Amazon.com
Best known for his Border Trilogy, hailed in the San Francisco Chronicle as "an American classic to stand with the finest literary achievements of the century," Cormac McCarthy has written ten rich and often brutal novels, including the bestselling No Country for Old Men, and The Road. Profoundly dark, told in spare, searing prose, The Road is a post-apocalyptic masterpiece, one of the best books we've read this year, but in case you need a second (and expert) opinion, we asked Dennis Lehane, author of equally rich, occasionally bleak and brutal novels, to read it and give us his take. Read his glowing review below. --Daphne Durham
Guest Reviewer: Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane, master of the hard-boiled thriller, generated a cult following with his series about private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, wowed readers with the intense and gut-wrenching Mystic River, blew fans all away with the mind-bending Shutter Island, and switches gears with Coronado, his new collection of gritty short stories (and one play).
Cormac McCarthy sets his new novel, The Road, in a post-apocalyptic blight of gray skies that drizzle ash, a world in which all matter of wildlife is extinct, starvation is not only prevalent but nearly all-encompassing, and marauding bands of cannibals roam the environment with pieces of human flesh stuck between their teeth. If this sounds oppressive and dispiriting, it is. McCarthy may have just set to paper the definitive vision of the world after nuclear war, and in this recent age of relentless saber-rattling by the global powers, it's not much of a leap to feel his vision could be not far off the mark nor, sadly, right around the corner. Stealing across this horrific (and that's the only word for it) landscape are an unnamed man and his emaciated son, a boy probably around the age of ten. It is the love the father feels for his son, a love as deep and acute as his grief, that could surprise readers of McCarthy's previous work. McCarthy's Gnostic impressions of mankind have left very little place for love. In fact that greatest love affair in any of his novels, I would argue, occurs between the Billy Parham and the wolf in The Crossing. But here the love of a desperate father for his sickly son transcends all else. McCarthy has always written about the battle between light and darkness; the darkness usually comprises 99.9% of the world, while any illumination is the weak shaft thrown by a penlight running low on batteries. In The Road, those batteries are almost out--the entire world is, quite literally, dying--so the final affirmation of hope in the novel's closing pages is all the more shocking and maybe all the more enduring as the boy takes all of his father's (and McCarthy's) rage at the hopeless folly of man and lays it down, lifting up, in its place, the oddest of all things: faith. --Dennis Lehane
Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER
National Book Critic's Circle Award Finalist
A New York Times Notable Book
One of the Best Books of the Year
The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, The Denver Post, The Kansas City Star, Los Angeles Times, New York, People, Rocky Mountain News, Time, The Village Voice, The Washington Post
The searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy's masterpiece.
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food-—and each other.
The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, "each the other's world entire," are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
Customer Reviews:
Great, stark novel.......2007-10-09
Yes, its setting is grim, but, overall, I found the book to be infused with a spirit of love and resilience. He does, however, use the word "gray" about 8,000 times, though. I forgive him.
Ignites a Hope.......2007-10-08
Some books wallow in despair. Others revel in false hope. "The Road" spends much of its time dealing with a dark past and future, yet ignites a hope that seems neither false nor forced. This is the mark of a writer at the heights of his genius. I read the story in one sitting.
Opening into a tableau of monumental destruction, yet kept believable and relatable through the eyes of two nameless characters--a devoted father and fearful son--this story follows their journey through the roads and byways of America. At one point, they see a sign that I've seen in my own travels, a sign for Rock City which is an actual location in Chattanooga, TN. While details are crisp and evocative, the book never nails down character names, story dates, locations, or even the method of global destruction. It jettisons standard punctuation, adding to the sparse feel. It focuses on the despair and hopelessness of society torn apart by the need for survival. Morals and ethics are eroding. Food and water are worth fighting for. Fellow humans are potential sustenance.
Father and son begin to change as the story moves along. One flirts with thoughts of ending his own life, preferring a definite end to an indefinite future. The other, a small frightened child, serves as the moral center--questioning the cannibalism, the thievery, and the growing apathy of those he observes. If you travel down "The Road," you'll be faced with haunting images and hardship, while also coming face to face with hope and resilience. McCarthy uses sparse storytelling to give us a rich tale of thought-provoking power, intentional but never pedantic.
Hope and beauty in the ashes?.......2007-10-07
Cormac McCarthy creates a nearly lifeless post-apocalyptic world of burnt ash and destruction, and amid the desolation, explores the beauty of a father-son relationship and the essence of what it means to be human. His book poses a couple of problems directed at the morality of this generation, which are more than troubling: the nature of man's relationship to nature, God, others . . . and how one can live through the hopelessness of desolation.
To be honest, the book became a bit tedious, but the author's goal is to lead the reader through continuous strife as the man and his boy sought life day after day. Ah, isn't that what life feels like sometimes? It's definitely not a feel good story, but nonetheless a vital one that carries much weight. I started feeling ashy by the end of this one.
