Grave Sight (Harper Connelly Mysteries, Book 1)

Book Description

Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. The way Harper sees it, she's providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living-but she's used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her stepbrother Tolliver as her manager and sometime-bodyguard, she's become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it's always urgent-even if the dead can wait forever.

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Harper Connelly has what you might call a strange job: she finds dead people. She can sense the final location of a person who's passed, and share their very last moment. The way Harper sees it, she's providing a service to the dead while bringing some closure to the living-but she's used to most people treating her like a blood-sucking leech. Traveling with her step-brother Tolliver as manager and sometime-bodyguard, she's become an expert at getting in, getting paid, and getting out fast. Because for the living it's always urgent-even if the dead can wait forever.

Customer Reviews:

I didn't expect to like it -- but I did.......2007-09-18

"Grave Sight" is a murder mystery novel, with one small fantasy twist -- the main character has a psychic ability that tells her the cause of death when near any corpse. The setting is modern day, the victims a teenage couple, and the "detectives" the psychic and her step brother, who are investigate reluctantly.

Overall, this novel is nicely written, enjoyable, entertaining, and closes nicely. On the other hand . . . the mood is pessimistic and glum; the pshychic and her brother actively seek one night stands with complete strangers (which grosses me out); the psychic spends way too much time feeling sorry for herself; and the third quarter drags on a bit. Still, I enjoyed it and I'll read the sequel.

Good book.......2007-08-13

I really like Charlaine Harris as an author. This is my second book that I have read of hers. They are mystery with a little bit of paranormal. Just my kind of book! She doesn't put in a lot of filler descriptive words which I like. It holds your interest all the way through. I recommend this book and Grave Surprise.

Bodies, bodies everywhere.......2007-06-29

Grave Sight(2005)

I bought this book for my wife based upon Arthur W. Jordin's excellent review(see below) and then decided to read it myself, first. It's an excellent book, if you enjoy the TV shows Bones, House and others like them which my wife does you'll enjoy this book. It isn't War and Peace, but it is light enjoyable reading. I didn't particularly like War and Peace anyhow. I think it was all those Russian names.

Gunner June, 2007

An Unwelcome Mystery.......2007-06-27

Okay I was fooled into getting this book by a person I know and it wasnt what I expected. For people who have read her other series please do not think that this book follows the sames lines or even the humor in this series. If you like mystery with a touch of suspense than this for you. Harper has powers that allows her to see death seeing as she was hit by lightening when she was younger. All in all it has good characters and a solid plot but for those as I said looking for another Sookie go elsewhere this series is for the mystery at heart readers.

Keeper Shelf Material.......2007-06-12

The books that Charlain Harris writes have been ending up on my keeper shelf for years. This new book seems to be keeping right up with her older series for entertainment value, so if you like your mysteries with a bit of paranormal spice, this one will fit right in. I enjoyed it very much and will be looking for more in the series.

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Excellcent
As Close to a Perfect 5stars as possible
refreshing paranormal romantic suspense thriller
An fabulous new direction for author Samantha Graves (aka CJ Barry)

Sight Unseen (Warner Forever)
Samantha Graves
Manufacturer: Forever
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Romantic Suspense | Romance | Subjects | Books

Romantic Suspense | Romance | 4-for-3 Books Store | Stores | Books

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ASIN: 0446618381

Customer Reviews:

Excellcent.......2007-06-25

Great quick read book. I wish there was more. It would probably make a great movie. Worth reading.

As Close to a Perfect 5stars as possible.......2007-04-13

After her award winning series as CJ Barry, Samantha Graves had established herself as an excellent Romance author. With Sight Unseen she has raised the bar and changed the rules of the romance genre. To lable this book simply a Romance title, would be a grave injustice, Sight Unseen goes much deeper than that.

The adventure begins as Samantha takes the reader to the bottom of the ocean, to retrieve a medallion that was worn by 'King Pacal Votan the Great'. Raven Callahan is a modern day treasure hunter of sorts, with a special gift that allows her to authenticate the items, with a simple touch. She and her sister, Jillian receive information from inanimate objects. The stronger the emotion of the person that owned or touched the object, the more intensely it is felt by Raven. Working for API, she recovers priceless pieces for private collectors, as well as, museums that have been lost or stolen.

