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- DARK EYE
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- one of the most interesting reads I've enjoyed this year
- Overly flaws
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Dark Eye: A Novel of Suspense
William Bernhardt
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ASIN: 0345470168
Release Date: 2006-01-31 |
Book Description
Sometimes her eyes seduce. Sometimes they stare straight at the kind of sights most people turn away from. But in the blazing neon and searing sun of Las Vegas, she can’t see the man who is watching her and thinking to himself: She is the one. . . .
From the mountain views beyond the Strip to the dingy dens of forbidden pleasure, Susan Pulaski loves Las Vegas. A woman who wears a gun at her side and her heart on a sleeve, Pulaski is the perfect fit for her city and her job: unraveling the minds of deviant personalities. Until a killer begins decorating Sin City with the horribly disfigured bodies of once beautiful young women. . . . and Pulaski’s own demons go on a binge.
Eight months after her cop husband’s death, her life is spinning out of control–just as her detective colleagues start searching for a serial killer who methodically stalks his female victims and plunges them into an orgy of terror. When a violent incident earns Pulaski a pink slip from the LVPD and a trip to detox, she’s out of the hunt altogether, so she begins to desperately try to regain her job, her reputation, and custody of the niece she’s been raising on her own. It seems hopeless–until Pulaski meets the one person who can lead her into the mind of a madman no one else can understand. Darcy O’Bannon is a twenty-five-year-old autistic savant whose relationship with the world around him is so unusual that it forces Pulaski to view the crimes from a bizarre–but ultimately insightful–perspective.
White-knuckling her way to the center of the case, she becomes the key player in a desperate hunt for a killer who believes he has found divine inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. But even with the assistance of Darcy’s astonishing skills, Pulaski is in even more danger than she knows. For the man she seeks is watching her, seduced by her frailties and strengths, her beauty and boldness. To finish his masterwork of horror, he needs her.
In a blistering novel that brings together glitz and goth, human weakness and human genius, and a murderous psychopath who is all too chillingly real, master storyteller William Bernhardt has created an unparalleled literary Las Vegas thrill ride that will leave readers breathless until the final, stunning page.
From the Hardcover edition.
Download Description
Sometimes her eyes seduce. Sometimes they stare straight at the kind of sights most people turn away from. But in the blazing neon and searing sun of Las Vegas, she can’t see the man who is watching her and thinking to himself: She is the one…
From the mountain views beyond the Strip to the dingy dens of forbidden pleasure, Susan Pulaski loves Las Vegas. A woman who wears a gun at her side and her heart on a sleeve, Pulaski is the perfect fit for her city and her job: unraveling the minds of deviant personalities. Until a killer begins decorating Sin City with the horribly disfigured bodies of once beautiful young women… and Pulaski’s own demons go on a binge.
Eight months after her cop husband’s death, her life is spinning out of control–just as her detective colleagues start searching for a serial killer who methodically stalks his female victims and plunges them into an orgy of terror. When a violent incident earns Pulaski a pink slip from the LVPD and a trip to detox, she’s out of the hunt altogether, so she begins to desperately try to regain her job, her reputation, and custody of the niece she’s been raising on her own. It seems hopeless–until Pulaski meets the one person who can lead her into the mind of a madman no one else can understand. Darcy O’Bannon is a twenty-five-year-old autistic savant whose relationship with the world around him is so unusual that it forces Pulaski to view the crimes from a bizarre–but ultimately insightful–perspective.
White-knuckling her way to the center of the case, she becomes the key player in a desperate hunt for a killer who believes he has found divine inspiration in the works of Edgar Allan Poe. But even with the assistance of Darcy’s astonishing skills, Pulaski is in even more danger than she knows. For the man she seeks is watching her, seduced by her frailties and strengths, her beauty and boldness. To finish his masterwork of horror, he needs her.
In a blistering novel that brings together glitz and goth, human weakness and human genius, and a murderous psychopath who is all too chillingly real, master storyteller William Bernhardt has created an unparalleled literary Las Vegas thrill ride that will leave readers breathless until the final, stunning page.
Customer Reviews:
DARK EYE.......2007-09-30
This book is awesome as are the dozen or so books I've read written by William Bernhardt. Mr. Bernhardt is a very intelligent, humorous, and clever writer. I highly recommend reading everything he's written. He's now tied with Jeffrey Deaver as my very favorite author - and that says a lot!!!
