The Cat Who Robbed a Bank (Cat Who...)

Amazon.com

Qwilleran and his crime-solving Siamese cats KoKo and Yum Yum are back on the case in Pickax, the biggest little city in Moose County, which is 400 miles north of everywhere but still boasts a remarkably sophisticated social and cultural scene. Hardly a day or a night goes by without a tea, dinner party, crafts fair, play, or pageant, all of which are attended and described in great detail by Qwilleran, a former crime reporter whose not very onerous duties entail writing a feature column for the local newspaper as well as overseeing the civic philanthropy made possible by an inheritance from a wealthy friend of his deceased mother. Fans of this long-running and immensely popular series will delight in this 23rd installment, in which the matrons of Pickax are buying French perfume and blueing their hair for the annual visit of Mr. Delacamp, a jeweler from Down Under (Chicago), whose arrival will coincide with the reopening of the town's fabulously refurbished grand hotel. When the mysterious Mr. Delacamp is found dead in the presidential suite, and his "niece" goes missing along with the jewels and the cash, Qwilleran and his curious cats investigate. As usual, it takes a couple of Siamese with extraordinary powers (even for cats) and a current preoccupation with pennies, gum wrappers, and paper towels to point their owner toward the solution; Qwilleran may not be the quickest sleuth in Moose County, but with KoKo and Yum Yum on the case, he doesn't need to be. This is the coziest of cozies, a particular niche in the mystery subcategory of crime-solving felines of which Braun is the acknowledged mistress, and once again she delivers the goods. --Jane Adams

Book Description

When a visiting estate jeweler is found dead in his Pickax hotel room, Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats must do their best to find the purr-petrator.

• The 22nd book in the beloved series

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When a visiting estate jeweler is found dead in his Pickax hotel room, Jim Qwilleran and his Siamese cats must do their best to find the purr-petrator.

Customer Reviews:

The cat's meow.......2007-07-07

This is my first in the "Cat Who" series and the most recent of 23 so I've got a lot of catching up to do in this charming and utterly delightful series. Jim Qwilleram is a retired, and very successful journalist who happens to be the owner of a large fortune and two crazy but beautiful Siamese cats. The male, Koko, has exraordinary powers of prescience and feels and knows things before they happen,and Yum Yum is a female with a will of iron and enough charm to melt the hardest heart, providing she gets her own way immediately. When a jeweller from Chicago comes to town, as he does every 5 years or so, to buy local jewellery and to sell new jewellery to the ladies of the town, the ladies are all aflutter with excitement as he flatters them and makes them feel special. When his murdered body is found in his bed at the local Inn, they are convinced that it had to have been done by an out of towner as none of the locals would do such a dastardly deed. This is a tiny book, filled with the most wonderful characters and all of the quirkiness of a small town and I can definitely feel the need to read all of the other 22!

Getting better.......2006-09-04

The series itself it slopeing downhill in its old age. I believe that there is a ghostwriter (or more than one?), but this book is MUCH better than the two before it. There are still some remarks that anyone who is reading the series from the beginning will say "What?!?!" to, like Qwill "always wearing a tie to dinner with Polly", but it reads like the earlier well written Cat Who books. Either Lillian is back, or they got a better ghostwriter for this one.

Thre Cat whoi robbed a Bank.......2005-10-03

I have enjoyed all the Cat Who Books . Have owned or borrowed or went to library to read them. Always can't wait for the next book to see what Koko and Yum Yum are up to. Have two of my own and think they are smart things to have.

for Moose County fans, 3-4 for anyone else.......2004-01-24

The story opens in late summer, Jim Qwilleran, wealthy newspaper columnist is, like the rest of Moose County (located 400 miles north of everywhere) looking forward to the opening of the new hotel. He finds that in addition to the grand opening, the hotel is to be graced by a visit from Mr. Delacamp, a jeweler from the big city who travels to Moose County every few years to do business. Qwill is intrigued by this strange custom and resorts to undercover work to satisfy his curiousity about the expensive cash only, women customers only business. When a murder occurs he becomes more so. As always Koko, his Siamese cat helps Qwill to pick his way through the tangle of old and new county scandals and county ties to reach the answers.

