Lullaby Town

Book Description

Hollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America. It's the kind of case Cole can handle in his sleep -- until it turns out to be a nightmare. For when Cole finds Nelson's wife in a small Conneticut town, she's nothing like what he expects. The lady has some unwanted -- and very nasty -- mob connections, which means Elvis could be opening the East Coast branch of his P.I. office . . .at the bottom of the Hudson River.

Customer Reviews:

Great book.......2007-01-23

I have recently become a Crais fan and I could not put this one down. The hero, Cole, is called upon by a rich yet annoying film director to locate his estranged wife and son. However, the more he finds out about the ex-wife, the more dangerous his mission becomes and he then has to enlist his old friend, Pike, to keep him out of harm's way. Definitely a good book with strong dialogue.

Formula Crais.......2006-09-02

I'm a Crais fan but sometimes I wonder why. His books are strictly formulaic in that they follow a pattern. They are so formulaic that they all seem the same. Crais indulges in too many plot cliches (there always seems to be a convenient coffee shop across the street from a place Cole is watching, with a perfect view of the target building's front door and where Cole can sit for several hours sipping coffee, waiting for the bad guy to exit.) Plot twists and turns often strain credulity. I dunno. I guess I like reading about Cole and Pike and the plot thesis is often creative. But the devil is in the development and that, I feel, is where Crais often falls down.

Excelent Read.......2006-08-26

I've read this book as well as the rest of the Elvis Cole series. They are witty and entertaining. It is very easy to become involved with the characters. Elvis Cole is a caring individual who has a witty way of looking at things. Even his cat is funny. Joe Pike, his partner in the detective agency, is straight as an arrow. He can't even smile, his lip just quivers. Each Elvis Cole book in the series seems to be a little better then the one before. I'm totaly hooked on this series. I also recommend Harlan Coben and his Myron Bolitar series. I have read all of Harlan Coben's books. In the process of ordering his books, Robert Crais was recommended to me as an alternative to Harlan Coben and the Myron Bolitar series. This is why I'm reading Robert Crais and I'm hooked. Buy the whole Elvis Cole series. You won't regret it.

FANTASTIC, Quite the page turner!.......2006-06-07

I really loved this book! It's my second Elvis Cole and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest in the series. It starts out as a mundane assignment that turns ugly, early. Cole and his partner, Pike, are ever on the job and the twists and turns of the book are done with great skill and there are lots of them. Very plausible reasons for every death, none of those unbelievable deaths here (you know the kind, as a reader, you think, now who would kill someone for THAT reason?)! True, there was a lot of violence. I just felt as if I was there with them, scared with them (OK they don't GET scared, but you know...). I could NOT put it down (once I got to the middle), and I almost never say that, I just sat riveted to my seat. Outstanding, excellent! Wonderful.

Fair to Middling.......2005-10-04

If you've read several of the Elvis Cole adventures by Robert Crais, you know by now that they all follow a predictable pattern; Elvis and his partner Joe Pike investigate a mystery for several hundred pages, then the book always ends with a big, bloody shoot-out. Lullaby Town is no exception, but it's hampered by flaws that aren't seen in Crais's earlier books.

The main flaw here is pacing. Cole is hired to find the ex-wife and child of a famous Hollywood director. The trail leads him to a sleepy little town out in the middle fo nowhere, in which Cole spends a fair amount of time doing basically nothing and feeling pretty bored. This boredom seeps from the pages and infects the reader as well; the first half of the book is so slow and laborious that I found myself skimming large portions, something that I normally never do. Cole is such a likeable character and his sense of humor is so endearing that I managed to struggle through those first 150 pages or so, and the pace in the second half of the book was definitely faster even if the plotline was as predictable as snow in the wintertime.

The bottom line? Read it if you're a Robert Crais fan and you're going through the whole Elvis Cole series in order, but don't expect to have your socks knocked off.

Robert Crais CD Collection 2: The Monkey's Raincoat, Stalking the Angel, Lullaby Town (Elvis Cole)

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Robert Crais CD Collection 2: The Monkey's Raincoat, Stalking the Angel, Lullaby Town (Elvis Cole)
Robert Crais
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio on CD
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Hard-Boiled | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1423316827
Release Date: 2006-12-29

Book Description

The Monkey's Raincoat:
When Ellen Lang's husband disappears with their son, she hires Elvis Cole to track him down. All she wants is to get him and her son back - no questions asked. The search for Ellen's errant husband leads Elvis into the seamier side of Hollywood. At the same time the police find Mort in his parked car with four gunshots in his chest - and no kid in sight - Ellen disappears. Now nothing is what it seems, and the heat is on.

