Feint of Art:: An Annie Kincaid Mystery

Book Description

The first in a new mystery series starring art-forger-Gone-good Annie Kincaid

Annie breaks the news to her curator ex-boyfriend Ernst: his museum's new $15 million Caravaggio is a fake. Then the janitor is killed, Ernst disappears, and a dealer makes off with several Old Master drawings. If she breaks the case using her old connections, Annie can finally pay the rent. But doing so could also draw her back into the underworld of forgers she swore she'd left behind.

Customer Reviews:

Move over Stephanie Plum.......2007-08-14

Fans of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series will be thrilled to meet Annie Kincaid, a heroine who's just as smart, funny, and prone to mishaps. Feint of Art is a great introduction to this new series filled with memorable characters and laugh out loud scenes. The dialogue snaps, the romantic entanglements feel real, and best of all you'll come away knowing a few secrets about the art world and international forgery. Author Hailey Lind even includes a few tips on creating your own masterpiece. Lots of fun and a great read.

Not what I thought.......2007-04-25

I was a little disappointed. I thought this would be a great book. Had trouble staying with it, kept putting down and then coming back to it. I think I excpected more.

Ms. Plum meets Ms. Hepburn at the museum.......2007-04-03

This is a cozy mystery set in San Francisco. Its subject is art forgery. Its protagonist is a young woman who is one-third Stephanie Plum, one-third art forger (by heritage) and one-third Audrey Hepburn as she appeared in a marvelously stylish but now largely forgotten caper film of the 1960s called "How to Steal a Million."

This is a perfectly entertaining, lightweight mystery of the Stephanie Plum-light category of cozies. If your taste runs to such things, especially during the yawning gaps between publication of the authentic Plums, this book is well-worth the purchase. It is derivative as all get out, not that that is necessarily such a bad thing.

The heroine, Annie Kinkaid is very much of the Plum-sisterhood: a basically inept investigator who is simultaneously strongly drawn to a very bad boy and to a not quite so bad boy--and they are equally irresistibly drawn to her. Too bad no car of Annie's gets blown up, but you can't have everything! On the other hand, Annie, like Audrey, is heir to a family tradition of art forgery. She has deep emotional ties to an elderly male relative, a master forger who resides in Paris and who is amusingly evasive about his forgeries, truth and everything else. In the movie, Audrey's very bad boy was Peter O'Toole. Annie's bad boys aren't up to that level but, as I said, you can't have everything.

That noted, I think the book could have been better. It was written, so says the colophon, by "two sisters, one a historian in Virginia, the other an artist in California." There is just enough in the book about the gentle art of forgery to make me think that at least one sister knows what she is talking about, but not enough is on the printed pages to serve as more than a lazy hook for a cozy plot. And all that stuff about being able to spot any forgery at a glance, with the implication that all forgers leave a characteristic calling card in their work as a sop to their egos is simple nonsense. Consider the fact that the authenticated works of works of so well-known an artist as Rembrandt were very numerous in the 1920s, were ruthlessly pruned of supposed forgeries in the 1950s and now are growing again with the welcome return of some of those very "forgeries."

Then there is the setting. One sister may well live in California, but not, I think in San Francisco. Much of the action takes place in, around, or about a major art museum called the "Brock." All things considered, the "Brock" is a caricature of the DeYoung Museum, but it is a blandly generic caricature of a museum that is splendidly idiosyncratic in character, architecture and location.

And the geography of San Francisco ...! Consider this passage: "Invigorated, I circled the hilly, clogged streets of San Francisco's Noe Valley and Bernal Heights neighborhoods, sure that I would recognize Anton's studio when I saw it.... After half an hour of fruitless searching, I lost all confidence in my powers of recollection.... I angled the truck into a tiny parking space on Sixteenth in front of Mission Dolores and pulled out my phone." [Page 41 of the mass paperback edition.]

Now, it so happens that I lived for more than twenty years between Sixteenth and Seventeenth Streets in San Francisco. Every school day for three years I walked up Sixteenth past Mission Dolores to get to my junior high school, one block further on. When I walked out of my front door on the way to school, looking left, due south, I could see Bernal Heights about two miles away, looming over the rooftops. Noe Valley was out of sight, but about the same distance away, and just south of due west. Traffic in San Francisco being what it is, I can guarantee that no-one could drive a search pattern of the "hilly streets" of those two widely separated neighborhoods in just half an hour--even if I ignore the fact that the Noe Valley is just that, a flat valley between highlands. Presumably those hilly Noe streets were on what I or any other San Franciscan would call Twin Peaks.