Dax Maddox is rugged and attractive, with loneliness and haunting anger in his eyes. Once a respected detective in Miami, he now had only one goal - to catch a killer! The night, Nick, his rookie partner was murdered, he had been imprisoned in a world filled only with shades of gray. He left the force to pursue a cop killer, to exact revenge and get justice for Nick. Which lead him to the art auction, at 'Matador's Auction House, in Miami. Bringing him face to face with the Vassalo painting and the beautiful woman he knew was a thief.

The chemistry between these two characters, Raven and Dax, is palpable. From the moment he forces her into a closet at the auction, to the swirling intensity of their first kiss, the reader is swept up into the story, like a leaf in a tornado! The author develops each as an individual, while continuing to bring them together, moving toward a confrontation with a killer and explosive intimacy. Both of which will leave the reader breathless and wanting more!

Samantha Graves has delivered an action packed, suspense thriller, filled with three dimensional characters that are intelligent and sexy. The various plot elements are effortlessly woven into the fabric of the lead, as well as, the supporting characters. This title has everything a reader could ask for; suspense - that keeps you guessing, action - that will keep you thinking, passion - that will make you breathless, combined with enough twists and turns to construct a moutain trail. What more could a reader ask for? Well, a sequel, of course!

Don't let "Sight Unseen" remain unseen by you!

refreshing paranormal romantic suspense thriller .......2007-04-07

Raven Callahan has a unique job description of legalized thief as she recovers stolen art for the Antiquities Preservation Institute (API) to return to the lawful owner. API management including Raven's immediate supervisor "Bigs" Bigley recognize that she is the best recovery agent in their firm. What they do not know is why she is so superior to the rest. She has psychometric skills sothat when she touches something her five senses receive images, sounds and feelings.

A killing maniac has kidnapped her current partner Walter; threatening to kill him if Raven fails to steal Vassalo's self portrait from Matador's Auction House in Miami. However, also at the auction house is former cop David "Dax" Maddox who recognizes Raven. He is on a vendetta since he left the force following the murder of his police partner, which he blames himself for; he needs to destroy the killer. Reluctantly tied to a mad man's death threats, Dax and Raven must team up, but neither trusts the other as a thief and a cop, even a legal thief and a former cop, see the world from different perspectives.

This is a refreshing paranormal romantic suspense thriller in spite of combining two overly used recent themes that of the art thief with that of the psychic. Though Raven's skills are more obvious and legit in some ways she will remind the audience of Blanche in Hitchcock's Family Plot. Dax adds to the investigation as he has his own agenda and as a cop distrusts burglars even those allegedly legit. Fans of psychic romantic investigative thrillers will want to read the brisk, unique and fun SIGHT UNSEEN in one sitting.

Harriet Klausner

An fabulous new direction for author Samantha Graves (aka CJ Barry).......2007-03-30

Sight Unseen represents a new direction for author Samantha Graves who also writes futuristc romance under the name C.J. Barry.

The book is listed as a romantic suspense but it has a paranormal twist! As her first foray into comtemporary romance this book was a home-run! The plot is excellent - and believable, which can be hard to do when the heroine has a psychic power. The suspense is gripping... and the romantic connection between the hero/heroine was very well done! The perfect balance of attraction and wary interest.

Since there is no description on this listing here's the blurb from the back cover:

CLUES ONLY THIS PSYCHIC CAN SEE
Can an art theif earn an honest living? Raven Callahan does, with the help of a rare psychic power that lets her read the emotions locked inside ancient objects. But when her partner is kidnapped and Raven is forced to steal a priceless masterpiece to save heim, ESP takes a backseat to quick wits, steely nerves, and the lethal skills she needs to survive.

A KILLER ONLY HTIS COP CAN CATCH
Ex-cop Dax Maddox made just one mistake on th ejob, but it took a young rookie's life and cost Dax his ability to see color. Now stalking a killer brings Raven into his life - and floods his gray world with vivid and conflicting emotions: anger and lust, suspicion and awe. Are the criminals they seek one and the same? If so, Dax and Raven's growing need for each other could inspire a madman's terrifying scheme for the ultimate revenge...

