A Morning for Flamingos

Book Description

Clutching the shards, of his shattered life, Cajun detective Dave Robicheaux has rejoined the New lberia police force.

His partner is dead -- slain during a condemned prisoner's bloodyflight to freedom that left Robicheaux critically wounded...and reawakened the ghost of his haunted, violent past.

Now he's trailing a killer into the sordid head of die Big Easy-caught up in the lethal undercurrents of a mob double-cross...confronting his most dangerous enemy: himself

Customer Reviews:

A little too gritty for my tastes.......2007-05-07

On the recommendation of a column in my local newspaper, I bought several in these in the series, a little too much in the language department for my tastes. Nevertheless, you certainly can picture it in your minds eye. So, although I purchased several, I only read about the first third in one. I did not throw them away, I passed them along. There are others authors out there for me.

First in Robicheaux series.......2007-03-09

This is truly one of the best books I've ever read by a contemporary author. I found the plot line to be involving and interesting and was really committed to the character development of the main character as well as those around him. The book was recomended to me by my brother-in-law who thought if I liked it, I'd go on to read the series. I've ordered them and look forward to seeing how this personality develops. I strongly recommend it to you.

Just love all his books so far - this was no exception!.......2006-07-22

The bitter sweet - the great imagery! PURE Burke!

He gets more complex with every book.......2006-07-04

Dave Robicheaux is contemplating life after passing fifty and finds that he is bored with his life. When offered a chance to go under cover by his friend in the DEA, he jumps at the chance. His only request is that Clete goes along as his backup, which no one wants because of Clete's history.

Dave is trying to help bust the biggest drug dealer in the New Orleans area, but finds himself drawn to him as another ex-Vietnam vet who is still suffering from what went on over there. Addicted to black speed and with a handicapped son this drug importer is a multi-faceted character.

In between Dave has to deal with a psychotic killer whose trying to kill him; a NOPD snitch who puts his life in danger because of a crooked cop; drug smugglers, wiseguys and gun monkeys. On top of it all he is reunited with his first love (Bootsie) who he left at home when he went off to 'Nam.

In the end, somethings come out right, some not and some we won't find out for another few books. Oh, yeah, he marries Bootsie and they go back to Bayou Teche to raise Alafair together.

Obscure title, complex plot........2005-09-29

Interesting, uncommon characters, both good guys and bad guys. Very much New Orleans in flavor, this story holds your attention as much because of the unusual interactions between the characters as for the manipulations of the plot....which has a real surprise at the end, with almost no foreshadowing. A cut above most cop/detective stories in style and characterization, "Flamingos" is much closer to Grahame Green than Mickey Spillane...so choose accordingly. I intend to read much more of the work of James Burke.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Flamingo)

Average customer rating:

Intensity-his mind was flooded with profound ideas
Reflections
Read and Reread
The correct understanding of Jung's compensation theory
An incredible chronicle of an amazing inner journey!

Memories, Dreams, Reflections (Flamingo)
C.G. Jung
Manufacturer: Fontana Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0006540279

Book Description

Memories, Dreams, Reflections C.G. Jung.

A classic autobiography introduces the work of Carl Jung, while revealing a portrait of the man himself. Focuses on his dreams, visions, premonitions, and insights into the mythic dimension of human experience. Read by Michael York.

Customer Reviews:

Intensity-his mind was flooded with profound ideas.......2007-09-14

This book is sublime, a GEM. In his subjective view of the world -"with half closed eyes and somewhat closed ears, to see and hear the form and voice of being" he arrived at an inspiring insight about life: supreme meaning of being can consist only in the fact that is,not that it is not or is no longer; nature, the mystery of love, the psyche, life, human beings, a state of lively contemplation of images is divinity unfolded (the greatest of miracles)-being conscious of this can come to you not through emptiness, imagelessneess or wanting to be freed from nature or yourself.
Here's a passage of the book that reflects the quintessence of his wisdom:
No language is adequate for this paradox. Whatever one can say, no words reflect the whole; for only the whole is meaningful...love "bears all things" and "endures all things". These words say all there is to be said; nothing can be added to them. For we are in the deepest sense the victims and the instruments of cosmogonic "love"- a unified and undivided whole. Being a part man cannot grasp the whole. He is at its mercy. He may assent to it, or rebel against it; but he is always caught by it and enclosed within it. He is dependent upon it and is sustained by it. Love is his light and his darkness, whose end he cannot see. "Love ceases not"-whether he speaks with the "tongue of angels", or with scientific exactitude traces the life cell down to its uttermost source. Man can try to name love, showering upon it all the names at his command, and still he will involve himself in endless self-deceptions. If he possesses a grain of wisdom, he will lay down his arms and name the unknown by the more unknown- ignotum per ignotius-that is, by God. That is a confession of his subjection, his imperfection, and his dependence; but at the same time a testimony to his freedom to choose between truth and error.
If we understand and feel that here in this life we already have a link with the infinite, desires and attitudes change.

Reflections.......2007-07-08

Jung's work is often difficult to read. This is an excellent introduction to his thinking, and a fine outline of his life. Man and his Symbols is also a good intro to Jungian thought.

However, over long, somewhat pompous comments are really not appropriate. Jungians would call this inflation.

Read and Reread.......2007-05-18

This is a book that I read with intense interest, I walked around the house , this book in hand.

C.G. Jung is caught here , his childhood, his quirks. He remains a very fascinating man. This is the only book about C.G. Jung I've read.

I particularly liked the chapter 'Late Thoughts", though the book in whole is very curiosity inspiring.

Loved it.

The correct understanding of Jung's compensation theory.......2007-05-17

According to Jung, the unconscious tries to "compensate" the "lopsidedness" in the conscious attitude, and dreams are part of this process. He says: "The relation between conscious and unconscious is compensatory. This is the best proven rule of dream interpretation" (Collected Works, Vol. 16). The examination of Jung's dream interpretations reveals that what he calls "lopsidedness" is a harmful mistake, or a harmful mental/behavioral failure, and "compensation" means the correction of the mistake, or the termination of the mental/behavioral failure.

As I explained elsewhere, the compensation of the lopsidedness in the conscious attitude by the unconscious is only a particular manifestation of the general truth that all functions of the mind, or all of its "topographical parts" in Freud's words, complement each other and constitute an integrated system, in contradiction with Freud's theory of conflict. In fact, Jung's theory was produced as a reaction to Freud's conflict theory. Consequently, we can equally say that consciousness sometimes compensates the lopsidedness in the unconscious attitude. Besides, it is most natural to expect such cooperation to work even when it is not possible to talk about any lopsidedness in the conscious or unconscious attitude. I described this cooperation in much detail elsewhere in my chapter on cerebral lateralization.

Again as I explained elsewhere, Jung's conception of the function of dreams is basically correct and constitutes a very fruitful idea. But he did not apply this idea adequately to dream interpretation, apparently because he did not express it clearly and used instead obscure ideas like lopsidedness and compensation. His major mistake was to assume that every dream presented the compensated state of the lopsidedness, or the corrected state of the mistake.

