Book Description
Bestselling author Charles Todd has earned a special place among mystery’s elite writers with his acclaimed series featuring Scotland Yard Inspector Ian Rutledge, a former soldier seeking to lay to rest the demons of his past in the aftermath of World War I. But that past bleeds into the present in a complex murder case that calls into question his own honor...and the crimes committed in the name of God, country, and righteous vengeance.
A Fearsome Doubt
In 1912 Ian Rutledge watched as a man was condemned to hang for the murders of elderly women. Rutledge helped gather the evidence that sent Ben Shaw to the gallows. And when justice was done, Rutledge closed the door on the case. But Shaw was not easily forgotten.
Now, seven years later, that grim trial returns in the form of Ben Shaw’s widow Nell, bringing Rutledge evidence she is convinced will prove her husband’s innocence. It’s a belief fraught with peril, threatening both Rutledge’s professional stature and his faith in his judgment. But there is a darker reason for Rutledge’s reluctance. Murder brings him back to Kent where, days earlier, he’d glimpsed an all-too-familiar face beyond the leaping flames of a bonfire. Soon an unexpected encounter revives the end of his own war, as the country prepares for a somber commemoration on the anniversary of the Armistice. To battle the unsettled past and the haunted present at the same time is an appalling mandate.
And the people around him? among them the attractive widow of a friend, a remarkable woman who survived the Great Indian Mutiny; a bitter, dying barrister; and a man whose name he never knew—unwittingly compete with the grieving Nell Shaw. They’ll demand more than Rutledge can give, unaware that he is already carrying the burden of shell shock? and the voice of Hamish MacLeod, the soldier he was forced to execute in the war. The killer in Marling is surprisingly adept at escaping detection. And Ben Shaw’s past is a tangle of unsettling secrets that may or may not be true. Rutledge must walk a tortuous line between two murderers...one reaching out to ruin him, the other driven to destroy him.
From the Hardcover edition.
Download Description
In 1912 Ian Rutledge watched as a man was condemned to hang for the murders of elderly women. Rutledge helped gather the evidence that sent Ben Shaw to the gallows. And when justice was done, Rutledge closed the door on the case. But Shaw was not easily forgotten. Now, seven years later, that grim trial returns in the form of Ben Shaw¿s widow Nell, bringing Rutledge evidence she is convinced will prove her husband¿s innocence. It¿s a belief fraught with peril, threatening both Rutledge¿s professional stature and his faith in his judgment. But there is a darker reason for Rutledge¿s reluctance. Murder brings him back to Kent where, days earlier, he¿d glimpsed an all-too-familiar face beyond the leaping flames of a bonfire. Soon an unexpected encounter revives the end of his own war, as the country prepares for a somber commemoration on the anniversary of the Armistice. To battle the unsettled past and the haunted present at the same time is an appalling mandate. And the people around him? among them the attractive widow of a friend, a remarkable woman who survived the Great Indian Mutiny; a bitter, dying barrister; and a man whose name he never knew¿unwittingly compete with the grieving Nell Shaw. They¿ll demand more than Rutledge can give, unaware that he is already carrying the burden of shell shock? and the voice of Hamish MacLeod, the soldier he was forced to execute in the war. The killer in Marling is surprisingly adept at escaping detection. And Ben Shaw¿s past is a tangle of unsettling secrets that may or may not be true. Rutledge must walk a tortuous line between two murderers...one reaching out to ruin him, the other driven to destroy him.
Customer Reviews:
Double duality.......2007-10-09
"A Fearsome Doubt: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery" by Charles Todd is superior storytelling. The characters are marvelously drawn. They come alive; you care about them. As for Inspector Ian Rutledge, you feel you are actually living in his life. His story line thread is a master lesson in flawless sequencing. The writing is outstandingly literate and intelligent.
"A Fearsome Doubt" is sixth among the ten titles Amazon lists in the "Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries," including one due in January 2008. Normally I like to read a coherent series in order. Happily, I read this one first and out of order -- and no one would make a mistake to do so -- because the book gives so much of Rutledge's crucial First World War experiences. For the rest of the series I'll likely revert to my old habit.
Throughout the book, those close to Rutledge, as one might expect, call him Ian. I'd have preferred the author to do likewise, since the character becomes so close and real to the reader. "Ian" is so much more personal and easy than "Rutledge." (Sorry, Charles Todd!) However, now I'll stick to the convention.