For fans of this long running series there are plenty of Moose County updates and 'information to be shared' as well of glimpses of day to day small town life. 'Cozy' fans would probably enjoy this as well even if not familiar with the series but anyone looking for a more hard-boiled or challenging story should look elsewhere.

A Great Book For a First Timmer.......2004-01-16

This is the first book in the series that I have picked up, yet I still feel as though I have read the hole series. The Cats are wonderful, the Charicters are beleaveable, and the plot is great. It is a Purrfect Book for a first timmer to "The Cat Who" series.

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The Cat Who Robbed a Bank
Lilian Jackson Braun
Manufacturer: G. P. Putnam's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000GLJD7E

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The Cat Who Robbed A Bank
Lilian Jackson Braun
Manufacturer: G. P. Putnam's Sons
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PK1B08

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The Cat Who Robbed a Bank
Lilian Jackson Braun
Manufacturer: Jove Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000P1SCJK

The Cat Who Robbed a Bank [UNABRIDGED] (Audio CD)

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The Cat Who Robbed a Bank [UNABRIDGED] (Audio CD)
Lilian Jackson Braun
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD

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The Cat who Robbed the Bank
Lillian Jackson Braun
Manufacturer: Putnam book club
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000W0T61W

The Cat Who Saw Stars, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, The Cat Who Blew the Wistle; The Cat Who Brought Down the House, The Cat Who Robbed a Bank; The Cat Who Turned On and Off (Set of 6 Books:)

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The Cat Who Saw Stars, The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern, The Cat Who Blew the Wistle; The Cat Who Brought Down the House, The Cat Who Robbed a Bank; The Cat Who Turned On and Off (Set of 6 Books:)
Lilian Jackson Braun
Manufacturer: Jove Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WXHSJQ

Product Description

The captivating series featuring Mystery's most extraordingary detective team.

Set of 6 Novels. Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit Series By Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare, TCW Wasn't There, TCW Blew the Whistle, TCW Said Cheese, TCW Robbed a Bank, TCW Went Up the Creek

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Set of 6 Novels. Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit Series By Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare, TCW Wasn't There, TCW Blew the Whistle, TCW Said Cheese, TCW Robbed a Bank, TCW Went Up the Creek
Lilian Jackson Braun
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000WLX97S

Product Description

Set of 6 Novels. Jim Qwilleran Feline Whodunnit Series By Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare, The Cat Who Wasn't There, The Cat Who Blew the Whistle, The Cat Who Said Cheese, The Cat Who Robbed a Bank, The Cat Who Went Up the Creek.

The Cat Who Robbed a Bank(lilian Braun)unabridged (UNABRIDGED)

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The Cat Who Robbed a Bank(lilian Braun)unabridged (UNABRIDGED)

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000IIWGRE

The Cat Who . . . (Lived High, Went up a Creek, Knew a Cardinal, Robbed a Bank) (Sold as a set)

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The Cat Who . . . (Lived High, Went up a Creek, Knew a Cardinal, Robbed a Bank) (Sold as a set)
Lilian Jackson Braun
Manufacturer: Jove
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Product Description

6 delightful books for one low shipping charge! All previously read, but still in great condition, some cover wear

Customer Reviews:

A Fair Number of High Quality Short Stories in This Collection.......2007-04-03

Final Shadows is a collection of 36 stories published in 1991, all by different authors, some by big names and some by authors you've probably never heard of. Like any multiple author collection the quality of the stories within varies greatly. There are masterpieces or ones close to that, but you've also got a few which aren't much more than a waste of time.

I'll start my reviews of these stories with the best ones (undoubtedly you may well disagree with my order, but that's fine, to each their own) but if you haven't been able to track down Final Shadows, at least you'll know what they are about.

Magpie, Stephen Gallagher - Author recounts his school days as a fat kid and how a bully got his comeuppance. Some great plot idea stories included through the child character's imagination. If Gallagher has actually written any of these I'll definitely check them out.

A Father's Dream, Chet Williams -the tale of a father who has a nightmare about his son lying dead in the street outside an unfamiliar house. When he goes on vacation to his brother in law's house he immediately recognises it as the one from his dream. Instead of dragging his family away and looking stupid he decides to just take precautions such as not letting his son play at the front of the house.