Jung could be able to produce a correct theory of dreams if he tried to answer the following questions: (a) What is the content of lopsidedness in general but clear terms? (b) How does the conscious attitude become lopsided and why it cannot correct its lopsidedness itself? (c) What makes the unconscious fit to compensate the lopsidedness of the conscious attitude? (d) In what measure the unconscious succeeds or fails in doing the compensation work, and why? (e) Most importantly, how does the unconscious do the job of compensation, or the correction of the harmful mistake? It is evident that in the absence of especially the answer to the last question, it is not possible to discover all the thoughts expressed by a dream.

As I explained elsewhere, a complete dream contains three types of thought: (a) the presentation of the lopsidedeness, or the mistake, which is treated by the dream; (b) the explanation of the cause of the mistake, or failure, which is often in the form of the external attribution of the failure; and (c) the correction of the mistake, or the termination of the failure. A complete dream begins either with thought (a) or (b) and ends with thought (c). Thoughts (b) and/or (c) may be missing in a dream or may be implicit in another part of the dream, but thought (a) is always present in explicit or implicit form because it is the reason why the dream is produced. In reality, this understanding of dreams is implied by Jung's compensation idea, because the fact that the unconscious can compensate the lopsidedness in the conscious attitude means that the unconscious is rational enough to do that, and the above three types of thought are the ones produced consciously and rationally when dealing with failures in the waking state.

Jung was not able to see these facts, because he could not free himself sufficiently from Freud's influence. Just as Freud interpreted everything in a dream as meaning wish fulfillment, Jung interpreted every dream as presenting the compensated state of the lopsided that it treated. In reality, a dream may present the lopsidedness instead of its compensated state, as exemplified below.

Jung's dream about his patient (p. 133): In his dream, Jung looks up at his female patient who is "sitting on a kind of balustrade," "on the highest tower" of a castle "at the top of a steep hill;" he bends his head back too far to see her properly and wakes up with a crick in the back of his neck.

Jung's interpretation based on the compensation hypothesis was this: "If in the dream I had to look up at the patient in this fashion, in reality I had probably been looking down on her." So, he assumed that the dream was telling him not to look down on her. This interpretation was based on the assumption that the dream scene represented what Jung had to do in real life, which means the solution of his problem, or the compensation of the lopsidedness in his conscious attitude. This interpretation contradicts the fact that Jung hurt himself in the dream by looking up at his patient and also by the fact that he considered his patient in real life "a highly intelligent woman." These contradictions can be eliminated by assuming that the dream scene represented the mistake that Jung was making in real life, or his problem, not its solution as he assumed. So, the correct message of the dream appears to be this: "You are making a mistake and hurting your interests by overestimating your patient." The implied advise was to stop overestimating her, which is the exact opposite of what Jung thought the dream was advising him. This interpretation is supported not only by the pain that Jung felt in the back of his neck at the end of the dream and his waking state evaluation of his patient as a highly intelligent woman but also by the fact that he was unable to realize progress in the therapy of his patient, evidently because he considered her a highly intelligent woman. This dream shows that the compensation hypothesis can cause a wrong interpretation even when the subject matter of a dream is approximately recognized, which is not always the case, and that therefore this hypothesis may also say nothing about the meaning of a dream. In such cases, Jung introduced obscure ideas in the interpretations, such as mandala, archetype, and collective unconscious, without explaining why these appear in the dream and what they precisely mean in relation to the dreamer's life. In fact, many of Jung's ideas are found "mystical." In opposition to this, Freud's interpretations are always clear and detailed but always wrong basically. But despite this fact, Freud's dream theory is more popular than Jung's, because it is found plausible due to the fact that it is produced by likening dreams to daydreams which mean wish fulfillment as everyone knows.

Jung's understanding of dreams needs to be corrected, or completed, also concerning the language of dreams. He criticized Freud's idea of dream symbolism saying that what Freud meant when he said "symbol" was "sign," and that a symbol was something more complex than a sign. Today the widely accepted view is that dream language is concrete-analogic, or concrete-metaphoric. In reality, most of Freud's dream symbols involved analogies, but many other writers abused the concept of dream symbolism and produced largely invalid dictionaries of dream symbols. Not only dream language but also dream cognition is concrete-analogic and therefore cannot use abstractions and logic. This is a consequence of the accepted view that dream thoughts are produced by the right brain which operates using concrete analogies instead of abstractions, speech, and logic. The verbal metaphors that are used in the waking state are also used in dreams in concrete pictorial form, because the source of both the waking state analogies, or metaphors, and dream analogies appear to be the right brain. Because of this, dictionaries of dream symbols can contain correct entries, but even the most common analogies can carry special meanings when used in dreams in relation to the dreamer's life experiences. Many otherwise correct dream interpretations by Jung and his followers are somewhat flawed because of they twisted the meanings of dream analogies in various ways. An example is below.

A man dreamed that as he came out of a meeting he put on somebody else's hat. Jung could say nothing about the relation of this dream to the dreamer's life experiences and claimed only that the hat represented the Mandela, which, according to him, is a concept present in every human mind. The analogic interpretation of this dream can be that the dreamer had easily accepted, or was in the habit of easily accepting, other people's ideas and views. This would be the presentation of a lopsidedness in his conscious attitude.

Jung was aware of the insufficiency of his theory and said: "There are still boundless opportunities for pioneer work in this field" (Collected Works, Vol. 16). Nevertheless, he and his followers produced many correct and nearly correct dream interpretations. Jung's readers can use his compensation theory better then he did by keeping in view the facts mentioned above and reading my books.

Jung's compensation theory can be seen as the solution of the problem of dream interpretation, and thereby of the problem of dream function, if the process by which compensation is realized and the analogic cognition and language of dreams are taken into consideration, both as explained above.

Cognitive-Behavioral Cybernetics of Symptoms, Dreams, Lateralization: Theory, Interpretation, Therapy

Theory Construction and Testing in Physics and Psychology

An incredible chronicle of an amazing inner journey!.......2007-02-24

I think Carl Jung was very ahead of his time and he was in sense an explorer like Columbus, except that his territory was the vast space of his own interior. My understanding of Jung is that he took his own explorations to the brink of psychosis in the service of understanding himself and the psyche. Whether you are a Jung fan or not, it has certainly been my experience that he has a lot of insight and wisdom to share with respect to the nature of the psyche.

This book is basically an autobiography and it is very dense reading. Jung was highly educated in a variety of fields and without some basic understanding of philosophy, major literary figures and mythology, it may be a difficult reading. However, if taken slowly, it is truly manageable and you will discover many gems.

I agree with some of the other excellent reviews that suggest that this volume presents Jung the legend more than being an objective account of his life. However, it offers a lot of insight into his thinking, major influences, etc. It is a fascinating story in itself.

I think this book is most useful and interesting to people who already know a lot about Jung. It is not the best introduction to Jung. If you want a good introduction, I would suggest Murray Stein's "Jung's Map of the Soul." Another concise introduction in Jung's own words is Aion. I would read one or both of these first before tackling this volume.

