Tapas on the Ramblas: A Russell Quant Mystery (Russell Quant Mysteries)

Book Description

Charity Wiser, matriarch of the Wiser clan by rank of weakth and power, is an indomitable provocateur...and private detective Russekk Quant's newest employer. From the delight of tapas and sweet sangria in Spain to the bitter taste of death in Sicily, Quant connects and clashes with friends and foes in a series of unforgettable locales.

Customer Reviews:

Secrets to Uncover.......2007-07-02

I enjoyed this book, the first of the Russell Quant books I read. Russell, a former police officer who is now a private detective, is surprised to be offered a job by the granddaughter of a woman who lives in Victoria, British Columbia. But it turns out the woman, a lesbian and matriarch of a family fortune, wants a gay detective to accompany her family on a gay cruise through the Mediterranean and determine which one wants to kill her.

I'll bet Tony Bidulka had a fabulous time researching this book, and he creates lots of fun places and things along the cruise, run by a line called FOD, or Friends of Dorothy. I finally understood the title by the end of the book-- a tapa was originally a plate used to cover a bottle of wine, and there are lots of secrets for Russell to uncover here.

Neil Plakcy, author of Mahu Surfer: A Hawaiian Mystery (An Alyson Mystery)

Russell Quant on a Whole new Exciting Adventure.......2006-05-30

I was thrilled when I read the descriptor of this newest Russell Quant mystery. There is nothing more satisfying than putting a familiar hero in an unfamiliar - yet sinfully luxurious setting (a Mediterranean cruise from Barcelona to Rome)- along with some quirky characters, a potential love interest, some sun and frothy cocktails and see what happens. And the author does not disappoint.

A true page turner that will have you laughing and dreaming of foregn holidays and thrilling to the action...until you are shocked by an ending that I did not expect. Nicely done.

Note: there is a family tree at the beginning of the book - you'll need to use it, at least for the first bit until you figure out who everyone is (thank you to the author for including it)

Wonderful from start to finish-Something new in the Mystery Genre .......2006-05-29

This is a most modern of all retelling of the standard whodunit-on-a-cruiseship with clever riffs on Wizard of Oz, Agatha Christie, Mary Tyler Moore and The Love Boat. All done with a gay twist. What more can a reader ask for if your looking for something new in the mystery genre?
I've since read the first two books in the series (Amuse Bouche and Flight of Aquavit), which - although not necessary to do - certainly make this trip aboard the Friends of Dorothy Luxury Cruiseliner an even richer experience as we first meet some of the intriquing characters who pop up along the way.
I am very much looking forward to another outing from Russell Quant and a writer who just gets better with every book.

Disappointing.......2006-05-28

Over the top and silly. I was a big fan of his first two books and recommended them to many people. There are just too many characters, too many places and, too many things happening that we just don't care about. The book is far too short to employ as many twists and characters as it did. Not his usual effort.

More than just your everyday mystery.......2006-04-03

In Tapas on the Ramblas, detective Russell Quant takes the reader on a high spirited sleuthing job aboard a luxury ocean cruiseliner filled with colourful characters and stopping at marvelous foreign locales filled with unfamiliar foods, stupendous scenery, and, more often than not, great peril for Russell and his client - an 80 year old Katherine Hepburnesque creature.
As are all the books in this irresistable series, the reader is treated to more than a standard mystery - we have danger, romance, wit and wiles, and a tour through destinations some of us can only dream of visiting some day, and a hero you come to really root for. This reader can ask for nothing more.

Ashling (Obernewtyn Chronicles)
Average customer rating:

Okay but could have been much better.

This series just gets better and better

Ashling

bound to be your favorite

The best series
Ashling (Obernewtyn Chronicles)
Isobelle Carmody
Manufacturer: Starscape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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The Farseekers: The Obernewtyn Chronicles - Book Two (Obernewtyn Chronicles)

Obernewtyn (Obernewtyn Chronicles)

The Keeping Place (The Obernewtyn Chronicles)

Night Gate (The Gateway Trilogy)

Winter Door (The Gateway Trilogy)