All-in-all, a quick and interesting read, not without merit. I'm not going to say, read this, or you'll be sorry, but it's a great book that teaches much.
Thought Provoking.......2007-10-06
The best book I have read in along time. Perfectly written. Cormac is amazing! I will read this again in 20 years to see if humanity has moved in the right direction. Though I think that, like the author, justice in this world does not exist, and that evil and wrongdoing goes unpunished. It seems Cormac's other books also have this theme running through them. All his books are amazing reads. I particulary recommend The Crossing.
Incredible.........2007-10-06
The book took a little while to get started, and to get used to the author's writing style. After I got used it, it soon settled into a brilliant character study of a man and his son struggling to find hope against all odds. Gripping, intense, a masterpiece-any or all of them will work to describe this book.
Amazon.com
Best known for his Border Trilogy, hailed in the San Francisco Chronicle as "an American classic to stand with the finest literary achievements of the century," Cormac McCarthy has written ten rich and often brutal novels, including the bestselling No Country for Old Men, and The Road. Profoundly dark, told in spare, searing prose, The Road is a post-apocalyptic masterpiece, one of the best books we've read this year, but in case you need a second (and expert) opinion, we asked Dennis Lehane, author of equally rich, occasionally bleak and brutal novels, to read it and give us his take. Read his glowing review below. --Daphne Durham
Guest Reviewer: Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane, master of the hard-boiled thriller, generated a cult following with his series about private investigators Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro, wowed readers with the intense and gut-wrenching Mystic River, blew fans all away with the mind-bending Shutter Island, and switches gears with Coronado, his new collection of gritty short stories (and one play).
Cormac McCarthy sets his new novel, The Road, in a post-apocalyptic blight of gray skies that drizzle ash, a world in which all matter of wildlife is extinct, starvation is not only prevalent but nearly all-encompassing, and marauding bands of cannibals roam the environment with pieces of human flesh stuck between their teeth. If this sounds oppressive and dispiriting, it is. McCarthy may have just set to paper the definitive vision of the world after nuclear war, and in this recent age of relentless saber-rattling by the global powers, it's not much of a leap to feel his vision could be not far off the mark nor, sadly, right around the corner. Stealing across this horrific (and that's the only word for it) landscape are an unnamed man and his emaciated son, a boy probably around the age of ten. It is the love the father feels for his son, a love as deep and acute as his grief, that could surprise readers of McCarthy's previous work. McCarthy's Gnostic impressions of mankind have left very little place for love. In fact that greatest love affair in any of his novels, I would argue, occurs between the Billy Parham and the wolf in The Crossing. But here the love of a desperate father for his sickly son transcends all else. McCarthy has always written about the battle between light and darkness; the darkness usually comprises 99.9% of the world, while any illumination is the weak shaft thrown by a penlight running low on batteries. In The Road, those batteries are almost out--the entire world is, quite literally, dying--so the final affirmation of hope in the novel's closing pages is all the more shocking and maybe all the more enduring as the boy takes all of his father's (and McCarthy's) rage at the hopeless folly of man and lays it down, lifting up, in its place, the oddest of all things: faith. --Dennis Lehane
Book Description
A searing, postapocalyptic novel destined to become Cormac McCarthy’s masterpiece.
A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.
The Road is the profoundly moving story of a journey. It boldly imagines a future in which no hope remains, but in which the father and his son, “each the other’s world entire,” are sustained by love. Awesome in the totality of its vision, it is an unflinching meditation on the worst and the best that we are capable of: ultimate destructiveness, desperate tenacity, and the tenderness that keeps two people alive in the face of total devastation.
Customer Reviews:
A little too much.......2007-09-19
His writing style didn't bother me. I could accommodate the lack of usual punctuation quickly. His jerky narrative ... no problem. It even enhanced the experience a bit. The conversations weren't bad either. How would YOU pass the time in a post-apocalyptic landscape?
However ... I think he could have achieved what he did achieve in about 85 to 100 pages.
Just my opinion.
A must read!!!!.......2007-09-09
What can you say about an author that can say sooo much by not having to spell it all out for us. There isnt any clear explaination for the reason things are the way they are, yet its allows you to just experience their journey with them instead of throught the view point of the narrarator. I love his style. Its genius. When you finsh with at resounding "WOW"; that pretty much sums up your time spent. McCarthy is an artist among authors in American Litature.
WOW.......2007-09-06
McCarthy has often been a bit inaccessible, especially when his western stories mix spanish with english in the most descriptive scenes. The Road is blatantly clear, a short insightful trip into darkness. Brilliantly moody, with only peeks at decent life. It can't get this bad, thank God.
Exceptionally long with repetitive sequences...........2007-08-24
I found ths book well written from the standpoint that you are instantly swept away into McCarthy's futuristic world. It is absolutely wonderful in the description of a world gone mad.
My problem with the book is it never fully explains why they are going cross country and places that would have made sense (the abandoned fall out shelter full of food) are abandoned in this mind numbing attempt to get to a coast that is no different from the hell they have left behind.