Average customer rating:

FUNNY AND CUTE
With this book you can enjoy such hits as, "Allicatter Gatorpillar". Order now while supplies last.

Flamingos on the Roof
Calef Brown
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Humorous | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0618562982

Book Description

In the very near future you will find yourself dining on Snow Flurry at the famous Weatherbee's Diner. Everyone will be there - Bob and Bossy Casey, Medusa's sister Sally, both of the Appleton Twins, and Mr. Andy Mandolin singing "Biscuits in the Wind." Remember him? You will also meet Angus, visit the silly Soggy Circus, and as soon as the moon is out (unless there's an eclipse), you may even glimpse a Tiny Baby Sphinx! Until then, here's what I recommend: listen for flamingos, write some haiku, then take a ride in a Barnacle Built for Two. Sound good to you?

Customer Reviews:

FUNNY AND CUTE.......2007-01-12

Great book but I expect nothing less from Calef Brown. This was the last to add to our collection and our daughter loves them all.

With this book you can enjoy such hits as, "Allicatter Gatorpillar". Order now while supplies last........2006-06-16

When poetry and I meet face to face, poetry has its work cut out for it. I am not a poetry fan. Sometimes it seems to me that the world of children's poems began and ended with Shel Silverstein and that's that. As you can see, I'm a tough nut to crack. Then my boss starts gushing. Starts gushing about a little something called, "Flamingos On the Roof". I am not immediately sold. First of all, I've apparently been living in a cave for the past few years and have missed all the other books that Calef Brown has written. Secondly, I'm not sold on Mr. Brown's style of artistic expression. This feeling deepens as I open up the book and find myself facing yellow endpapers that are crammed with images from tip to toe. These images show up later in the book's poems, but I don't know that yet. So I tentatively turn the page and begin reading. And reading. And reading. And about the time I've gotten to the poem about a tattooed biker who likes to build model motorcycles in bottles, I'm sold. This is poetry to convert the unpoetic. This is a book that begs to be read aloud by kids of all ages. There's something for everyone here. Even the curmudgeonly poetry-hatin' children's librarian.

The first thing that hits you (after the overwhelming effect of the endpapers) is a large billboard. On it, someone has painted all the poems to come. There are twenty-nine in total and they range in names like, "Tiny Baby Sphinx" to "King of the Tire". Another turn of the page and you find yourself fully enmeshed in the book. Each poem is a riot of color. For example, the poem "Angus" about a now natty dresser shows a dapper dog sporting bright hunter-orange plaid with shoes to match. Turn the page and the eye cools to the mysterious and wonderful, "Flamingos On the Roof", where two girls peek out of their chimney to a deep plum-colored sky. Matching the illustrations are poems funny, introspective, and poems that are funny AND introspective. There's the poem about Medusa's sister Sally who, instead of a bunch of snakes coming out of her head, just has one, "single lazy snake". Or maybe you're a fan of the "Eight-Trees" that grow leaves in the shape of the number eight. Evocative, amusing, and always unexpected, Brown keeps the reader guessing and the poems consistently interesting.

In the fantasy world that I sometimes inhabit, I get to oversee all the editorial choices done on children's books. If I had had my way with, "Flamingos On the Roof", I would probably have changed the order of the poems themselves. The book begins with, "Alphabet Sherbet", which is a perfectly nice poem, don't get me wrong. It's just not . . . well . . . it doesn't grab you and make you want to read more. The casual purchasers might just put this puppy down after skimming poem #1. Instead, I would have begun the book with the beguiling, "Soggy Circus". For some reason, this poem was my favorite of the book. "The circus was flooded / It happened so suddenly / What would they do? / Nobody knew". I can't reproduce the entire poem here, but I love how it ended. "A clown got some laughs / with his kicking and splashing / The audience followed his cue / The strongman just played / with a toy that he made - / a green origami canoe". So lovely.

It's the range of the poems that really threw me for a loop, though. "Biscuits In the Wind" is all about "The latest song from long ago" that was "first made famous yesterday" in which a crooner sings, "My oh my, the years go by / I wonder where they've been? / Gone astray, or so they say / like Biscuits in the Wind". Later we then run across a very quiet little poem simply entitled, "Peas" that's so sweet and simple and quiet that you quite forget that earlier you were rocking out to Brown's magnificent, "Combo Tango". The art took me some getting used to, but once I got into it I couldn't imagine any other artist could have complemented these poems half as well as the author/artist himself. It's a flat style, but magnificent one.

I run a homeschooler bookgroup at my library and once in a while the kids and I do some poetry books. I can tell you right now that as soon my library purchases multiple copies of, "Flamingos On the Roof", I will be reading these puppies aloud with my young `uns. A marvelous addition to any poetry section and a rare find indeed. A great delight to stumble upon.

Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos (A Meg Lanslow Mystery)

Average customer rating:

fun as always
Read the Other 2 First then Enjoy This One
Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos
Funny Cozy Mystery
Beware the Anachronism Police

Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos (A Meg Lanslow Mystery)
Donna Andrews
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Minotaur
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Women Sleuths | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312277296

Book Description

What won Donna Andrews such praise and so many first-novel prizes for her Murder with Peacocks is her wit, her honest approach and in large part, her leading characterlovely, put-upon Meg Langslow. In this new book, we find Meg at the celebration of the British surrender at Yorktownselling her crafts (even wrought-iron flamingos), looking for (and dodging) a killer, and trying to keep in the good graces of her impossible future mother-in-law.

Customer Reviews:

fun as always .......2007-03-11

This entry in the Meg Lanslow series is a fun read as usual

Read the Other 2 First then Enjoy This One.......2007-02-05

This is definitely a case where you want to read the first two books before you take on this one. The family members, friends, and even pets are all well developed in those first books so that when you encounter them here you already understand their quirks and strengths.

I greatly enjoyed this book as the best one yet. The previous two books had vastly bizarre situations and a cavalcade of murders which made it hard to suspend your disbelief. On the other hand, the characters were great and three dimensional. This book puts you in a situation which is "unusual" but very believable - a reenactment of colonial America. It has the great odd characters, now well known to the audience. It also has a more realistic murder situation.

I loved the details of costume, environment and accessory in the colonial world and, as always, liked the slightly zany but believable characters that were involved. There wasn't a need to go into explicit detail with many of the characters - you'd already established a connection with them in the previous two books - but the new characters added a nice texture.

I was happy to see that Michael was no longer just a "pretty face" and that Meg was becoming more independent. Details were filled in about both characters to help explain their personalities. Michael is exposed as a preener who, aware of his good looks, likes to play them up, and to find new outlets for his acting talents. Meg is taking on weapons creation and worries about minimizing her reputation by creating kitschy pink flamingos, even though it could mean a good income.

I still was annoyed that Meg and others continually judged Michael on being a "good looking accessory" as a primary trait. It's just as bad to do that to guys as it is to girls. He also seemed, like in the previous book, to be a rather passive partner. He spends much of the book wanting to look pretty and whining about Meg not committing enough to him. He ends up being a damsel in distress.

