Serious Girls: A Novel

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Genius

Mesmerizing and intense

Serious Girls, Serious Novel

Nicely written and compelling, but not exactly original

Teenage Intimacy

Serious Girls: A Novel
Maxine Swann
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0312288018
Release Date: 2004-11-11

Book Description

Sixteen year olds Maya and Roe form an intense friendship when they find themselves cast as outsiders at an all girls boarding school. Sharing their life stories, and curiosity about the adult world, they wonder how they might become "people" with style and character as opposed to school girls. When they move beyond the enclosed world of the school to experience the city, and relationships with men, both girls test the line between an emerging sense of self and its total disintegration.

Customer Reviews:

Genius.......2004-10-05

Maxine Swann creates an intriguing world in her first novel. Her prose is expressive, enlightening, and deeply though-provoking. This is an incredible story. Swann opens up a new world for her readers. She is a brilliant writer.
A MUST-READ!!

Mesmerizing and intense.......2004-03-25

An intriguing novel of two young girls as they struggle to fit into boarding school and wait for "life to begin"...tand all the complexities that come with that assumption. Their maturation process and discovery of the outside world and sexual awakening is written with brutal honesty and exacting words that made it eerily painful but beautiful to read certain passages.

Serious Girls, Serious Novel.......2004-02-11

It is a great pleasure to read a first novel that is as lucidly and unprentiously written as Maxine Swann's. It is vivid and thoughtful. It's main characters are full of the intellectual and sexual energy that we associate with that time in in our lives when almost every adventure is new.

Nicely written and compelling, but not exactly original.......2004-01-21

It should be noted that Swann is working within a French tradition (she has a master's degree in French literature & lived in Paris for a number of years). The French influence is obvious: this book owes much to The Lover by Marguerite Duras and to the novels of Jean Rhys (British, but living in Paris). Compare deflowering scenes in The Lover and Serious Girls and you'll see. Not that writing within an established style is bad, but keep in mind that this novel is not "entirely original."

Teenage Intimacy.......2004-01-05

Maxine Swann's first novel flows with the rhythms of the young central character, Maya. She has spent years with her books and thoughts, but finds herself at boarding school aching for life to begin. Maya opens up to a like-minded friend at school and they share their fears, insecurities and philosophical wonderings with each other. They loose their detached coolness and clear headedness when their quest for life experiences delivers them boyfriends. Ms. Swann's style is sublime and beautiful as she leads us from quiet thoughtfulness into new adventures and through psychological unrest. What strikes me the most is how much more intimate the girls are with each other (no, not physically) than they are with their boyfriends (yes, physically). It's a wonderful journey that rings true.

Presumptuous girls: Women and their world in the serious woman's novel

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Presumptuous girls: Women and their world in the serious woman's novel
Anthea Zeman
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Presumptious Girls, Women and there World in the serious woman's novel,

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Presumptious Girls, Women and there World in the serious woman's novel,
Anthea Zeman.:
Manufacturer: Weidenfeld and Nicolson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORHAS4

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Serious Girls: A Novel
Maxine Swann
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTN9R8

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CONAN THE SWORDSMAN
L. Sprague (decamp;) Carter, Lin; Nyberg, Bjorn; Offutt, Andrew J.; Wagner, Karle Edward; Anderson, Poul (re: Robert E. Howard) de Camp
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0553227270

Average customer rating:

Super Reader

Howard Fans Will Enjoy This Homage To The Master

strong anthology reprinting legendary 1970s-1980s tales
The Swordsman (The Authorized New Adventures of Robert E. Howard's Conan, Book 1)
L. Sprague De Camp , Lin Carter , Björn Nyberg , Tim Kirk , and Darrel Greene
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0553120182

Book Description

Imagine a world of gods and demons, where men are warriors, women are beautiful, life is a fantastic adventure, and the fate of kingdoms balances on the bloody blade of a fabulous hero: Conan of the iron thews, the blue-eyed barbarian giant who towers above the savage Hyborian world.For the very first time in trade, this is the work that re-launched Conan in both the 1970s and 80s, back in print after more than a decade. Come live the adventure again.

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-08-02

This book includes these pastiche stories, de Camp, Carter and Nyberg in various combinations :

Legions of the Dead
The People of the Summit
Shadows in the Dark
The Star of Khorala
The Gem in the Tower
The Ivory Goddess
Moon of Blood

and also a piece by De Camp on the naming strategies that Howard used in his work, and also gives an dictionary style listing of them, and where they are used.

