Average customer rating:
- Timeless good read
- Very dark
- One of MacDonald's darkest
- Perhaps the best, surely the most intense, McGee story
- MacDonald hits his stride...
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Bright Orange for the Shroud
John D. Macdonald
Manufacturer: Fawcett
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Deadly Shade of Gold (Travis McGee Mysteries)
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Darker Than Amber (Travis McGee Mysteries)
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Quick Red Fox
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Pale Gray for Guilt (Travis McGee Mysteries)
ASIN: 0449224449
Release Date: 1996-02-28 |
Book Description
Another bestseller starring Travis McGee, a real American hero--and maybe the star of a new movie franchise! Reissue.
Customer Reviews:
Timeless good read.......2007-09-01
I really enjoyed this more classic McDonald book. I had just finished 'Dress Her in Indigo' and was very disturbed by that book. It was too dark for me, too mean, violent and too much senseless descriptive sex and musings thereof. Also, too many characters to keep track of most of them left you wondering at the end what their pertinence was, but I digress, this is a review of 'Bright Orange for the Shroud'. With the name of this book I couldn't imagine what it would be about and was completely surprised with the book and when the meaning of what it meant was revealed. It was all pretty sad.
This book took me back to the days of the "land deal" when you went to Florida in those days you were sure to be sharked by someone hustling you off to some "free" steak dinner to then con you into a purchase of a lot in one of these phony developments. Looking back on it I can't understand why nothing was done about it and why Florida was allowed to be raped by so many con artists. It was in a way a bad place, a taken advantage of place seems to be so to this day. It's all rather depressing which I think is what drove McD to write and muse about it and it colored his whole life and thoughts. To see such destruction so fast, so close up and to be there when poverty, ambivalence, shock, disbelief and naïvety prevented much being done about anything by the locals, was pretty sad indeed.
So anyway, it was a really good book and one this time I could relate more to the characters. One thing about Travis is that he seems attracted to sleazy women, they disappoint him, turn him off in the end and this keeps him free and clear of commitment...clever. One other observation is that Trav claims to have a "Calvinistic" conscience that keeps him from letting himself go too long out of shape physically but doesn't seem to apply to having a steady job with same work ethic. Pretty funny!
Very dark.......2007-07-30
A friend of Travis McGee has been fleeced of all his money by a group of con artists. McGee promises to try and recover the pilfered money. Originally his plan is to con the cons, but he soon realizes that one of the gang is capable of murder.
This is a very good entry in the Travis McGee series (the sixth, I believe). In `Bright Orange for the Shroud' McGee faces one of the most brutal and memorable antagonists in Boone Waxwell, a local Floridian who is familiar with all the swampways, and is rumoured to have buried a few bodies there. The result is one of the darker and more violent of the McGee novels I have read.
One of MacDonald's darkest.......2007-05-24
I've read almost every title in the McGee series, and this is surely one of McGee's more disturbing adventures. As in 'A Fearful Yellow Eye', one of the villains is a rapist, so the reader should be prepared to read about that particular evil. (But it is just one aspect to the story, though.)
I concur with other reviewers -- the plot is straightforward. And the characters -- particularly the protagonists -- are easy to identify with and enjoy.
One thing was missing, however: MacDonald, through the worldview of McGee, usually works in a few mini-essays into the narrative. These insightful asides are usually about people, politics, or life in general. I don't recall any from this particular McGee mystery.
Perhaps the best, surely the most intense, McGee story.......2007-02-17
I have read the entire McGee series and am now working my way through the unabridged audiobooks which were published by books on tape.
This is perhaps the simplest plot of the entire series. The fewest characters. No visit from Meyer, the economist.
Just three good guys, some medium bad guys, and one really memorable, but believable, super bad guy.
John MacDonald demonstrates that a uncomplicated and realistic plot with great and convincing characterizations is a much better read than a complicated, hard to believe plot. When you finish, you will muse that this could have been true, and suspect the author heard the germ of this story over a few beers in South Florida 50 years ago.
MacDonald hits his stride..........2004-09-22
Bright Orange for the Shroud, the fifth in his Travis McGee series, John D. MacDonald has really hits his stride. I have been reading this series in order, and each book gets better and better.
As always, McGee jumps in to help a friend who was swindled of his $250,000 inheritance (we're talking 1960's here). Arthur Wilkinson was scammed in a land deal by a crooked lawyer, a slick salesman, a brutal hoodlum, and even his own wife. McGee, Wilkinson and Chookie (Wilkinson's former girlfriend) combine forces to discover how the scam operated and to try and recover some of the money. Early on, we learn the identity of the bad guys, so there's no mystery here. But how McGee infiltrates this group to investigate their modus operandi is MacDonald at his best. When the situation suddenly goes out of control, you can't turn the pages fast enough.