I also was annoyed that - still- Meg seems to show no empathy or care when she finds dead bodies. In this book she even comments that she hopes it's someone she knows and likes, so that she won't be likely as a suspect. Jeez, nice thought!

Still, you can look at these as further evidence that the characters are not "shiny perfect" cardboard heroes. We know Meg has temper issues. Michael is rather spoiled, with his mom simpering when he snaps and women falling over each other for his good looks. Even with their foibles, they find a way to make their relationship work and to navigate the difficult issues of an eccentric extended family. It gives hope that the rest of us who are imperfect can still find ways to live happy lives and persue our dreams.

Recommended!

Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos.......2007-01-04

Ms. Andrews Meg Lanslow Mysteries are top-notch, entertaining and you can't put them down! Delightfully fun mystery.

Funny Cozy Mystery.......2006-09-26

Ornamental blacksmith Meg Langslow and her boyfriend Michael attend a reenactment of the siege at Yorktown. Michael is taking place in one of the battles, while Meg is selling her wares at the craft fair. But the fighting isn't confined to the battlefield and several people are arguing with entrepreneur Roger Benson, including Meg's brother Rob. When Meg goes to her booth late one night and finds Benson's body, she knows she has to act quickly to clear her brother before he is charged with murder. But will her investigation put not only she but also Michael in danger?

"Revenge of the Wrought Iron Flamingoes" is a great entry in Donna Andrews's humorous cozy mystery series. Andrews takes her time setting up the murder, providing the reader with plenty of suspects. There are lots of laugh out loud moments, including when Meg stumbles across Benson's body. The book is populated with plenty of eccentric characters; especially Meg's many relatives. I liked the whole reenactment background, which is a great setting for much of the humor in the book. In fact, some of the best humor comes when Meg's mother and Michael's mother try to outdo each other in their choice of costumes. The mystery is well plotted and readers will have a hard time guessing who the murderer is.

This was a nice humorous read. I recommend the whole series.

Beware the Anachronism Police.......2006-03-17

I first picked up on this series because mystery fiction has become so dire that I occasionally have an uncontrollable urge to wolf down a cozier story. Donna Andrews manages to be lighthearted, intriguing, and thoroughly modern in a genre that is often noted for its stuffiness. Meg Langslow, the often unwilling, heroine of these tales is an ornamental blacksmith. As many do, most of her income comes from craft fairs, which is one step removed from life in hell on a good day.

This time Meg and her boyfriend Michael are caught up in a period art fair that includes a reenactment of the siege of Yorktown, and, even more deadly, a chairwoman who has gone around the bend on an authenticity kick. It doesn't help that said chairwoman is also Michael's mother, which makes it impossible for Meg to end her agony with a well aimed flamingo. Someone else, however, has taken a severe dislike to a businessman with few, if any, ethics, and has used the aforementioned flamingo in extremis.

The story brings Meg, Michael, a host of family and friends, and even not so innocent bystanders to a furious boil. Everything from software piracy to yellow journalism get tossed in the pot in the name of diversion. There are few dull moments, and any reader who wants to spend a few hours discovering characters who grow increasingly eccentric as the story progresses.

I'm not going to pretend this is a deep tale with lasting values and powerful writing, but it's hardly likely to leave the reader grabbing for the anti-depressants either. Into every life some flamingos must come.

Average customer rating:

A great book!
...and coming from me, it must be pretty bad....
Don't Let the Pretty Cover Fool You
Not Her Usual
A Dissenting Voice

Flamingo Diner
Sherryl Woods
Manufacturer: Mira
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 1551667223

Book Description

Even when it's the last thing you expect. . .
Home is where the heart belongs.

Welcome to the Flamingo Diner
Where Friends and Family Come First

Like television's Cheers, Flamingo Diner has always been a friendly place where everybody knows your name. Unfortunately, in the small town of Winter Cove, Florida, it is also the place where everybody knows everything about you. As a teenager Emma Killian didn't recognize what a remarkable business her family had created, so she moved away.

Now her father's tragic death has brought her home to face a mountain of secrets, debts and questions about why and how her beloved father died. As Emma grapples with her out-of-control family, the responsibility of keeping Flamingo Diner afloat and a pair or well-meaning senior-citizen sleuths, she finds support from an unlikely source.

Onetime bad boy matt Atkins is now the Winter Cove police chief. Matt has always had a penchant for trouble and an eye for Emma. Now it seems he's the only one who can help Emma discover the answers to her questions. . .and giver her a whole new reason to stay home.

Customer Reviews:

A great book!.......2004-04-26

This book was great! It had characters that were true to life, and a romance that made me sigh. I liked how everything was not as perfect as it first seemed to be with the family, and that there were secrets. Still, through the tragedy that the family had to go through, they bonded and became closer than ever. The book didn't try to solve all the problems in a couple of weeks, instead they went for months and still it wasn't completely resolved. It made it seem like life would continue with ups and downs and all that we really know is today. I liked that the ending was sweet but exactly a happy-ever-after type. I couldn't wait to finish reading it and I look forward to the next Sherryl Woods book!

...and coming from me, it must be pretty bad...........2004-03-23

I've always had a natural aversion to these types of books, even though I've never read a Danielle Steele, Nora Roberts, Anne Rice, or Sherryl Woods book before in my life. Good call, I guess. But I was desperate and didn't have time to get to the library, so call this my moment of weakness.

Lame characters, unbelievable interactions and conversations, and too many loose ends. Thank God I borrowed it and didn't spend any thing on this except too much time.

Don't Let the Pretty Cover Fool You.......2003-11-30

Don't let the bright pink cover fool you into believing this is a lighthearted story.. it's not. The main storyline and the characters' interactions are a result of a suicide. The book is sold as a Cheers bar-like story, but there was no real similarity. I had anticipated hearing stories from within the diner and meeting up with a lot of locals and townspeople, but that really wasn't the case. The focus was less on the interactions at the diner and more on discovering if the suicide was accidental or not. I have read a few Sherryl Woods books and this one is remarkably similar to the others - the characters are so-so the romance is minimal at best, and the writing is better than a cheap Harlequin but not as involving as a real story should be. I was disappointed but would still recommend it to fans.

Not Her Usual.......2003-11-07

I felt this book was not the usual for Sherryl Woods. It had romance and some humor, but it was too serious with the talk of suicide. After a long day, you want a book you could slip away into and imagine you are there. After reading the first few chapters I wanted to cry. I liked her other books much better and hope she stays light-hearted in the future. Book was very well written though.

A Dissenting Voice.......2003-10-18

I'm going to be the odd one out here, and say that I didn't really like this book. The book played up all the emotional heartstrings, but it left me rather cold.

I found the main character, Emma, to be extremely annoying and selfish. Perhaps it's just that I have a differing viewpoint of death and suicide, but I just couldn't understand the survivor guilt. Emma's dogged pursuit for the reason behind her father's suicide, knowing full well that any verification of it would jeopardize the insurance money that her family desperately needs, just made no sense to me. I disliked the fact that she began the investigation and involved a public official in it unilaterally, never bothering to discuss her action with her mother or her siblings until after the fact. Also, coming from a family where my mother was widowed young, I had absolutely no sympathy with the mother locking herself away for weeks in her room nursing her own hurt and anger when her children needed her. My mother never behaved that way, no matter how much she was hurting. Perhaps this reflects a real-life experience, I don't know, but I could not respect the mother after that.