The story takes place in a single month, November of 1919, one year after the agreed upon Armistice of eleven o'clock in the morning, the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1918. The end of the war. Yet, for tens of thousands the war had ended earlier, with their deaths. Thousands more were gravely wounded, many losing limbs. Rutledge himself was mentally wounded, suffering Shell Shock (read Posttraumatic Stress Disorder -- PTSD).
Rutledge served as a British officer in the stinking, muddy trenches of the Front Line in France, facing the more extensive trenches of the Germans. Another British officer refused to sacrifice any more of his men to the withering fire of the enemy, refused to require them any longer to climb up over the top of the trench walls and charge suicidally across No Man's Land. Because of the disobedience, Rutledge regretfully had to order the execution of the officer by firing squad and to administer the coup de grâce.
The executed fellow officer was Hamish MacLeod [say M'cloud], a Scotsman, whose qualities and values Rutledge respected. All the killing was too much, Hamish's killing was too much. From then on, the dead Hamish lives on as a real presence for Rutledge and as a voice inside Rutledge's head, offering alternate observations, insights, and opinions about everything. Anyone might find this strange, yet this duality in the novel is highly desirable, effective, and even essential.
Which brings me to the duality of author Charles Todd. As anyone who has searched Amazon or Google would know, Charles Todd is the pseudonym of the mother and son team of Charles and Caroline Todd. They are American writers living on the eastern seaboard of the U.S. What their real first names are, along with the surname Todd, is open to question. As is where they live. When both appear at a book sale, each will sign "Charles Todd." If you wish to hear more about them, including interviews, happy searching to you.
Home from the war, Inspector Rutledge is back at his work at Scotland Yard, faced with another duality, one in his investigative life: The reopening of a pre-War case, in which Ben Shaw was convicted and hanged. Was justice done? And three murders in Kent County of veterans who each lost a leg in the war. Most unsettling to the rural villages. These cases raise serious doubts in Rutledge about his own sanity, his perceptions, his past and present judgment, his very ability to do his job.
If you seek more plot details, Amazon's Editorial Reviews are good. You've heard my own reactions to the book.
One final note: The Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries appear roughly one a year. Each book covers just one successive month in Rutledge's investigative life. November, as I've mentioned, is Doubt's month. The previous book would have been October, the following one, December. Over the many years of publication, this allows Rutledge to retain his appealing good looks and persona . . . and age slowly.
You think these guys aren't clever? You betcha! Happy reading.
It's a Fearsome Doubt of Whether the Todds Can Resurrect this Series.......2006-10-28
One of the hardest things for a mystery author to do is to keep a series fresh. This is especially difficutlt when you use a single character with an unusual twist and no ongoing secondary people. Except for his Chief Superintendent and the Desk Sargeant in London, Inspector Rutledge only has his 'nemesis' Hamish (his inward voice of a man he had shot for cowardice) along for more than a few paragraphs.
The two 'mysteries'in this volume have nothing to do with the "Doubt" which is as always in Rutledge's mind. It has been a year since the end of the Great War and he is still having problems coming to grips with what he saw during his time in the trenches in France. One would think that by now he would be getting better at moving on or going over the edge, you can only walk the tightrope between sanity and psychosis for so long.
The murder(s) themselves and the aftermaths that Inspector Rutledge is looking into, are well written and keep you trying to guess who the culprit could be...unfortunately, this time Todd has put in a few too many red herrings. The German officer, the wayward ex-soldier who is going blind, the old friend(s) of Rutledge's, and especially the 'mysterious' man from Leeds are nothing but will o' the wisps.
A good mystery should end with you thinking to yourself, "How did I miss that?", but "that" is never there until the last ten or fifteen pages. Unlike a TV show where you know the killer has to be one of the guest stars (or extra special guest star); the killer in Fearsome Doubt is so innocuous to the story to be almost invisible. It could just as easily have been 'Colonel Mustard in the Library with a Candlestick'.
Shudder dear reader along with Ian!.......2006-01-26
The mystery begins at a blazing Guy Fawkes bonfire, as Ian Rutledge - the brilliant but flawed Scotland Yard Inspector - is trying to have some time off from a hectic schedule of sleuthing. There in the center of a charming English village (is there any other kind of English village, dear reader?) the revels are interrupted by - what? A sudden glimpse of recognition! A face in the crowd, lighted by the leaping flames! It chills Rutledge to the bone!