Together, David S Garnett - Adam's unemployed wife is becoming more and more lazy, and less interested in him. She never leaves the house, which they can ill afford now with just one income. Adam soon becomes suspicious that she is having an affair.

I'll See You on Saturday Night, Gun N Smith follows Jerry an ugly small town mechanic who is infatuated with the beautiful Isabel. When he buys some sunglasses from her she mentions she is going to a dance on Saturday night. She tells him I'll See You on Saturday Night and Jerry of course tells everyone he has a date with her.

Beijing Craps by Graham Masterton follows a compulsive gambler of over 20 years who last saw his son when the child was 3, never having left Vegas casino floors since. He's won a lot of money but there's a new game in town where you bet to take years of your life or lose them if you do.

Samhain, Bernard Taylor - Doris has been keeping herself looking all right by jogging. She is disappointed by her husband Arthur's increasingly flabby body, days spent in front of the TV and well basically his existence. Doris delves into ancient witchcraft to get rid of him once and for all on Halloween (or its proper name Samhain).

The Stone Face, Colin Greenland - Neil and Gwen take a much needed holiday in a seaside small town bed and breakfast. Gwen isn't much fun and doesn't want to do anything. When Neil picks up a stone he can make out a face in it, the holiday suddenly gets a lot more exciting.

Fastening, Julie R. Good - A woman stops to help an old lady whose car has broken down on the side of the road. Stopping is only the start of her nightmare.

That's it for the best but the next couple are also worthwhile reads.

The Boarder, Wendy Webb - A writer Jack Sampson wants a place where he can pretty much type and be alone, isolated from society but with not much money answers an advertisement for looking for a boarder for a room in a large house. He is told by the maid a bunch of restricting rules such as he must attend dinner nightly at 8pm with the lonely house owner. He doesn't really care he plans on spending most of the time in his room anyway but what he discovers at dinner will make him revaluate the decision to stay.

Out Behind the Shed, Bill Pronzini - Mechanic finds a body behind the shed but his boss cannot see the body and tells him there's nothing there and to get back to work.

Fear O' Ghorta, Peter Tremoyne - A priest listens to a man who calls himself Fear O' Ghorta (Man of Hunger) who recounts a sin he has not confessed for 25 years that took place during the Irish potato famine.

Going Away, Craig Shaw Gardner - Tom has gone to Florida to escape the winter and memories of his dead wife. She however seems to keep popping up in his mind and talking to him. He hopes escaping to Florida will make her go away.

The Mermaid, Tanith Lee - Michael recounts his encounter with a mermaid proving they are more an animal then the legends portrayal as human women with fish tails instead of legs.

The Beautiful Uncut Hair of Graves, David Morrell - One of the biggest names of this collection has written only an above average story. A man finds some documents amongst his dead parents' possessions. He thinks he may be adopted so sets off to his birthplace, Redwood Point to find out. What he finds there is pure evil.

Against the Skin, Mark Morris - Lee is an unemployed loser who poaches wildlife for extra cash. He meets a girl at a club who convinces him to take the bus home instead of a cab.

Mulberry's Crystal, Brian Mooney and Stephen Jones- The story which obviously inspired this collection's cover design. A man runs into his friend from uni days, Silas Mulberry. Silas invites him back to his place, shows him a crystal that he says is responsible for his imminent brutal murder.

The Door, Sharon Webb - Classic haunted house thriller about a young couple who buy a house that they know was severely undervalued. When painting a wall they discover there's a hidden door but can't open it.

The next stories will pass the time but they're nothing memorable.

When They Gave us Memory, Dennis Etchison - A soap actor is getting married so goes to visit his parents that he hasn't seen for a while to tell them the news. His parents and everyone else don't seem to remember he's an actor, in fact their memories and his yearbook show a different past to what he remembers.

The Magic House, Lynn S. Hightower - Old lady remembers the story of a magic house and that she had indeed found it down the road when she was a child. Now the visiting grandkids are missing.