BEN'S CREW STRIKES AGAIN.........2007-03-09
I ENJOYED THE SUSPENSE AND THOUGHT PROCESSES OF BEN AND STAFF. I DO
ENJOY THE STORY LINE BUT ESPECIALLY THE INTERACTION OF BEN AND HIS
LEGAL TEAM. EACH OF THEM HAS BECOME VERY REAL TO ME.
one of the most interesting reads I've enjoyed this year.......2006-10-31
I was a Bernhardt "virgin" before this book, and it's made me want to read all his others, in spite of the fact that they'd have different protagonists.
I understand most of his books feature Ben Kincaid,an attorney, and his office staff, but this one features a protagonist named Susan who is fighting many battles, most of them pretty intense.
For one, she is battling depression over the loss of her husband. This one battle is pretty significant, as it either leads to or exacerbates all her other challenges. The reader isn't clued in to how her husband died until really late in the book, and that's just as well because it would be a distracting revelation earlier. When this revelation does take place, there's so much else going on that it loses some of its distracting potential and becomes instead what it really should be: simply an explanation so that we can gauge what Susan is dealing with in her mind and NOT spend a ton of time thinking about the husband himself.
Another battle she is fighting is against her alcoholism, and I must admit that several times I wanted to just toss the book against a wall because I really disliked Susan. I mean, REALLY disliked her. It's tough to like someone who is so firmly situated in a denial phase, someone who not only refuses to acknowledge how much trouble SHE is in, but also how much pain she is causing everyone around her. When she begins to work with Darcy, an autistic savant, I want to yell at him "run fast! run far! she can only bring you great pain and upheaval!" But of course, all of this is pretty much what the family and friends of alcoholics go through: pain and upheaval, to put it very mildly. Susan is at her most frustrating, and her most human, when she (time after time after time after. . .) says or thinks that one little drink will just take the edge off. One little drink won't hurt anything at all. And why shouldn't she drink? After all, she reasons, she's had a bad day. A very bad day.
Her battle to get that niece back after she is removed from Susan's home is one I found particularly heartbreaking, but not because I wanted Susan to get custody of her niece. I found myself cheering each time Susan's attempts to get her niece back failed. An excellent cop and a great person most of the time with Darcy, Susan is a failure as a custodial "parent" to her niece. There are hints of what that niece might have been exposed to during the time she lived with Susan after the hubby's death. And Susan's inability to cope even to the minimal point of understanding the reality of her situation means that she is the worst person to be caring for a teenager who's already experienced loss and needs stability and compassion rather than upheaval and neglect.
You might think I hate this protagonist, but the opposite is true. I hated her blindness and her unwillingness to confront her reality, but that made her an excellent protagonist. I would imagine she is like many alcoholics: blind to the consequences of her actions, very much willing to play the victim, refusing to do what is right for others and focusing only on her own needs and desires. In other words, she's a "realistically-drawn" protagonist.
The story is excellent. It's beautifully constructed and suspenseful. There's enough humor in it to make the tough stuff (and there's lots of tough stuff, as you can imagine) bearable over long periods. I really liked the switching back and forth between Susan, Darcy, and the killer. That gives the reader a chance to understand each character in a way that makes Susan the primary protagonist, but not the only person of interest. I fell half in love with Darcy, and I even found a tiny bit of sympathy in my heart for the killer.
If this one novel is any indication, Mr. Bernhardt has a knack for drawing realistic characters who engage the reader on a more than "Oooo, I love this person" level. I don't love Susan, but I wish her flawed self lots of good luck in the future. That's something, considering how difficult a character she is to like at all.
Kudos, Mr. Bernhardt!
Overly flaws.......2006-06-01
This is a flaw-full book. I'll only write the flaws at the book's beginning so I won't tell you anything of the plot just in case you want to read this book. For example:
1) The killer at the beginning was killing persons which names appear on Poe's books. How does he knows the name of one person who went to Vegas for one night just to swindle the casino?
2) If you go to Vegas for the very first time you'll learn in the first hour or so that for a one-buck-tip you can leave your car at any valet parking any time you want. And if you want to spare the buck you'll park for free in the same place. Now my point. The Vegas scammer was not her/his first time in Vegas, so why he/she parked the car in a gloomy parking lot when it was the valet parking? And within the valet there always is a security detail. So why risk his/her life?