Is it his War-stressed imagination playing tricks on him again - making memory seem a reality? Or is this the presence of evil itself? Shudder dear reader along with Ian. Then let the tale unfold!
Charles Todd has brought his famed and admired (and to his growing company of faithful readers, beloved) detective to a new crossroads. Till now, Ian Rutledge has never second-guessed his brilliant pre-War career. That, at least, has been on solid footing, even if his post-War life seems to be built on sinking sand. However, into his assurance of things past comes an amazingly persistent woman, Nell Shaw by name, who is seeking that justice be done for her family.
Before the War, Rutledge was instrumental in her husband's conviction of murder most foul. Now, Nell is like a dog with a bone, as she brings new evidence to light that casts a large measure of doubt across the pathway of Ian's past. Was the late Mr. Shaw the serial killer that he was found to be by due process of law and hanged as a result? Or was the man framed by the real killer, still at large?
What shall Ian do? Ignore or investigate? To ignore would keep his reputation and the Yard's on a solid footing. To investigate might put his own and his super's (that nemesis!) reputation in jeopardy. And how might that eerie face of the bonfire night figure in the unfolding drama?
Of course, Ian's ghostly companion Hamish is there to help with the investigations. From his usual corner of the backseat of Ian's car; he whispers hints and opinions galore. Hamish, you see, died on the battlefield of war and is not really there-just a figment of Ian's shell shocked mind. Or is he?
Throw into the mix some sad returned veterans of the war, who begin to die at an alarming rate around that charming English village, and you have another of these complex Ian Rutledge mysteries that seem to be two very independent crimes but may very well have some connection.
One hopes that the authors will ignore those voices who say that the plot device of Hamish as Ian's detecting assistant has become tiresome. Anyone who enjoys knowing how Jane Marple compares the intricacies of murder to the local gossip of St. Mary Meade, or who relishes Poirot's banter about the little grey cells with Hastings and Miss Lemon will be glad to see Ian and Hamish interact for...well, at least the next sixty years worth of books. This is a winning combination and Rutledge has so much psychological depth to offer as the stories unfold.
If you find this review helpful you might want to read some of my other reviews, including those on subjects ranging from biography to architecture, as well as religion and fiction
One of the most unique book series in recent years.......2005-05-02
The success or failure of this book hinges entirely on character of Inspector Ian Rutledge and the believability of his fractured, WWI brain wherein resides the voice of the Scottish soldier he killed for cowardice on the battlefield and who haunts him years after the war has ended. It is a fascinating device because Hamish, the dead soldier, gives the solitary Rutledge a foil whilst investigating crimes that are intriguing but not especially unique or compelling. It is the characters that drive the Ian Rutledge series of mysteries and, for me, the characters that bring me back time and again with no disappointment.
It turns out the Charles Todd is actually a nom de plume for a mother and son who write these books together. I believe that one or both of them is especially strong on research and setting a very vivid and thorough picture of England after the war. I've never felt any doubt about the look and feel of the London of the day or the villages wherein much of the action takes place and that goes for the Kent countryside, wherein this story takes place.
Part of this story is the investigation of the murder of three war veterans and part of the story revisits a pre-war investigation by Rutledge and others that resulted in a man being hanged for murder. When circumstances seem to point to the wrong man having been hanged, Rutledge is forced to examine his conscience, his methods, and his war-damaged memory for what might have been overlooked and what might have been misinterpreted in the case. Add to this the presence of his best friend's widow in all of the attendant action and you have a ripping good little mystery!
Doubting one's self as a cop is NOT good........2003-09-17
I always enjoy Charles Todd's mysteries. They are so well-written, and the history of the time period after WWI is so interesting. It's hard to realize in this day and age, with America's 'war' with Iraq, how lucky we are. We as a nation will not forget those who died over in Iraq, and whether we question the President's reason for going to war or not, Saddam had to be dealt with. What is important is the number of men (and women) now who have died in this war is so small compared to the thousands of boys who died in WWI. And those who came home, were many times mortally wounded in the mind, and spent their lives like that. This is not to glorify any war, or deny that families are hurting now, but we need to remind ourselves how nasty WWI was, with the trenches, mustard gas, sarin, and the mud. I can only pray that we never go back to the days of wars like that, or the Vietnam War, and that we value our men and women who gave so much now. Todd's writing is a good reminder of how absolutely horrid that war was, and how many people were hurt. England fought to recover from the loss of an entire generation of young men, and the way the war ended was by mutual truce...but also it left Germany in such a way as to make it ready for someone like Hitler.