Documenting the chaos in Iraq: 'No End in Sight' looks at the U.S. occupation of Iraq; 'Death at a Funeral' tries too hard.(MOVIES)(Movie review): An article from: National Catholic Reporter

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Documenting the chaos in Iraq: 'No End in Sight' looks at the U.S. occupation of Iraq; 'Death at a Funeral' tries too hard.(MOVIES)(Movie review): An article from: National Catholic Reporter
Joseph Cunneen , and Kevin Doherty
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000WF6CJG
Release Date: 2007-09-25

Book Description

This digital document is an article from National Catholic Reporter, published by Thomson Gale on September 14, 2007. The length of the article is 996 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Documenting the chaos in Iraq: 'No End in Sight' looks at the U.S. occupation of Iraq; 'Death at a Funeral' tries too hard.(MOVIES)(Movie review)
Author: Joseph Cunneen
Publication: National Catholic Reporter (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 14, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 43 Issue: 37 Page: 17(1)

Article Type: Movie review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Drones a new sight over state's coastline.(HIGH-TECH)(GA Aeronautical Systems)(Altair)(Column): An article from: San Diego Business Journal

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Drones a new sight over state's coastline.(HIGH-TECH)(GA Aeronautical Systems)(Altair)(Column): An article from: San Diego Business Journal
Brad Graves
Manufacturer: CBJ, L.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from San Diego Business Journal, published by CBJ, L.P. on May 9, 2005. The length of the article is 863 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Drones a new sight over state's coastline.(HIGH-TECH)(GA Aeronautical Systems)(Altair)(Column)
Author: Brad Graves
Publication: San Diego Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 9, 2005
Publisher: CBJ, L.P.
Volume: 26 Issue: 19 Page: 11(2)

Article Type: Column

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Laser-gear makers set sights on enterprise telecommunications customers: market for specialized equipment could hit $888 million by 2006. (Special Report: ... An article from: San Diego Business Journal

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Laser-gear makers set sights on enterprise telecommunications customers: market for specialized equipment could hit $888 million by 2006. (Special Report: ... An article from: San Diego Business Journal
Brad Graves
Manufacturer: CBJ, L.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from San Diego Business Journal, published by CBJ, L.P. on September 2, 2002. The length of the article is 1427 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Laser-gear makers set sights on enterprise telecommunications customers: market for specialized equipment could hit $888 million by 2006. (Special Report: Telecommunications).(Industry Overview)
Author: Brad Graves
Publication: San Diego Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 2, 2002
Publisher: CBJ, L.P.
Volume: 23 Issue: 35 Page: 12(2)

Article Type: Industry Overview

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Military, Border Patrol Set Sights on NightHunter Searchlight. (Newsmakers).(Xenonics Inc. puts power in small package)(Brief Article): An article from: San Diego Business Journal

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Military, Border Patrol Set Sights on NightHunter Searchlight. (Newsmakers).(Xenonics Inc. puts power in small package)(Brief Article): An article from: San Diego Business Journal
Brad Graves
Manufacturer: CBJ, L.P.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008ILLMK
Release Date: 2005-06-01

Book Description

This digital document is an article from San Diego Business Journal, published by CBJ, L.P. on December 17, 2001. The length of the article is 6676 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Military, Border Patrol Set Sights on NightHunter Searchlight. (Newsmakers).(Xenonics Inc. puts power in small package)(Brief Article)
Author: Brad Graves
Publication: San Diego Business Journal (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 17, 2001
Publisher: CBJ, L.P.
Volume: 22 Issue: 51 Page: 36(1)

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Of Sight and Sound.(listening skills)(Brief Article): An article from: Products Finishing

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Of Sight and Sound.(listening skills)(Brief Article): An article from: Products Finishing
Bev Graves
Manufacturer: Gardner Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
ASIN: B0008HC2AQ
Release Date: 2005-07-28

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Products Finishing, published by Gardner Publications, Inc. on June 1, 2000. The length of the article is 441 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Of Sight and Sound.(listening skills)(Brief Article)
Author: Bev Graves
Publication: Products Finishing (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2000
Publisher: Gardner Publications, Inc.
Volume: 64 Issue: 9 Page: 8

Article Type: Brief Article

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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I didn't expect to like it -- but I did
Good book
Bodies, bodies everywhere
An Unwelcome Mystery
Keeper Shelf Material