Sad & poignant, worth the read, just not a great book for me.
The Road.......2007-08-13
This book really make you think about the way of the world. Totally different perspective than Stephen King's "The Stand".
Book Description
This is the story of Charley, a child of divorce who is always forced to choose between his mother and his father. He grows into a man and starts a family of his own. But one fateful weekend, he leaves his mother to secretly be with his father - and she dies while he is gone. This haunts him for years. It unravels his own young family. It leads him to depression and drunkenness. One night, he decides to take his life. But somewhere between this world and the next, he encounters his mother again, in their hometown, and gets to spend one last day with her - the day he missed and always wished he'd had. He asks the questions many of us yearn to ask, the questions we never ask while our parents are alive. By the end of this magical day, Charley discovers how little he really knew about his mother, the secret of how her love saved their family, and how deeply he wants the second chance to save his own.
Customer Reviews:
Great Story.......2007-09-19
This was a nice short story. If you've lost a loved one or have struggled with a past you've tried to overcome, you can relate to the main character.
A good read on many levels.......2007-09-14
For One More Day is a fast read, but it engages the mind and emotions on many levels. It touches the nerve of regrets in a family relationship, and it leaves the reader with an assurance that it's not too late to make amends even after death has staked its claim between you.
Mitch Albom has done an excellent job of moving the story along while leaving room for a last moment surprise. I'll go back and read this one again.
Great Book!.......2007-09-09
This is a great book! I was very pleased with the entire book. This story is especially meaningful if you have lost someone special in your life. It makes you think twice about your own life and how you live it. I would definitley recommend it!
A must read for all ages.......2007-08-23
Among my top 50 lists of books to read. The character is easy to relate to, and the story flows greatly, even through its little flashback excerpts
For One More Day.......2007-08-23
Bought several for self and as gifts. Mixed reviews by the recipients on the book. All arrived just fine; had to have 1 merchant re-send because never received 1st shipment.
Average customer rating:
- For new baby
- Good all-around baby book
- Don't Like the Message
- Family favorite
- Wonderful - this really is a very good book
|
Guess How Much I Love You
Sam McBratney
Manufacturer: Candlewick
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ASIN: 076360013X
Release Date: 1996-03-06 |
Amazon.com
All children want reassurance that their parents' love runs wide and deep. In Guess How Much I Love You, a young rabbit named Little Nutbrown Hare thinks he's found a way to measure the boundaries of love. In a heartwarming twist on the "I-can-do-anything-you-can-do-better" theme, Little Nutbrown Hare goes through a series of declarations regarding the breadth of his love for Big Nutbrown Hare. But even when his feelings stretch as long as his arms, or as high as his hops, Little Nutbrown Hare is fondly one-upped by the elder rabbit's more expansive love.
Anita Jeram's illustrations are bound to elicit an "aw" from even the sternest of readers; these loving rabbits are expressive, endearing, and never cloying. In turn, Sam McBratney tells a simple bedtime story of sweet familial love with humor, insight, and a delightful surprise at the end. Children and parents will love snuggling up for this one--a treat to be read again and again, just before the lights are turned out. (Click to see a sample spread. Text © 1994 by Sam McBratney. Illustrations © 1994 by Anita Jeram. Permission from Candlewick Press.) (Ages 4 to 8)
Book Description
The American Booksellers Book of the Year nominee is available as a sturdy board book for the youngest of children. Little Nutbrown Hare wants to show Big Nutbrown Hare how very much he loves him - but love as big as his is very hard to measure!
Customer Reviews:
For new baby.......2007-09-22
The first time I heard of this book was in my childbirth class. I loved it so much I had to buy it. I'm hoping it will become one of my baby's favorite books.
Good all-around baby book.......2007-09-19
I bought this baby book based on the reviews and the fact that Guess How Much I Love You is one of my favorite children's books. The book does a nice job of asking enough questions to make a complete record for your baby without being overly burdensome. Some of the other books I looked at seriously asked what the weather was on the day you found out your were pregnant. Seriously, who would care about that? This baby book also gives great suggestions for a few pictures which is helpful--like the place to put a picture of you pregnant. I am very pleased.
Don't Like the Message.......2007-09-15
I know many people love this book. I don't know why. We received one as a gift, and after reading it to my daughter, I was disturbed by the story. I felt sorry for the bunny whose parent invalidated his expression of love on each page. As many other reviewers said, it was a competition the adult wouldn't let the child win. This book contains a mean-spirited, misguided, sad, and disturbing message.
Family favorite.......2007-08-01
"Guess how much I love you" is a classic. The story is a simple dialog between a big rabbit (the parent) and a little rabbit (the baby), each professing and comparing the depth & "height" of their love for each other. We read this book almost every day to our infant daughter. She loves the watercolor illustrations & coos at the pictures. A lovely addition to a kid' book collection.
Wonderful - this really is a very good book.......2007-07-24
This is a fabulous book for little children and the grownups who read to them. When children are read to daily, they learn to love reading. Perfect bedtime stories, to calm everyone down and make us ready for sweet dreams. If you can find the LARGE size book get it- they're fabulous keepsakes. Perfect gifts for any child, and a perfect tradition in your own home and family!