Stalking the Angel:
Hired by a hotel magnate to locate a priceless Japanese manuscript, L.A. private eye Elvis Cole encounters the notorious Yakuza, the Japanese mob, and is drawn into a game of sexual obsession, amorality, and evil.

Lullaby Town:
Hollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America. It's the kind of case Cole can handle in his sleep - until it turns out to be a nightmare.

Robert Crais Collection: Monkey's Raincoat, Free Fall, Lullaby Town (Elvis Cole)

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Robert Crais Collection: Monkey's Raincoat, Free Fall, Lullaby Town (Elvis Cole)
Robert Crais
Manufacturer: Brilliance Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1590865383
Release Date: 2003-02-10

Book Description

THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT
Read by David Stuart (Joyce Bean, Russell Byers)

When Ellen Lang's husband disappears with their son, she hires Elvis Cole to track him down. The search for Ellen's errant husband leads Elvis into the seamier side of Hollywood. He soon learns that Mort Lang is a down-on-his-luck talent agent who associates with a schlocky movie producer, and the last place he was spotted was at a party thrown by a famous and very well-connected ex-Matador. But no one has seen him since - including his B-movie girlfriend. At the same time the police find Mort in his parked car with four gunshots in his chest - and no kid in sight - Ellen disappears. Now nothing is what it seems, and the heat is on. It's up to Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike to find the connection between sleazy Hollywood players and an ex-Matador.

FREE FALL
Read by James Daniels (Sandra Burr, Jill Sovis)

Elvis Cole is just a detective who can't say no, especially to a girl in a terrible fix. And Jennifer Sheridan qualifies: Her fiance, Mark Thurman, is a decorated LA cop with an elite plainclothes unit, but Jennifer's sure he's in trouble - the kind of serious trouble that only Elvis Cole can help him out of. Five minutes after his new client leaves his office, Elvis and his partner, the enigmatic Joe Pike, are hip-deep in a deadly situation as they plummet into a world of South Central gangs, corrupt cops, and conspiracies of silence. And before the case is through, every cop in the LAPD will be gunning for a pair of escaped armed-and-dangerous killers - Elvis Cole and Joe Pike.

LULLABY TOWN
Read by James Daniels (Joyce Bean, Russell Byers)

Hollywood's newest wunderkind is Peter Alan Nelson, the brilliant, erratic director known as the King of Adventure. His films make billions, but his manners make enemies. What the boy king wants, he gets, and what Nelson wants is for Elvis to comb the country for the airhead wife and infant child the film-school flunkout dumped en route to becoming the third biggest filmmaker in America. It's the kind of case Cole can handle in his sleep - until it turns out to be a nightmare. For when Cole finds Nelson's wife in a small Conneticut town, she's nothing like what he expects. The lady has some unwanted - and very nasty - mob connections, which means Elvis could be opening the East Coast branch of his P.I. office . . .at the bottom of the Hudson River.

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City Lullaby
Marilyn Singer
Manufacturer: Clarion Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 061860703X

Book Description

City noise is nothing but a lullaby for Baby. Ice cream truck jing-a-linging Nine phones ringing, ten horns beeping In the stroller Baby's sleeping Will anything wake up that snoozing baby? Follow the red stroller through the cacophony of the city and find out! Rhythm, rhyme, and lots of noisy onomatopoeia from premier children's poet Marilyn Singer, coupled with chaotic, colourful art from an acclaimed European illustrator, make this a rowdy read-aloud, with plenty of things to find and count on every spread.

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Honey Town ( lullaby in Dialect )
Stanley F. Widener
Manufacturer: Theo Presser, Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NZCT0G

5 Titles By Crais - Hostage - Two Minute Rule - (3 Titles in Elvis Cole Series): Free Fall - Lullaby Town - Voodoo River

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5 Titles By Crais - Hostage - Two Minute Rule - (3 Titles in Elvis Cole Series): Free Fall - Lullaby Town - Voodoo River
Robert Crais
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000QGZF2G

Product Description

Multiple books shipped as one item. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.