Back then there was little understanding of 'shell-shock', or what is now known as post-traumatic stress disorder. These men were expected to come home and take up their lives as if nothing had happened, because so little was understood about the psychological impact of this nasty time period. That Rutledge has to deal with Hamish, a Scot he had to have shot because he refused to send young boys out to be killed on the basis of rich/powerful men behind the lines playing these guys like they were a board game...it is not that unbelieveable that Rutledge has this 'ghost' with him always.
In this case Rutledge is doing better. It's been a year since the truce, and all of the sudden a woman whose husband was hung prior to the war due to his committing murders...she comes to Rutledge with what she calls proof as to his innocence. The major charge against capital punishment is the fact that too many innocent men have been put on death row by prejudice or accident. Rutledge is horrified by the idea that he might have sent a man to his death who was innocent. This in connection with another set of murders in the present day (of 1919) of veterans of war, has Rutledge torn in different directions. The fact that he holds down his fear and doubt of himself, to successful get through to the truth in both cases, and deal with a German whose face he is familiar with and thought was dead, is indication that Rutledge is finally coping with his life after the war.
A good, intelligent read (which is often to hard to find nowdays...)
Karen Sadler
Product Description
Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Average customer rating:
- The best. These are the way stories should be.
|
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea: Science Fiction Stories
Ursula K. Le Guin
Manufacturer: Harper Prism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | 18th Century | 19th Century | 20th Century | African American | Asian American | Classics | Collections & Readers | Drama | General | Hispanic | History & Criticism | Humor | Jewish American | Letters & Correspondence | Native American | Poetry | Short Stories | Women Writers
LeGuin, Ursula K. | ( L ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Short Stories | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:
-
The Telling
ASIN: 0061052000 |
Customer Reviews:
The best. These are the way stories should be........2000-06-25
Le Guin's talent is diverse, but Science Fiction stories seem to be her best. And oh she is agile. This collection has everything. There's a small humorous story, a workshop story, an idea story, but finally there are the most important: the churten stories. Le Guin's Hainish universe has appeared in most of her other scifi novels, but these stories are probably the best. "The Shobies Story," "Dancing to Ganam" and "Another Story" (I think that's all) are all separate, but they all deal with 'churten,' Le Guin's brand of instantaneous travel. As usual, though, she doesn't focus on technology. She's a people writer, and the science is only there to bring out all of the psychological, emotional and spiritual questions with the characters. The title story, or "Another Story" is about a man who is caught in two places at once as a result of the churten. A delight to read. Each word is perfectly placed. Exquisite.
Book Description
The winner of the Pushcart Prize, the Kafka Award, and the National Book Award, Ursula K. Le Guin has created a profound and transformational literature. The award-winning stories in
A Fisherman of the Inland Sea range from the everyday to the outer limits of experience, where the quantum uncertainties of space and time are resolved only in the depths of the human heart. Astonishing in their diversity and power, they exhibit both the artistry of a major writer at the height of her powers and the humanity of a mature artist confronting the world with her gift of wonder still intact.
Customer Reviews:
the last story just stays with me.......2006-01-05
i like this whole anthology despite not generally being a fan of short stories. however, it is the last one (the title story) i find most haunting. i come back to it again and again.
Story, meaning, and community.......2005-04-17
This little book is what LeGuin calls a "story suite", a set of interconnected short stories with overlapping themes and characters. The connecting theme of Four Ways to Forgiveness is, no surprises here, forgiveness--specifically, forgiveness between men and women trapped in the evils of gender domination. The connecting theme of Fisherman is narrative--story as a way to organize reality, story as revelation, story as truth.
All of the stories in Four Ways are set in LeGuin's Hainish universe, or the Ekumen. This is not the case with Fisherman; the three longest stories are set in the Ekumenical universe, but there are other, shorter pieces, including several humorous ones. "The Ascent of the North Face" describes climbing a gigantic skyscraper as if it were Everest. "The First Contact with the Gorgonids" makes an unexpected heroine of a browbeaten wife. "The Kerastion" demonstrates what an inspired writer can do with a list of items generated at a workshop; it's a story about a musical instrument that makes no sound.