3) How can be that the best profiler in LVPD oozes Scotch at night and at day nobody notices it or pretend not to?
4) Susan was deranged. Why? Because she was literally raped and she liked it. After that she raped her partner and the worst of all she spoke with her late husband all over the book.
5) You can really skip all the pages that includes Susan's niece.
And I can keep writing more flaws but I'll tell you the book's story.
Close Your Eyes to Dark Eye!.......2005-10-28
Susan Pulaski is a royal mess. Recently widowed and alcoholic, the Las Vegas Police Department relieved her and the city of her duties as a police psychologist. After all, the dear lady had enough klinkers in her thinker that had to be hammered out first.
A psychotic serial killer is on the loose and it takes a person with savantism, an extremely rare form of autism to help Ms. Pulaski "get into the mind of the killer" and anticipate the killer's next move.
I for one am quite sick of stories that portray autistics as being savants. Since savantism affects less than 10% of the autistic population, it is sadly ironic that it has become such a stereotype. As for the autistic character, being the child of Ms. Pulaski's former boss didn't hurt either. All in all, a ridiculous, implausible tale replete with cliches and stereotypes. Please retire this entire cast and bring Ben back!
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Comes the Dark (A Johnny One Eye Novel Ser.)
David Stuart Davies
Manufacturer: Robert Hale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0709079710 |
Amazon.com
Writing under the pseudonym Barbara Vine, Ruth Rendell departs from her famous detective team of Wexford and Burden to tell a gripping tale of family madness. Vera Hillyard is a domineering and possessive woman who strives for obsessive control over a malicious older son, a youngest son who is--or isn't--illegitimate, and a daughter who is a devoted sister to her younger brother. The daughter secretly seeks to escape Vera's grasp and instead provokes a murder. This winner of the 1986 Edgar Award for best mystery novel belongs to the genre of old murders reconsidered and the question of who did what to whom and why is teasingly left unresolved.
Customer Reviews:
Mystery it is not.......2007-06-28
I expected a good mystery novel, since it got Edgar award, but I did not get it, that is why it gets only 2 stars, otherwise it is reasonably good book. I especially like the inside into the life in England before, during and shortly after the war
"In these circumstances alone, one can know when someone is going to die...the hour, the minute, with no room for hope.".......2007-04-28
From the outset of this powerful psychological novel, the reader knows that someone is going to be executed--in this case, Vera Longley Hillyard, the aunt of speaker Faith Longley Severn. Vera has been found guilty of murder, but this novel, unlike traditional mysteries, does not reveal who the victim is or why the murder has occurred until the end of the novel. Nearly a third of a century has elapsed since Vera's hanging, and it is only at this point, when an investigative reporter approaches members of Vera's family for information for a book, that Faith and the others in her family reveal the small bits of information they have separately kept to themselves for dozens of years.
Set in the middle of the twentieth century, the novel focuses on the lives of the seemingly close Longley family. Faith's father and Vera were twins, and Vera took care of their much younger sister Eden when Eden was a teenager. Though Vera eventually married a soldier and followed him to India, she and her son returned to Laurel Cottage, the family home, to care for her father. There she had a "miracle baby," who could not have been her husband's. Eden, by then, was a young adult, a volunteer Wren during the war and no longer at home, but with Eden's marriage and return to the area of Great Sindon, she and Vera were drawn together once again.
Unexpected conflicts, tensions, jealousies, and resentments evolve through the story Faith tells about the family and through the family's letters, documents, and memories. Barbara Vine, a pen name for Ruth Rendell, is perceptive and realistic in recreating family tensions while keeping key information secret until the end. The mystery is particularly enhanced by the Faith's openness, a sharp contrast to the privacy of Vera. As the action moves back and forth from the present into the past and then into the earlier past, the reader fills in the gaps about life in this family, and as each character, more than thirty years later, now feels free to share hitherto private information, the horror, along with the reader's insights into the characters, grows inexorably.