Regarding the romance between Emma and Matt, this was one of those situations where you have this gorgeous bad-boy who's made good type in love with a woman forever, she loves him, but she's afraid to commit to him because she has an independent life elsewhere. Nevermind that in that other life she's basically a glorified shop clerk who's never going to be able to do the job she actually wants to do, nevermind that she apparently has no social life and only a limited amount of friends. THAT life is better in her eyes than being with a man whose love she reciprocates, having her beloved family nearby, and the possiblity of owning her own antiques business. Just made me want to give her a smack upside her head.

Average customer rating:

Read the Book!

interesting journey

Heinrich Harrer's Journeys in Tibet.

Very interesting adventure story

Live Life to its Fullest

Seven Years In Tibet (Flamingo Modern Classics)
Heinrich Harrer
Manufacturer: Flamingo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
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Tibet | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books
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Return to Tibet

My Land and My People: The Original Autobiography of His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet

The White Spider

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Seven Years in Tibet

ASIN: 0006550924

Amazon.com

Originally published in 1953, this adventure classic recounts Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer's 1943 escape from a British internment camp in India, his daring trek across the Himalayas, and his happy sojourn in Tibet, then, as now, a remote land little visited by foreigners. Warmly welcomed, he eventually became tutor to the Dalai Lama, teenaged god-king of the theocratic nation. The author's vivid descriptions of Tibetan rites and customs capture its unique traditions before the Chinese invasion in 1950, which prompted Harrer's departure. A 1996 epilogue details the genocidal havoc wrought over the past half-century.

Book Description

In a motion picture starring Brad Pitt, SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET is the autobiographical account of a young Austrian adventurer and the escape from an internment camp that changed his life forever. In 1943, Heinrich Harrer, a noted mountain climber and skier, slipped out of captivity in India and made his way through the Himalayan passes to the Forbidden City of Lhasa in Tibet. From destitute vagabond, he rose to the position of tutor and confidant to the fourteen-year-old Dalai Lama. Until their parting in 1950, when the Chinese Communists overran the country, his close relationship with the revered holy man profoundly altered his way of living, even his way of thinking.

Customer Reviews:

Read the Book!.......2007-10-10

I'm about half way through this book and I am amazed! I've not seen the movie yet so I really didn't know what the book was going to be about. What brave men these were! It's like a diary into these mens lives for a short time when the whole world was in turmoil. Definately read this book!

interesting journey.......2007-08-31

I enjoyed reading about the author's travels over the mountains and the challenges along the way. Then, upon finally reaching Tibet it was intersting to read about life there. However, after awhile I left like I was reading the book for 7 years as the book started to drag on.

Heinrich Harrer's Journeys in Tibet........2007-08-09

_Seven Years in Tibet_, originally published in 1953 by Austrian adventurer and mountaineer Heinrich Harrer is a fascinating account of Harrer's seven years spent in Tibet, his journey to Tibet through the Himalayas, and his interaction and friendship with Tibetans in Lhasa and the Dalai Lama. This book includes a foreword by the Dalai Lama and includes an epilogue showing the brutality of the Chinese communists towards the Tibetan people. The book has been made into a movie by the same name. Heinrich Harrer (1912 - 2006) was an Austrian mountaineer and sportsman who was an Olympic athlete. In 1939, he traveled to India as part of a Himalayan Expedition with fellow Austrian Peter Aufschnaiter. However, since Harrer was officially part of the Nazi party of Germany and a war was going on he was imprisoned by the British in an internment camp. This book tells of his repeated escapes from that camp and his adventures in the mountains until he eventually reached Lhasa and lived in Tibet. The book also tells of his interaction with the noble Tibetan people (including His Holiness the Dalai Lama) until they were eventually overtaken by the Chinese communists in 1950. Harrer makes a plea for the Tibetan people and hopes that they may someday be made free once again from the communists who currently occupy their noble land.

The book begins with Harrer's reflections on his childhood and early years of adventure. As part of his adventurous spirit and love of sport, Harrer took part in a Himalayan expedition with his fellow Austrians. However, since the Germans had fought the British in the First World War and since the Second World War loomed ahead, Harrer was taken as a prisoner of war (along with fellow Austrian Peter Aufschnaiter) by the British in India. The book focuses on Harrer's experiences in the internment camp and his attempts to escape. During his various attempts he was accompanied by Austrians and Italians and frequently had to resort to various wiles (such as painting his face dark to appear as an Indian) while attempting his escapes. He was caught several times and had to be returned to the camp. Harrer (who had read of the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin's adventures) planned to escape into Tibet. After he had managed his escape, the book follows his adventures in the mountainous regions of Tibet. Frequently Harrer was forced to meet up with hostile Indians and Tibetans who viewed foreigners as a threat. Since he did not have official papers allowing him to make his way through Tibet, he had to resort to various means to escape these hostile officials. Tibet had remained in a position of neutrality throughout the war and intended to maintain such neutrality. However, overall his journeys through Tibet were always accompanied by a humorous sense among the people who tended to overlook many of the "official" channels necessary for his stay in Tibet. Eventually Harrer made his way across the mountains through the various villages along the way and into the "Forbidden City", Lhasa, at the Roof of the World, accompanied by fellow Austrian Peter Aufschnaiter. Along the way, Harrer notes the various odd customs of the Tibetan people, including their views on punishment, their strange views on marriage (including polygamy and polyandry), the role of the yak among their people, their respect for all living things, and their religious traditions, emphasizing especially Buddhism but also noting the relationships between Buddhists and various other foreign religious such as Muslims. At the Forbidden City, Harrer was greeted with a surprisingly warm welcome and was given asylum by the Dalai Lama. The book then tells of Harrer's life in Lhasa and his attempts to seek work until he eventually was able to buy a house. The Dalai Lama, through his mother, sought out Harrer as a foreigner and had him construct a theater for him as well as becoming involved in other public works for the government of Tibet. Harrer makes note of the importance of religion for the Tibetan people, emphasizing the role of Buddhist monks and nuns in their religious traditions. Harrer also notes the superstitiousness of these people, noting their belief in various deities, reincarnation, and omens of various sorts. The Dalai Lama, who was a young boy at the time, was believed to be the reincarnation of Chenrezi. He was found as a young boy and was recognized as the Dalai Lama. He is the Fourteenth Dalai Lama and was considered the God-King of Tibet. Harrer was to serve as a tutor to the Dalai Lama, informing him on the facts of geography, science, languages, and events outside of Tibet. At the same time, the Dalai Lama instructed him in Tibetan tradition and Buddhism. Harrer notes the Dalai Lama's liking for mechanical devices and his eagerness to learn new things. Harrer and the Dalai Lama became close friends and their friendship continued to grow even after the Dalai Lama was forced to leave Tibet. In 1950, the Chinese communists invaded Tibet and the Dalai Lama was forced to leave. At the same time, Harrer left and thus ends his journey through Tibet. The book ends with Harrer's comments on events in Tibet since this book was published, noting the brutality inflicted on the Tibetan people by the Chinese communists. Harrer makes an eloquent plea to free Tibet from oppression and notes the fact that since then the Dalai Lama has been viewed positively by many in the West. In fact, the Dalai Lama was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and remains a widely read philosophical influence for many in the West who view Tibetan Buddhism in a positive light.