The three Ekumenical stories, include the title story, revolve around the invention of a new technology, churten theory. Hitherto LeGuin has obeyed Einstein in this universe; her spaceships travel Nearly As Fast As Light, but never faster. People who wish to travel between worlds must accept that a trip which seems to them to take four days may amount to four hundred years on their home planet. Now, however, the Cetian and Hainish physicists have come up with churten, which is instantaneous travel, transilience: from here to there in no interval, no time. LeGuin, as always, is interested in how people deal with the implications of such technology, rather than in how it works.
In "The Shobies' Story", the first group of people to travel by churten *as* a group deals with a chaotic experience of their trip by weaving a single coherent story. "Dancing to Ganam" is a classic story example of the unreliable narrator: What do you do when the hero you admire seems to be telling a story that makes no sense? Finally, my favorite story, "Another Story, or, A Fisherman of the Inland Sea", explores the problem of churten and the marriage arrangements of the people of the planet O, who marry by sedoretu, a bond between two men and two women.
"Another Story" is, I think, LeGuin's only time-travel story to date, and it is unlike any other time-travel story I've ever read. Hideo leaves the farmhold where he grew up, son of a Japanese woman who married into this ancient culture, to study churten theory on Hain and its neighboring planet of Ve. His one visit home makes him realize how much he has given up in order to do so; he is deeply shaken by seeing his germane Isidri, child of the other parents in the marriage, married but without children. After many years of study, he uses churten to travel from Hain to O and discovers he has gone back in time eighteen years; he has the opportunity to reclaim the life he gave up.
The title of the story is based on a traditional Japanese folktale which Hideo's mother used to tell, about a handsome young fisherman who spends a night with the Queen of the Sea and returns to his village four hundred years later. I read the same story as a child in one of my many fairy tale books, where it was called "Urashima and the Turtle". Urashima's magical experience of time dilation is the same as Hideo's mother's experience of it--the loss of all she held dear in her decision to work for the Ekumen. Churten is the overcoming of that loss, which requires the creation of a new story, another story, in order to understand the universe.
Once again, Le Guin offers new stories by which we can come to new understandings of our own universe.
Le Guin's imagination is always a pleasure.......2004-05-24
These eight stories run the gamut from whimsical to cautionary, most including elements of both.
The three last and longest deal with "churten" travel, which allows instantaneous space travel or "transilience." Le Guin makes no attempt to explain this in technological terms and all three stories explore the early, experimental phases of the churten.
The most interesting, "The Shobies' Story," concerns the pioneering churtenists. Initially, the experiment seems a success, if somewhat disorienting. But soon gaps in perception appear - events change according to who narrates them and in the face of this perceptual chaos the human psyche begins a panicky unraveling.
The most humorous story is "The First Contact With the Gorgonids" in which the ugly American meets the aliens and the grimmest is "The Kerastion," in which an artist's desire for permanence leads to tragedy. These are also the shortest.
Le Guin often deals with hubris. In "Newton's Sleep" a smugly rational man, driven to isolate his family from the pollution of Earth, is himself isolated by his inability to incorporate the irrational. In one of the churten stories, "Dancing to Ganam," a man's oversized vision of himself leads to a not entirely unexpected fate.
Le Guin's writing is, as always, fluid and evocative. While some stories are more predictable than others, each is a pleasure.
Read it if only for the last story.......2002-09-19
The final story in this book, "Another Story," is almost certainly my favorite short story ever, and I've read a lot of them. Her writing is wonderful, and a lot of the best elements of both her writing and usual themes come together wonderfully in the final story. The other ones are worth reading, too, but the final story stands on its own and is alone worth finding this book now that it is, sadly, out of print. (I found two copies in a bookstore's bargain stack 6 year ago, luckily for me!)
Find the book, and at least read the last story. It's truly wonderful.
Again and again.......2001-07-31
I finally bought this book after I checked it out from the library about once a month just to read the last story again. It is my favorite story of all time. The one story is worth the money. The others are OK and a few are fun. I would like to have just the last story in a smaller version.