In the end, the complete interactions of the family have been revealed, pieces of the mystery have been resolved, and Vera's life and the reasons for her crime and execution become clear. Vine's ability to manipulate the reader's own perceptions while creating psychologically believable characters, make this a powerful novel, full of suspense. n Mary Whipple
Try as I might, I just couldn't do it........2006-10-17
Barbara Vine, A Dark-Adapted Eye (Plume, 1986)
Ruth Rendell has always been one of those authors I could take or leave; I pick up one of her novels now and again and read it, find it relatively interesting, and tell myself I'll start pursuing her novels with a bit more fervor in the future. I never do. (This is no fault of Ruth Rendell's. I do it with many authors, because I'm horribly scatterbrained. Half the reason I started writing reviews was so I could remember if I'd read any given book five years afterwards.) I had never tried the Barbara Vine books, however. I decided to rectify that with A Dark-Adapted Eye, which I hear mentioned favorably on a relatively frequent basis. And, well, now I've tried it. And the phrase that kept coming to mind was "textbook dull." Not as in Rendell read a textbook on how to write a dull novel, but as in Rendell actually attempted to write a textbook, and the result was A Dark-Adapted Eye.
I'm all for language as thick as clotted cream sometimes. There are books I've read, and loved, that have required me to have a dictionary sitting next to me so I can look up words that have never crossed my eyes before. (This happens more often than not in translations. Give Toril Moi's translation of Julia Kristeva's phenomenal Powers of Horror a try sometime.) Make me work as hard as I need to for it, but reward me now and again. Wendy Walker sprinkles a new delight every few pages in her work. Gunter Grass makes me laugh myself sick, when he's on his game. With Cormac McCarthy, the difficulty of the language is part of the appeal; he can weave the words in such a way as to hide the things in a scene he doesn't want you to see until he's good and ready simply by painting the scene in the type of language one would expect from a doctoral thesis. Rendell-as-Vine, on the other hand, has produced a thick, ungainly mass of text that never gets beyond the level of simple exposition. Well, actually, I'm sure it must at some point, or no one would have ever finished this book. But I got to the point of frustration long before I actually defenestrated the blessed thing. I kept going, hoping something would actually happen before I got somewhere that actually had an openable window, but such was not the case. And so out it went. From now on, I'll stick with Rendell's own ego. (zero)
Elegant and sophisticated psychological mystery.......2006-06-28
"A Dark-Adapted Eye" was the first of Ruth Rendell's psychological mysteries published under the name "Barbara Vine," and it remains one of her best. Offering brilliantly-realized character studies and a finely-drawn portrait of British social mores and class insecurities in the 1940's, this novel fascinates from the very first page.
Now in her 50's, and spurred on by the inquiries of a true-crime writer, Faith Severn recalls the scandal and tragedy surrounding the deaths of her two paternal aunts: Vera Hillyard, twin sister of Faith's father, John, and Edith (Eden) Pearmain, the twins' beautiful and much younger sister, whom Vera raised. Barely middle-class but "snobbish to the end," as Faith puts it, the sisters' determination to present the best face to a morally-judgmental world causes them to resort to a great deception when wartime freedoms result in disaster. Later, when the shallow and opportunistic Eden marries into the upper class, that deception comes back to haunt not only the two women, but also everyone else associated with them.
Rendell's sensitive prose and talent for limning character have never been on better display than in this book. Readers who prefer plot-driven novels to subtle, psychological exploration may find "A Dark-Adapted Eye" boring or exasperating. However, the slow, meticulous explication of plot via character is what renders this novel so effective. Vera Hillyard -- an entirely unsympathetic, ridiculous, but somehow fascinating figure -- drives the story, while Faith's thoughtful attempts, first as a bewildered child, then a developing adolescent growing towards intelligence, and then as an experienced woman, to navigate and analyze the secrets and lies of her family and the era in which she grew up are compelling. The nature of the "mystery" will be guessed by many readers long before Rendell reveals it, but pages will continue to turn because the reader has been drawn into a world and a family that exert a magnetic hold on the imagination.
"A Dark-Adapted Eye" became an unfortunate television production in which the original story was badly-mangled and distorted. Read the novel; don't bother with the film.
Vine's first of many tour-de-forces.......2006-04-08
This is one a kind books that haunted my mind long after my first reading back in the late 80s. It is also one of the very few books that I have actually reread years later and found it even more interesting the second time around. Plenty of other first rate authors out there--Lee Child, PD James, Reginald Hill, John MacDonald, Donna Leon, Robert Parker, Dick Francis, etc--but only very few whose works have worn well through time. Much less required a second reading.