Rescheduled, Mike Chinn - Graeme forgets the keys to his office, suffering from both migraines and a hangover he has to ride the train home and back to get the keys. His headaches won't be his only obstacle.

Medusa's Child - Kim Antieau - Matthew likes the eyes of a vagrant woman on the street so offers her food if he can paint her. She wants a place to stay while he paints. Leila takes more than this.

Past Tense, Brian Hodge - A guy who likes a constant variety of women is always breaking up with them. Many have done little things as acts of vengeance but Lisa, his latest dumpee takes vengeance to a new level.

Island of the Seals, Samantha Lee - A female writer moves to an isolated island where there are no humans, just seals. A mysterious man appears, tells her stories, makes love to her then disappears every morning before sunrise. Life is great until the seal clubbers arrive.

The rest of these stories are pretty average but this is what they're about.

Under the Boardwalk, Lori N Allen - Some kids find a body in the sand under a Coney Island boardwalk but the older girl doesn't want to tell anyone as she doesn't like nightmares.

The Picnickers, Brian Lumley - Busybody kid overhears his doctor uncle talking to grave diggers about holes in a buried coffin and discovers gypsies have unleashed an obour.

Fry Day, Melanie Tem - Mother of a rape and murder victim goes to a carnival as she counts down the hours before the switch on the murderer's electric chair is thrown.

The Sweetest Rain, Nancy Holder - Some guy visits and talks to his dead wife at her grave.

Wrong Side of the Road, Norman Partridge - Helen meets Roy, a guy who lost his legs and soul in the war.

Thirteen Lies About Hummingbirds, Michael Bishop - Some guy wants to impress a woman so offers to buy her gifts. One thing she asks for is a hummingbird so he buys her a broche.

The Tape, Jessica Palmer - A bad driver gets lost on the way to Deer Island, finds it, then can't find the bridge out again.

The Dark Places in Between, Karen Haber - Seth is a successful painter but is struggling to pay the bills as he hasn't painted anything decent in years. Does Maria have the answer?

A Sailor's Pay, Jack Candy - A murderer killed his wife with a knife and has fled in a boat with a kidnapped little girl so the coastguard is looking for them.

Photo Call, David Sutton - Jeremy Hitching is becoming more and more successful as a photographer. A huge fan of Norton Bainbridge he writes him many a fan letter. One day he gets a reply to meet his idol.

Parralax, Nicholas Royle - Couple out hiking come across a cemetery. One of the statues appears to move out of the corner of their eyes and a grave looks partially open but isn't. These are just tricks of the eye right?

Of Natural Causes, Ashley McConnell - A mother dies and the daughter finds it hard to accept that the corpse at the funeral is her.

Something About Camilla, Juleen Bratingham - A bunch of stuck up privileged women are reliving their school days. Amongst other memories Sherry asks if they remember Camilla? No one does as each memory path investigated turns out to be someone else. But they should remember Camilla for a very good reason.

The best collection I've ever come across of short stories is Mystery Writers of America Presents Death Do Us Part: New Stories about Love, Lust, and Murder which was just about full of five star worthy rating stories.

Angry White Kirkus In Black Turtle Neck.......2003-04-23

Another angry reviewer slumming at Kirkus collecting rejection slips from the small circulation little magazines while booking guests at MSNBC as a day job. Nice capsule summation of western literature though. Molder in obscurity no-name. Or at the 100th annual proceedings of the Modern Language Association, whichever comes first...

Book Description

Treat Your Own Knees shows how to reduce or end knee pain by improving knee function. In easy-to-grasp language, author Jim Johnson covers the physiology of the knee and the kinds of pain that affect it, along with the psychological aspects. He offers a series of straightforward exercises based on current medical data and tested in his practice. Black-and-white drawings show exactly how to do the exercises and pinpoint the precise muscles responsible for the problem. This concise, simple guide provides an effective do-it-yourself program.

Customer Reviews:

Simple book you need if you have any knee problems.......2007-06-14

I just had ACL replacement surgery and this book is a great resource and tool. This book tells you what you need to know in order to put together a basic workout routine to strengthen your knee no matter what your issue is. This book explains to you what Physical Therapists won't take the time to explain and allows you to ask intelligent questions of your therapist and surgeon. Note, this book was what turned me on to massage techniques which have sped my recovery immensely. Most insurance plans won't cover massage, and physical therapists and surgeons don't recommend it unless you ask. If you get no other books about knee recovery, get this one!!