Elvis Cole Series: The Monkey's Raincoat, Stalking the Angel, Lullaby Town, Free Fall, Voodoo River, Sunset Express, Indigo Slam, L. A. Requiem, The Last Detective, The Forgotten Man (Complete Set 1 - 10)

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Elvis Cole Series: The Monkey's Raincoat, Stalking the Angel, Lullaby Town, Free Fall, Voodoo River, Sunset Express, Indigo Slam, L. A. Requiem, The Last Detective, The Forgotten Man (Complete Set 1 - 10)
Robert Crais
Manufacturer: Ballantine
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Reader's Digest : Pennies on a Dead Woman's Eyes; A Death in Paris, A Fatal Attachment; Lullaby Town (Reader's Digest Mystery & Intrque:, Volume 3)

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Reader's Digest : Pennies on a Dead Woman's Eyes; A Death in Paris, A Fatal Attachment; Lullaby Town (Reader's Digest Mystery & Intrque:, Volume 3)

Manufacturer: Reader's Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Product Description

Four books in one

Set of Five (5) Titles in the Elvis Cole Series: (1) The Monkey's Raincoat; (2) Stalking the Angel; (3) Lullaby Town; (4) L.A. Requiem; (5) The Last Detective

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Set of Five (5) Titles in the Elvis Cole Series: (1) The Monkey's Raincoat; (2) Stalking the Angel; (3) Lullaby Town; (4) L.A. Requiem; (5) The Last Detective
Robert Crais
Manufacturer: Various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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A magical journey that will be different each time you read it

The Human History of an Island

Dare to Dream

Where is desdeDesdemona

Island lovers unite
The Dream Antilles
David Seth Michaels
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0595357857

Book Description

David Seth Michaels's magical, utopian novel The Dream Antilles explores desde Desdemona, a secret Caribbean island that submerges at each high tide. For decades, the locals have lived on the island in tree houses. With humor, wit, compassion, and spirit, they ward off repeated threats to their privacy from the outside world, even as they integrate two newcomers into their community who themselves could easily betray the island's secrets.

The island's treasures are many. Its existence, location, and massive disinformation campaign, combined with its long and mysterious connections with a pod of dolphins and the Great Mother turtle, make desde Desdemona vulnerable to destruction if discovered. The island also has an unusual relationship with time. But it is the community of traditional plant healers and the magical teachings of Swamiji, its trickster spiritual teacher, that truly must be safeguarded.

The Dream Antilles stands in delightful and hopeful contrast to the blandness and predictability of the everyday world. You will return to the island of desde Desdemona for refreshment over and over again.

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Customer Reviews:

A magical journey that will be different each time you read it.......2005-11-29

I felt my body, mind and spirit deeply nourished: yearning for a tropical paradise, coconuts and sea turtles to accompany my daily life. My mind delighted in Michaels thoughtful reflections, my spirit enlivened and my body relaxed into the waves and the sunshine. I highly recommend being refreshed at desde Desemona and then,
read it again and find yourself learning even more about your life.

The Human History of an Island.......2005-10-14

Awright, I'm not John Updike or anything, I'm not really qualified to review books. But I can recommend this one. This book reminds me of Isabelle Allende, except from an American point of view. I say this, only because I'm far too unfamiliar with the likes of other South American authors, like Gabriel Garcia Marquez to compare it with them. There is magic in this book, but instead of magic that is remote in time, it is in the present - woven seamlessly into the character's lives. Heady stuff!

The prose is clear and flowing. This book is a very easy read. One can only assume the author's prior life as an attorney must have forced him to write in a style that even judges could understand.

And, my god the character development! Don't let me calling the author an attorney fool you into thinking he's some crappy Grisham, or another one of those damn legal thrillers writers (vomit). If you're into that genre, this is not for you. No, instead of a predictable plodding faux mystery novel, where it's clear exactly where it's going from page one, this is a page turner of an entirely different sort. The reader is made to care what happens to the persons described in the pages, and for that matter, the land that is described in the pages. There is a hero, but he is fallible. The villain? Well, maybe he's got his reasons.

Now don't get me wrong, there are events that move the action forward. In fact, there are events happening both in the past and the present. The events taking place in the past add depth and mystery to the events taking place in the present.

The question is - is your mind open enough for this book? Give me a break - of COURSE it is.

Dare to Dream.......2005-09-28

A Utopian novel in the tradition of Austin Tappan Wright's "Islandia," and Samuel Butler's "Erewhon," with a good measure of the "magical realism" of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and the playfulness of Richard Brautigan mixed in, Michaels' delightful book creates an implicit critical satire of the status quo, while projecting intriguing possibilities to which we might aspire.