This book provides a fascinating account of one man's journey through Tibet. It also provides interesting details of a lost traditional culture and the religion of Tibetan Buddhism. Unfortunately today, the Chinese communists retain control over the people of Tibet and have caused a great deal of harm to their traditional way of life. However, as more Westerners become aware of the plight of the Tibetan people it may be possible to restore once again the majesty of this lost culture and tradition.

Very interesting adventure story.......2007-07-03

This is the story of a German-Austrian mountain climber who was interred in India during World War II, escaped (twice), and fled into Tibet, a country closed to foreigners. Through determination and luck, he and his partner are allowed to stay, where their Western handyman skills make them useful to the government as "engineers" and repairmen. They learn Tibetan and become part of the local elite, including high-level government service and friendship with the young Dalai Lama. He eventually flees when the Chinese invade the country.

This is a well-written page turner that tells a story of a very different time and place. You'll be amazed at Harrer's mountaineering and survival skills, and you'll gradually learn about Tibet in much the way that he did.

The style of the book is dated in two respects. First, Harrer has the attitudes of a European of his time, moderately condescending toward the peoples of developing nations. There has been some controversy about his membership in the Nazi Party; though it's plausible that he was simply an ambitious young man who joined the party only to get ahead, it's also true that he shared the routine racism of the day. This is present, but not salient, in the book. It is also muted by his fondness for Tibetans.

Second, Harrer writes in a matter-of-fact way that focuses on actions, and to a lesser extent on decisions - - and certainly not feelings. For example, the story will be moving along when he announces, "And then I decided to . . ." This is certainly not the modernist or post-modernist sensibility, but you may or may not care about that. You won't learn much about people's interior lives, but the story moves crisply along because it focuses on actions.

Overall, this is a lively adventure story that also documents a distinctive culture at the moment before it was forever changed by conquest.

Live Life to its Fullest.......2007-04-12

This novel of history and adventure will pull at your heartstrings while it teaches you lessons about living a fulfilling life.

The Atrocity Exhibition (Flamingo Modern Classics)

Average customer rating:

Perversion Exposure
the atrocity exhibition
brain-terrorism
Difficult to start, a chore to finish
Mind blowing, in every sense of the term

The Atrocity Exhibition (Flamingo Modern Classics)
J. G. Ballard
Manufacturer: Flamingo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0007116861

Amazon.com

Easily one of the 20th century's most visionary writers, J. G. Ballard still lives far ahead of his time. Called his "prophetic masterpiece" by many, The Atrocity Exhibition practically lies outside of any literary tradition. Part science fiction, part eerie historical fiction, part pornography, its characters adhere to no rules of linearity or stability. This reissued edition features an introduction by William S. Burroughs, extensive text commentary by Ballard, and four additional stories. Of specific interest are the illustrations by underground cartoonist and professional medical illustrator Phoebe Gloeckner. Her ultrarealistic images of eroticism and destruction add an important dimension to Ballard's text.

Book Description

The Atrocity Exhibition is J.G. Ballard's most complex, disturbing work, with fabulous photos by Ana Barrado and artwork by Phoebe Gloeckner.

Customer Reviews:

Perversion Exposure.......2007-09-25

The Atrocity Exhibition is written with the kind of breath of a William S. Burroughs novel; particularly Naked Lunch. In both novels the characters seem to be lost in the labyrinth of their own mind. Whether or not the four male characters of Atrocity Exhibition are in fact living in a drug induced hell remains a mystery.
However what is clear, and believe me there is a lot left unclear in this work, is that the characters are living fractured lives. They are traumatized by events beyond their control. In a desperate attempt to gain some power over themselves, they grasp at one another, tearing apart emotions and using their bodies as a temple for self-actualization. It is difficult to grasp a cohesive narrative structure out of the novel and in a sense it is an anti-novel.
With characters and events that remain unclear, like Elizabeth Taylor and her ambiguous "gill slits." Despite these elements of nonsense this novel remains a kind of testament to how desperate people are to truly have a sense of self.
Once that self is grasped the characters enter some kind of new world where their dreams or fantasies become their reality. It is a kind of egotism where the sexual is not erotic but painful, the kind of pain found in isolation. Here you have to have a sense of methaphors and be able to pick apart the novels short-comings because it does get rather torrid trying to understand a work without empathy.
As the novel goes on I realized that Ballard wrote it in a way that he understands the inner-self so much that all he can do is show how these people experience reality. Without empathy the work becomes a lost testament to how disaffected people have become.

the atrocity exhibition.......2006-07-13

the atrocity exhibition is a watershed and seminal work in the canon of jg ballard. ballard is regarded and indeed classified as a writer in the 'science fiction' genre. if you consider science fiction to be the domain of 'star wars' et al. then reappraise, reevaluate and restart your imaginative capacity NOW.
ballard bestrides the real essence of what science fiction is all about. along with genre peers like william s burroughs and philip k dick ballard lets our everyday reality somersault into malleable form in order to glimpse through its creases as it bends and flips. and that is what science fiction is truly about.
the atrocity exhibition retells the imaganitive interpretation of a world gone vacant and disused despite its technological grandeur and will to power. the narrative dispells the need to lurk in the shadow of pessimmism for a dystopian world view of 'the future'. like pk dick, ballard is recounting a parallel universe that we are, in fact, already in yet refuse, deny and thus - vainly - extricate ourselves from. ballard simply removes the blinkers from our eyes and reveals the panaramic vision of 'our times'. less a parallel universe than a 'concurrent' one.
one aspect of ballards narrative(s) in general and (just one) significant difference when compared to the likes of philip k dick and burroughs, is the total lack of paranoia permeating the text.
ballard in my view is more prophet than paranoid.
the atrocity exhibition is one man's coming to sense with the 'real' world by tortuous and torturous understanding... he has to go 'mad' first.
i got my copy through RE/SEARCH PUBLICATIONS and anybody interested in the left of centre (and therefore) more substantial literary experience should check them out post-haste.

brain-terrorism .......2006-02-09

"The Atrocity Exhibition is the industrial brain-terrorism of a drug fetus and JG Ballard rapes the digital-chimpanzee's naked body in the corpse feti=streaming circuit of the abolition world." - Kenji Siratori, author of Blood Electric

Difficult to start, a chore to finish.......2005-11-24

Ballard makes several keen insights in this book (many of them startlingly prescient). However, digging those nuggets of clarity out of the surrounding mess is difficult and often unrewarding work. The repetetive and disjointed nature of the narrative quickly leads to confusion--confusion about the characters, their motives, and the surrounding events. And perhaps that was intentional, but it doesn't make for a satisfying read.