ASIN: 0765346222

Book Description

Reminiscent of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Darkover novels, Obernewtyn introduced Isobelle Carmody as a writer to watch and began a series of novels to entice and enthrall readers of all ages. The Farseekers continued the saga of Obernewtyn and its band of Misfits, children outcast from society because of their psychic abilities-and the story of their heroic leaders, Elspeth Gordie, who alone carried the fate of the world on her shoulders.Elspeth's adventures continue as she tries to seal an alliance between the secret Misfit community at Obernewtyn and the rebel forces rumored to be hiding in the capital, right under the noses of the dreaded totalitarian Council.Elspeth travels from the mountains reluctantly, for at any moment the long-awaited summons may come to find and destroy the dormant weaponmachines left by the Beforetimers. Her journey takes her far beyond the borders of the Land, across the sea and into the heart of the mysterious desert region of Sador. Here she discovers that she cannot destroy the weaponmachines alone-she needs the help of the Sadorians. But before her dark quest can begin, Elspeth must learn the truth of her dreams: she must understand why the Beforetimers destroyed their world . . . .

Download Description

A YA heroine with strong mental powers continues her quest to save the world from an ancient threat.

Customer Reviews:

Okay but could have been much better........2007-02-21

Considering that I'm 12 years old this may sound funny but this book came across a little immature. I mean the main character Elspeth was so emotionally immature that it made me feel old. Also the story just dragged on and on going no where. The writing style itself is not bad at all, it is the plot and story lines that really lack depth and the moral angles are so cliched and politically correct...it's all too much. I enjoy some of the themes like the psychic stuff but these skills seem to be only glanced over really and they the characters are just so weak when using them. What's the point?

This series just gets better and better.......2006-11-17

I read the first three books in this series over the last week. The first started off a bit rocky, but got much better as the pages turned. The second was even better than the first. The third, Ashling, was amazing!. It is so rare for a series of books to get BETTER as more are added. 100% recommend!

Ashling.......2006-08-08

This book was great! Once I picked the series up, I could barely put it down. The characters are uniquely wonderful and the setting is interesting. The book itself is very thought-evoking in the manner in which it presents our society as a whole, even though the book is set in a plausible future in which much of the earth and its technology were destroyed by a terrible disaster.

bound to be your favorite.......2005-01-04

"Ashling" is the book where all the real adventure starts in the "Obernewtyn Chronicles". Elspeth has been hardened by the loss of so many around her, and the awkward formality between her and Rushton is ever there. The Land around Elspeth is a cold and dangerous place, especially for misfits, and she finds even the rebels may not be on their side. Don't be threatened by the size of this book; it's addictive. You'll be ready for book four before you know it.

The best series.......2004-09-28

Ashling is the best book in the Obernewtyn series. It explores the gypsy group, the 'Twenty families' and Sadoria, the desert land rarely spoke of during the first two books. Elspeth also starts dreaming about Ariel and is told of her quest to destroy the weapon machines before the destroyer (Ariel) does. Elspeth also meets with the rebels and undertakes a competition to see if they are fit to become allys with them. It is a great book, well written and Elspeth's and Rushton's relationship is explored. Obernewtyn is a fantastic series and I am hoping that a fifth book will be released soon.

Average customer rating:

Ashling :Obernewtyn Chron 3
Isobelle Carmody
Manufacturer: ST MARTINS MASS *
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000Q2YCW4

Average customer rating:

The Monster's Handbook
Ashling O'Hagan
Manufacturer: Pan Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Schwestern wider Willen. Ashlings Tagebuch / Cindys Tagebuch.

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Schwestern wider Willen. Ashlings Tagebuch / Cindys Tagebuch.
Siobhan Parkinson
Manufacturer: Bertelsmann, München
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 3570250385

Average customer rating:

The Ashling Name in History
Ancestry.com
Manufacturer: Ancestry.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WDMGCK
Release Date: 2007-06-24

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Ashling
Isobelle Carmody
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTNA3G

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Ashling glass
Sen Ó Siadhail
Manufacturer: Coiscim
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: B0006DF3LM

Sisters...No Way!: Cindy's Diary, Ashling's Diary

Average customer rating:

Sisters...No Way!
I would call this book a page turner

Sisters...No Way!: Cindy's Diary, Ashling's Diary
Siobhan Parkinson
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding

General | Literature & Fiction | Teens | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0613882458

Book Description

Cindy, a savvy yet cynical teenager, still traumatized by her mother's recent death, is appalled when her father falls in love with one of her teachers, a woman with two teenage daughters of her own. She cannot imagine a worse fate than having her teacher as her stepmother, and as for the two prissy girls, she is never going to call them sisters . . . no way! But if Cindy dislikes her prospective sisters, Ashling and Orla think she is an absolute horror-spoiled, arrogant, and atrociously rude to them and their mother when they visit her house. Will the girls ever get along and learn to be a family? Featuring the girls' stories in two unique, back-to-back diaries, one for Cindy and the other for Ashling and Orla, readers can choose which story to begin with and will enjoy the varying viewpoints recording the same events.