No need to rehash the plot for Ms. Vine's opus as plenty of others have already done so, however I need to give a nod to her marvellous ability to make these somewhat unsympathetic characters both interesting and fascinating. These characters could be anyone we encounter, so realistically are they portrayed. The nerrative itself should in theory have lost any suspense from the start, since we know from the beginning a great portion of the outcome, and yet by sheer imagination and talent Ms. Vine shrewdly pulls the reader ever tightly into her grasp so that we are actually racing through the end as all the "whys" are answered like rabbits being pulled out of a hat. Even more challenging is her ability of going back and forth from past events to present nerrative; instead of being disruptive Ms. Vine somehow ties these two strands together without ever losing a beat to increase the reader's interest.
It is not necessarily an easy book to start--a great number of characters are introduced in the first few chapters--nor is it a fast paced one; however, once we catch the rhythm of Ms. Vine's nerrative, we are drawn into a world where family love literally kills and destroys, and nothing will matter until we reach the end of our reading journey. Don't expect anything fast paced in the Harlan Coben fashion (not a slight to Mr. Coben). But do read it and savor every moment.
Customer Reviews:
In Need of Trimming.......2007-05-02
Like all of McKiernan's novels, this book needed trimming. There were far too many philosophical/religious debates between the main characters. Also, there was good action but you had to read through so much junk to get to it. Aravan and his crew are hard-core, but the rest of the characters fall flat. McKiernan seems to love psychotic villains, and this book is no exception. I just wish that it hadn't required so long to find him and kill him. Please, if you're his editor, encourage him to curb his impulse to jump on a soapbox and preach at us!
Epic talking........2006-10-16
Voyage of the Fox Rider is about a female Pysk and her search for her missing husband. With the help of Humans, Dwarves, an Elf, a couple of Mages and the fastest ship on the waters they will find him. But only after chapter and chapter of talking, debating, defining, lecturing, arguing, name calling, joking, and other non-action scenes. Oh, there is some action. Some. Out of 588 pages there is, to my knowledge, three real battles between th Good guys and the Bad guys.
Think Middle-Earth but with half the fat and taste. Read if trapped in the hospital or in jail.
Encouraging to Budding Authors: Even You Can Be Published!.......2006-10-11
Let me be perfectly honest and state that I have not finished this book yet. I may never do it, unless Dennis proves for the first time that he is a master of the plot twist (or I have a large portion of my brain donated to science). I do not normally drop a book halfway through, but there's a first time for everything, right?
Let's start off with the story: Here I will be merciful. The fantasy area has long been bereft of origionality (for about 4000 years I'd say). There's not much we can do about that. There's simply nothing new under the sun. But at least Dennis could try to present an old story in a new way (no, that doesn't mean calling a Hobbit a Warrow and a Fairy a Pysk ('it's a cool name becasue it has no vowels!' or not)).
Philosophy time: McKiernan's worldview is so pasturized that it makes me sick. He seems to hate God (or gods, as he states, yet he always drops into the capital 'H' when he talks about the figurehead of religion), or at least think He's 'no fair'. As a Christian I find this view of God so increadably trite. If you want a God that doesn't ever make you feel bad and gives the thumbs up to whatever you do, then save yourself the trouble and carve yourself one out of wood (you can even give him a smile). God is God, He does what he wants.
Sentance structure and grammar: Oh. My. Gosh. This was the worst. I remember the good old days when writers had to, you know, be able to write! I read a sentance in the beginning of the book that was a paragraph long and still had no real subject. Awful. And I can't help but get annoyed when he tells me that 'the fog cleared in late mid morning'. Late Mid Morning! What the heck is that! I don't recomend reading this book in early late evening, because you won't be able to keep your eyes open when the sentance runs on about some vague ramblings of good and evil and then rolls into another description of a grey sea that seems even more fake for the words used to describe it, but then I don't recomend reading this book at all. :o)
A nice work.......2006-04-20
Voyage of the Fox Rider is a good work, for those who enjoy a book focused on more than action. A basic fantasy work, it includes Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Fox Riders, Mages, and about anything else you can ask for. It starts out well, with the Pysk Jinnarin asking the Mage Alamar for help in finding her mate.
The book does have its lulls, in which characters discuss moral issues, sail, and travel. This only adds to the book in my opinion, rather than going wildly unrealistic in a fantasy, it includes enough elements to make the characters and conflicts much more believable. The archiac speech of Aravan can be a little hard to get into or believe, but after a while you become used to it. For the hardcore Mithgar fans, a lot of the beginning of the book is repetitive, telling you things you already know about the world of Mithgar. However, it quickly moves from explaining everything to getting on with the plot.