A young Conan is fighting in the North, and against the Witchmen. He rescues his jarl's daughter from captivity, but the Queen sends an undead band of their former warriors to stop them. He manages to get the girl to freedom before being taken captive.

3 out of 5

Conan and companions are attacked by weird apes with ropes, killing one of them. He fakes being strangled, and is drawn up to the remants of a strange people with no irises. He manages to save the girl, and kill the many legged monster.

2.5 out of 5

After Black Colossus, Conan is still serving Yasmela. Not servicing her enough is his problem, even though he has a general. She is too busy with the duties of a queen. If Conan can get her captive brother back, this may change.

After betrayal by a travelling companion and rescue of the king, who doesn't think much of a barbarian in the family, and offers Conan a lesser post. Conan takes money in payment, and starts to go back. He changes his mind, and decides to leave, and seek adventure elsewhere.

3 out of 5

After Shadows in Zamboula, Conan arrives in Ophir. He sees things are not right, and soon finds out why. The king and others plot against the queen, and problems abound. Conan rescues the female noble head, but ends up under siege.

No mean shot with an arbalest, the queen uses the Star of Khorala to summon aid, allowing Conan, the Guard Captain and herself freedom. She leaves for Aquilonia with her military man, and Conan goes on his way.

3.5 out of 5

Following Drums in Tombalku, Conan ends up serving under another Captain. One night, he dreams of a bat-man, only to awaken and find he is real, the product of a dead sorcerer.

3 out of 5

Conan is still travelling with the actress Muriela after Jewels in Gwahlur. He thinks that her skills could be put to use in a similar scam.

However, an actual goddess has a suse for her body in a lot more pragmatic a manner than impersonation.

She spares the Cimmerian and says she will look after the girl when she is finished.

3.5 out of 5

Conan is still beyond the Black River, fighting the Picts with the Aquilonians. Serpent sorcery and a traitorous General are causing lots of problems.

Conan's axework and fast thinking puts paid to this, and gets him a promotion.

In fact, he does so much damage with the aforementioned weapon that both Kull and Druss the Legend would be more than a little impressed.

4 out of 5

Howard Fans Will Enjoy This Homage To The Master.......2006-07-20

Though nothing compares to Robert E. Howard's original Conan stories, these additions to the canon by Carter and de Camp and Nyberg are welcome newcomers to the mythology. Those unfamiliar with Conan should begin by reading the originals-- several good editions now exist of Howard's seminal stories. Once competed, there are lots of these volumes of stories based on the originals, and this is among the best. de Camp and Carter have a real flair for mimicking Howard, and they clearly revel in the fun of creating new fixes for the barbarian to escape from.

The book also includes a nearly 70-page (!) addendum with all the names Howard made up in his stories, everything from Abdashtarth to Zyras, with notes from de Camp on their derivation. Fun stuff for fans!

strong anthology reprinting legendary 1970s-1980s tales.......2002-11-20

CONAN THE SWORDSMAN, the latest reprint of the now legendary 1970s-1980s Conan revival, is a marvelous short story collection. Each story holds its own with the overall Conan mythos and most add depth to the celebrated character and his world. The delightful eight stories are well written with each tale co-authored by L. Sprague de Camp (had to be a Howard clone) with either Lin Carter or Bjorn Nyberg. Especially good is "Legions of the Dead" that Robert E. Howard would have believed he authored because it reads so much like his original works. Equally fascinating to readers is a seven-page essay that provides plenty of insight into Conan and his world as well as Robert E. Howard from the late L. Sprague de Camp's perspective. Fans of Conan will want to read this wonderful anthology that showcases one of fantasy's most endearing and enduring protagonists.

Harriet Klausner

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3 PBs: Conan the Swordsman, the Freebooter, the Adventurer (Conan)
Robert E. Howard L. Sprague De Camp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WMJCLO

Product Description

Paperbacks

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Conan The Swordsman

Manufacturer: Sphere
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000G9RI82

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Conan The Swordsman
L Sprague De Camp Lin Carter And Bjorn Nyberg
Manufacturer: Sphere
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UJLFYQ

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Conan the Swordsman
L Sprague, and Lin Carter and Bjorn Nyberg De Camp
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RUYBIK

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Conan the Swordsman
LSprague De Camp
Manufacturer: Orbit
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Conan the Swordsman
L. Sprague; CARTER, Lin; NYBERG, Bjorn DE CAMP
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000KPAIFC

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CONAN THE SWORDSMAN (CONAN)

Manufacturer: BANTAM BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 055320582X

Product Description

BOOK SHOWS TWO DIFFERENT ISBNS

The Swordsman (Conan the Barbarian Ser., No. 13)

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The Swordsman (Conan the Barbarian Ser., No. 13)
L. Sprague; Carter, Lin; Nyberg, Bjorn de Camp
Manufacturer: Ace
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000LR8MB6

Book Description

There are seven billion-plus humans crowding the surface of 21st century Earth. It is an age of intelligent computers, mass-market psychedelic drugs, politics conducted by assassination, scientists who burn incense to appease volcanoes ... all the hysteria of a dangerously overcrowded world, portrayed in a dazzlingly inventive style.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

Black dude and trend spotter delve into politics and power.