Simple techniques create amazing results........2006-05-19

This remarkable little book may change the way you think about knee pain. Instead of focusing on pain symptoms and where they originate, the author focuses on what your knee does - and how to improve those functions with simple exercises. The only anatomy lesson you need is to know where your quadriceps and hamstring muscles are - front and rear of your thigh respectively.

He identifies four functions in your knee: strength, flexibility, proprioception/balance, and endurance. If you have unexplainable knee pain, you probably just need to improve your knee function in one or more of the four functional areas. The author suggests simple exercises in each functional category.

To develop strength, the single most important muscles to develop are your quadriceps. There are many exercises you can do to strengthen your quads. The author suggests a very simple floor exercise.

To develop flexibility, the author suggests a quad and a hamstring stretch. The exercises he suggests can be done standing or on the floor.

Proprioception might be a strange word to you. It was to me. It is probably best described as a combination of coordination and balance. Can you accurately sense what your knee is doing? Does it react appropriately to changes as you move? This is what proprioception is all about. The simple and interesting exercise the author suggests to improve proprioception is simply to stand on one leg for 30 seconds. Then switch legs. (It's ok to have a wall or chair to help catch you if you start to fall.) You might find this exercise easy to master. If so, the author suggests doing the exercise with your eyes closed. This may require considerable practice!

The author suggests that you can build endurance simply by walking or stationary bicycling.

And that's the entire program for treating your knee pain. Some readers may feel letdown or short-changed. What about all the anatomy lessons other practitioners give you? What about issues relating to your tendons, ligaments, bones, and cartilage? What is the theory behind this skimpy program?

Chapter 6 gives you the surprising answers to these questions. The author reviews many scientific studies on knee pain. The studies (based on X ray or MRI testing) show that the existence and/or severity of knee pain/disability have little correlation to the amount of knee deterioration. Many people with severe knee deterioration reported no pain, and some had their symptoms decline over time. The factors most closely linked to knee pain/disability were muscle strength, obesity, age, and psychological health. The author is a physical therapist and not a dietician, gerontologist, or psychologist. His knee program does as much for your knee as science suggests physical therapy can do.

The author recognizes that surgery and medications seem to help a lot of people, but the available research suggests that most people will benefit from the low-tech solutions he offers.

what you need and nothing extra.......2006-05-04

This book doesn't waste your time - it just reports what research says has been effective and then lays out a simple routine of exercises you can do at home, with extensions if you want to go further. I've had good results from following basically the same routine he suggests - it's given me back hope that fifty-year-old knees can survive a running program after all, and it's helped me avoid surgery which probably wasn't needed. It also cut through a lot of conflicting and confusing diagnoses and went straight to advice on how to avoid pain - who cares about the exact cause if it goes away?

Great Book.......2006-02-23

Besides being an easy read, I found this book to be a common sense approach to the care of your knees. With disability in both of my knees, I found the author's approach very beneficial and would highly recommend this book to anyone with knee problems.

If you kneed help....... .......2005-02-26

This knee pain book is very unique because it is completely based on just published research . Well laid out with pictures of easy exercises you can do at home or on the job, I consider it a valuable resource for all who have knee pain and highly recommend it. Also liked "The No-Beach, No-Zone, No-Nonsense Weight Loss Plan, A Pocket Guide to What Works" by the same author.

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wealth of information

Bella Napoli!!

You'll Be Singing 'Bella Napoli'..

Great regional knowledge

Excellent treatment of the cuisines in Campania. Buy It.