If you are a person who likes books that are high-paced the entire time, you probably own't enjot it. I think the book does a good job of balancing fights and dialouge, and a reader who doesn't mind the occasional lull or moral debate will probably find this a good read.
Buy it and have fun!.......2005-07-27
Yet another good and quality outing from McKiernan. His works continue to stand out and continue to provide vast enjoyment.
Ignore the bad reviews, those people just don't get it sadly.
Product Description
4 massmarket paperback Titles By McKiernan - Once Upon a Winter's Night - Voyage of the Fox Rider - Caverns of Socrates - The Eye of the Hunter
Book Description
The Courage to Heal is an inspiring, comprehensive guide that offers hope and encouragement to every woman who, was sexually abused as a child -- and those who care about her. Although the effects of child sexual abuse are long-term and severe, healing is possible. The authors weave personal experience with professional knowledge to show the reader how she can come to terms with her past while moving powerfully into the future. They provide clear explanations, practical suggestions, a map of the healing journey, and many moving first-person examples of the recovery process drawn from their interviews with hundreds of survivors.
Definitive in scope, The Courage to Heal speaks directly to the survivor in a warm and personal way:
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TAKING STOCK -- outlines the effects of child sexual abuse and the ways women cope over time.
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THE HEALING PROCESS -- explores each stage from the decision to heal and remembering through breaking silence, knowing it wasn't your fault, nurturing the inner child, and grief and anger, to resolution and moving on.
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CHANGING PATTERNS -- offers in-depth guidance for shifting self-defeating patterns in specific areas of one's present life, including self-esteem, feelings, intimacy, sexuality, and dealing with families.
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SUPPORTERS OF SURVIVORS -- provides insight and strategies for partners of survivors, family members, and counselors.
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COURAGEOUS WOMEN -- profiles survivors who share the challenges and triumphs of their own healing journeys.
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HONORING THE TRUTH -- a substantial new Afterword that refutes the "false memory" argument and presents a thorough and enlightening response to the backlash.
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RESOURCE GUIDE -- fully updated for this edition -- informs readers about therapy, healing activities, recommended reading, support groups, self-help programs, and services and organizations.
Customer Reviews:
self healing.......2007-10-08
This book has given me the courage to heal. It along with my therapy has help me overcome my past.
Help for the hopeless.......2007-09-16
I used this book in conjunction with a counselor, which I highly suggest. I recently bought this for my sister-in-law. I hope that she gets as much use out of it as I did. I didn't realize that the flashbacks and nightmares could stop, and that when they did, my whole life would improve. What a difference!
If I could give 0 stars, I would.......2007-09-12
Frightening. Don't give others this kind of power over your thoughts or feelings. Don't trust any therapist that recommends this book, especially if he/she claims that even though you don't remember being abused, you must have been because you are depressed, having trouble in a relationship, etc. The authors have no qualifications whatsoever to diagnose you or to give advice on how to heal anything. Their methods discourage healing -- how can you heal a relationship if you cut the person off and refuse to speak with them merely because they have a hard time believing that abuse occurred? It's in human nature and in our system of justice to be skeptical, to demand proof before believing abuse happened that we never witnessed.
These authors and their publisher ought to be sued for the damages they have caused to countless patients, families and falsely accused on the basis of "recovered memories." Recovered memories have been proven unreliable at best, and it has been proven time and time again that memories can be fabricated by means of suggestion, hypnosis, etc. In addition, therapy that results in "recovered memories" has been shown to cause an increase in the suicide rates of those patients, increased duration of treatment, decreased success rates in treatment, increased divorce rates among patients, alienated family and friends. How is any of that healthy?
This book and related "recovered memory" therapy is all about mining for gold among patients' insurance benefits by keeping them messed up as long as possible. Don't be fooled -- there is a serious conflict of interest at play when a therapist suggests that your common problems, often effectively dealt with by discussing healthy thought and behavior modifications in short-term treatment are caused by some sinister event that you can't remember, and that will take 3 sessions a week for 7 years at $120 a visit to uncover them and "cure" you (or whatever your health insurance will pony up for).