Bright Orange for the Shroud doesn't follow the formulae of his previous books in that McGee doesn't develop a love interest. Also, there is less mayhem and murder, and more of the good guys are still alive at the end. In some of MacDonald's books, McGee travels the country, but McGee is best when keeping to his native Florida. His base of operation for this book is his own houseboat, The Busted Flush.
I can't believe this series was never turned into a television series or a movie. With the resurgence of interest in MacDonald, perhaps it's not too late.
Product Description
Paperback original novel.
Average customer rating:
- This book will suck out your soul!
- Random review
- Biggest brain in the multiverse!
- STUNNING ENDING
- I would really love to see M.V.Cox and Michael coop.
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Elric: The Stealer of Souls (The Tale of the Eternal Champion, Vol 11)
Michael Moorcock
Manufacturer: White Wolf Games Studio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Moorcock, Michael | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Elric | Series | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1565041879 |
Customer Reviews:
This book will suck out your soul!.......2004-07-21
Not really, but somewhere there's a great tagline for an ad campaign for this book waiting to be used. Michael Moorcock has a gigantic catalog of novels and short stories, many of them dealing with his Multiverse concept, in which Law and Chaos constantly battle and a fellow known as the Eternal Champion tends to help sort it all out, with varying results. Back in the last decade White Wolf and Moorcock took most of the stories/novels, grouped them by character and concept and then put them out as a series of collections. This is the eleventh of those and second featuring Elric, perhaps Moorcock's most famous creation. While not my personal favorite of Moorcock's many characters (that honor goes to Jerry Cornelius, who I find has more personality) Elric definitely has a loyal following and his stories did a lot to nurse the then fairly low-key epic fantasy genre. Basically, Elric is a weak albino from a very old race that is dying out (and is quite evil) but he carries the magical sword Stormbringer that likes to suck the souls out of people (though Moorcock never says where the souls go, into the sword or straight to hell?), thus giving the sword and Elric vitality. Unfortunately, Elric has a very rough life and that makes him a somewhat dour person, since he's constantly caught between Law and Chaos (technically he's on Chaos' team though he swaps sides often). The stories in this volume depict the end of the Elric saga, when the war between Law and Chaos heats up on Elric's world and finally threatens to come to a conclusion. Moorcock's type of fantasy takes some getting used to, with a lot of really odd place names and bizarre monsters (some sound like they're straight out of Lovecraft) as well as some definitely odd situations. Elric himself seems to act more as an observer in most of these stories, trying to keep out of trouble. The earlier stories are typically the most formulaic (though brilliant for anyone else, as the cliche goes), since Elric generally has to fight Someone Bad and often saves the day by casting a spell or invoking the aid of some Old Elemental Spirit or just wading through crowds of people with his magical intelligent sword (oh by the way, it wants to kill all his friends too). Moorcock has definite style and flair when executing this kind of material but if you read them all at once there can be a definite sameness about them, where Elric just mopes and mopes and goes "wow is me" for chapters on end before getting attacked and summoning dragons or something to save him. The later stories (and Revenge of the Rose, which was written later) are much better, especially when they deal with the Multiverse directly, because the ideas and action and giant battles just keep coming, until it becomes a kind of sensory overload and toward the end of Stormbringer (the last story) everything gets all weird and metaphysical and it's just great. Moorcock can be lauded for bringing a mature sensibility to fantasy (Elric's a dour fellow but he has his passions) and for all of Elric's moping, he's far more memorable than most other fantasy characters. I won't go as far to say that these are his best work (again, I like the Cornelius stuff better and I haven't read Mother London or the Pyat novels yet) but for lovers of fantasy it's basically essential (if you can find them, the White Wolf editions went out of print and apparently command a high price, they must have been rare . . . the British editions are still available, I think) and no matter what you think of his style it's clearly one of the more original concepts in a genre that feels fit to merely repeat the work of a certain hobbit-loving author over and over again. Moorcock stands on his own and to understand fantasy at all, these books are required reading.
Random review.......2003-06-02
A very good book, same with the first Elric. I can't rate it perfectly though as some of the stories have parts which sort of clash with my sense of taste ;) Though even then, if the elements seem bizarre to me, they fit in with Moorcock's multiverse and help paint it better. And some of the stories are simply excellent.