The characters are interesting and well-developed. Although the book tries to imagine innovative answers to "life's persistent questions," it does so in an engagingly personal and specific way. This isn't a pontifical, Bunyanesque allegory - it's a story about people - amusing, thoughtful, believable people whom it would be a pleasure to know.

Michael's avoids preaching. One of the points he is making is that there is no one "ideal" way to live one's life - that each individual struggles and each has to come up with a strategy to deal with that struggle. The story of "The Dream Antilles" is not the story of fulfillment itself - it's the story of the ongoing quest for fulfillment.

By giving us a wide variety of characters with different histories and responses to the experience of desde Desdemona - the fictional island setting - he invites the reader to put her/his own story into the setting, and imagine the interactions she/he might create. By asking us to suspend our "disbelief" in the world of the novel and accept its "magical" aspects, he encourages to explore the possibility of doing the same in our everyday lives.

This is a book that dares to imagine a different view of life - and imagine it very clearly, specifically and evocatively. It has been said that "imagination is our only weapon in the war against reality" and with this book David Seth Michaels has struck a telling blow in that war.

Where is desdeDesdemona.......2005-07-25

The Dream Antilles is a magical book book that fills the imagination and the soul. Be ready to be transported to a tropical island. Have plenty of fresh fruit available, as immersion in the story is sure to occur. It is one of those books that stays in the heart, and the memory even tho the story has ended.

can see it as a great movie!!

Island lovers unite.......2005-07-25

Ardent island lovers unite, this book will take you to your favorite place. The Dream Antilles re-hydrates the soul. If Desde Desdemona exists I need to find it. The worst part of this book is that it ends.

Book Description

Experience one of television's greatest science-fiction series, The Twilight Zone - fully dramatized for AUDIO! The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas feature a full cast, music and sound effects and today's biggest celebrities in modern radio dramatizations by Dennis Etchison of creator Rod Serling's classic scripts. Hosted by Stacy Keach, The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas will keep you glued to the edge of your seat whether listening in your home or while driving in your car. This collection features 4 stereo recordings.

"A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" Starring Jim Caviezel. The year is 1847. A wagon train has made the cross-country trek from Ohio to the deserts of Arizona and beyond - all the way into another century.

"The Lateness of the Hour" Starring Jane Seymour and James Keach. A young woman lives a life of comfort and easy, thanks to her father's robot servants. The problem is, she may also be a prisoner in her own perfect home.

"A Kind of Stopwatch" Starring Lou Diamond Phillips. The world's most talkative bore gets a magical stopwatch that can stop everything except him. But when he misuses it, a wonderful conversation piece becomes a real party killer.

"Mr. Dingle, the Strong" Starring Tim Kazurinsky. A mild-mannered vacuum cleaner salesman is given the strength of three hundred men in a scientific experiment conducted by two Martians.

Customer Reviews:

New Versions of Great Stories.......2007-02-11

I just added these radio dramas to my collection. When I purchased them I thought they were olde time radio dramas and that the TV show had been made from them. Not so. These are modern radio versions made from the scripts of the old TV show. And, in many ways, I like them better than the TV versions. I have every intention of buying all of them I can get. My only criticism is that I get tired of hearing Stacy Keach's advertisement for the website at the end of each program. Small annoyance. I highly recomment them.

Into The Twilight Zone...Anywhere !.......2006-03-16

These are some of the original T.Z. episodes re-written especially for 'radio'.
Now available on CD, these are the first ten episodes of the radio series on ten discs. The stories are in no particular order according to the T.V. show, but does include 'The Lonely', the first televised episode. The other stories include 'Night of the Meek', 'A Kind of Stopwatch', 'The Lateness of the Hour', 'The Thirty-Fathom Grave','The Man in the Bottle','The After Hours', 'Mr.Dingle The Strong', 'A Stop At Willoughby' and 'Of Late I think of Cliffordville'.
They do vary in (content)quality, from stories like 'Night of the Meek'...whilst very professional and well executed, is also very 'workmanlike' and lacking the atmosphere of the original. However, 'The After Hours' works magnificently portraying a truly spooky atmosphere which is enhanced by these pin-sharp recordings.
Stacy Keach steps into Rod's wingtip brogues as the host 'in-and-out' of the stories and he is an excellent choice. Each episode has a guest star and I for one was pleasantly shocked by how good Lou Diamond Phillips is, as he crops up a few times in the entire series.
All in all, a very good first volume. A good choice of stories, something quite literally for everyone (horror, suspense, comedy and sci-fi stories) with top notch production values.
I will certainly be buying Volume 2 & 3 as I have enjoyed this one so much.