Before you buy this book, Google "recovered memory therapy" "false memory syndrome" and read the articles written by scientists and psychiatrists that know that recovered memory therapy is "bad therapy". This book has contributed to countless destroyed lives and families, so you should be aware of the risks of reading it before you do.
A Must-Have for Women Survivors.......2007-07-17
The Courage to Heal is not an easy read. It doesn't sugarcoat, nor does it shy away from the most difficult aspects of being an abuse survivor. However, it's been an invaluable tool in many a woman's recovery, including my own. Later editions are not gender-specific, but I found this one to be particularly helpful to me because it was geared towards women, and that helped me feel "safer" somehow. Your mileage, of course, may vary.
a very good place to start.......2007-07-16
I read this book a very long time ago. is there more written now? yes. Are there more deep and perhaps stronger texts out there for folks really wanting to wretch thru it all. Yes.
Are you just getting started on your journey and need the basics while protecting yourself from completely falling apart? What is a flashback? what is happening to me? the first questions you ask. This book has been the "bible of CSA" for many years and probably will be the "bible" for years to come. It will always have it's place amoung those just beginning to "gently" begin to understand what has happened to them.
Really, the best place to start...then get the "spouses/significant other" version, read it also, maybe underline the parts that really speak to you and have your partner read it when you and they are ready. it can open many doors for understanding without you having to find the words. I really don't believe in re-inventing the healing wheel. It there is something out there that makes any of this easier for you...go for it.
BA
Book Description
An Alain Ducasse Book
World-renowned French chef Alain Ducasse believes that food arouses all the senses. In this sumptuous book, he takes us on a culinary journey for both eye and palate. Here he shares the culinary experience, knowledge, and love of ingredients he has refined over the past 25 years.
Today, Ducasse feeds his passion for cooking through restaurants all over the world and a professional-level cooking school. He is now ready to bring his know-how and enthusiasm to American professional chefs and experienced home cooks, providing 700 recipes from French and Mediterranean cuisine that incorporate 100 basic ingredients and use 10 major cooking styles. Each dish is described in full, with recipes for accompaniments included; complete instructions for plating the entire dish are given as well. An appendix offers an encyclopedia of ingredients as well as basic recipes (sauces, stocks, and so on). Illustrated with more than 1,000 photographs and original drawings, Grand Livre de Cuisine will be an indispensable reference-and inspiration-for years to come. AUTHOR BIO: Alain Ducasse is regarded throughout the world as one of the most prominent French chefs. Along with three gourmet restaurants, Restaurant Plaza Athénée in Paris, Le Louis XV in Monaco, and Alain Ducasse at the Essex House in New York, he has also created more than 15 new concept restaurants worldwide and a professional-level cooking school.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic Book!.......2007-07-09
I think it's really helpful for professional chefs. Nice photos with detailed recipes. This book is really great, especially compared to the other book I bought, 'Pierre Gagnaire: Reflections on Culinary Artistry', which had nothing but photos (and worse, the photos are zoom shots of ingredients, giving no ideas on overall food presentation either) without any recipes. I strongly recommend this book!
the book!.......2007-05-20
the best and most comprehensive to date from the ever sprawling alain ducasse library. very good, very heavy (like 11#) and every recipe is a jewel. use for any upscale event, or even just to show yourself how far you have to go to be world class. the subrecipes are great, if harder to access as they are not individually listed in the index or table of contents. the definitive master work, a must for any serious collector...
must have book.......2007-03-25
If you want to work in a five star French kitchen then having this book will set you on that path. This book is not for new cooks. The book calls for tasks that only someone with prior knowledge of French cooking could perform without having two other books to help breakdown Grand Livre De Cuisine.
Overpriced but excellent reference for the professional or advanced amateur.......2007-03-21
I was excited to receive the book and examine the recipes. The book was not quite the 'exhaustive compendium' I had expected. It is not a Larousse Gastronomique of cooking, but it is an excellent reference and inspiration guide. One of the problems is that many of the ingredients are not readily available in most parts of the United States. That should not stop a good professional or advanced amateur from modifying the recipe with local fresh ingredients in mind.
The book is short on instructions. If you do not know the basics of braising, sauce preparation, saute, and other techniques of French cooking, buy another book with lengthier explanations like the Art of French Cooking first. I would highly recommend the book to food professionals.
great treasure.......2006-03-09
This is a great treasure. One needs to look at each recipe and try to anticipate how the original plate should have been like. No need to follow the exact instructions as they are only hints. Lot's of fun.