Grave Sight [Cd] (Library Edition)
Charlaine Harris; Reader Alyssa Bresnahan
Manufacturer: RECORDED BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000OJWZEQ

Customer Reviews:

I didn't expect to like it -- but I did.......2007-09-18

Good book.......2007-08-13

Bodies, bodies everywhere.......2007-06-29

An Unwelcome Mystery.......2007-06-27

Keeper Shelf Material.......2007-06-12

Grave sights of Cabarrus County, North Carolina

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Grave sights of Cabarrus County, North Carolina
Larry Hayer
Manufacturer: Cabarrus Genealogy Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Genealogy | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006RR9RO

Book Description

In this last book of their adventures, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser -- sometimes together, sometimes apart -- navigate all manner of strange waters. Fafhrd goes sailing through the clouds, and the Mouser as merchant captain saves his vessel from a watery grave. Finally, in the last story of this magical series, we bid farewell to Lankhmar.

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-08-04

This is the Knight and Knave of Swords, with a different name. The final adventures of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser are to be found here, rebadged in a different edition. Fahrd begins by learning to get along without a left hand, a problem yet again caused by those annoying god types. Hanging around leisurely should be peaceful, shouldn't it? Not when they have two women around, and others that would like a little payback coming.

Not a magical ending alas.......2003-02-12

What is wrong with this book, which pales against the superb vibrant, middle of the series titles Swords Against Death, Swords in a Mist, and The Swords of Lankhmar, all towering classics of fantasy? Firstly there is little sophistication,mystery or magic here, Leibers style has deteriorated sharply into dull, long winded self mockery in his advancing years. Secondly Rime isle is a sadly boring, mundane place quite unfitted for our two oh so worldy wise heroes to end their days. Thirdly those self-same heroes themselves have deteriorated into middle age tedium, most alarmingly, rather like their creator appears to have done. If you dont mind all that, then buy the book.

Still Alive and Well.......2000-03-31

No one could write 'em like Fritz. He invented the term 'sword and sorcery' to describe these two fine heroes, who have become the archetype and prototype of all sword-slinging heroes. A little frayed and beginning to go gray, our adventurers are lured to cold Rime Isle by the promise of adventure fit for a hero, and women to match. But across their future falls a cold shadow, and even heroes age and die. As an evil villain, I find these books irresistable. The delicious evil girls, tempting and dangerous! Hisvet creeps me out but oh, that Frix! I tried to date her but she turned me down flat. What, you haven't READ this? Don't let your kids read it...bad influence...they might turn out like me.

A Satisfying Conclusion To The Series.......1999-12-09

As the stories contained within this last book of the tales of Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser all revolve around Rime Island, they follow a much more linear and chronological order than the earlier three volumes, and are sequentially tied to the last two stories that concluded the previous "Lean Times in Lankhmar." In some ways more tightly written and plotted than some of the earlier tales, I found "Farewell" a satisfying conclusion to the "twain's" adventures, despite having grown somewhat weary of Leiber's over-worked writing style. While I agree with an earlier commentator that the tales here lack some of the roving action and fanciful--some might say farfetched--episodes contained within earlier tales, I was not entirely disappointed by their absence. Nor did I detect the melancholia noted by another; only a recognition of aging on the part of the heroes that added a new and realistic dimension to their characters--afterall, all good things must come to and end.

I did find the sexual episodes in "The Mouser Goes Below" somewhat off-putting and indulgent, with their soft porn appeal to masochism and sadism, and felt they were largely irrelevant and distracting to the plot. But as the "boys" sexual prowess and escapades have always been indulged within the tales, I imagine they will retain continued appeal for fans of the series, regardless of their juvenile and chauvinistic pandering.

A wonderful end to the series.......1999-06-18

This was the first Fritz Leiber book that I ever read, and titled as THE KNIGHT AND KNAVE OF SWORDS. C.J. Cherryh points out in an Interzone interview, that F.L. had a wonderful talent for delivering the contents of his stories with such a sophisticated, slickness that you didn't know it was coming till it happened. One of the better examples of this quality is in the story, THE MOUSER GOES BELOW. There is a section where The Mouser is privy to a pain and pleasure scene between the rat-queen, Hisvet, and her two maids, threesie and foursie. At the climax to this, The Mouser, being highly stimulated by the action is accosted by Death's sister, Pain, who relieves him drop, by excruciating drop. It's the way that the Pain character is reintroduced from earlier, and then used within a switch of related contexts. The former being comically erotic, the latter, a piece of pure horror. Sequences such as this, clearly demonstrate why F.L. was such a highly awarded writer, as is detailed in the dust jacket.