I've introduced several friends (who normally don't read) to Elric and they've read the first text as well as the second. A good story with action elements with deep underlying themes, with fun stylistic device, but it's good even if you don't care about such things =)
Biggest brain in the multiverse!.......2002-01-27
While others build mere worlds, Moorcock has built the multiverse. While many use his ideas, these days, he was the first to conceive the idea as it is used throughout fantasy fiction. Just as some of his books slowly unfold to show you ideas from different angles, so does he slowly reveal the multiverse. Read this and the three books in the War Amongst the Angels series and you will see what I mean. Moorcock was also the author who predicted Black Holes and a whole different cosmology to go with them, he spoke of the multiverse in terms of branches or branes on a tree, and science has continued to prove him right throughout his career. Moorcock is far more than a writer of fantastic adventure stories, but neither does he reject his own relish for the stuff and as a result he gives us books which, as adult, we can enjoy more and more. The literal minded consumer of mass production fantasy is probably going to need a lot more explanation than Moorcock provides. You just have to trust him, jump in anywhere, and let him carry you on a wild tide of adventure, character, philosophy and more! The ending of this sequence is famous. So it should be. There is nothing else as good, at least since Melmoth the Wanderer! (Actually, it's better than Melmoth the Wanderer).
STUNNING ENDING.......2002-01-11
I was told by a friend that you had to trust Moorcock. Not only do his stories unfold rather like life, with new information coming in from new angles all the time, but they march towards the greatest dramatic conclusion in all fantasy. And this is where you'll find it, in STORMBRINGER, the final volume. You will be mightily rewarded with one of the most powerful literary fantasy stories you've ever picked up. And once you start reading him, it becomes fascinating -- because no writer has written so much at such a high level of literary ambition. Read his Jerry Cornelius stories, his Pyat novels or books like Mother London and you will know why Moorcock got the Grand Master award and why he has been winning prizes since his career began.
I would really love to see M.V.Cox and Michael coop........2001-10-09
This novel by Moorcock was very good, but not great. I enjoyed it , this is true..but there is no love affair. I found his writing style exciting, but the story as a whole, lacked the luster I was anticipating. I would love to see Michael team up with a new author, M.V.Cox, who wrote Souls Eternal. Funny they seem to have many passions in commmon. I reviewed Souls Eternal and found it the work of a genius.I will continue to read Michael Moorcock,but I would love to see him team up with Michael V.Cox. I think they would reach the sky and beyond. I for one would read anything they put out..thank you.
Amazon.com
Although the sheer size of this dense workbook might cause initial hyperventilation--280 full-size sheets of text--take heart (and a deep breath!): the many self-assessment tools and calming techniques presented in this fifth edition can help overcome anxiety and promote physical and emotional well-being. First introduced in 1980, the book received praise for presenting a comprehensive look at stress, its physical manifestations, and the multiple ways it can be managed. Twenty years later, its well-organized chapters on breathing, relaxation, meditation, thought stopping, and body awareness still guide the reader through copious self-help techniques to try and, eventually, master. Other chapters, including job stress management, goal setting and time management, and assertiveness training, focus on daily scenarios people often find distressing. Lessons in identifying key elements that trigger unpleasant responses and in reacting differently to these elements are designed to defuse perceived conflicts. For this edition, coauthors Martha Davis (psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Santa Clara, CA), Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman (licensed clinical social worker with Kaiser Permanente Online), and Matthew McKay (clinical director of Haight-Ashbury Psychological Services, San Francisco, CA) have added topics on worry control, anger management, and eye-movement therapy. New diagrams and a more reader-friendly format should appeal to readers, despite a few typos and graphical mishaps. This is a valuable tool for therapists, their patients, and the stressed-at-large. --Liane Thomas
Book Description
Since its first publication in 1980,
The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook has become the most indispensable resource for effective and up-to-date techniques for relaxing the body, calming the mind, and refreshing the spirit. Therapists recommend the book to their clients; readers pass it on to their friends. More than half a million copies have helped millions of people just like you take the edge off their stressful lives and find the peace they need to foster happiness and success.
The overwhelming popularity of this book is the result of its comprehensive yet simple and straightforward adaptation of all the most effective relaxation techniques. No other book offers easy-to-use, step-by-step instructions for using progressive relaxation, autogenics, self-hypnosis, visualization, thought stopping, worry control … and the list goes on. If it means relaxation, it's in this book.
Customer Reviews:
Great techniques for stress reduction.......2007-08-23
I really liked this book. It presented multiple techniques plus gave me the approximate time period it would take to learn the technique. I was able to fit my particular stress reduction and relaxation needs by taking a little "test" at the beginning. Since stress is a normal part of life, having techniques at my disposal, especially those I can do while still sitting in a meeting, are very helpful.