Naples at Table : Cooking in Campania
Arthur Schwartz
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Italian | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Food and Wine Guide to Naples and Campania

Cucina Di Calabria: Treasured Recipes and Family Traditions from Southern Italy (Cookbooks)

In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Cultural History of Naples

Cooking the Roman Way: Authentic Recipes from the Home Cooks and Trattorias of Rome

Arthur Schwartz's New York City Food: An Opinionated History and More Than 100 Legendary Recipes

ASIN: 006018261X

Amazon.com

Naples gave the world pizza and spaghetti with tomato sauce. In Naples at Table, Arthur Schwartz reveals the unexpected breadth and depth of dishes to be enjoyed in Naples and throughout Campania, the rich region where this culinarily underappreciated city is located.

Campania is the home of mozzarella. In fact, by Italian law, only cheese made from the milk of the water buffalo of Campania should be bear this name; the cow's-milk cheese we call mozzarella is more rightly called fior di latte, "flower of the milk."

To most people, southern Italy is the land of red sauce, from the light salsa insalata, made with raw tomatoes marinated in olive oil and seasoned with salt and basil, to hefty, long-simmered, meat-flavored ragu. Schwartz introduces us to La Genovese, an onion-based sauce Neapolitans began making centuries before the tomato arrived from the New World so they could pair it with its soul mate, pasta.

Anyone interested in Italian food will find the more than 250 recipes and the almost overwhelming wealth of information in Naples at Table fascinating. There is history, going back to the ancient Greeks, and stories as only Schwartz can recount them. One of the best is how Zuppa Inglese may have gotten its name. Discover Woodman-Style Baked Pasta with Meat Sauce and Mushrooms; lusty Baccalà "Arrecanato," a casserole of salt cod and potatoes; an authentic Zuppa Inglese; and so much more as you travel around Campania with Schwartz, meeting chefs and home cooks from Naples and Salerno, Benevento up in the mountains, out along the Amalfi coast, and the jewel-like islands of Ischia and Capri. --Dana Jacobi

Book Description

Arthur Schwartz, popular radio host, cookbook author, and veteran restaurant critic, invites you to join him as he celebrates the food and people of Naples and Campania. Encompassing the provinces of Avellino, Benevento, Caserta, and Salerno, the internationally famous resorts of the Amalfi Coast, Capri, and Ischia -- and, of course, Naples itself, Italy's third largest and most exuberant city -- Campania is the cradle of Italian-American cuisine.

In Naples at Table, Arthur Schwartz takes a fresh look at the region's major culinary contributions to the world -- its pizza, dried pasta, seafood, and vegetable dishes, its sustaining soups and voluptuous desserts -- and offers the recipes for some of Campania's lesser-known specialties as well. Always, he provides all the techniques and details you need to make them with authenticity and ease.

Naples at Table is the first cookbook in English to survey and document the cooking of this culturally important and gastronomically rich area. Schwartz spent years traveling to Naples and throughout the region, making friends, eating at their tables, working with home cooks and restaurant chefs, researching the origins of each recipe. Here, then, are recipes that reveal the truly subtle, elegant Neapolitan hand with such familiar dishes as baked ziti, eggplant parmigiana, linguine with clam sauce, and tomato sauces of all kinds.

This is the Italian food the world knows best, at its best -- bold and vibrant flavors made from few ingredients, using the simplest techniques. Think Sophia Loren -- and check out her recipe for Chicken Caccistora! Discover the joys of preparing a timballo like the pasta-filled pastry in the popular film Big Night. Or simply rediscover how truly delicious, satisfying, and healthful Campanian favorites can be -- from vegetable dished such as stuffed peppers and garlicky greens to pasta sauces you can make while the spaghetti boils or the Neapolitans' famous long-simmered ragu, redolent with the flavors of meat and red wine. Then there's the succulent baked lamb Neapolitans love to serve to company, the lentils and pasta they make for family meals, baked pastas that go well beyond the red-sauce stereotype, their repertoire of deep-fried morsels, the pan of pork and pickled peppers so dear to Italian-American hearts, and the most delicate meatballs on earth. All are wonderfully old-fashioned and familiar, yet in hands of a Neapolitan, strikingly contemporary and ideal for today's busy cooks and nutrition-minded sybarites.