My only gripe with this publication is the omission of the last few pages that ended THE CURSE OF THE SMALLS AND THE STARS in THE KNIGHT AND KNAVE OF SWORDS version, which I was familiar with. I think it would have been more complete with that addition, as it completes the story more agreeably, instead of leaving it slightly hanging.

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Fritz Leiber's Farewell to Lankhmar
Fritz Leiber
Manufacturer: White Wolf Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Lankhmar | Series | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000LOAQRM

Book Description

Jumbo Ghosts is about both the ancient and mysterious bond we have with elephants, and why/how we've broken that bond in our modern zoos.

Jumbo Ghosts is divided into three sections. Each chapter begins with bad news for elephants--followed by some good news. In the chapters in the first section, we look at the origins of our ancient and remarkable human-elephant bond--and at the origins of the dangers we've created for the elephants living in zoos.

In the second section, we take a detailed look at what makes life so dangerous for elephants living in modern zoos--and for the people working with them.

In the final section, we look at new ideas for 21st Century zoos that will eliminate all the dangers for elephants living in them, and that will permanently mend our broken bond with these old, gigantic friends of ours.

Customer Reviews:

Intriguing Life of Elephants in Zoos.......2002-08-05

This nonfiction book looks at the life of elephants in zoos. Since Dr. Schmidt was the zoo veterinarian of the Portland, Oregon, zoo for 25 years, he was entrusted with the health and well being of the herd of elephants that lived at the zoo.

Whatever your beliefs about animal rights, you will be interested to read about today's zoos. Dr. Schmidt traces the history of elephants used as tools of war and as laborers in the forests. He shows how the life of labor that these animals lived was more suitable to them than the lives they now lead in sterile, cramped cages in the zoo.

What are our responsibilities to these animals and how can we change their living conditions? There are no easy answers to these questions. This is a book that disturbs me. Will I continue to look for the answers? Perhaps. If you have thoughts about something that intrigues you, you may look into a book for the answer. However, I believe some books are written to ask important questions rather than to provide the answers.

Book Description

In Near a Thousand Tables, acclaimed food historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto tells the fascinating story of food as cultural as well as culinary history -- a window on the history of mankind.

In this "appetizingly provocative" (Los Angeles Times) book, he guides readers through the eight great revolutions in the world history of food: the origins of cooking, which set humankind on a course apart from other species; the ritualization of eating, which brought magic and meaning into people's relationship with what they ate; the inception of herding and the invention of agriculture, perhaps the two greatest revolutions of all; the rise of inequality, which led to the development of haute cuisine; the long-range trade in food which, practically alone, broke down cultural barriers; the ecological exchanges, which revolutionized the global distribution of plants and livestock; and, finally, the industrialization and globalization of mass-produced food.

From prehistoric snail "herding" to Roman banquets to Big Macs to genetically modified tomatoes, Near a Thousand Tables is a full-course meal of extraordinary narrative, brilliant insight, and fascinating explorations that will satisfy the hungriest of readers.

Amazon.com

How best to grasp food's place in history? Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto's Near a Thousand Tables places its beginnings in cooking, a social act that forges culture (and is perhaps responsible for it), then pursues it as a series of "revolutions"--from the inception of cooking, herding, and agriculture to food industrialization and, finally, modern globalization. Informatively dense yet spry and aphoristic, the book explores food as rite and magic (it "binds those who believe, brands those who don't"); the domestication of animals (snails are the world's oldest "cattle"); farming and food's use as an index of rank ("greatness goes with greatness of girth"--or at least it did); food's role in trade and cultural exchange (Tex-Mex cooking as a form of colonial miscegenation); and as a force in and for industrialization (canning as the cooking of the Industrial Revolution). In the end, we are brought to "the loneliness of the fast food eater" and the "desocializing" effect of microwave cooking and other forms of modern food manipulation that alienate us from the communal act that "made" culture. "Food gives pleasure," Fernández-Armesto writes, and "can change the eater for better or worse." He concludes, "the role of the next revolution will be to subvert the last."