Geography and forgery to the contrary, the book is still amusing and worth the read. But rent the movie. It's much more entertaining. And Audrey never looked better.

Laughed out loud.......2006-10-22

Another reviewer said that this deserves the Edgar for best first mystery. He's right. Feint of Art pulls off the difficult feat of being both laugh out loud funny and a real page turner. It's something like what Janet Evanovich does with the Stephanie Plum mysteries. Hailey Lind does it better. Annie is a thoroughly engaging and believable character. She's trying to make a go of her faux art finishing business, trying to stay straight while her art forger grandfather Georges tries to entice her back into that world, which she swore off after an unfortunate experience in a Paris jail cell when she was a teenager. Then an old boyfriend asks Annie to help him determine whether a painting at the Brock museum is a forgery, and the plot moves quickly when there's a dead body and a missing old boyfriend.

Following Annie as she gets pulled into solving the murders and tracking down forged Old Masterpieces is only half the fun. Even the minor characters are vivid and fully drawn. And having lived in San Francisco, I can say that the Bay Area setting is spot on. Everything works, from the snobs at the Brock museum who turn up their noses at Annie (though they don't have half of her talent) to the drag queens who help Annie get dressed up for a very special occasion, to the real world problems Annie faces, like literally running into her new landlord (who is not what he seems at first, but I won't give away that part of the story).

Every chapter begins with an excerpt from a book by grandfather Georges about his life as an art forger. If you want, these can draw you into all kinds of philosophical speculations about the nature of truth and illusion (why artwork created today less valuable than one created centuries ago and why is a forgery from 137BC in the Brock museum while Georges's forgeries aren't?). Or you can just enjoy the suspense and the laugh out loud moments (like when poor Annie gets stuck in a window, which is much funnier in the novel than in a review). And in a postscript you can learn how to try Annie's faux finishing methods at home.

I'd give this six stars if I could and hope there will be many more Annie Kincaid mysteries. If they're anything like this one, they will be fabulous. It would be great if someone makes it into a movie (I vote for Sandra Bullock, or maybe Renee Zellwenger, as Annie).

A great debut!.......2006-10-15

I finished reading this book earlier today, and was disappointed the (just published) sequel wasn't right there to continue Annie's adventures. I agree with the the previous glowing comments, but want to throw in that I really like Annette, the cop in charge of the case. However ... I did feel that the main plot kind of got lost in the shuffle, but the author(s) had a lot of setting up to do for this series. Fans of Stephanie Plum will recognize Annie's good guy/bad boy (potential) love interests.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent beginning!.......2003-06-30

This is a good book for getting you acquainted with the Xanth series. I have been reading them for years, but get confused which comes next as they are not all numbered. I like them as one leads into another. Maybe someone has these listed somewhere from start to most recent? ...

Not bad. Not bad at all........2000-01-12

A good introduction to Xanth, I guess. I haven't read any other Xanth books, though. If you know, could you e-mail me at wibsatp@hotmail.com?

Finally a fantasy world that can feel real........1999-10-07

The Xanth stories are full of wonderful puns and jokes. It also is filled with action, romance, and young women whom, for some reason or another show their panties to creatures. This is not a dirty book however. This is perfect from young adult to ancient adult.

Gives you a good understanding of THE Piers Anthony series........1999-07-12

This is a great book to learn even more about the land of Xanth from characters to hazards. The authors portray a terrific summary of the books. Even though I've just started reading about Xanth I think The Visual Guide to Xanth is a must read even before you start the others!

Entertaining, but..........1999-01-04

I love Xanth and this book was good, but some of the illustrations of the characters dont look the way that Anthony has described them in his books. its excellent for reference if youre new to the Xanth series, however.