A great new twist on a classic!!.......2006-01-23

These radio dramas are so cool!!I recieved a free sample cd from the creators and really loved what I heard. I for sure wanted to own all of them for my long commute. As the reviewer earlier said..the sample cd I recieved had "commercials". I knew I would not pay for advertising so I called the company to ask if the ones I would purchase would be add free. They informed me that the newer 10 cd volumes did not have commercials. Well I just recieved the 1st three 10 cd volumes from Amazon this week and can vouch for the no commercials fact. From what they said the smaller pack versions have commercials.
These guys did a stellar job of these radio dramas! They had to change a few things here and there to fit the radio format..and I do not mind any of the subtle changes. The sound effects and the atmosphere they create is pure magic...I have gotten lost in each one I've heard. I have been a TZ fan since childhood (I'm 39) and I can honestly say these are very very well done imo. I think Rod Serling would be proud!! Look forward to getting the rest of them in the near future. If you like TZ I think you will love these.

Beware of advertisements in these recordings.......2005-12-27

These stories are well done but what they neglect to mention is that there are advertisements 2 to 3 times per episode. A major flaw. When I pay for a recoeded story I don't want to have to forward through the ads. So be warned if you don't like advertising in your listening experience don't buy these!!!

Amazing sound experience!.......2004-12-17

First off, this is NOT just the audio tracks from the TV show put onto CD. These are close to the same story lines from the classic shows, but were actually rewritten and modified for radio, as the visuals now have to be in your mind, not on a television screen. The actors are different too, and the audio is the cleanest, most crystal clear audio of any recording you can find today. Plus the stereo imaging is amazing.

This is a treat to listen to just if you an audiophile into really great audio and production techniques alone, it is an adventure for your ears.

But the stories are classics as well, so this is a really nice treat. I have heard a few episodes played on a local radio station and on XM radio, but neither of those two sources do any justice to the audio quality and sonic realism of having the actual CD and listening to it on good speakers or headphones directly from these CDs.

The sound effects are really amazing too.

No Twilight Zone fan should be without this, and anyone into Old Time Radio programs would really find this a treat as well, especially with the digital clean audio. No tape hiss, no record pops, it is creepy how clear the audio is.

Average customer rating:

Just not that great

You've gotta try this one

great gift

My favorite cookbook, bar none.

Superior Survey of Rural Italian Cuisine. Not Simple!

The Italian Country Table: Home Cooking from Italy's Farmhouse Kitchens
Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Manufacturer: Scribner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food

Marcella Cucina

Marcella Says...: Italian Cooking Wisdom from the Legendary Teacher's Master Classes, with 120 of Her Irresistible New Recipes

Biba's Northern Italian Cooking

Rustico: Regional Italian Country Cooking

ASIN: B000NA6U7Y

Amazon.com

Lynne Rossetto Kasper's authoritative first book, The Splendid Table, explored the food and culture of Emilia-Romagna, Italy's culinary heartland. In The Italian Country Table, a collection of 200 regional recipes gathered from farmhouse cooks, Kasper once again provides cultural investigation and authentic, workable recipes. The resulting cookbook-cum-chronicle will appeal to anyone seeking delicious, down-to-earth dishes and an introduction to cherished culinary traditions.

Covering every course of an Italian meal--from antipasti through pasta to vegetables and, of course, dessert--the book weaves recipes with vignettes exploring, for example, Puglia's ritual drying of winter tomatoes. Included also are notes on buying tips, special cooking techniques such as glazing, and discussions of culinary moment, like the nature of a true risotto Milanese. The immediately inviting recipes include such temptations as Mushrooms Stuffed with Radicchio and Asiago, Hot and Spicy Eggplant Soup, Leg of Lamb Glazed with Balsamic and Red Wine, and Espresso Ricotta Cream with Espresso Chocolate Sauce. Kasper also offers a chapter on focaccia, pizza, and bread, as well as menus, shopping sources, and a useful discussion of ingredients. (Taste before you buy, and then pause, she advises. "Aftertaste can reveal how a food's been stored, careless production, or foods going from mature to over the hill.") Concluding with a guide to Italian guest farms, folk life museums, and places to eat and shop, the book is a comprehensive introduction to basic but inspired home cooking and the traditions that both contain and nurture it. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

If you dream of Italy -- and who does not? -- be prepared to fall in love with this extraordinary cookbook. Written by Lynne Rossetto Kasper, author of The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emilia-Romagna, the Heartland of Northern Italian Food (winner of both the James Beard and Julia Child/IACP Cookbook-of-the-Year Awards), it is every bit the equal of its celebrated predecessor.