Average customer rating:
- ANOTHER MASTERFUL COLLECTION FROM DOC IKE
- All stories either make you think or groan
- A Good Collection of Short Stories
|
The Winds of Change and Other Stories
Isaac Asimov
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
| 18th Century
| 19th Century
| 20th Century
| African American
| Asian American
| Classics
| Collections & Readers
| Drama
| General
| Hispanic
| History & Criticism
| Humor
| Jewish American
| Letters & Correspondence
| Native American
| Poetry
| Short Stories
| Women Writers
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Short Stories
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Hardcover
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Azazel
-
Robots and Empire
ASIN: 0385180993 |
Customer Reviews:
ANOTHER MASTERFUL COLLECTION FROM DOC IKE.......2007-01-29
"The Winds of Change...and Other Stories" is a 1983 collection of Isaac Asimov's latter-day short pieces; just one of the 506 books he came out with during the course of his incredibly prolific career. The 21 stories in this collection were, with two exceptions, written between 1976 and 1982, and all display the clarity of thought, wit and erudition that are the hallmarks of all of Doc Ike's work. Four of the stories in this collection--"About Nothing," "Death of a Foy," How It Happened" and "Sure Thing"--are short shorts, or "vignettes," as Asimov calls them. Most of these are mere setups to terrible puns; puns that do leave a goofy grin on the reader's face, however. "A Perfect Fit" presents us with a world in which computers are so ubiquitous that the poor individual who is computer illiterate is quite unable to function; a world, perhaps, not so distant from where we are today! In "Belief" (1953), a college professor discovers that he has mysteriously acquired the ability to levitate. The problems that attend his newfound power make up the basis for this consistently amusing tale. "Fair Exchange?" is a time-travel paradox story that shows off Asimov's love of the operettas of Gilbert & Sullivan. This compactly written story leads to a surprisingly tragic conclusion. In "For the Birds," a fashion designer is asked to construct wings for the residents of a low-gravity space settlement. His design solution for the inhabitants of the orbiting colony is both delightful and surprising, culminating in a wonderful final line. In "Found!," one of my favorite stories of the bunch, a man-and-woman team of computer technicians encounters an unknown space parasite whilst repairing the Earth-orbiting Computer-Two. This is a fairly creepy tale of first contact that ends on a distinct note of paranoia. Nice job, Doc Ike! "Good Taste," another of my faves, presents us with the Lunar-orbiting space colony of Gammer, and deals with an annual contest that determines which resident has come up with the year's finest fungal delicacy. Asimov throws in much background detail to make his story fleshed out and believable. "Ideas Die Hard" (1957) is a story that Asimov himself says (in his intro; he introduces ALL the stories in this book, incidentally) is dated. It concerns two astronauts who are making Earth's first voyage to the Moon, and the stresses, both physical and psychological, that they endure. Dated or not, I still enjoyed this one. "Ignition Point!" gives us a company of the future whose computer can write speeches guaranteed to "ignite" any audience. But things work a little too well, in this well-done and cautionary tale. "It Is Coming," another story of first contact, tells of an approaching alien ship, and how Earth's supercomputer, Multivac, assists in the looming crisis. It is a fairly suspenseful tale that also ends on an ominous note. "The Last Answer" is one of the more unusual stories of the bunch. Not sci-fi, it describes one man's experience in the afterlife, and even goes so far as to suggest what God's main intent is with us. Pretty intriguing stuff. "The Last Shuttle" is a very short tale, almost a mood piece, describing the feelings of the pilot of the last spaceship lifting off from an abandoned Earth. For what little it is, I suppose it's well done, but still, if fails to have much of an impact. The book rebounds in a big way with "Lest We Remember," a terrific story about a man who's injected with an experimental memory drug. As in "Belief," however, newfound abilities bring nothing but problems.... In "Nothing for Nothing," some interstellar space traders land on Earth during the Ice Age of 15,000 B.C. and discover that our world, primitive as it may be, still has something to barter. That the aliens would not be familiar with the Earth commodity is a bit hard to swallow, but still, the story is entertaining enough. The next two stories in the collection, "One Night of Song" and "The Smile That Loses," feature the inch-high spirit Azazel, whose further adventures Asimov detailed in the 1988 collection "Azazel." These are both highly amusing tales of the mischievous imp providing two Earthwomen with, respectively, the gift of superb voice and the present of a magical photograph. Fun stuff, indeed. "To Tell at a Glance" takes us back to "Good Taste"'s world of Gammer. This time, a young female tour guide must discern which of five guests is a Terran saboteur on the eve of Earth's "Tricentennial" (that's Asimov's word; we all know it should be "Tercentennial," right?). This one is reminiscent of the author's 1957 story "I'm in Marsport Without Hilda," and is an excellent piece of sci-fi/action/mystery writing. Another bravura job from Mr. Asimov. The collection concludes with the eponymous "The Winds of Change," the author's favorite of the bunch. It is, remarkably, basically a 14-page monologue in which a physics professor tells his two rivals how he has used time travel to exact a sort of revenge. It is an unusual story in both content and style, and ends on yet another note of warning. All in all, then, still another fine collection from one of science fiction's masters, showing us that, even in his latter years, Asimov's ability to spin an entertaining yarn was completely undiminished.