Average customer rating:

Piers Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth
Piers Anthony , and Jody Lynn Nye
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NV95OI

Average customer rating:

Piers Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth
Piers & NYE, Jody Lynn ANTHONY
Manufacturer: SOLD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OP5OMK

Average customer rating:

Visual Guide To Xanth
Anthony/nye
Manufacturer: UNSPECIFIED VENDOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UKLLGM

Average customer rating:

Visual Guide to Xanth
Piers Anthony
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JV7GKW

Visual Guide to Xanth (Xanth Novels (Paperback))

Average customer rating:

Visual Guide to Xanth (Xanth Novels (Paperback))
Piers Anthony
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K00LNQ

Average customer rating:

Pier Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth
Piers, and Jody Lynn Nye Anthony
Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HHR82E

Average customer rating:

Piers Anthony's Visual Guide to Xanth

Manufacturer: Avon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GX77OI

Book Description

This first in-depth guide to Universal's vastly expanded, multi-park complex in Orlando, Florida, covers every attraction, shop and eatery in Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios Florida, Citiwalk, and the Portofino Bay Resort.

Customer Reviews:

Don't go to Orlando without this book !.......2002-04-18

This book is the best unbiased, comprehensive compilation of all things Universal on the market. If you are spending any amount of time in Orlando, pick up:
1) Universal Orlando (Monaghan)
2) The Unofficial Guide to Disney World (Sehlinger)
3) The Other Orlando (Monaghan)

Ride, Resort, and Restaurant reviews are thorough and right on the mark. After reading this, you'll feel like an "insider" and get the most out of your vacation. You'll recover the cost of this book after reading the first 31 pages. By the end of the book, you'll be able to extend your vacation or put much less of a dent in your credit cards.

BTW - The fact that this book is for sale at Universal should be a feather in Universal's cap, not an indictment against this book's accuracy. I wonder if Disney will ever feature the "Unofficial" guide in their stores.

Overly cheerleader-ish.......2002-01-08

I noticed that this book had practically nothing bad to say about anything in the park. It is extremely enthusiastic about everything (for example, while slightly acknowledging the cheesy nature of the Kong ride, the book just goes on about how pretty the scenery is instead.) It makes it sound like Universal invented the S&S Space Shot tower with Dr. Doom's Fearfall, when, in actuality, the same ride was made by many parks first... etc. Do you know what's even better? When I was browsing the Universal gift shops, this book was featured prominently in many of them. If you want the book that Universal wants you to read, get this one.

Excellent and Informative Book.......2001-01-21

Must have for first time travelers as well as returning visitors. This book contained some excellent tips for "hidden" things I wouldn't have noticed otherwise. His ride and show details are very descriptive.

The best book on Universal Orlando.......2001-01-13

I've read several books on Universal Orlando and Kelly Monaghan's book is the best one I've read. It describes the rides and attractions in detail. The descriptions are generally very accurate.

People usually ask me for recommendations on books about Universal Orlando. Without hesitation, I always recommend Monaghan's book.

This book is excellent!.......2001-01-11

I purchased this book a little over six months ago and I have read it from cover to cover. It is extremely helpful and honest. I noticed a previous reviewer stated that the author was biased and disliked Disney and the rest of Orlando, I find that to be absolutely false. As a matter of fact the author wrote another book all about Orlando's attractions. If you are looking for an in debt book on UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO then this is the BEST choice you can make. It is chock full with info on rides, attractions, dining, hotels, and much more. Enjoy!

Average customer rating:

Pankration: The ultimate book
review
Wonderful Action Packed Book!
§§ A Fantastic History of the Greek Olympics! §§
PANKRATION COMBAT A REAL TEST OF STRENGTH & ENDURANCE

Pankration: The Ultimate Game
Dyan Blacklock
Manufacturer: Albert Whitman & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0807563234

Customer Reviews:

Pankration: The ultimate book.......2007-10-04

This book takes place in ancient Greece. It is about the life of a young boy named Nic who faces many dilemmas in life. He is sent away from Athens due to the plauge. He meets Gellius, a sailor who dreams to win the pankration someday. Then Nic is captured and sold as a slave. Gellius was not captured. This story tells about his search for a friend, and his struggle.I think that this was a great book. My friend thinks it was too convenient for Nic sometimes and a little unrealitic, but I loved it.
This book was exciting, and made you think about your life too. This book was a wonder to our class(as we read it aloud in class) I give this book five stars. It was a book of great pain, suffering, and happiness. I hope you all read this book.

review.......2007-10-04

The book takes place in Ancient Greece where Nic is fleeing from the plague in Athens and encounters danger. The pankration is an olympic event where people fight without weapons. This is one great book, but it was missing a little information about the charecters and about what happened after the pankration.