Customer Reviews:

Sisters...No Way!.......2006-03-08

I got this book for christmas and really enjoyed reading it. i loved the way that you could flick back and see what each girl was doing on the same day. i started with cindy's diary but loved the fact you can start at either end. a real thumbs up!

I would call this book a page turner.......2000-04-16

I really enjoyed this book, it was so humorous I was laughing out loudand couldn't stop and you know how silly that looks and it wentinto great details in things and made them very funny also the book is very well written and I liked the idea of two novels in one and found interesting to read both sisters point of view. I would love if the author would write a follow up to this book. I would recommend this to anyone who likes a good laugh. END

Average customer rating:

Summer at Ashlings
Nina Tinsley
Manufacturer: Macmillan Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 074511444X

Amazon.com

Written in perfectly deadpan, Mulderish style, Chris Carter's X-Files: Fight the Future movie novelization (adapted by noted SF author Elizabeth Hand) is a faithful reproduction of the film, with the addition of a couple of cutting-room-floor sequences to make it worth an X-phile's while. X-Files neophytes will probably be confused by the appearance of unexplained characters and in-jokes, but the story is like a really good episode of the show, and if you can be hooked, you will be. A few purely visual things don't translate well in the novelization. For instance, dialogue between the Cigarette-Smoking Man and the Well-Manicured Man, both referred to by their complete "titles" throughout, becomes an exercise in ridiculousness. But that could hardly have been helped, and otherwise the book accurately adapts the action and fast pace of the movie. A nice color-photo spread completes the package.

Book Description

Beneath the tranquil surface of a North Texas town, the future of the human race awaits...

After forty years, members of the Global conspiracy known only as The Project are finally nearing the completion of their plans. Only FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully have a glimpse of the nightmare that lies ahead for the rest of the world: an alien invasion fueled by the most devastating virus in human history.

And only they know that the Truthisn't out there anymore--
It's already here.

Customer Reviews:

A faithful adaptation featuring a little extra information.......2003-12-18

This is an excellent adaptation of the feature film The X-Files: Fight the Future. Elizabeth Hand took Chris Carter's script and transferred it to book form in the most faithful way possible. If you've seen the movie (and I would certainly recommend seeing the movie before reading this adaptation of it), you will "see" the entire movie in your mind as you read along. The dialogue is word for word, the descriptions are an exact match to the scenes in the movie, and you will not find anything from the movie that is not translated onto these pages. Strangely enough, the book feels more rushed than the movie did, and the written word doesn't convey as strong a visual image of the film's culminating action in Antarctica, but I think this is clearly due to the fact that this book was borne of the movie and not vice versa.

Lest you think there is no reason to read this adaptation of the movie, I should point out that there is a tiny bit of material here that you will not see in the film itself. This extra material concerns the fate of Mulder's little sister Samantha, and I can't imagine why such an important exchange between Mulder and the Well-Manicured Man was left out of the film. This is information that goes to the very root of Mulder's obsessive commitment to uncovering "the truth."

The initial hardback release features several pages of excellent color stills from the film, which make quite a nice addition to an important and very readable novel. Even if you've seen the film so many times you have all the lines memorized, this is a book every X-Files fan really should read and own.

Good book, but weak movie.......2002-02-10

The book by itself is well written and it is almost the screenplay for the movie. The greatest problem in my opinion is the movie, which was more a long X-Files chapter than an exciting movie, which all X-Files fan would expect.

This book is good, it helps you understand the movie better.......2000-05-04

I was all in all quite impressed with this book. It explained everything quite well, and sometimes during the movie they were talking too fast, so it was nice to see the script written. The only dissapointment was that it did not really give much insight on the character's thoughts and feelings throughout the story. I was hoping it would, since the movie did not. But I do recommend the book still, hey, I actually enjoyed doing a book report for once in my life!