Amazon.com
For most writers, the greatest challenge of spiritual writing is to keep it grounded in concrete language. The temptation is to wander off into the clouds of ethereal epiphanies, only to lose readers with woo-woo thinking and sacred-laced clichés. Thankfully, Anne Lamott (Operating Instructions, Crooked Little Heart) knows better. In this collection of essays, Lamott offers her trademark wit and irreverence in describing her reluctant journey into faith. Every epiphany is framed in plainspoken (and, yes, occasionally crassly spoken) real-life, honest-to-God experiences. For example, after having an abortion, Lamott felt the presence of Christ sitting in her bedroom:
This experience spooked me badly, but I thought it was just an apparition born of fear and self-loathing and booze and loss of blood. But then everywhere I went I had the feeling that a little cat was following me, wanting me to reach down and pick it up, wanting me to open the door and let it in. But I knew what would happen: you let a cat in one time, give it a little milk and then it stays forever.
Whether she's writing about airplane turbulence, bulimia, her "feta cheese thighs," or consulting God over how to parent her son, Lamott keeps her spirituality firmly planted in solid scenes and believable metaphors. As a result, this is a richly satisfying armchair-travel experience, highlighting the tender mercies of Lamott's life that nudged her into Christian faith. --Gail Hudson
Amazon.com Audiobook Review
Anne Lamott admits that she's "ever so slightly more anxious than the average hypochondriac." When faced with a small, irregular mole and a family history of skin cancer, however, she remembers her faith in God and enjoys some peace--despite behaving "a little more like Nathan Lane in The Birdcage than I would have hoped." Author Lamott reads these wonderfully detailed postcards from her meandering journey to faith. With sharp and bittersweet humor, she recounts a past full of bad relationships with men, with food, with drugs, with alcohol, and worst of all, with herself. She battles her demons thanks to the love of her friends and family and her "lurch of faith" to embrace religion, that "puzzling thing inside me that had begun to tug on my sleeve from time to time, trying to get my attention." Inspiring but not dogmatic, Traveling Mercies is a treasure. (Running time: 4 hours, 3 cassettes) --C.B. Delaney
Book Description
Anne Lamott claims the two best prayers she knows are: "Help me, help me, help me" and "Thank you, thank you, thank you." She has a friend whose morning prayer each day is "Whatever," and whose evening prayer is "Oh, well." Anne thinks of Jesus as "Casper the friendly savior" and describes God as "one crafty mother."
Despite--or because of--her irreverence, faith is a natural subject for Anne Lamott. Since
Operating Instructions and
Bird by Bird, her fans have been waiting for her to write the book that explained how she came to the big-hearted, grateful, generous faith that she so often alluded to in her two earlier nonfiction books. The people in Anne Lamott's real life are like beloved characters in a favorite series for her readers--her friend Pammy, her son, Sam, and the many funny and wise folks who attend her church are all familiar. And
Traveling Mercies is a welcome return to those lives, as well as an introduction to new companions Lamott treats with the same candor, insight, and tenderness.
Lamott's faith isn't about easy answers, which is part of what endears her to believers as well as nonbelievers. Against all odds, she came to believe in God and then, even more miraculously, in herself. As she puts it, "My coming to faith did not start with a leap but rather a series of staggers." At once tough, personal, affectionate, wise, and very funny,
Traveling Mercies tells in exuberant detail how Anne Lamott learned to shine the light of faith on the darkest part of ordinary life, exposing surprising pockets of meaning and hope.
Download Description
Traveling Mercies takes us on a journey through Anne Lamott's troubled past to illuminate her devout but quirky walk of faith: how, against all odds, she came to believe in God, and the myriad ways in which that faith sustains and guides her in everyday life. With an exuberant mix of passion and self-deprecating humor, Lamott explores whether certain behaviors will get her "a better seat in heaven, " perhaps "near the dessert table, " or whether her mistakes "make Jesus want to drink gin straight out of the cat disk" She writes about her family, about helping a friend through the devastating illness of her baby, about wanting but not having all the answers for her eight-year-old son.
Through the hard-won wisdom that forms the core of her beliefs, and with wit, insight, and lots of heart, she shows us how she creates a life balance of connectedness and liberation.
Customer Reviews:
Mercy on Us.......2007-09-19
This is one of my favorite books, and I've read it many times. The essay on Forgiveness is a classic. I'm not sure how Annie Lamott makes fundamentalist Christianity palatable, but she manages to convey a deep sense of faith and gratitude along with a quirky charming wit about it all -- especially about herself.
I (heart) Anne Lamott.......2007-08-25
I pretty much love any essay Anne Lamott writes, and I appreciate her foray into the spiritual side of life. She makes faith very real and very every day/accesible ... something we all need. Her humor and witty prose make the reading enjoyable as well.