Really great.......2007-07-20
I am using this book as a part of a Self-care for Social Workers class and absolutely love it. One of the things that I really appreciate is the way in which the book begins with general testing and discussion, and then breaks down into different chapters that you can either choose to read or not depending on what your particular de-stressing needs are. I have already recommended it to my family and friends! You won't regret getting it!
Good tool.......2007-06-27
This book contains exercises that can be done as a lay person or professional, with groups or individuals - even on yourself. The exercises are designed in such a way that they can be customized to your need. I bought it to get a technique to use on my classmates and one guy got so relaxed, he actually dozed off! I think that shows the effectiveness of relaxation therapy! This is a good tool to get ideas and helpful exercises for personal or professional use.
Stress Reduction Workbook.......2007-04-12
This book is a wonderful guide to what too many people do too little of: stopping to relax. I think everyone should take a look at it and figure out how to make time to use it. Makes you feel more like stopping to smell the roses.
WOW!.......2007-03-10
I have been dealing with MANY extremely stressful situations within the last couple of years - and along with this depression, anxiety, fatigue, etc. has been very present in my life - this book was recommended by the 'woman to woman' website and I thought to myself well this is probably "JUST" another book, but to my amazement I couldn't put this workbook down - reading just the first couple of chapters has helped tremendously! I could hardly wait till I read the rest of the book. This workbook has helped me to take a breath, finally - It is a book that is simple reading and structured - those who deal with 'structure' best will love the way this book is laid out - TAKE A CHANCE AND GET THIS WORKBOOK, afterall if it's not what you want, re-sell it on AMAZON. This book will bless you.
Thank you
Debbie
Customer Reviews:
Progressive Relazation and Breathing.......2002-05-02
This tape teaches you how to focus and bring about a state of relaxation through verbal instruction combined with calming music.You will trully feel ready for sleep.
Wonderful Audio ** Both sides are great.......2000-12-20
Since buying this audio tape, I listen to it frequently. I usually fall asleep before it is over, because either the progressive relaxation or the breathing works so fast to calm my body and mind. The production quality is excellent too. I would give it 10 stars if that were an option.
Book Description
Once known as the Queen-of-Incapable Cooking, Brook has been spotted securing saram wrap with sailor knots, baking a cherry pie without pitting the cherries and coloring unboiled Easter eggs. Frustrated with the lack of a family dinner hour in her home (her husband had opted for large lunches at work(, she set out to create a cooking system (much to her husband's dismay) that would allow her to put great meals on the table quickly.
A CEO, mom, wife, daughter, volunteer, church-goer, author and speaker, Brook's time is at a premium.
Her hunt for the perfect dinner focused on recipes that met the following five Rush Hour Rules
All ingredients are pronounceable through the phonetic use of the English language.
Each ingredient can be found in the market without engaging in a full-scale scavenger hunt.
No list of ingredients shall be longer than the instructions.
Each recipe has to be durable enough to survive the Queen-of-Incapable-Cooking.
The Rush Hour Cook's finicky child will eat it-or some portion of it.
The result? Brook created weekly menus that fed her family while eliciting compliments! Now she brings her Weekly Wonder Menus to you, complete with grocery lists, so you can also implement this simple cooking solution in your chaotic kitchen!
Customer Reviews:
I like it!.......2006-08-21
I really like the shopping lists. It is nice knowing that after I have been to the store I can prepare a week's worth of menus and I never have to say, "oops, I'm out of..."
That part is great. So far, my husband and the rest of my family are really enjoying the recipes.
Cookbooks with Personality.......2006-01-23
Brook Noel is delightfully funny and her cookbooks are a result of all the years where she was learning to cook and accomplished tasks with amusing results, like the time she baked a cherry pie without pitting the cherries. Not unlike one of my aunts who made a cherry pie without straining the cherries from a can but can make the best lasagna in the world.
So, everyone has their strengths and Brook Noel is especially good at creating recipes for cooks who don't have a lot of time to spend cooking, but want to get dinner on the table and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment from making a meal at home. After all, you have marathons to run, yoga classes to attend and scrapbooking parties to go to, not to mention decorating, gardening and reading your favorite books and a list of other favorite hobbies and activities.
Weekly Wonders is filled with recipes, weekly menus and grocery lists. If you want to make cooking part of your life, Brook Noel will show you how to get dinner on the table fast and it will also taste delicious. This will encourage family time and give your family a moment to reconnect in a busy world.