"The Assasination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Motor Race" was one of the few bright spots in the narrative, but not quite bright enough for me to consider this book as anything more than a failed experiment.

Mind blowing, in every sense of the term.......2005-09-20

This is a very difficult book, but also very rewarding for people with patience. I usually find experimental writing gimmicky, but the Atrocity Exhibition is haunting, paranoid, claustrophobic. Readers should be in the write state of mind to deal with a sometimes unpleasant read; those who do are usually transformed by it. This is a stunning work; I only give it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the edition...

What Makes Flamingos Pink?: A Colorful Collection of Q & A's for the Unquenchably Curious

Average customer rating:

What Makes Flamingos Pink?: A Colorful Collection of Q & A's
What Makes Flamingo's Pink?
Lots of fun facts
Who, What, When, Where, Why?
Bravo Bill! ... but ...

What Makes Flamingos Pink?: A Colorful Collection of Q & A's for the Unquenchably Curious
Bill Mclain
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Questions & Answers | Education | Reference | Subjects | Books

Curiosities & Wonders | Fun Facts | Reference | Subjects | Books

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General | Reference | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060000244
Release Date: 2002-01-08

Book Description

Do spiders sleep? Why are barns red? Why is there a crescent moon on outhouse doors? Are zebras white with black stripes or black with white stripes?

As the Xerox Corporation's official webmaster, Bill McLain often fielded as many as 1,000 questions a day on just about everything under the sun -- and beyond. The wildest, funniest, and even most astute are collected here (along with their answers) in McLain's second volume that's as fascinating and enlightening as his first, Do Fish Drink Water? A "veritable Internet legend known for having all the answers" (San Francisco Chronicle), McLain explains what keeps squirrels from toppling off telephone wires; why the skin on your fingers and toes shrivels up in the water; how seedless watermelons are created; and more. Whether it's animal, vegetable, mineral, or something completely different, the answer is bound to be as interesting as the question itself, and certain to satisfy the trivia hound in everyone.

Customer Reviews:

What Makes Flamingos Pink?: A Colorful Collection of Q & A's .......2007-01-16

Neat book -- lots of good Q and A's about a lot of subjects, just pick a page.

What Makes Flamingo's Pink?.......2006-10-06

This is a wonderful, fun, & informative book. I have sent it to a couple of friends, that have truely enjoyed it. They keep it in thier bathroom for easy & fun reading material.I hate to read, but this book makes reading fun. You can't put it down, & you get educated @ the same time. Highly recommended for all ages!!! Enjoy!!!

Lots of fun facts.......2006-02-12

I really enjoyed this book. It has fun facts, interesting stories, and hints on where to find information on the Internet.

I do have to disagree with McLain on one of his facts. In response to a question about teleportation, McLain discusses psychokinesis. McLain indicates that scientists are taking psychokinesis very seriously, and mentions favorably some research that found people could control the roll of an electronic dice with their minds. I'm sorry, but this is simply not the case. All such studies have been found not be repeatable when appropriate controls were made. James Randi has offered a million dollars to anyone who can show psychokinetic powers under controlled conditions. No one has succeeded yet. For more information on the Million Dollar Challenge, go to www.randi.org.

Who, What, When, Where, Why?.......2003-06-28

The book "What Makes Flamingos Pink?" tells about facts and figures and events. It tells some of the most strange events, and also some you may not have even heard of. I learned many things from reading this book. I have also noticed things that make me wonder "What makes it do that?" or "Why does that thing do that?" Nearly all my questions were answered in this book.

The reason why I gave this book four stars is because it had interesting information, but the author (Bill McLain) sometimes gets off of the topic in the chapter. I have also read the book, "Do Fish Drink Water?" This is a book similar to "What Makes Flamingtos Pink," but I think that the book "Do Fish Drink Water" is actually a better book.

Bravo Bill! ... but ..........2001-05-07

Once again, the "answer whiz" has done it and done so in superlative form! As with his previous book, "Do Fish Drink Water?," most of what sets Bill's (and collaborators') work apart from others who have done compilations of trivial tidbits is that his personality permeates every word that is read on the page.

Anyone who has encountered Bill found out almost instantaneously, either when he responded to email sent to the Xerox Webmaster, spoke with him by phone or, as those of us fortunate enough to work with him on a regular basis, at the core of his being was a genuine caring for everyone. You could not talk with Bill without thinking that you were, if not his favorite person on the planet, at least the person he considered the most interesting.

To this equation, one adds the over-arching curiosity which resulted in such a vast wealth of knowledge in so many diverse fields of esoteric matter combined with the ability to convey information in the most easy-to-read manner and you have the answer to the question of what makes his books such pleasurable reading.

Yes, there are the minor imperfections such as the acceptance, again, in this book of the CNN-Headline News "abusage" meaning of the word "factoid" in utter disregard for its original coinage in 1973 by Norman Mailer. When I suggested to Bill that this second book ought to set the record straight with a "factoid on factoids" he pointed out, correctly, nobody but a small handful of philologers would be interested.

The only real downer is the tragic news that on 19 January 2001, just days before this book was due out, Bill died from complications following cancer surgery.

His wit, humor and, most of all, the kindness of this fine gentleman will be missed.

Average customer rating:

Great book!

Entertaining but unsatisfying

Great Read!

The best way to learn, with empathy

Interesting read!

Cut (Collins Flamingo)
Patricia McCormick
Manufacturer: CollinsFlamingo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Issues | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Crank Crank

Smack Smack

Speak Speak

It Happened to Nancy: By an Anonymous Teenager, A True Story from Her Diary

Impulse Impulse

ASIN: 0007130317

Amazon.com

Burdened with the pressure of believing she is responsible for her brother's illness, 15-year-old Callie begins a course of self-destruction that leads to her being admitted to Sea Pines, a psychiatric hospital the "guests" refer to as Sick Minds. Although initially she refuses to speak, her individual and group therapy sessions trigger memories and insights. Slowly, she begins emerging from her miserable silence, ultimately understanding the role her dysfunctional family played in her brother's health crisis.

Patricia McCormick's first novel is authentic and deeply moving. Callie suffers from a less familiar teen problem--she cuts herself to relieve her inner frustrations and guilt. The hope and hard-won progress that comes at the conclusion of the novel is believable and heartening for any teen reader who feels alone in her (or his) angst. Along with Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak and E.L. Konigsburg's Silent to the Bone, McCormick's Cut expertly tackles an unusual response to harrowing adolescent trouble. (Ages 14 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

Fifteen-year old Callie is so withdrawn that she's not speaking to anyone including her therapist at the residential treatment facility where her parents and doctor send her after discovering that she cuts herself. Her story unfolds primarily through dramatic monologues, gradually revealing the family turmoil that led to her self-destructive behavior. Her little brother, Sam, is ill he nearly died in her care. Since Sam's illness, Callie's mother has become so worried and fragile that she rarely leaves the house. Her father has responded to the psychological and financial stress of Sam's illness by disappearing into his work, and when that doesn't work, into his drinking.