A Great and Pleasant Read.......2007-08-09
From the start to the end, Anne Lamott's writing is greatly captivating and keeps her readers guessing as to what she's getting at, then leaves us with great philosophical insight, all the while keeping her humorous input she's so famous for.
Although she writes with freedom and confidence, some of her ideas about "faith" may not be what most people expect, but then again, these are her own thoughts about faith, what she's gone through and how she has come to be the person she is today.
She carries along a great novel, somewhat of an autobiography with her son Sam, and warmly welcomes any readers willing to read to the very end. Lots of great quotations to write down; a definite read for anyone.
Put me out of my misery.......2007-08-07
Having read previously published books by Anne LaMott, I admit I was unenthusiastic about reading this book group selection. Much of the material is rehashed from previous works but now autobiographically instead of as "fiction."
I found her self-depricating tone to be disingenuous and much of her self pity to stem from personal problems that were self-inflicted. (Did that last sentence mention "self?") The book is centered on her self involvement which often attempts to depict herself as being gritty, worldly, and street-experienced.
While she has had experience as an alcoholic and sex addict, she never seems to rise above it in any inspirational way. Authors such as Frank McCort of Angela's Ashes and Jeannette Walls of the Glass Castle were confronted with horrible childhoods but managed to survive with a spunk and spirit I admired. I couldn't figure out what was so bad in Anne LaMott's life that she had to complain about and/or turn to self abuse to cope. I grew up with my own share of dysfunction but chose to take a more optimistic outlook on life.
Although I agree with many of her political points of view, it did not sit well with me how she launched personal attacks on those who held opposing views. "The New Adventures of Old Christine" is able to satirize those annoying holier-than-thou mothers at the PTO in a much more humorous way and that's saying a lot for a TV situation comedy compared to this literary selection.
I forced myself to finish the last third of the book after our book group discussion because those chapters seemed to be the most poignant. Yes, that was the best part of the book. The chapters about being kind to her aging body and dealing with aging parents were the most honest and touching sections.
Even so, this is not a book I would recommend to someone looking for emotional uplift or spiritual insight.
TOP FIVE ON MY "BEST-LOVED BOOKS" LIST.......2007-07-03
I keep a list of best-loved books, which is coming in handy lately as I hit my forties and tend to rebuy books I've already read (sometimes getting through several chapters before I figure this out). If I put the list in order, Traveling Mercies would immediately make my top five. Lamott's autobiographical essays are hilarious and heartbreaking and wonderful, and make me wish she lived next door. I've read Traveling Mercies all the way through at least six times, and picked it up countless other times to enjoy one of the stand-alone chapters. I love the poetic compassion of some of the passages so much that I read them outloud. If you're a mom, you've got to read the chapter on forgiveness - Lamott's attempt to deal with her resentment of a perfect, day-planner writing, cupcake baking, field trip-chaperoning mom. We've all been there on some level. I keep going back to this book when I need to teach adult Sunday school, because it's such a beautiful exploration of Christian faith in a life that's messy and funny and difficult and real.
Average customer rating:
- This is a Top Ten Creepy Children's Book
- A comfort
- I love my mom
- a book for every family member / old & young
- My dying mother read this book to me when I was a homeless drunk. I am no longer a homeless drunk.
|
Love You Forever
Robert N. Munsch , and
Sheila McGraw
Manufacturer: Firefly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Giving Tree
ASIN: 0920668372 |
Amazon.com
The mother sings to her sleeping baby: "I'll love you forever / I'll love you for always / As long as I'm living / My baby you'll be." She still sings the same song when her baby has turned into a fractious 2-year-old, a slovenly 9-year-old, and then a raucous teen. So far so ordinary--but this is one persistent lady. When her son grows up and leaves home, she takes to driving across town with a ladder on the car roof, climbing through her grown son's window, and rocking the sleeping man in the same way. Then, inevitably, the day comes when she's too old and sick to hold him, and the roles are at last reversed. Each stage is illustrated by one of Sheila McGraw's comic and yet poignant pastels. (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr
Book Description
A young woman holds her newborn son
And looks at him lovingly.
Softly she sings to him:
"I'll love you forever
I'll like you for always
As long as I'm living
My baby you'll be."
So begins the story that has touched the hearts of millions worldwide. Since publication in l986, Love You Forever has sold more than 15 million copies in paperback and the regular hardcover edition (as well as hundreds of thousands of copies in Spanish and French).
Firefly Books is proud to offer this sentimental favorite in a variety of editions and sizes:
We offer a trade paper and laminated hardcover edition in a 8" x 8" size.
In gift editions we carry:
a slipcased edition (8 1/2" x 8 1/4"), with a laminated box and a cloth binding on the book
and a 10" x 10" laminated hardcover with jacket.
And a Big Book Edition, 16" x 16" with a trade paper binding.