Two roommates in a crazy world. Well, basically rather just like this, given it was supposed to be set around now. One's a climber, one's a spook in waiting with a talent for putting things together. When a small country needs some outside help, they get in way deep as far as the sordid secrets go.

My favorite book of all time.......2007-01-27

I've read and re-read this book more times than I can remember now. I've never quite tried to quantify exactly what it is about this book that I like. I just know that it's my favorite and leave it at that. Stand on Zanzibar might be a bit off-putting to a new reader. The book's pseudo-hipster language and invented pop-culture feel very much like a product of the 1960's to me. The novel's format can be confusing at first also. Stick with it, though. You will not regret it.

Still a page turner.......2006-11-16

Though this was written in 1968 I only got around to reading it this year (2006). Reviewers that complain the book is in some parts dated may be technically correct but those few details don't spoil the pleasure of reading this engaging novel. I had not read SF for a number of years and wanted to find classics that I had missed. I am glad I found this one! Very satisfying. Now I need to read another of Brunner's that is highly recommended- Sheep Look Up.

Hoilds Up Well as a alternet present in 2005.......2006-04-27

This and his "The Sheep Look Up" done as near future historys at the time, hold up well as "Days of Future Past" style concepts now.
My copy is falling apart after rereads and I am repurchiseing.

A favorite from previous decades.......2005-03-06

I've always loved this novel's "kit of parts" approach and the way that it forces you to engage with it. To the more detailed reviews, I would add that "Stand on Zanzibar" is one of those novels like "A Confederacy of Dunces" and "Love in the Time of Cholera" that suck you into an interesting tale told with wild imagination - until the end, when you find it was all a kind of setup for the last lines, which flower in your mind in a way that you cannot forget. This one has one of the best lines of closing monolog, a sardonic one-liner that perfectly complements the events that precede it.

Although some may think that there is some kind of contest for SF authors to get the future exactly right, Brunner definitely hits a home run in terms of describing a future that includes sudden, despair-driven violence, gross inequities in wealth, corporations with more political power than individual nations, conservative news outlets that take gross advantage of the prejudices and insecurities of the "little guy," etc., etc.

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Stand on Zanzibar

Manufacturer: Ballentine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0345254864

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Stand at Zanzibar
John Brunner
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J2EMJO

Stand on Zanzibar (Science Fiction Book Club 50th Anniversary Collection)

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Stand on Zanzibar (Science Fiction Book Club 50th Anniversary Collection)

Manufacturer: Science Fiction Book Club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739445936

Product Description

A special edition of Brunner's 1968 novel.

7 Titles By John Brunner : The Long Result - The Squares of the City - Out of My Mind - Stand on Zanzibar - Double, Double - The Sheep Look Up -The Shockwave Rider

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7 Titles By John Brunner : The Long Result - The Squares of the City - Out of My Mind - Stand on Zanzibar - Double, Double - The Sheep Look Up -The Shockwave Rider
John Brunner
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000TGPWBM

Product Description

multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.

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Stand On Zanzibar
Brunner John
Manufacturer: Doubleday & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIHWCQ

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Stand on Zanzibar

Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0345027582

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Stand on Zanzibar
John Brunner
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: B000NPS9V4

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Stand On Zanzibar
John Brunner
Manufacturer: Ballantine Pb
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MZVEUI

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Stand on Zanzibar
John Brunner
Manufacturer: Ballanttne
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K8CO42

Product Description

Never read; book store stamp inside front cover

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the best of my 45

Fantastic Resource!

Great resource!

an instant classic!

Missing common vegetables

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference: 500 Recipes, 275 Photographs
Elizabeth Schneider
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

History | Gastronomy | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Reference | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Vegetables | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Cooking, Food & Wine | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Herbs & Spices: The Cook's Reference

ASIN: 0688152600
Release Date: 2001-12-04

Book Description

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference is at once an encyclopedia, a produce market manual, and a treasure trove of recipes. With produce specialist Elizabeth Schneider as your guide, take a seed-to-table voyage with more than 350 vegetables, both exotic and common. Discover lively newcomers to the North American cornucopia and rediscover classic favorites in surprising new guises.