All stories either make you think or groan.......2004-08-24
Isaac Asimov was an excellent writer, with a range of coverage that no one else has ever achieved. This book is a collection of his science fiction short stories, and each is either thought provoking or good for a groan at the end. The first takes up less than a page and ends with one of the best/worst puns that you will ever encounter. The last story, where the title of the book is derived, is considered by Asimov to be the best in the collection. I disagree, considering it to be the worst. It is a blast at the Moral Majority movement, and while I have no real affection for them, the story does not deliver a real blow to their position. Twelve of the fourteen pages of the story are a constant dialogue by a member of the Moral Majority that is a harangue of his colleagues in the physics department. I lost interest about halfway through it.
The other stories are much better, with my favorite being "Found!" which is about an interstellar virus that attacks metallic objects. Sunlight is used as an energy source and the metal is used to reproduce. The viruses are damaging satellites and humans are sent to investigate why they are failing. What I found appealing about the story is that it is so plausible. So many stories about the arrival of life from outside the solar system are based on that life being intelligent. However, the evolutionary development of life dictates that primitive life is much more likely to be found, and would be much more capable of successfully traveling across interstellar distances. Therefore, it is more reasonable to believe that any life that manages to arrive at our planet would be a primitive form that feeds on sunlight and minerals, the two things that it will be more likely to find.
Overall, the stories are very good. My only other complaint is that some of them first appeared in other venues, which is where I read them for the first time.
A Good Collection of Short Stories.......2001-02-01
In this collection there are twenty-one short stories that run the gamut from humorous to profound. Included with the stories are small introductions by Isaac Asimov. Two of the stories, Belief and Ideas Die Hard, were written in the 1950's. The former is a charming story about a physicist who finds he can levitate. The latter is a good but self admitted out of date story about travel to the moon. The other nineteen stories were written in the late seventies and early eighties. They cover a variety of topics including alien traders, computer illiteracy, the creation of the universe, the last shuttle leaving earth, a clothes designer and much more. It's unreasonable to expect that you'll like every story in any collection of short stories. However, The Winds of Change has more hits than misses. I think fans of Asimov would enjoy this book.
Amazon.com
The American palate changes constantly. Who would have guessed that salsa would replace ketchup as our condiment of choice? Even so, home cooking hasn't caught up with many of the "new" dishes we've come to enjoy. Addressing that gap, Cooking New American offers 200 recipes from Fine Cooking, a magazine devoted to telling cooks "how-to" as well as offering simple, tasty formulas. The book's recipes, which cover the full dish range from "small bites" through desserts, are the work of 75-plus food authorities, such as Alice Waters (Garden Lettuces with Baked Goat Cheese); Pam Anderson (Broiled Chicken Thighs with Coriander Rub); Norman Van Aken (Grilled Tuna with Mango and Habanero Sauce); and Gale Gand (Chocolate Terrine with Whipped Cream and Almond Brittle). Despite a few taste lapses (a recipe with rosemary-flavored blue-cheese sauce, for example), and at least one doubtfully edited formula (readers are advised to serve grilled red onions with optionally garnished Bermuda onion-topped flank-steak), the formulas are overwhelmingly attractive--traditional and modern fare that's easily prepared.