Finally, what better way to feed a sweet tooth than with a Neapolitan dessert? Ice cream and other frozen fantasies were brought to their height in Baroque Naples. Baba, the rum-soaked cake, still reigns in every pastry shop. Campamnians invented ricotta cheesecake, and Arthur Schwartz predicts that the region's easily assembled refrigerator cakes -- delizie or delights -- are soon going to replace tiramisu on America's tables. In any case, one bite of zuppa inglese, a Neapolitan take on English trifle, and you'll be singing "That's Amore."

A trip with Arthur Schwartz to Naples and its surrounding regions is the next best thing to being there. Join him as he presents the finest traditional and contemporary foods of the region, and shares myth, legend, history, recipes, and reminiscences with American fans, followers, and fellow lovers of all things Italian.

I acclimated quickly to Naples. The palm trees in the park along the sea seduced me. The decrpiet Baroque splendor of the city stunned me...And, of course, there was the food. The catering shops carried all kinds of macaroni-filled pastries, individual size and huge ones to cut a wedge from; cakes of fried pasta, fried balls of rice, stacks of vegetable frittatas, baked lasagne, and ziti. There were fry shops with fritters and croquettes, trendy pizzerias with long pies sold by the meter, and traditional pizzerias, every surface white marble, where I first learned to eat pizza with a knife and fork. I indulged in pastries and baba every morning and afternoon, drank short, powerful coffeess all day, and finished each evening with a stroll and a gelato. I ate linguine with clams oin Posillpo (then took a nap on a jetty on the sea); drank Gredo di Tufo (whoite winer) and stuffed myself and buffalo mozzarella at every opportunity. I could see right away it was a tough place to eat through, so I kept going back for more.
There were still warm almond-studded taralli, rings of crisp lard dough, from a street vendor by the sea, pasta and beans on a nineteenth-century trattoria, lamb ragu and cavatelli in the hills of Benevento, goat ragu and fusilli in the Monti Alburni, squid and potatoes on Capri, rabbit braised in tomatoes on Ischia, fish stew at the beach near Gaeta, the lemon chicken in Ravello.

from the introduction

Customer Reviews:

wealth of information.......2007-06-10

The book is more than an excellent cook book. Besides good cooking tips it has a lot of gastronomical information concerning Naples.

Bella Napoli!!.......2007-03-11

Gracia mille to Mr. Arthur Schwartz for his most wonderful volume on the cooking of Naples and Campania. It made my mouth water from the first I opened it, even the paper feels good. The first thing I read, quite by chance was the charming ode to Neopolitan food from a book of stories by Giambattista Basile , "My Broccoli" (p.309). I was hooked!! Lucky Mr. Schwartz that he was able to make the opportunity to travel all through the Campania to research the recipes for this book. It is once again an example of Italian food as an uncomplicated, unfussed with cuisine that only requires of you an understanding of the technique and ingredients of impeccable freshness. There are great things in this book for all the seasons. This winter I was greedy for his "Orecheiette con Broccoli di Rapa" (p.168) and the "Pastiera Rustica di Taglioni" (p.188). I've done the Monkfish Mediterranean Style (p231) enough times to not have look at the recipe and it is delicious (rave reviews from guests). One night I had some left over spaghetti and was needing a quick supper so I tried the "Frittata di Spaghetti"(p.222) and find it's wonderful for all kinds of occasions with lots of variations. All of the recipies have a very clear 1.2.3. procedure with Mr.Schwartz being careful to tell you of any pitfalls. There is a lusty quality to the book, just like there is in Naples and the Campania, that makes this book a pleasure to use. I'm really looking forward to his next book. Sicily perhaps? This book? Highly recommended!