Customer Reviews:
This is a Top Ten Creepy Children's Book.......2007-10-03
This starts off kind of cute. The mother has a child in her arms and she tells him, "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." As an expression of a parent's unconditional love it's a great little saying from a mother to her son. And then you turn the pages, the kid gets older, and the you see the mom sneaking into the teenage son's bedroom and repeating the mantra. It seems a little Oedipus, as I'd not really like to think about my mom sneaking into my room when I was a teenager but ok, still kind of cute.
Then the son gets married and moves away. Happy ending? Not exactly. Now the mother straps a ladder to her car, drives across town, and breaks into the son's house, sneaks into his bedroom and while he's sleeping with his wife next to him tells him "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be." Ok, having seen Psycho, I have to say I'm a bit disturbed. This continues through the son's life, until the mother is dying, and the son repeats her mantra back to her.
The last page in the book shows the son, cradling his newborn, repeating his mother's mantra to the baby, and the cycle repeats. If this were a movie, I would have expected the creepy horror music to well up, have the son look into the camera and start an evil cackle as the picture faded to black.
A comfort.......2007-10-03
It was my Kindergarten teacher who introduced me to this book when I was about five years old. It was a hard time for me at that age because my mom was gone a lot but this book made it a little easier. The song "I'll love you forever" still rings true today and occasionally I even get a little misty eyed. Looking back I remember singing it to my grandmother who couldn't help the tears that filled her eyes and a slight smile on her face when she hugged me "Your right little one and it will never change". It's a comforting book about love between parents and yes even grandparents that passes on generation to generation.
This is one of my favorite children's books and will remain so. However I believe that sadly now we are becoming more and more politically correct and thats unfortunately effecting our children's books. Judge for yourself but remember that sometimes if you look to closely you lose the magic completely :)
I love my mom.......2007-09-28
This book is has impacted me in such a way, and from such an early age, that it will resonate forever.
It is only a sad book if you don't know how to celebrate the life of a loved one. I think it's good for children to question the lessons of this book.
a book for every family member / old & young.......2007-09-27
I bought this book years ago for my children who are now adults. We have since bought this book for every member of our family/ extended family. We write the main saying in the book on all our correpondences to each other. It is even on the flower holder at our parent's memorial. It is such an expression of pure love to all family members.
My dying mother read this book to me when I was a homeless drunk. I am no longer a homeless drunk........2007-09-27
You've read the other reviews of this book so you know it is powerful. All I can tell you is that this book is too strong for words. My five year old loves the book but is confused about why I cry and can't ever read the last few pages aloud. If you have children, if you have a mother, this book is for you. It isn't really for kids.
Amazon.com
"A green hunting cap squeezed the top of the fleshy balloon of a head. The green earflaps, full of large ears and uncut hair and the fine bristles that grew in the ears themselves, stuck out on either side like turn signals indicating two directions at once. Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs."
Meet Ignatius J. Reilly, the hero of John Kennedy Toole's tragicomic tale, A Confederacy of Dunces. This 30-year-old medievalist lives at home with his mother in New Orleans, pens his magnum opus on Big Chief writing pads he keeps hidden under his bed, and relays to anyone who will listen the traumatic experience he once had on a Greyhound Scenicruiser bound for Baton Rouge. ("Speeding along in that bus was like hurtling into the abyss.") But Ignatius's quiet life of tyrannizing his mother and writing his endless comparative history screeches to a halt when he is almost arrested by the overeager Patrolman Mancuso--who mistakes him for a vagrant--and then involved in a car accident with his tipsy mother behind the wheel. One thing leads to another, and before he knows it, Ignatius is out pounding the pavement in search of a job.
Over the next several hundred pages, our hero stumbles from one adventure to the next. His stint as a hotdog vendor is less than successful, and he soon turns his employers at the Levy Pants Company on their heads. Ignatius's path through the working world is populated by marvelous secondary characters: the stripper Darlene and her talented cockatoo; the septuagenarian secretary Miss Trixie, whose desperate attempts to retire are constantly, comically thwarted; gay blade Dorian Greene; sinister Miss Lee, proprietor of the Night of Joy nightclub; and Myrna Minkoff, the girl Ignatius loves to hate. The many subplots that weave through A Confederacy of Dunces are as complicated as anything you'll find in a Dickens novel, and just as beautifully tied together in the end. But it is Ignatius--selfish, domineering, and deluded, tragic and comic and larger than life--who carries the story. He is a modern-day Quixote beset by giants of the modern age. His fragility cracks the shell of comic bluster, revealing a deep streak of melancholy beneath the antic humor. John Kennedy Toole committed suicide in 1969 and never saw the publication of his novel. Ignatius Reilly is what he left behind, a fitting memorial to a talented and tormented life. --Alix Wilber
Book Description
The best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning classic hailed by The New York Times Book Review as "a masterwork . . . the novel astonishes with its inventiveness . . . it is nothing less than a grand comic fugue." A Confederacy of Dunces is an American comic masterpiece. John Kennedy Toole's hero, one Ignatius J. Reilly, is "huge, obese, fractious, fastidious, a latter-day Gargantua, a Don Quixote of the French Quarter. His story bursts with wholly original characters, denizens of New Orleans' lower depths, incredibly true-to-life dialogue, and the zaniest series of high and low comic adventures" (Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times).