X-Files Fight The Future.......2000-03-17

The X-Files novel, Fight the Future, is a great book if you like the X-Files in general. Fight the Future goes into more detail into the government's conspiracy of denying the existence of aliens. Mulder and Scully are two FBI agents who are trying to make these men keeping thier existence a secret "famous", which mean to expose them. Mulder's sister, Samantha Mulder, was abducted by aliens, he believes, long ago. The search for Samantha is what spurs Mulder on. Scully joined Mulder on the X-Files, but she was assigned to him to keep an eye on him and tell the conspirators what he was up to. Scully broke her truth with these men and became loyal to Mulder. Fight the Future begins with a bomb explosion destorying a building. This building was destoryed to cover up bodies which were infected with an alien virus. Mulder and Scully find the bomb, but the man who was to disarm it ordered an evacuation and let the bomb go off to cover up the bodies. Mulder and Scully are blamed for the bomb and are ordered to be split up. Mulder gets advice from a man whom the government is trying to find and kill to shut him up, and he finds out why the building was destroyed. Mulder and Scully then venture out on clues to a huge tent-like building filled with bees. Scully gets stung by one of these bees, and Mulder calls a hospital. The conspirators have intercepted his call and they go and take Scully, who is spasiming. Mulder is grazed by a bullet from a gun in the hands of the fake hospital men. When Mulder wakes up he gets help from one of the conspirators, who later kills himself. Mulder never thought that he would get help from one of the original conspirators. He has the vaccine to the virus Scully has and the coordinates to her location. Mulder comes to the coordinates and falls into an alien shuttle. Mulder searches through many human infected corpses untill he comes to Scully. He gets her and gives her the vaccine and escapes while the space shuttle leaves. When Mulder and Scully try to tell others about thier adventure they are laughed at as usual, but the X-Files were reopened. The investigations will continue, but it was said that one man alone cannot fight the future.

good for the future.......1999-10-23

This is one of the better books based on movies. Elizabeth Hand is a great author.

The Making of The X Files Fight the Future

Average customer rating:

The Making of The X Files Fight the Future
Jody. Duncan
Manufacturer: HarperPrism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000M8WQF2

Average customer rating:

A GREAT BOOK ABOUT THE MOVIE!
This is the most interesting book I've ever read!
The X-Files: Behind The Scenes....pick it up!

The Making of the X-Files Fight the Future
Jody Duncan , and Chris Carter
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0061073164
Release Date: 1998-06-19

Book Description

The movie is The X-Files, the premiere feature-length film based on the groundbreaking dramatic television series from Chris Carter starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. In this exclusive book, Jody Duncan takes you behind the camera, on location, and into the hearts and minds of the incomparable creator, cast, and crew whose dedication and hard work resulted in a multimillion dollar motion picture--from the preproduction to final cut and finished product--in just one year.

How the movie came within ten minutes of not being made

The wizardry behind the film's more than 220 special effects

Behind the scenes with David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson

What "Blackwood" means

What it's like to work with a swarm of 300,000 bees

How the huge, complicated sets were created and filmed-from a snowy ice cap in April to the 115 degree heat of the California Desert in July

And much, much more!

Customer Reviews:

A GREAT BOOK ABOUT THE MOVIE!.......1999-08-05

This book tells you all about the making of the X-filesmovie. It has info about hardships, funny events during shooting, andis overall an informative book. It is great for everybody interested in the X-FILES!

This is the most interesting book I've ever read!.......1999-01-20

Jody Duncan really captures the real aspect of the X-Files. She turned odd words into understandable terms. I myself am an X-Phile, and I'm guessing she is too. I am surprised there is only 1 review so far. Everyone should buy this book.

The X-Files: Behind The Scenes....pick it up!.......1998-06-22

This book is the only behind-the-scenes look at the X-Files. I am a loyal X-Phile and the cover alone is worth the cost. It is Xellent! Filled with photos, snippets of dialogue from the feature film and trivia, this book is Xellent! Jody Duncan is brilliant...my guess is she is a devoted X-Phile herself, as she delivers her thoughts accross to the reader so well. This book also has great facts about the movie, and the pages about the "black oil" is just dessert for any fan of the show or film! This book also explains a lot about the ongoing conspiracy line so far, where the film leads Mulder and Scully to as well as exclusive interviews with Chris Carter [creator], David Duchovny [Fox Mulder], Gillian Anderson [Dana Scully], other old faces from the show as well as newcomers - but it just wouldn't be complete without interviews with the crew who make The X-Files movie what it is. I suggest any movie buff or true X-Phile goes down to their local bookshop and buys this immediately - a must have! Now, here is a sentence from BEHIND THE SCENES: THE X-FILES: FIGHT THE FUTURE FILM "Never forgetting their past, or how precarious their present remains, Agents Mulder and Scully are armed with the truth...and the courage to fight the future."