You'll Be Singing 'Bella Napoli'.........2007-03-05

Whenever we tend to think Italian, the first things to come to mind are pizza, pasta, (especially spaghetti) and marvelously rich desserts and pastries. Now, in this tell-all compilation by acclaimed cookbook author, restauranteur and "Food Maven" radio talk-show host Arthur Schwartz, these dreams are brought to life. Whether you crave any variation of innumerable pastas with tomato sauce or that other distinctly Neapolitan favorite, the iconic pizza, this book provides the reader/cook with page after page of historic information and culinary tips from perhaps Italy's most bountiful region. This is the "true" Italian cuisine we have all grown up eating and making yet another staple to the American way of living. Aside from all the classic recipes spanning over one hundred years in the American cucina, this book is laced with dozens of contemporary monzu (a corruption of the French monsieur, in Italian refers to any respected gourmand or culinary bureaucrat) classics, including Paccheri alle Cardinale, Pizza alla Campofranco (a more extravagant style of pizza, made with brioche and prosciutto) and timballo, a "drum" of pasta baked with ragu in lavish pastry. Naples is also home to fritto misto, a wide range of tempting fried foods that has rightfully been granted its own distinct caliber within the region's clientele. But perhaps the author's greatest achievement is the equally sinful array of dolce, from classic tiramisu and rich torta caprese to the most-loved of all Neapolitan pastries, Sfogliatelle. Savor the experience and celebrate the wonderful cucina and hospitality that inspired Dean Martin to "That's Amore".

Great regional knowledge.......2007-01-10

Arthur Schwartz presents authentic,regional recipes with wit and style. His knowledge of the region, its products and customs makes this as close to cooking with your mother on Sunday afternoon as possible.

Excellent treatment of the cuisines in Campania. Buy It........2005-10-25

`Naples at Table' by Arthur Schwartz is another addition to that excellent collection of books on regional Italian cooking by, for example, Lynne Rossetto Kasper on Emilia-Romagna in `The Splendid Table', David Downie on Lazio in `Cooking the Roman Way', and Lydia Bastianich on Istria in `La Cucina di Lydia'. Even allowing for the fact that there are a number of only fair titles dealing, especially with Tuscany, the crop of books on Italy's regional cuisine is truly marvelous.

While my overall impression of the book was very good from the moment I opened it, I knew I was on to something when I encountered Herr Schwartz' statement that in Campania, cooks rarely use both garlic and onions in the same dish. This is something I have never heard (or do not remember hearing) or reading, even from my guiding star of Italian cookery, Mario Batali on his show, `Molto Mario'.

Unlike many of these books, even very good ones, the author takes the time to give us a history of Naples and Campania. While I can't say for certain, there is a hint here that part of the reason tomatoes found a home in the cuisine of Naples is based on the fact that Campania, Sicily, and other parts of southern Italy were ruled by the Spanish in the 200 years following the importing of new foods, including tomatoes, from the new world by the Spanish. I suspect the rich growing conditions for tomatoes in Campania had as much or more to do with the situation, but the potential connection is a rich subject of speculation.

I also get a strong sense of believability in Schwartz' description of this cuisine based on his statement that the residents of Campania rarely think of themselves as natives of this Italian governmental region. Rather, they think of themselves as residents of the smaller province, city, or island such as Naples, Avellino, Benevento, Caserta, Salerno, Amalfi, Capri, and Ischia.

This is the cuisine on which practically all `Italian-American' cooking is based, since most Italian immigrants to America were from Campania, Sicily, and other parts of southern Italy. It is also true that two of the most popular types of dishes in the world, dried semolina pasta and pizza, were created in Naples. Unlike other good books on other regions, Schwartz also goes into a lot of the history of these and other types of dishes. For example, his treatment of `puttanesca' is virtually the only one that gives at least two different perfectly reasonable explanations for the source of the name.

The book is laid out in very traditional chapters, covering antipasti and fried foods; classic sauces; pizza and savory breads; soups; pasta; cheese and eggs; fish and seafood; meat and poultry; vegetables; and desserts. His pasta chapter even includes two different recipes for the famous timballo baked pasta pie, which made such a big impression in Stanley Tucci's movie, `Big Night'. The best thing about his recipes is that they are not the same as the two in Lynne Rossetto Kaspar's `The Italian Country Table', although there are strong family resemblences. The most interesting thing about his `Timballo di Tagliolini is that it has a pastry rather than a pasta crust.

There is not a single dish I associate with Naples that cannot be found in this book. There is even a great recipe for `Torta di ricotta Gregoriano', the southern Italian take on cheesecake, based on ricotta and including citrus flavorings.

While this book does have a few heartwarming stories about convivial dinners with Italian friends, this book is much more about business, and it is easily one of the best three to five books I have seen on a particular Italian provincial cuisine.

Highly recommended.

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