Wonderful Action Packed Book!.......2003-03-08

This was the most ammasing book I have ever read. It kept moving along and never got boring. One adventure leads to another. This is the best book I have read and it is pretty hard to beat. This book deserves 6 out of 5 stars!!

§§ A Fantastic History of the Greek Olympics! §§.......2001-05-20

excellent! a great book for projects on greek olympics! Five-star book, Blacklock did an absolute thriller adventure ride.

PANKRATION COMBAT A REAL TEST OF STRENGTH & ENDURANCE.......2000-12-14

PANKRATION: THE ULTIMATE GAME reflects the ancient but brutal sport of Pankration combat. It had but one rule & everything else was allowed even fighting to the death and/or maiming one's rival. .... The rules of combat are defined in the book. The book has an intriguiing love story which causes two cadets to fight for the same woman both men desperately crave.

The Ultimate Escape (Tom Clancy's Net Force; Young Adult, No. 4)

Average customer rating:

War games as summer camp education
A book that makes me wanna keep reading!!!
The ultimate espcape T.J.
His Godzilla novels are better but this is fine, too
Net Force: the Ultimate Escape

The Ultimate Escape (Tom Clancy's Net Force; Young Adult, No. 4)
Tom Clancy , and Steve Pieczenik
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

Adventure & Thrillers | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books

Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books

Tom Clancy's Net Force | Series | Teens | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0425169391

Book Description

Computer Battles. * Deadly criminals. * And some whiz kids with all the answers. * Enter the future of Tom Clancy . . .

The Net Force fights all criminal activity on-line. But a group of teen experts knows just as much about computers as their adult superiors. They are the Net Force Explorers...

Julio Cortez has left the Net Force Explorers to move with his family to a new home. But when he and his family are held hostage, the team has to convince the world that Julio's in danger. And if no one will listen, they'll do anything to rescue the Cortez family themselves!

* #4 in the series

Customer Reviews:

War games as summer camp education.......2006-08-31

Together with his parents Julio Cortez returns to his country of birth: Cortequay in South America. This country has missed any technological advancement since the last twenty years and is currently organising its first democratic elections. Julio's father is a candidate for the presidency, but the opposition will stop at nothing to keep him away from power. At home Julio's Netforce friends miss him terribly. Certainly during the flight simulations organised at a summer camp, the absence of Julio influences their results during the fierce simulated air battles. Julio has always been their champion. During one of these simulations, suddenly Julio appears with the message that he got kidnapped in Cortequay. But his friends are not sure what they can do. How can they get in contact with Julio? How do they convince people that Julio and his family are in grave trouble? And most of all: is Julio's message authentic or only a trap set in a world where nothing is what it seems?

Although the story of The Ultimate Escape starts from a great idea, the whole story is lacking much credibility. The denouement is so lame that even the first chapters give you a good idea on how the story will end. But the most worrying part of this novel is its setting. Knowing that this book is written for a young audience it is quite disturbing to see that replaying war battles is considered as a very educational and important way of learning history. Even more, German students are by default forced to replay World War II battles as part of the German forces. This way they are considered to try and reverse the outcome of the war. I do not know what the authors were thinking, but such a simplistic view on the world, can hardly be seen as a good starting point for a novel aimed at youngsters. How wrong can you get?

A book that makes me wanna keep reading!!!.......2005-01-31

This thriller written about a young boy and his family trapped in a virtual prison in the socialist country of Corteguay, takes place in the year 2025 when computers are our main source of daily activities. When Julio Cortez realizes he's being trapped in a prison by the Corteguayan government, he seeks imediate attention to his friends for help. Matt, Andy, Megan, Mark, and David are all shocked about what he has to say and plan to make every move possible to help their friend. The only way they are able to make contact with him are through simulated flight missions of past wars. Julio himself has had success in such simulations, but in Corteguay, technology is scarce as the citizens there have remained to tools from the 21st century. Almost all contact to the outside world is impossible. Julio's father, Ramon Cortez, is running for president here in Corteguay's first public election. The pressure on the family is intense as they face torture and death. This makes Julio's friends time limited.

The ultimate espcape T.J........2005-01-14

The ultimate escape is a book written in a series called net force. Net force is a series about a group of kids that are all friends and play games in a virtual reality world where the enter competitions and play replay events that happened in the past and some that they think may happen in the future.