Customer Reviews:
imho....overated due to the book's backstory.......2007-10-08
I only got two-thirds of the way through this book because, basically, it just kept spinning its wheels. Also, the title character is 99% unsympathetic. He's such a friggin' ego-centric dolt that I simply stopped caring about anything to do with him. Yes, there are very funny parts...but not that many. I really feel this book has been hyped due to the fact that the book didn't get published until twenty years after the author's death (he committed suicide at least partly due to the novel not being published in his lifetime) and that the persistence of his mother in getting it printed really added to the book's mystique...which, obviously, has NOTHING to do with the actual book itself. I feel that the book would have never even been considered for a Pulitzer (which it won in the early '80s) had it been published in the author's lifetime. I actually would give this book two and a half stars, but that option isn't available.
A Confederacy of Dunces.......2007-10-04
This is a wonderful read. You take a fantastic and funny journey with a cast of characters that jump off the pages into the room where you are reading. I recommend this book as a gift, for a book club, for anytime. It is one you will read again and again.
Not as funny as they make it out to be.......2007-10-03
This book, i think, is generally over rated. Don't get me wrong, it is funny and memorable. However it was awarded the Pulitzer posthumously and I feel that it does not rank up there with the best work produced in the last century. It is likely that Toole might have produced such a book had he continued writing though. Perhaps his suicide has granted the book an aura of pathos that has helped it along the path to greatness.
The book tends to make caricatures out of the characters, including Ignatius (who is the only real character in the book). Because the book focuses on the personal scale of things, this defect in itself hurts it the most.
Would I read it again, probably yes, but I would have enjoyed it more had i not expected so much of it.
Hard to get into, but once you do..........2007-10-01
... It is worthwhile. This took me several weeks to become interested in because the main character, Ignatius, is initially unlikable and bizarre. I can see why this book was rejected when the author was alive; it is very unusual and not immediately gratifying. All I can say is read it.
Brilliant!.......2007-09-30
This is probably one of my all-time favorite books for reasons that are far too many. It is EXTREMELY well crafted and possesses an amazing sense of humor and satire; making it a classic. I was amazed to find a book with such brilliant humor and at the same time a very deep philosophy. A Confederacy of Dunces is more than just a laugh; but of course the true meaning of the book is only visible to those who seek--as with any masterpiece. The only downside is that this is the only work that John Kennedy Toole has left behind.
Book Description
From one of the most frequently visited restaurants in Savannah, The Lady & Sons, comes this collection of down-home Southern family favorites. Paula H. Deen, the owner and proprieter, has created a friendly cookbook filled with hundreds of quick and easy recipes. Perfect for home entertainment, family picnics, or Sunday dinners, The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook completes any kitchen.
"I tell Savannah-bound friends that if they want a short course in the meaning of Southern cooking--the flavors, the ambience, indeed the very heart of Southern cooking--they should drop in at The Lady & Sons."
--from the introduction by JOHN BEHRENDT, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
"The recipes in this book are so wonderful, I almost ate the book!"
--FANNIE FLAGG, author of Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Customer Reviews:
Not for me...........2007-10-06
I was really disappointed with this cookbook. As much as I enjoy Paula Deen what I've cooked from this book turned out to be slop. The Sunday Morning Casserole was disgusting and bland. Maybe southern cooking just isn't my thing since I'm used to a different kind of palate of european style cooking. God knows I've tried to do the southern cooking thing, but I'll pass on this book and all the rest of her books. I still enjoy Paula's shows and adore her personality. She seems like a real sweetheart.
more than I expected.......2007-09-27
my family and I love the down home food easy prep. that goes into these meals and the thought that we don't have to settle for the same old, same old all the time thank you
The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook.......2007-05-13
A great cookbook! Wonderful recipes, presented in an easy to follow format. The recipes taste as good as they sound!
Bought for a Gift.......2007-03-13
Since this was a gift I don't know anything about it.
A true Southern delight.......2007-01-16
This cookbook is the best I've seen yet! It has tons of recipes for foods that Grandma made for us way back when. I am thrilled with the wide variety of recipes that it contains (and most are pretty simple to make).
Amazon.com
The Return of the Prodigal Son: A Story of Homecoming is a spiritual adventure story. A chance encounter with a poster depicting a detail of Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son set in motion a chain of events that enabled Nouwen to redefine and claim his vocation late in his life. In this book, which interweaves elements of art history, memoir, Midrash, and self-help, Nouwen brings the parable to life with empathic analyses of each character. Nouwen's absorption in the story (and the painting) is so complete that the father's challenge to love the son, and the son's challenge to receive that love, become Nouwen's own. And Nouwen's writing is so clear and his tone is so appealingly frank and humble that readers--no matter how far from home--will find hope for themselves in the prodigal peace Nouwen ultimately achieves. --Michael Joseph Gross
Book Description
The beloved spiritual writer meditates on the parable of the prodigal son's return -- a powerful drama of fatherhood, filial duty, rivalry, and anger between brothers -- and its enduring lessons for Christianity.