In this timely reference, Elizabeth Schneider divulges the secrets of the vegetable kingdom, sharing a lifetime of scholarly sleuthing and culinary experience. In her capable hands, unfamiliar vegetables such as amaranth become as familiar as zucchini -- while zucchini turns out to be more intriguing than you ever imagined.

Each encyclopedic entry includes a full-color identification photo, common and botanical names, and an engaging vegetable "biography" that distills the knowledge of hundreds of authorities in dozens of fields -- scientists, growers, produce distributors, and chefs among them.

Practical sections describe availability, selection, storage, preparation, and basic general use. Finally, the author's fresh contemporary recipes reveal the essence of each vegetable and a culinary sensibility that food magazine and cookbook readers have trusted for thirty years. Each entry concludes with a special "Pros Propose" section -- spectacularly innovative recipes suggested by professional chefs.

Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini: The Essential Reference is an indispensable resource for home cooks, food professionals, gardeners, information seekers, and anyone who simply enjoys good reading.

Amazon.com

Elizabeth Schneider's Uncommon Fruits and Vegetables set a standard for exact yet lively investigation. Vegetables from Amaranth to Zucchini follows in her earlier book's footsteps to create a compelling guide to 350 common and exotic vegetables. This seed-to-table exploration does more, however. In addition to its usefulness as a reference work (vegetables are, for example, listed by their market, botanical, and common names), the book offers 500 up-to-the-minute recipes--such as Shredded Yellow Squash with Garlic Chives and Baked Sweet Potato-Apple Puree with Horseradish--valuable advice on seasonality and selection, multiple-method cooking instructions, and color photos of all the entries that make market identification a breeze.

Interested in amaranth? Find its entry and discover, first, the magenta-veined plant's common aliases (among them, the Caribbean callaloo, the Indian bhaji, and the Korean namul); an engaging vegetable biography that distills information from many fields (for example, the Greeks thought amaranth immortal); information on selection, storage, and preparation (use the vegetable's tiniest leaves for salads; steam, braise, or sauté the larger "with garlic, shallots, tomato dice, and a touch of chilies"); and full-dress recipes (such as Garlicky Sauté of Amaranth and Tomatoes, Cuban Style). A final section, called Pros Propose, offers recipe sketches from cooking experts, like Paula Wolfert's Amaranth and Sheep's Milk Cheese. This lucid organizational scheme, common to all the entries, and Schneider's expert handling of it, promote a full yet relaxed familiarization with the selected vegetables. This is one of those few books that most cooks will want, as well as need, to own. --Arthur Boehm

Customer Reviews:

the best of my 45.......2007-09-11

As an avid vegetable gardener I buy every cookbook on vegetables that comes along, and find (somewhat to my embarrassment) that I now have 45 of them. This is the one that I haul out most often and that I turn to over and over for ideas. Like many other readers, I wish that Ms. Schneider would reissue it with the commonest vegetables included, but other than that it's perfect. I particularly like the free-flowing section that follows the recipes for each vegetable, in which the author gives sketchy outlines of other dishes using that vegetable. Many of my most successful cooking experiments have been triggered by these undetailed, one-cook-to-another sections that give the gist of a dish rather than nailing it down.

Fantastic Resource!.......2007-05-08

Other reviewers have said it all. This is truly a fantastic resource. Get it now!

Great resource!.......2007-03-26

This book is huge, glossy pages, an intense collection of veggie info and recipes (not all raw or even vegan) from food workers of many varieties. It includes direct quotes from famous chefs, lots of photos, and tons of information that to enhance ones knowledge about specific vegetables. It's focus is practical information about processing and storing vegetables for eating, although it also includes interesting historical and nutritional facts (for example some avocados have more fat than others, some more water...)

This book really is a treasure and is used by professional chefs.

an instant classic!.......2007-01-02

This is the best reference book on vegetables I know; an invaluable resource that all food or garden enthusiasts should have on their shelves for ready use.The illustrative recipes are excellent. I certainly consider Elizabeth Schneider to be one of the country's top food writers.
Renee Shepherd

Missing common vegetables.......2006-08-13

This book has excellent information on less common vegetables. However, if you are interested in similar information on vegetables that are used on a daily basis, this is not the book for you. Some of the common vegetables missing from this book are tomatoes, corn, spinach, bell peppers, broccoli, celery, and garlic.

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