Callie's efforts to understand herself and her family illuminate her process of recovery honestly and with hope. Cut provides an insightful look at the psychology of cutting a form of self-abuse an estimated 2 million teenage girls inflict on themselves.

Customer Reviews:

Great book!.......2007-09-14

This book is an excellent read for teens. I would recommend it to any parent of a teenage girl. The story moves very quickly but it gives some really good insight into what happens in the minds of victims of an illness like this.

Entertaining but unsatisfying.......2007-08-06

I thought the story that happened at 'Sick Minds' was good, but the main character's story was bad. The ending left much to be desired, and it seemed that the main character never really had much of a change.

Great Read!.......2007-07-24

I really enjoyed this book. I feel it is necessary for teens to read a book like this to understand different problems that can occur to people. Many teens judge others who experence the issues, like those in "Cut", and can really open your mind and heart. I enjoyed this book a lot and would definatly recommend it to anyone and everyone.

The best way to learn, with empathy.......2007-07-24

This book is staying in my library so that it can circulate to the people who need to read it: anyone who might encounter a teenager who is suffering the way the protagonist suffered. Anyone who might encounter an adult who is or who has suffered in this way. Anyone who is going through this themselves.
Reading about cutting in the clinical and self help literature was fine but this book did an excellent job of creating sympathy and understanding.
One quibble: The trauma that precipitated our protagonist to cut herself didn't match up well to the trauma of other cutters. Perhaps this was deliberate so as to keep our attention on the recovery process, and not on the originating trauma itself. But it didn't ring quite true, the way the rest of the book (especially the other "guests" in "sick minds".)

Interesting read!.......2007-07-08

Patricia McCormick wrote a very interesting novel on a girl who cuts herself. Callie, a young adult, blames herself for her families problems. Her brother Sam had really bad asthma, which makes her mother worried and always busy. Her dad has to work more so he can get more money to pay for everything. Callie lives at Sea Pines, or as the girls there call it "Sick Minds" rehabilatation center. At first Callie doesn't talk and doesn't care about cutting herself, but over time Callie starts talking to other people and another girl who cuts herself comes and tries to keep her down, but with the help of the other girls their and her pyschologist, Callie finally realizes that the problems at home are not her fault and finally wants to get better. Callie becomes closer to her dad and the rest of her family. Patricia's book was an easy which I would recommend because it shows the true meaning of family and how you shouldn't be so hard on yourself about problems.

The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History

Average customer rating:

Good for a read now and then
Enlightening and fun
Evolutionary Biology?
The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History
awestruck

The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History
Stephen Jay Gould
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Evolution | Science | Subjects | Books

General | Science | Subjects | Books

General | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books

Nature Writing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0393303756

Customer Reviews:

Good for a read now and then.......2007-09-30

If you're interested in evolution or biology you'll probably like this book. Some of the essays dabbled too much in the small nuances that separate different species but mostly Gould has a strong theme for each essay and he writes it very well! With the book being a series of essays it's a good coffee table book; you can pick it up and read a single essay and then put it back down. Also, you might need coffee because some of the essays get a little tedious.

Enlightening and fun.......2004-12-11

THE FLAMINGO'S SMILE was a required purchase for an expository writing class I took, and instead of stopping with the handful of essays assigned to us, I went ahead and read the whole book. Gould is a graceful writer and each of his essays has a "point" to make that is grounded in scientific reasoning.

His style is to discuss some biological "problem" in detail, using it to illustrate a more general point or idea about natural history. Some of Gould's essays make a greater impression than others, to be sure, but all are entertaining and none are a waste of the reader's time.

In response to the charge that FLAMINGO'S SMILE contains more "political correctness" than science, I must raise an objection. (See the one-star review below.) Gould's essay on the career and achievements of an American cell biologist, E.E. Just, does not claim that Just would be "famous" if not for his skin color. It explicitly states that racial attitudes kept Just's peers and colleagues from taking his work seriously or according him the respect he deserved. Just is described as a black American who "exiled himself to Europe" because of racist attitudes in his native land. This was a real historical phenomenon, not something Gould cooked up to pontificate about racial equality. Gould also notes that "we must not depict [Just] as a cardboard hero" and mentions his bizarre (but explicable) fling with Italian fascism in the 1930s.

The claim that Gould is intellectually dishonest is not supported by these facts. This particular claim exemplifies one of Gould's favorite themes, which is the persistence of the mistaken belief that science is a body of truths and not a method of discovery. Even real scientists fall into this trap on occasion. Here, the objection suggests that Gould's work cannot be "science" because it is "politically correct." The logical flaw in this statement should be obvious. For further background, you could dip into Gould's book THE MISMEASURE OF MAN, which is an historical survey of pseudo-scientific efforts to prove what racists already believe, i.e. "know" to be true.

Evolutionary Biology?.......2004-06-24

Is there any other type of modern biology? Evolution is so deeply interwined in today's biology that it almost seems a tautology to classify this book under Evolutionary Biology. Gould's reflections are masterpieces of rationality and logic heavily supported with facts and exposed with an uneven grace and uniqueness. This, as a lot of other Gould's books, is a collection of essays that don't need to be read in order since they are not chapters, their organization obeys the main subject of each essay, not a unique plot developed along the book. This is an easy and incredibly interesting journey inside reason and natural science, please don't hesitate if you want to be taken by the hand of one of the greatest zoologists of the twentieth century.

The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History.......2002-06-24

The Flamingo's Smile: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould is a collection of thirty essays with a varied scope, but the contents is encompassing. Bringing history with each essay is the hallmark of Gould and he will not disappoint you here.

This is Gould's fourth in a series of books that are collections of his essays that were found on the pages of "Natural History." These essays bring us life that is a product of a contingent past, not just a timeless law of nature. Gould brings meaning to his essays through an extensive history and a calculated musing to seemingly contradictory themes.

Dinosaurs and the astroid, Hottentot Venus and even baseball are in this book. Gould brings us lucid, cogent commentary and a writting style that will educate you gracefully. Gould has an ability to bring the scientific knowledge to the layperson with erudition and understanding.

Read and enjoy this book... complete with just a little quirkiness and a sense of humor.

awestruck.......2001-07-23

When I first cracked this book as a graduate student, I had little idea of what I was in for: sure, I expected a little on Darwin's theories and some history, but nothing else. What I found was an astonishingly rich panorama of issues connected to Darwin, the nature of science, and of course its misuses. From the trials of the Hottentott Venus to the mistakes of Audobon, Gould has fascinating and humorous perspecitives to bring. It was the ideal diversion - procrastination can be sooo delicious - from the dessicated economics and statistics that I had had to read and the start of a great love affair with this author, one of the finest writers alive.

Gould writes with the most astonishing lucidity and the most elegant style that I have ever read in a science writer. Indeed, those who disagree with him or look down on him - and there are many at Harvard - sarcastically cite his writing talent as the "reason" for his enduring success! Well, I would hope so. If they could write as well as Gould, then perhaps they could advance their opposing views, like, more effectively.

Highest recommendation.

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