Full-color photographs with gatefold.
Customer Reviews:
Return of the Prodigal Son: A story of Homecoming.......2007-10-01
I read 3 Nouwen books at the same time. This was excellent and gave me a very new understanding of this story in the bible. This and the other two books I read (Reaching Out and Can You Drink the Cup) were excellent spiritual reading.
A book you cannot forget.......2007-09-27
This is by far the best book for a troubled soul. It surrounds the reader with hope and warmth and kindness. When all is bleak, this is the book that will give the reader confidence in life.
Return of the Prodigal Son.......2007-09-05
This book was such an inspiration to me that I gave my copy away for someone else to read and now need more to give away!
Nouwen at his best.......2007-08-31
This is a masterpiece! Nouwen looks at the prodigal son through the perspectives of the prodigal, the older brother and the father. It allows us to identify with each of the characters at different points in our lives. Rembrandt's imagery of the father is very moving. It gives a beautiful perspective of the desire, mercifulness, and love that our Lord has for us sinners. I highly reccomend this book. It is one of the best books on spirituality I have read.
Excellent book.......2007-08-31
Herni Nouwen does a great job on decribing the parable of the prodigal son. A great book to read for someone who has had a friend or family member who has gone astray.
Amazon.com
The most honest, wildly enjoyable book written about motherhood is surely Anne Lamott's account of her son Sam's first year. A gifted writer and teacher, Lamott (Crooked Little Heart) is a single mother and ex-alcoholic with a pleasingly warped social circle and a remarkably tolerant religion to lean on. She responds to the changes, exhaustion, and love Sam brings with aplomb or outright insanity. The book rocks from hilarious to unbearably poignant when Sam's burgeoning life is played out against a very close friend's illness. No saccharine paean to becoming a parent, this touches on the rage and befuddlement that dog sweeter emotions during this sea change in one's life.
Book Description
It’s not like she’s the only woman to ever have a baby. At thirty-five. On her own. But Anne Lamott makes it all fresh in her now-classic account of how she and her son and numerous friends and neighbors and some strangers survived and thrived in that all important first year. From finding out that her baby is a boy (and getting used to the idea) to finding out that her best friend and greatest supporter Pam will die of cancer (and not getting used to that idea), with a generous amount of wit and faith (but very little piousness), Lamott narrates the great and small events that make up a woman’s life.
Customer Reviews:
conservatives, beware.......2007-08-20
I just had my first baby (an amazing boy) & started reading this after he was born. I would not recommend for mothers, since the author drones on endlessly about her fears for her son. This only puts the same thoughts in the readers minds, things which never would have occurred to me before. I would also discourage anyone from reading this who is the slightest bit conservative. The author goes on and on about her hatred for Republicans and especially George Bush. She seems more interested in pushing a liberal agenda and teaching her son about fear and hatred than writing a good memoir. I found that part quite offensive, regardless of my political opinions. The only good thing I can say about this book is that it inspired me to write down my own observations, thoughts and feelings for my beloved baby boy, so that made it worthwhile.
So Real It Hurts: Just Like Parenting.......2007-08-16
You have an idea in your head of how Anne Lamott would be as a parent: so irreverent, so comical, so knowing and wise. Then Anne walks in and blows you away by living up to all your expectations: and destroying them!
Raw, honest, frustrating, hilarious, complicated -- this book is so dead-on about parenting it's amazing. And it's so Anne. Very simply Anne is one of the best writers currently working in English: read this even if you don't have kids.
Somehow even in the messiness (or because of it?) Anne Lamott's voice always brings us a harmony of hope. You just know, even in the worst of times, that this mother loves her son and is grateful for him.
Anne, the rest of us are grateful for you.
David & Lisa Frisbie
The Center for Marriage & Family Studies
Authors of: Raising Great Kids on Your Own: A Guide and Companion for Every Single Parent
Healing.......2007-07-10
I actually bought this book for my daughter at the recommendation of a friend who has a PHD in Psychology. I had asked my friend for something as an antidote to "Drama of the Gifted Child" (nothing against the book - was just a hard time for my daughter to read it) and my friend suggested this book. My daughter enjoyed it so much. She kept calling a reading/reciting exerpts from the book - laughing and feeling understood were such a relief for her. My son'law even sent me an email "thank you" for how uplifting it was for her.
Laugh out loud funny........2007-06-26
This book is fantastic. Lamott says the things most mothers would be too ashamed and embarrassed to admit feeling. At the same time, she expresses the love and joy that come with motherhood in a way few of us could.
I thought this was a great book! Great for first-time mothers!.......2007-05-13
This book was given to me as a shower gift and I have since given it as a gift to new mothers numerous times. The humor really helped to alleviate anxiety with regard to motherhood, plus it was very poignant! Would definitely recommend it!
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- Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3-5 (Units of Study)
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Books Index
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