Read its exuberant pages, eat its lusty dishes, and you enter a landscape vibrant with rural life. You are one with the terrain. In some sense, you are home. That, of course, is the miracle of Italy -- no matter where we come from, we want to be a part of it. And the miracle of The Italian Country Table is its ability to take us there.

And what a journey! You will never be as impatient to get into your kitchen as when you are planning a meal from this book. Two hundred recipes, personally collected from home cooks throughout the length and breadth of Italy, will keep calling you back.

Who could resist the "Gatto" di Patate, a mashed-potato "lasagne" from the Neapolitan countryside? Or a Tuscan Mountain Supper of warm beans tossed with an herbed tomato sauce and eaten with tart greens? Or Pasta of the Grape Harvest, a Sicilian dish of grapes, red wine, orange zest, spices, pistachios and linguine? Or Chocolate Polenta Pudding Cake?

Kasper, host of Public Radio's The Splendid Table, is a master teacher who thinks about cooking in a way that is radically distinctive. Her chapter on tomatoes and tomato sauces, a treasure by itself, will change the way you think about them -- and cook them -- forever. Her guide to buying and saucing pasta contains more useful facts than many books that devote themselves to pasta exclusively.

Kasper, the grandchild of Italian immigrants, describes herself as someone with a love of lingering "in places where life changes slowly." This personal book abounds with stories of artisans, farmers and family. It is a portrait of Italian country life.

Where you read The Italian Country Table, cook from it or use it to plan a trip (there is an appendix that lists guest farms, country hotels, restaurants and museums), you have only to turn its pages to be transported to a rustic Italy that few of us know, but all of us long for.

* 16 pages of finished dishes in full color

* 50 black-and-white photographs of country life

Customer Reviews:

Just not that great.......2007-07-23

This book was recommended to me by an Italian friend when I asked for a cookbook recommendation that could serve as sort of an Italian cuisine bible. Over the last 4 years, every recipe I've tried as seemed to be time consuming to make and slightly disappointing to eat.

I'm planning to buy 1 or 2 Biba books to replace this one.

You've gotta try this one.......2007-03-07

My copy of this book, battered from much use, is one of the best cookbooks I've ever found. Full of wonderful recpies and variations of recipes, anecdotes and information about country cooks and food artisans,a great discussion of foods and pastas, several menu suggestions and a list of sources for hard-to-find items. Everything I've made from this book has been spectacular. I heartily recommend it.

great gift.......2006-01-13

I bought this cookbook for my recently retired father who has discovered a love for cooking (after 30 years of preparing the same 3 dishes). Just days after he recieved the book, he called me raving that he and my mother loved it, that the first dish he made (chicken balsamico) was an 11 or 12 on a scale of 10. Since then he has tried many more recipes and they've all been sucessful and delicioso.

My favorite cookbook, bar none. .......2005-10-31

GOOD READ, GREAT RECIPES

How I adore this cookbook. I have a lot of cookbooks, and I always reach for this one first. First of all, you can read it like a novel. LRK's stories are wonderful, and hearing the origins -- anthropological, agricultural, familial, anecdotal --is really fun for a literary foodie type (like me).

THE SIMPLE-TO-COMPLEX CONTINUUM
But my appreciation of this book goes way beyond its bedside appeal. It's my first, best resource in the kitchen, too. I've noticed a few of the other reviewers found the recipes a little complex, and I'd like to address that. It's true that some are multi-step and use a lot of dishes. It's true that, say, the Tyrolean Pot Roast (*drool*) might take a couple tries before it comes out letter-perfect. But let me balance that by saying that:

SIMPLE
(1) there are plenty of recipes so simple you'll find yourself using them every night. Like string beans with olive oil, salt and pepper (optional raw garlic halved and rubbed on the sides of the bowl). It's one of those foundational recipes accessible enough for a novice cook, and the technique may be applied to many vegetables.