X - Files , The X-Files - Fight The Future - read by John Neville

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X - Files , The X-Files - Fight The Future - read by John Neville
John Neville
Manufacturer: Harper Audio Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000KLLJ4K

Average customer rating:

A slick little book for the X Files completists out there
Nice Pictures!!!
at least you're not paying alot for what is basically nothin
Excellent!
Perfect novel companion

The X Files Fight the Future Scrapbook
Caitlin Blasdell , Charis Carter , and Chris Carter
Manufacturer: HarperPrism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0061073075
Release Date: 1998-06-19

Book Description

Beneath the tranquil surface of a North Texas town, the future of the human race awaits ...

After forty years, members of the global conspiracy known only as The Project are finally nearing the completion of their plans. Only FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully have a glimpse of the nightmare that lies ahead for the rest of the world: an alien invasion fueled by the most devastating virus in human history.

And only they know that the Truth isn't out there anymore--

It's already here.

Customer Reviews:

A slick little book for the X Files completists out there.......2003-09-22

The X Files Fight the Future Scrapbook is an item for those fans out there who just have to have anything and everything related to The X Files. It features a very basic summary of The X Files: Fight the Future motion picture which can be read in just a few minutes by young and old alike. The only things it really has going for it are its overall slick look and style, its collection of many impressive color photographs from the movie itself, and its relatively low price. There is nothing here that is not taken directly from the movie, so only the most loyal and obsessed X Files fans really have any reason to go out of their way to add this scrapbook to their coveted X Files collections. It's an impressive little scrapbook, but its importance is negligible at best.

Nice Pictures!!!.......1999-06-16

I bought the book and I gave it the 3 stars because every page has photos from the movie and for its budget price. The story is narrated so that a young child can read it too. More a collectors piece than for a good read!

at least you're not paying alot for what is basically nothin.......1999-04-23

this is basically a picturebook with scenes from the movie - you won't see any pictures you didn't see in the movie. a short paragraph is included for each page, which reads like a book you would read to a 4 yr old at bedtime. the 2 stars are for 1) the photos, and 2) the low price

Excellent!.......1998-12-04

I ordered this when I saw it, and I think it's a really great book. Really great pictures, I have two copies. It's also a really good price. I love it, Fight the Future is the best.

Perfect novel companion.......1998-07-17

This book is the perfect companion to the feature film novel. It is short, but filled with beautiful pictures. If you loved the movie and novel, you'll love this book, too!

Average customer rating:

The X-Files - Fight the Future
Elizabeth Hand
Manufacturer: HarperEntertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OFJUGG

3 Titles in X Files Series - Ruins - Antibodies - Fight the Future

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3 Titles in X Files Series - Ruins - Antibodies - Fight the Future
Chris Carter - Kevin Anderson
Manufacturer: harper
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000NPJC6U

Product Description

3 massmarket paperbacks. 3 Titles in X Files Series - Ruins - Antibodies - Fight the Future.

Average customer rating:

The X Files Fight the Future Scrapbook
Charis Carter, Chris Carter Caitlin Blasdell
Manufacturer: HarperPrism
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEQ71I

Amazon.com

For many, Greece is a land lost in time. It conjures up images of the looming Parthenon with its pillars of marble and the timeless whitewashed buildings of its parched islands glinting against a backdrop of the crystal blue Mediterranean. But ask about contemporary Greece and most people draw a blank. In Dinner with Persephone, poet Patricia Storace does a compelling job of filling in this empty canvas. She conjures a country where history and modernity coexist in often surprising ways, and with the past as an ineluctable backdrop, Storace paints in the everyday details that bring the country and its people vividly to life.

Book Description

A New York Times Notable Book of the Year

"Full of insights, marvelously entertaining . . . haunting and beautifully written."
--The New York Review of Books

"I lived in Athens, at the intersection of a prostitute and a saint." So begins Patricia Storace's astonishing memoir of her year in Greece. Mixing affection with detachment, rapture with clarity, this American poet perfectly evokes a country delicately balanced between East and West.