Some of the delicious ideas include:
Making your own salad dressings - Buttermilk, Italian, Garlic and more...
Delicious Marinades using fresh herbs - Rosemary-Basil, Red Wine Marinade with Garlic
Making homemade pancakes ahead of time and freezing them. I will admit to doing this and tossing them in the toaster.
Making your own cinnamon applesauce - something I also learned recently and love using Braeburn apples.
Recipes that are easy to adapt to your tastes: Chocolate Banana Smoothie - you could substitute soy butter for the peanut butter. When making the Orange Juice Smoothie, you can also use any fruit you prefer.
Delicious Recipes:
Lasagna Rolls
Rosemary Broccoli
Beef Enchilada Casserole
Tuscan-Style Pork Roast
Ever wondered how long buttermilk lasts or when you should toss the leftover salad dressings? A list of freezer and refrigerator storage dates makes this book even more useful. Recipes like the one for Balsamic Vinaigrette encourages you to learn the basics but also experiment and add your own herbs and spices. Weekly Wonders is a book filled with realistic recipes for cooks who love cooking, but just don't have a lot of time.
Book Noel is an amazing creative force for good in the world, I'm reading all her books.
~The Rebecca Review
I am REALLY cooking!!! And I actually sort of LIKE it!.......2005-10-16
Okay. I have been with my husband for almost 6 years. And during that time, I think I have probably cooked around 40 meals not using a box or frozen prepared item. And I was in complete agony from the moment I attempted to pick a dish to cook, all the way through to washing the dishes. Then, last week my Weekly Wonders book showed up!!!
First off, I thought I hated to cook and thought I would until the day I die. There were always too many expensive wierd ingredients to come up with, the instructions were often too legnthy or cumbersome, I had to spend a LOT of time flipping through pages to write out grocery lists and I would invariably leave something off, or not buy enough, etc. I have TONS of cookbooks, but would pick just a recipe or two to try, then be sick of the whole deal.
This book is different. It's a lifesaver with the grocery lists. I wish there were more books on the market in this format. Because of my aversion to the flipping missing ingredient gathering in individual recipes, I have been sticking to the lists and cooking the entire weekly menus. Some of it did not sound appetizing, but I did it anyway and I am discovering we actually LIKE this food! Not all of it. But we have a pact to eat everything in the name of variety. There is a lot of fresh produce and meat involved in these recipes and so each meal has been an adventure. Quick to cook. Simple steps. Fast. Fairly Tasty. And for crying out loud, I actually have exactly what I need to cook these recipes with, no more and no less! No emergency trips to the grocery store right in the middle of rush hour for one stinking missing item! YAY!
No more going into shock and then a coma with the question "What are we having for dinner?" I know every night before bed what tomorrow's dinner will be! No more chopping for hours and eating at 10 pm! No more boxed frozen crap! No more emergency runs to a burger joint! The number to the pizza place has been removed from speed-dial and it's completely okay!!!
I am so excited to be finally cooking food on a daily basis. I feel like I have reached a semblance of "normal". And my husband is so pleased! Thank GOD for this book! And you too, NOEL. Please make a volume 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6!!!! I WOULD buy them! This is likely to be a Christmas present for all the girls in my family.
No more guessing what to make.......2005-05-23
The best part about this book is that I can just take the shopping list and not have to think about what I'm going to make for the week. Since the menus are so kid-friendly, my picky family isn't groaning about what I'm cooking anymore.
Woo HOO!! Hat's off to Brook Noel.......2005-05-22
This is the most incredible book. I felt like Brook was in my kitchen and knew what a real family would eat--and how much a time the average person has! I am so pleased with this cookbook and it has made my life easier in many ways. Hat's off to Brook Noel!
Books:
- Bring Me That Horizon: (Welcome Book)
- Buck Fever: A Blanco County, Texas, Novel (Blanco County, Texas, Novels)
- Catch as Cat Can
- Chains of Folly (Five Star Mystery Series)
- Close to Home: A Novel of Suspense
- Cold Hit (A Shane Scully Novel)
- Crime Novels: American Noir of the 1930s and 40s: The Postman Always Rings Twice / They Shoot Horses, Don't They? / Thieves Like Us / The Big Clock / Nightmare ... / I Married a Dead Man (Library of America)
- Dark Eye: A Novel of Suspense
- Darker Than Amber (Travis McGee Mysteries)
- Dead North: An Alaska Mystery
Books Index
Books Home
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- Organizational Behavior & SAL CDROM Pkg
- One Grave Too Many
- Construction Project Administration
- Living Big in Small Apartments
- A Drink Called Paradise: A Novel