CLEAR
(2) Even in Rossetto Kasper's more complicated recipes are not tricky because she explains them so well. It's really hard to take traditional recipes passed down through generations without measurements, cooking by feel, and in another language, no less -- and translate them into a coherent step-by-step set of instructions. That's exactly what Rossetto Kasper has done, though -- she takes recipes a la nonna (grandma recipes) and converts them into accessible text that any home cook can achieve if they really try.

IDIOT-PROOF (SORT OF)
(3) Most of Rosetto Kasper's recipes are really forgiving. She'll point out where you can make substitutions. For example, if you have run out of rosemary, but your basil plant is temptingly available in sun-drenched glory, chances are good that Rossetto Kasper will point out that you can switch them just fine, and that traditional Italian home cooks often do, according to the seasons, regional differences, and the whim of the cook. I've screwed up so many of her recipes the first time, and all my mistakes have been not just edible, but good. Good enough that I was more than interested in trying a second time, for even better result. Example: The Polenta Chocolate Cake. I defy anyone to make that cake not taste incredibly good -- you'd have to do something really drastic, like omit the chocolate or pour ketchup over it. The first time I made it, it was for a giant family dinner. I was stressed and goofed up the cooking time (probably three or four other things). My family moaned like they were having a giant collective foodgasm. It's just really that good. Sure, I made it correctly after that, but it's good to know if you don't always manage to color in the lines, all is not lost.

AUTHENTICITY
More thoughts: her authentic recipes are really authentic. I made her ring-shaped currant/anise seed bread (forget the name) a few years ago for the first time and happened to bring it when I took my grandmother to visit one of her friends. This tiny, very old Italian woman flipped out when she saw it because it reminded her so much of something her own mother made, with a recipe "from the old country." (I know it's a cliché, okay, but that's what she said! She meant it!) The she tasted it and just about cried because it was JUST like her (long dead) mother used to make. Since she never knew the recipe, she hadn't had it since the last time the last (long dead) old woman in her family made it. That's the kind of food you get from this book. Making old ladies that happy is really, really special.

MORE AUTHETICITY
I had a similar experience with the Pane Dolce di Zucca (Pumpkin Bread -- nothing like American pumpkin bread, and actually, I generally use butternut squash, per Rossetto Kasper's suggestion). My husband had colleagues from Italy here in the United States for a month or so. They were kind of homesick. I sent some of this bread in to work with my husband one day and they went wild when they tasted it -- apparently it's a country recipe that they'd all had from their families, but wasn't available commercially, and that they hadn't had in a very long time since they lived in the city now for work. They were absolutely mystified as to how this American (me) managed to figure it out. Not until they met me and heard my lousy Italian grammar did they believe my husband wasn't secretly married to a little old Italian grandmother, heh. The book is like one giant Italian Proust Madeleine.

NUTRTITION
This book really emphasizes fresh, organic, whole foods.

FOR ALL LEVELS OF COOKS
I think this book would be excellent for a novice cook or a very experienced cook (or anyone in between). I loved it for the authentic recipes I've never come across in other texts, for the stories, and for the clarity of the directions. I would have loved it as a beginner cook because there's plenty to make that's not intimidatingly complex, and there are pictures. The sections on tomato sauce, broth, and sourcing/selecting ingredients would be extremely useful for a cook who was just starting out, or perhaps just moving from survivial cooking to loftier, more ambitious cooking.

RECIPES I LOVE
Crackly Apply Meringue Cake, Rosemary Pear Tart, Chicken Balsamico, Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes, Pork with Peppers, Marinated Trout, Melting Cavolo Nero (Kale), Chickpea All Souls Soup (a basic recipe that can be used for many different beans), different things with Farro (wheat berries) -- and my goodness, I can't remember what all else. Suffice to say, the spine is cracked, the pages are wrinkled and stained, and it's just the best.

Superior Survey of Rural Italian Cuisine. Not Simple!.......2005-07-26

`The Italian Country Table' is Lynne Rossetto Kasper's second book, a follow-up to the `won every award in the book' title, `The Splendid Table', which is also the name of Ms. Kasper's National Public Radio show which I have not yet had the pleasure of hearing.