One of the best virtual fighters for the net force explorers Julio Cortez goes to Corteguay with the rest of his family his dad, mom, and sister. His dad is going to run for president and everything is going good until they get into the vans to get taken safely away but instead they were taken prisoners. When the net force explorers were competing without their ace of aces player they notice he comes up in the game and tells then what has gone wrong but no one believes them and they think it was a rift until it happened a second time then the net force explorers tell the head man in charge on net force matts dad and they take action. If you want to know you are just going to have to read the book yourself you can either buy new or used at amazon.com or you can go to your local library and pick it up there.

This book is a must read book is a must read and Tom Clancy has a wonderful writing style. In this book especially he leaves you hanging waiting to find out what is going to happen he does a lot of jumping from place to place but after a couple of chapters you don't really notice it and you can trust me because I am not a reader but this book didn't get put down F
from morning to night.

T.J.

His Godzilla novels are better but this is fine, too.......2002-09-17

... The Ultimate Escape has many of the same elements found in the Godzilla books, but the concept of the series is lame--who believes a bunch of kids work for the FBI? It is just stupid. But the fighter plane stuff is cool. Mr. Cerasini knows his technology, too bad his skills were wasted on this dull concept...

Net Force: the Ultimate Escape.......2001-12-18

This book is about a group of kids that are in an organization called the Net Force Explorers. Julio Cortez, the Net Force flying ace, moved with his family to Corteguay, a Socialist Nation that does not allow recent technology. When they arrive they are taken prisoner. The remaining Net Force Explorers have to go into a high tech flight simulator contest. When they are in the simulators, Julio appears asking for help. The Explorers go to their adult superiors with their story. Will they believe the kids, and will they be able to get to Julio in time. You'll have to read the book to find out.

Average customer rating:

Net 04 Ultimate Escape
Tom Clancy
Manufacturer: UNSPECIFIED VENDOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UP8C6Y

A Place in the Sun: The Ultimate Escapes

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A Place in the Sun: The Ultimate Escapes
Fanny Blake
Manufacturer: Channel Four Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Job Hunting | Job Hunting & Careers | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Real Estate | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Household Hints | How-to & Home Improvements | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Real Estate | Practical Guides | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0752215981

Average customer rating:

The ultimate debt escape plan
Cornel L Dunmore
Manufacturer: LetterTalk
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Public Finance | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Credit Ratings & Repair | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0964659301

The Ultimate Escapes: Vacation-A-Day 2006 Day-to-Day Calendar

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The Ultimate Escapes: Vacation-A-Day 2006 Day-to-Day Calendar
Andrews McMeel Publishing
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Calendar

General | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Travel | Subjects | Books

Block Calendars | Calendars | Formats | Books

General | Calendars | Book Accessories | Our Favorites | Gift Ideas

Block Calendars | Calendars | Book Accessories | Our Favorites | Gift Ideas
ASIN: 0740752197

6 Titles By Tom Clancy Net Force YA Series : The Deadliest Game Virtual Vandals Cyberspy One Is the Loneliest Number The Ultimate Escape Shadow of Honor

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6 Titles By Tom Clancy Net Force YA Series : The Deadliest Game Virtual Vandals Cyberspy One Is the Loneliest Number The Ultimate Escape Shadow of Honor
Tom Clancy , and Steve Pieczenik
Manufacturer: Berkley Jam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000O3DJWE

Product Description

Six mmpb books. 6 Titles By Tom Clancy Net Force YA Series : The Deadliest Game Virtual Vandals Cyberspy One Is the Loneliest Number The Ultimate Escape Shadow of Honor.

Average customer rating:

Ultimate Escape
Tsunami Bomb Cdkung Kfu78799
Manufacturer: KUNG FU/MUSICRAMA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Books on CD | Audiobooks | Formats | Books
ASIN: 6307213035

The ultimate escape: Prepared by Patricia L. Hardyman

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The ultimate escape: Prepared by Patricia L. Hardyman
Patricia L Hardyman
Manufacturer: Administration and Research, Ohio Adult Parole Authority
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Suicide | Death & Grief | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Law Enforcement | Criminal Law | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006YED7Q

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Not for the beginner

Healthy Eating Can be Fun!

Culinary Perfection

The smallest details can ruin a great recipe!