This is a fascinating book that shows us ourselves: like the cannibal, who eats his enemy to appropriate his power, we believe in food's transformative effect, which through devotion to vegetarianism and other special diets will make us "better." It paints a picture both sweeping and precise. --Arthur Boehm

Customer Reviews:

amazon never delivered!.......2007-09-24

This is a great book although, amazon never delivered. I had ordered this book 2 weeks before school(along with 2 other books for school), it never came. Amazon said that i have an "undeliverable" address, but when i ordered it from ebay i got it in 3 dAys! Then i had to wait forever for a refund!

painfully boring.......2007-07-08

This book is painfully boring, which is quite an accomplishment, considering how exciting food can be. The author describes an oyster experience in the beginning that parallels Bourdain's opening for Kitchen Confidential, but after that, this book becomes bloodless. Where is the love? Many feel it at every meal. I'm not sure this is true for the author.

One gets the sense that food is not really important to this book other than as a commodity. Sheesh. He seems to miss the point... unless we should be viewing cannibalism as an important alternative to the menu at Chanterelle (the subject of eating human flesh gets 12 of 220+ pages). That's about 5% of the book's bulk, but it is indicative of the roundabout way Fernandez-Armesto takes to talk about something that impacts us, hopefully, three times a day.

Most remarkable to me is that the author is most animated when dissing vegetarianism. I consider "bacon-wrapped" to be the sweetest and best modifier in the English language; still, his dismissive approach to vegetarianism makes his arguments extremely suspect for me.

I would hate to be eating tapas across the table from Fernandez-Armesto. He could make pickled boquerones boring.

Interesting, but painfully biased.......2007-05-17

Near a Thousand Tables, subtitled A History of Food, is a very interesting, fairly well written (for an academic) book. The sections about the invention of cooking, food as rite and magic, the herding revolution, managing plant life for food, food and rank, food and the long range exchange of culture, food and ecological exchange, and food and industrialization in the 19th and 20th centuries are covered in depth and contain some interesting surprises. Unfortunately,the author is clearly biased, which seriously detracts from the book's value. For example, he tries (unsuccessfully) to compare vegans to cannibals with the arrogance too often found in academics. He writes that cannibalism is acceptable in many cases, whereas vegans and other "foodies" (his term) eat for spiritual reasons or (God forbid!) health and longevity: his link to cannibalism, since both have "meaning" beyond nourishment. If you can stomach this kind of extremely offensive, biased BS throughout, the book is worth reading.

Overwrought.......2006-05-18

I found this book as overdone and dry as a steak left in the broiler too long. What some reviewers call "erudite" I call boring, irrelevant, and stuffy. For example, the author devotes many pages to the topic of cannibalism, and he manages even to make this as boring as writing about boiled potatoes. Here's a sample from the cannibalism section: "Is it part of the histoire de l'alimentation - a feeding practice designed to supply eaters with protein? Or does it belong to the history of food, as presented in this chapter - a ritual practiced not for a meal but for its meaning, nourishment for more than material effect?" And that's one of the more livelier sentences. My history book club chose this book, but none of us could get past the second chapter. I'd rather eat this book than read it.

Solidly written book.......2005-07-21

This book seems to me a nice example of the new trend of "accessible history", along the lines of Mark Kurlansky's works. There are lots of endnotes to reference if you wish, but the author also makes the material accessible and allows some of his own opinions. Some chapters were a little dry for me, but in others you can feel the author's passion for food, especially in the chapter on "The Meaning of Eating", where he analyzes cannibals vs. vegetarians, and "Feeding the Giants" where he discusses the industrialization of food with current and future trends.

The author's organization of the history of food into revolutions worked very nice to me. Obviously there are a lot of different ways to look at a subject this broad, but this book provides a nice prospective when combined with other sources and more information. I am not an expert, but I felt that there really wasn't much new scholarship or amazing revelations, just a well-organized and well-researched story.

As a side-note, I enjoyed his system of endnotes. There are no subscripted numbers in the text to distract you. Instead, if there is a passage that you are interested in following the references, you go to the back of the book where the endnotes are listed by page number and the last two words of the passage being credited. It takes a minute to find the closest endnote, but I think it is worth it because I am not interested in following most endnotes.

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