Cookbook bring you The Joslin Diabetes Quick and Easy Cookbook, with more than 200 recipes for dishes that can be prepared in thirty minutes or less.
Here are recipes for one to four people for every time of day -- from Breakfast Burritos to "Power lunch" dishes to delicious dinner pastas like Mushroom Ravioli with Chunky Tomato Sauce, as well as suggestions for snacks, desserts, and beverages. Nutritional analyses and diabetic exchange information accompany each recipe. You'll also find serving suggestions, advice on what to eat when you're away from home or relying on restaurants, and a section on commonly asked questions about diabetes and nutrition.
Once again, Frances T. Giedt and Bonnie S. Polin, both living with diabetes, have created, in conjunction with the Nutritional Services Staff at the world-famous Joslin Diabetes Center, a delicious array of healthful recipes that will satisfy people with diabetes or anyone in search of quick nutritious meals.
Customer Reviews:
Great Recipies.......2007-02-03
This book is good for anyone who wants to eat healthier and still enjoy a great tasting meal. Not just for diabetics!
Good basic cookbook.......2007-01-17
This is a good basic cookbook whether or not one is diabetic. This is not gourmet but basic good food, most of which can be prepared relatively quickly. Not all of the dishes are from scratch which can be a plus if you are not into alot of cooking but a minus if you dislike most commercial prepared foods. Nice variety of dishes and all have nutritional information, saves lots of time for diabetics!
The meal plans in the back are based on a fairly sedendary life style, so if you are active forget about these plans (or increase the portion sizes).
Help Fight Off Unwanted Pounds.......2006-01-05
This time of year with Christmas and holiday parties there are so many temptations. With rich foods offered at every turn, one struggles against adding unwanted pounds. It can be more of a problem than just excess weight to work off after the holidays. For diabetics, holiday foods pose an immediate threat to their health.
Before setting off in the usual cookie baking frenzy and planning the 2,000+ calorie Christmas dinner, look at ways to keep the flavor while saving on sugar, fat and cholesterol. Sugar-free doesn't have to mean unappealing. Non-diabetics will finds those recipes better for their waistline as well.
Here's old-fashioned bread pudding made "lite". Two hundred recipes give lots of choices. To use up the leftover turkey, try the French sautéed turkey sandwich.
So Sensible.......2005-04-18
The recipes are excellent and the best of all, none of the recipes call for exotic ingredients that I could only buy at a specialty store. Everything I can just open my cubbord and pull existing ingredients out to use in these delicious meals.
Joslin Diabetes Quick & Easy Cookbook.......2004-12-29
This book has become my bible in planning meals. The menus for 2 weeks are well put together, easy to use, easy to make shopping lists from and realistic for 2 people. The recipes are tasty, easy to understand and follow. For newly diagnosed diabetics, this is a fearless way to plan your eating-for-life. Amazingly, the amount of food presented in the daily the meal plans is almost more than one can eat!The index, appendicies of Q & A, exchange lists and other helps present even more information. Diane Lichtenstein
Books:
- Epitaph of a Small Winner: A Novel
- Etiquette for mistresses --and what wives can learn from them
- Evelina: or The History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (Penguin Classics)
- Excursion to Tindari: An Inspector Montalbano Mystery
- Faithless
- Feint of Art:: An Annie Kincaid Mystery
- Final Jeopardy (Alexandra Cooper Mysteries)
- Four Blind Mice
- Full Moon Rising (Riley Jensen, Guardian, Book 1)
- G Is for Gumshoe (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Book Thief
- Plein Air Painters of California, the Southland
- Jeweled Garden: A Colorful History of Gems, Jewelry, and Nature
- Molyneux: The Interior Design of Juan Pablo Molyneux
- History: Fiction or Science
- Modeling Risk: Applying Monte Carlo Simulation, Real Options Analysis, Forecasting, and Optimization
- Payment in Blood
- Contested Symmetries and Other Predicaments in Architecture
- Italian Country Living
- After Hell Hit Paradise
Temptations of the West: How to Be Modern in India, Pakistan, Tibet, and Beyond
The Inheritance of Loss
Sacred Games: A Novel
Old Filth
The Places In Between