I Want To Bear Her Children!

The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook
Tanya Petrovna
Manufacturer: Shambhala
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Real Food Daily Cookbook: Really Fresh, Really Good, Really Vegetarian

Vegan with a Vengeance : Over 150 Delicious, Cheap, Animal-Free Recipes That Rock

Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule

Extraveganza: Original Recipes from Phoenix Organic Farm

Vive Le Vegan!: Simple, Delectable Recipes For The Everyday Vegan Family

ASIN: 1590300769
Release Date: 2003-11-04

Book Description

When people ask Tanya Petrovna, "Are you a strict vegetarian?" she replies, "No, I'm a fun vegetarian!" As head chef of the popular Native Foods chain of restaurants in Southern California, Tanya treats her customers to a vegan cuisine that is so tasty, satisfying, and hearty that it draws praise from nonvegetarians and vegetarians alike. Tanya is known for creating delicious and satisfying meat substitutes from soy and wheat products such as tofu, tempeh, and seitan. And with signature dishes like her dairy-free cheesecake made from cashew nuts, she proves that healthy, animal-friendly eating can be indulgent and fun. Now, with this book, Tanya's best recipes can be made at home, including: "Fun Mung Curry," "Seitan Olé Mole," and "Rockin' Moroccan Skewers." Plus, there are plenty of outrageous desserts such as "Elephant Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon Peanut Butter Topping," "Sam's Vegan Cheesecake," and "Chocolate French Silk Lingerie Pie." The Native Foods Restaurant Cookbook also features instructions on basic cooking methods, helpful definitions, nutritional information, and a simple kitchen pantry setup.

Customer Reviews:

Not for the beginner.......2007-05-25

If you've been a vegetarian or vegan for a while this is probably a good resource. For a beginner, however, it's just too much and the recipes are too involved. Also, many of the recipes require the use of other recipes in the book, and we simply don't have three hours to prepare a meal every night.

My recommendation would be to check it out at a local bookstore (like Barnes & Noble) before you buy it. Had I done this, I wouldn't have bought it.

Healthy Eating Can be Fun!.......2006-08-25

Reviewed by Juanita Watson for Reader Views (8/06)

Ana Nez Heatherley comes from a long family line of herbalists. She is a registered nurse, speaks regularly on the topic of traditional herbal medicine, and has written for the highly credited magazine Mother Earth News.

Her book "Healing Plants: A Medicinal Guide to Native North American Plants and Herbs" is an excellent addition to any library, but especially for anyone interested in traditional and herbal medicine. Heatherley explores approximately one hundred plants and herbs common to North America. Though some information here may be redundant to a seasoned herbalist, there is a number of herbs that you don't see in the typical books of this genre - such as Buttonbush, Catalpa, and Prairie tea. I actually don't remember seeing Prairie tea mentioned anywhere else, let alone with a picture as included in Heatherley's book. Impressive!

Heatherley includes distribution maps, bullet-point side bars, and photo section containing a picture for every plant. This combined with practical applications, interesting folklore, tips, cautions, recipes, and more, round out this informative and interesting book.

I have a very large library of herbal books and it takes a lot to impress me these day - unfortunately, many simply repeat the same information. "Healing Plants" was an unsuspected surprise! Heatherley provides a slightly new perspective on the commonly known medicinal plants, and an impressive account of many not-so-well-known plants that deserve their day in the spotlight.

Culinary Perfection.......2006-05-03

I have never been to a Native Foods restaurant, seeing as how I live a few thousand miles away. However, the fanclub is large and ecstatic, & my curiosity has been piqued for years.

A reviewer complained that this is not a beginner's cookbook, and I must partially agree with this; there aren't lengthy explanations of each recipe, but if you've cooked with other vegan cookbooks the gaps are obvious, for the most part. Also, there are a lot of meat analogs in this cookbook, which many vegans find revolting. Even though I don't often prepare them at home, I am a fan, if for no other reason than texture. And this cookbook truly contributes something interesting and unique to the genre of fake meat. (But there are plenty of recipes that do NOT include these products as well). There are fake fish tacos, lime infused "chicken" breasts, "meaty" seitan dishes, etc.