It is, however, the instructional asides that make the book so valuable. From "Cooking Right" tips (for example, to get the right vegetable thickness for a zucchini dish, "press down hard on a Y-shaped peeler") to sections like "Just What Is a Mojo?", the book abounds in genuinely useful advice. These tips benefit from color photos that show, for instance, the various stages of sugar-syrup caramelization. Ingredient and cooking-ahead pointers, as well as sub-recipes like those for quick pan sauces, further enhance this winning collection. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
Cooking New American offers today's cooks everything they need to know to cook fresh, contemporary, and great-tasting food for family and friends. With Fine Cooking's most popular recipes by many of America's greatest chefs that include Bruce Aidells, Gale Gand, Caprial Pence, Alice Waters, and Joanne Weir, the book features fresh, delicious ingredients simply prepared, with all the tips and techniques to successfully prepare today's favorite foods. The 200 recipes selected by the editors of Fine Cooking deliver the fresh and bold flavors that have powered the American culinary revolution, yet all the ingredients are readily attainable at the supermarket. The range of recipes is exciting, but every dish is decidedly easy-to-prepare. With almost 400 step-by-step color photographs, an assortment of techniques, ingredients, tips from the pros, essays, preparation and serving tips, optional ingredients, shortcuts, recipe variations, and timesaving tips as well as ideas for cooking ahead and serving suggestions, Cooking New American is a private tutorial in preparing the kind of food that Americans truly love to eat.
Customer Reviews:
If I had to keep only three cookbooks from my collection, this would be one of them........2006-11-02
My friend and I went shopping at a local non-chain bookstore. She bought this book and I wound up buying something along the lines of Cooking for One. When we got home, we discovered we both liked the other's purchase better. We traded, and boy am I glad!
This book is full of very good *do-able* recipes. I personally like the variety they give you and all the recipes are especially good for both everyday cooking and for company. I work full-time, I am not a gourmet chef by any means, and most of these recipes can be easily done after work. A few I would delegate to weekends.
For an example of the variety: they give you a basic skinless boneless chicken breast pan-cooking recipe, then on the next page give you 5 or 6 pan sauce recipes (lemon caper, port cherry), which gives you great variety. They do the same thing with a basic pork recipe and 4 or 5 sauce examples to go with that. This is a great resource for a working person who loves flavor. You can't go wrong with this purchase.
Great Recipes.......2005-12-08
As a fan of Fine Cooking Magazine I was very happy to come across this cookbook. Everything I've tried thus far has been delicious and simple to create. East to read, good photographs, and no-nonsense recipes. Try the Sweet and Spicy Sticky Chicken, its my family's favorite.
Exellent.......2005-10-27
What I like about Cooking New American is that it is very visual-one to three pictures accompany every recipe. You almost cannot resist the temptation to start cooking once you open it. Various tips appear along the margine - most useful if you are a beginner. There are also "special topic" guides on vinaigrettes, sauces, etc. All recipes are elegant yet very doable. Highly recommend it.
Quick review for Cooking New American.......2005-08-15
Not only is the book beautiful to look at, but in spite of looking really fancy, the recipies and directions are easy to follow.
A Fabulous Cookbook.......2005-07-25
I received this cookbook as a present and have given it as a present to many people. I haven't had a failed recipe once. The instructions and quantities are clear and the sidebars with preparation tips are the best I've ever seen. I have committed to making at least one new dish a month. The risotto with corn, tomatoes & basil has become a staple at our house.
Books:
- A Harvest of Bones (Chintz'n China)
- A Little White Death
- A Morbid Taste for Bones: The First Chronicle of Brother Cadfael
- Acqua Alta
- Alpine for You : A Passport to Peril Mystery
- Better Off Wed: An Annabelle Archer Mystery
- Blessed Is The Busybody (Ministry Is Murder Mystery)
- Blind Descent:: An Anna Pigeon Mystery (Anna Pigeon Mysteries)
- Blood from a Stone (Commissario Guido Brunetti Mysteries)
- Blueberry Muffin Murder (Hannah Swensen Mysteries)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Swords Around a Throne: Napoleon's Grand Armee
- Live from Death Row
- History: Fiction or Science
- Global Climate Change and Cold Regions Ecosystems
- History: Fiction or Science
- Martingale Methods in Financial Modelling
- Manifold Destiny: The One! The Only! Guide to Cooking on Your Car Engine!
- AIA Guide to New York City
- George Washington Smith: An Architect's Scrapbook
- The Two Sams: Ghost Stories
Watchers of Time: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Novel
Legacy of the Dead (Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries)
Search the Dark (An Ian Rutledge Mystery)
A Cold Treachery
Wings of Fire (An Ian Rutledge Mystery)