Book Description
In this magnificent volume, the second in the Grand Livre de Cuisine series, celebrated chefs Alain Ducasse and Frédéric Robert comprehensively cover the art of making desserts, pastries, candy, and other sweets. Everything is here— mousses and fondants; cookies and cakes; ice creams and sorbets; bonbons and nougats; fruit tarts, profiteroles, and sweet crèpes.
The book's 250 mouth-watering recipes range from traditional treats such as peach melba, candied apples, and oeufs à la neige to audacious concoctions such as tropical fruit- stuffed ravioli and coconut-encrusted lollipops. Decidedly French yet international in flavor, the book presents the authors' masterful takes on American cheesecake; Italian cannolis, zuppa inglese, and tiramisù; and the Austrian confections known as viennoiseries.
Organized by main ingredient, the Grand Livre's structure epitomizes Ducasse's philosophy of cooking and baking, which holds that culinary techniques should accentuate and enhance an ingredient's true nature—not mask it. The book features more than 650 color photographs, including a full-page, close-up photo of each finished dish. Cross-sectional drawings clearly display the internal “architecture” of some of the more complex creations.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful.......2007-07-03
Alain Ducasse is a master of his craft. To enjoy this book, though, one must have a clear understanding of the pastry arts. There are not recipes for every element; however, the methods that are presented are easily followed. Not recommended for the novice, unless you want a beautiful book to display on your shelf. The photographs are phenomenal.
Excellent Pastry and Bread Resource.......2007-03-21
I purchased the Desserts and Pastries at the same time as the other Grand Livre de Cuisine on savory food. My professional expertise was in breads and pastry, so it is easier for me to appreciate the example recipes in this book. The book is by no means exhaustive. It is an excellent resource with some fantastic pastry ideas and good ingredient combinations. It is also easier to find most of the ingredients in this volume than the savory book.
The photography is superb, but don't expect to be able to reproduce the look of the photographs without some professional baking or pastry experience. The recipes lack explanations and expect you to know foundation techniques.
Alain Ducasse's Desserts and Pastries.......2007-03-19
Great book, great pictures but maybe a bit difficult to execute for a non professional chef.
Book Description
A true master class in haute cuisine by a true master
Features 700 recipes with ingredients from anchovies to zucchini
An extensive appendix offers a complete description, including the choosing and buying, of the 100 basic ingredients used in the recipes
World-renowned French chef Alain Ducasse has built a reputation on meticulously selecting and preparing ingredients. Grand Livre de Cuisine: Alain Ducasse's Culinary Encyclopedia brought his 25 years of culinary expertise to kitchens nationwide when it hit bookshelves two years ago. Now, with the release of the first paperback edition, this comprehensive culinary resource has become enticingly affordable for professional chefs and experienced home cooks alike.
Featuring 700 recipes culled from the best of French and Mediterranean cuisine, and more than 1,000 photographs and original drawings, Grand Livre de Cuisine is an invaluable tool for reviewing or perfecting one's knowledge of culinary fundamentals. The recipes, organized alphabetically by main ingredient—from a thin-crusted anchovy tart to zucchini blossom fritters—are clear and concise, with a special emphasis on finish and presentation. The book also includes a glossary of 100 basic ingredients, as well as a primer on recipes such as stocks and sauces.
As proprietor of four first-rate restaurants and founder of a professional-level cooking school, Ducasse is a natural teacher who can demystify the most complex of recipes. In writing Grand Livre de Cuisine, he has created an impressive guide to appreciating and practicing the art of French cooking. It is sure to teach and inspire cooks of every level.
Average customer rating:
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Grand livre de la France a table: Cuisine des provinces de France
Robert J Courtine
Manufacturer: Delachaux & Niestle : P. Bordas
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
French
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Nonfiction
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All French Books
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 2863110055 |
Average customer rating:
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Le grand livre de la cuisine normande
Ray Compas
Manufacturer: J.-P. Delarge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
French
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Nonfiction
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All French Books
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 2711300307 |
Average customer rating:
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Le grand livre des produits et de la cuisine exotiques
Jean Suyeux
Manufacturer: Sycomore
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Cooking, Food & Wine
| Subjects
| Books
French
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Nonfiction
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All French Books
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 2862620912 |
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