There are several basic recipes in this cookbook that are so impressively good that they warrant the purchase of this cookbook. For instance, the barbeque sauce recipe, which is heavy on the ginger, is truly extraordinary. I feel certain that I have never tasted a BBQ in this league, and once it was drizzled over homemade seitan a religious experience occured. There's a coconut milk-mango salad dressing that makes eating green things a treat. I made a lemon-pineapple-cherry cake that was stellar, too. In fact, every recipe I've prepared has been sublime. And interesting. And utterly perfect.

This cookbook, as far as I know, is probably the best cookbook for the transitioning vegan---the person who went from greasy fingered meat fiend to vegan overnight. You'll wonder, I'll bet, why you didn't make the switch sooner.

The smallest details can ruin a great recipe!.......2006-01-23

I would love to give this book five stars. When I first bought it, I certainly would have. However, as I worked my way through the book and cooked with more of the recipes, I found myself with headaches as often as I had great food.

Here's why: This book is not edited well, and it is not written with a beginning or even an intermediate cook in mind. That combination spells disaster. In roughly a third of the recipes in the book, vital details are missing, details that might seem minor to a casual reader or obvious to advanced cooks but mean the difference between beautiful food and a disgusting, and in some cases expensive, catastrophe.

Here's a good example. Many of the book's recipes call for a meat substitute called seitan, a sort of gluten loaf cooked in broth. A recipe for seitan is provided in the early chapters of the book. Interested in making at home what can be a very expensive item in the store, I set out to make seitan one day according to the recipe provided in Petrovna's book.

So, I followed the directions to the letter, going through the entire process of making the dough and rinsing out the starch and kneading the resulting gluten ball, a process that takes place over the course of hours. Then, I prepared the broth that the gluten is cooked in - a very salty broth, I should add - and put the whole thing on the stove to cook, a process that also took hours. However, as I put the pot on the stove, I found myself rereading the directions over and over again, hoping that I'd find a clue as to whether or not to put the lid on the pot while the seitan cooked. There was none, except a picture of the seitan cooking, which featured a pot with no lid on it. So I decided to take a chance and leave the lid off.

What I got at the end was a very time-consuming, very messy ball of salt. This is no exaggeration. Eating the seitan was comperable to taking a shot of salt and washing it down with another shot of salt. The liquid had boiled down, depositing all of the salt in the gluten loaf. I had no way of knowing that this was probably not the intended effect until I tasted the seitan and found it completely unedible. Had I been instructed in the directions to simply put the pot lid on, I might have had something to show for my effort besides a huge loaf of gluten-flavored salt.

Unfortunately, there are a ridiculous number of this type of omission in "Native Foods." Slips as simple as forgetting to instruct readers to grease a pan, to drain canned vegetables before using them, or to add more water if a recipe gets dry can leave all but the most experienced cooks with a disaster instead of dinner. Most of the recipes in this book are fun and imaginative, and if the directions are clear they come out beautiful and delicious. Unfortunately, every time I use this book I feel like I'm playing Russian Roulette, so I've come to pass this book up for ideas unless I've got a lot of time and money to buy groceries.

I Want To Bear Her Children!.......2005-12-02

The first recipe I tried out of this book was the Mecca Aztecca Salad. The first words out of my mouth when I tasted the Mango Lime Vinagrette dressing were "I want to bear her children!" I've tried several recipes since, and with every new dish I renew my desire to see this kind of culinary mastery reproduce! You go, girlfriend! ;-)

I'm reminded of my first meal in Paris. The ingredients in whatever I was eating were all common and familiar, but something about the way they blended drove every thought other than the flavor from my mind. I remember thinking "I didn't know you could DO that with food!" I feel exactly the same about these recipes. Simple ingredients, quick preparation, and flavor that knocks your socks off. How she does it, I don't know, but I'm delighted that she does it.

Now my favorite gift combo is The China Study by T. Colin Campbell and this cookbook. (I've purchased five copies of each.) The China Study is an overwhelmingly compelling health-based explanation of _why_ you should stop consuming animal products. This book is fantastic introduction to _how_. When healthy, inexpensive, low-environmental impact, compassionate food can taste like this, eating any other way is...well, stupid.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Treat yourself to fantastically flavorful dishes that, oh by the way, will dramatically lower your weight, your cholesterol, your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and scores of other "diseases of affluence". But if you find, as I did, that you want to bear her children, remember: I've got dibs on that - get thee behind me, buster! :-)

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