It is a great pleasure to see a book this good in such a crowded field. Ms. Kasper has narrowed the field a bit by focusing on `country' recipes. By doing this, she is outflanking the Hazan / Bastianich / Batali / Bugialli / Scicolone crowd and even sidestepping the footprints of the great Elizabeth David's `Italian Food'. Instead, her primary competition is from Susan Herrmann Loomis, who has made a business out of `farmhouse cooking', Vincent Schiavelli, who concentrates on Sicily (and to whom Ms. Kasper gives an acknowledgment), and Elizabeth Romer of `The Tuscan Year'. As Ms. Romer and Senor Schiavelli spend more time on memoir material than they do on culinary content, the real comparison is with Ms. Loomis, who is at a disadvantage in that her home base is in France rather than in Italy.

As Ms. David discovered in 1954, Italian cooking in the hinterlands can be both utterly simple or it can be incredibly complex, especially for dishes designed for major celebrations. The star of this book may very well be its vegetarian timbale made for weddings. In Italian, it is even named as a wedding dish, `Timballo Matrimoniale'. The joker behind this recipe is that it is not a genuine rural Italian dish. It is the invention of the author based on the famous dish that typically contains three or four different varieties of meat. I have seen a timbale made twice. The first was on Mario Batali's show of three years ago, `Mario Eats Italy'. The second, and much more accessible version was in Stanley Tucci's movie, `Big Night', where the chef, played by `Adrian Monk' himself, Tony Shaloub, makes two of these monster pies or `molds'. Ms. Kasper's version is true to the heritage of this dish, as it involves six subassemblies, a page and a half of ingredients, and two pages of procedure.

This complicated dish is not a singularity in this book. There are genuinely rustic `enhanced' versions of many other Italian specialities, such as a very jazzed up version of the Caprese salad.

While `The Splendid Table' limited itself to Emilia-Romagna, the current book includes recipes from the Alps to Sicily, although the larger number seem to come from Lazio (Rome) and north of Rome. I am especially happy to find both simple and complicated recipes here, as it reassures me that the author is not limiting herself to just simple recipes. Although, she does offer some genuinely simple methods for some tasks which may appear difficult at first, such as making homemade soft pasta.

Ms. Kasper's method, almost identical to the one I have seen Sr. Batali do on numerous occasions, is the classic eggs in the well, with the added recommendation that we eschew the mechanical pasta roller and do everything by hand.

I am really hard pressed to find any general, substantive difference between the book by Ms. Loomis and the book by Ms. Kasper. I will give a small edge to Ms. Kasper for the wider range of recipe complexity, more genuinely personal connection to the material, and for the better digressions into the history of some Italian culinary traditions. Ms. Kasper also opens a window to a true taste of `Italian Kitsch' when she digresses on local museums of recently antiquated farm tools and homemade toys.

Both books cover the full range of subjects, although Ms. Kasper seems to be a bit more focused on important recipes. Ms. Kasper includes all the typical subjects in her chapters, which are:

Antipasti / Light Meals
Pasta (sauces without tomatoes)
Pasta Meets the Tomato
Rice, Grains, and Beans
Soup
Poultry, Meats, and Fish
Vegetables and Salads
Focaccia, Pizza and Breads of Ingenuity
Desserts
Menus
Ingredients

Both books also give very good press to the Italian practice of boarding tourists in farmhouses as a method to provide income to local farmers in the face of the new European Union agricultural regulations.

Ms. Kasper has excellent appendices on mail order sources for foods and seeds, plus the contacts for a wide selection of restaurants and farm boarding establishments in Italy. She also has a carefully identified `Partial Bibliography' which concentrates on personal and regional writings on Italian food. The `big' books from Elizabeth David, Marcella Hazan, and Giuliano Bugialli are not here.

If I were to be copy editing this book, the only suggestion I would make regarding it's layout is that it include a map of Italy's principle provinces and cites and indicate more clearly, with each recipe, from where in Italy the recipe comes.

I do give extra points for the great personal black and white snaps that decorate the sidebars on personal experiences in Italy. I also give extra credit for revealing something about broth making which is new to my understanding of both broth making in general and Italian brodo's in particular. I am not fond of the longish cooking time for this broth, but I take Ms. Kasper at her word that this is how they actually make `Brodo di Mamma' in Imola.

If you are already a big fan of Ms. Loomis' other books, get her `Italian Farmhouse Cookbook'. Otherwise, Ms. Kasper's book seems to be just a little deeper and more authentic, from a spiritual native of Italy.

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