Whether she is interpreting Hellenic dream books, pop songs, and soap operas, describing breathtakingly beautiful beaches and archaic villages, or braving the crush at a saint's tomb, Storace, winner of the Whiting Award, rewards the reader with informed and sensual insights into Greece's soul. She sees how the country's pride in its past coexists with profound doubts about its place in the modern world. She discovers a world in which past and present engage in a passionate dialogue. Stylish, funny, and erudite, Dinner with Persephone is travel writing elevated to a fine art--and the best book of its kind since Henry Miller's The Colossus of Maroussi.

"Splendid. Storace's account of a year in Greece combines past and present, legend and fact, in an unusual and delightful whole. "
--Atlantic Monthly

Customer Reviews:

Greece warts and all.......2006-06-12

Storace, a Greek speaking writer goes to Athens to work for a year. She visits various islands and tourst sites describing these in interesting detail. Storace also recounts her personal contacts with oversolicitous men who make it very clear that women are meant to get married and stay home. Women are objects for men and infrequently taken seriously. The writer has ambiguous feelings about the Greeks. She does make lots of friends, but doesn't seem anxious to go back.

hate it! hate it! hate it!.......2006-01-17

In the spirit of fairness I have attempted to read this book twice now and have put it down with a sick feeling in my gut. It's the same feeling I get whenever I find myself in the company of someone extraordinarily pretentious and self-absorbed. I just wanted to read something intersesting about Greece. Instead, this book tells me a lot more about the peculiar psychology of the author more than anything else. I hate knowing I wasted my money of this drivel. I've yet to find a better example of mental mastrubation in my Amazon purchases.

Living Mythology.......2005-11-23

This book is an interesting juxtaposition of travelogue and mythology. As a child, Storace was fascinated with the stories and characters of Greek mythology. This led to a life-long fascination with Greece and Greeks, not only of the ancient culture, but as they are today. In this book, Storace takes us on a journey to her Greece, a land that is inseparable from its mythic past. She narrates to us stories of people she met in Greece, repeating the stories they told her, all the while relating the stories to the ancient tales from Greek mythology. As a travel journal, the book is a little heavy on allusions and symbolism and a little light on realistic imagery. But direct descriptions of events is not what this book is about-instead it is the personal story of how Storace finds meaning in Greek culture through her own integration of history, mythology and observation of contemporary society.

Stunning, Marvellous Book.......2005-11-10

I am busy reading this book, in Greece, and came here to try and get some insight and background on the author. As someone who first came to Greece 35 years ago, married an Athenian girl, and have lived in Greece for 10 of those years (we are now "some of the many people who have eaten the seeds of the pomegranate and live our lives in the pattern of Persephone" - six months on our island, six in Athens), I was totally knocked out by this dense, exuberant and very perceptive account of a year in Greece, astonished at the author's depth of knowledge of Classical, Byzantine, and Modern Greek history, and her proficiency in the Greek language, her poet's love of words, her sensitivity. I delighted in the descriptions of familiar places, people, attitudes and the festive occasions and rhythms of the Greek religious calendar, so many of them joyously preserved from pagan times. On virtually every page I learned new facts, gained new insight into things dimly understood, and smiled at wonderful descriptions of familiar situations. I became intrigued to learn more about the writer's background, the source of her fascination with the country, history and culture and the underlying reason for her stay.. Was this her first visit? Has she been back? I would love to spend a long summer evening at an outdoor taverna with Patricia and her friends, learning more about her and sharing that mixture of exasperation and love which is such a common response of expatriates in Greece. Worthy to be ranked with Henry Miller ("Colossus of Maroussi") and Lawrence Durrell ("Prospero's Cell" et.al.) as a literary chronicler of Greece.

Earthy, honest, and insightful !!.......2005-06-28

Storace is an excellent writer. I marvel at how much she picked up spending only one year in Greece. She writes with great detail, almost brutal honesty, and in so doing, produced an earthy and provocative look at Greece with a foreigner's insightful analysis. With Patricia you smell the herbs, the exhaust, and the perspiration. "No holds barred" travel writing!

Reviewed by David Lundberg, author of Olympic Wandering: Time Travel Through Greece

Dinner with Persephone: 5 Books and 25 Bookmarks

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Dinner with Persephone: 5 Books and 25 Bookmarks
Patricia Storace
Manufacturer: Vintage Books USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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