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Going Against the Grain: How Reducing and Avoiding Grains Can Revitalize Your Health
Melissa Diane Smith
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Book Description
Diets high in grains can lead to a host of health problems such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, fatigue, and more. Going Against the Grain outlines the disadvantages and potential dangers of eating various types of grains and provides practical, realistic advice on implementing a plan to cut back or eliminate grains on a daily basis. This book also includes easy-to-follow grain-free recipes and helpful suggestions for dining out.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2007-08-05
I purchased this book along with the Dr. Mercola book, based on a Amazon review of the Dr. Mercola book. It was a great choice - I would highly recommend Going Against the Grain to supplement Dr. Mercola's excellent book/cook book.
This book will open your eyes.......2007-07-04
After reading this book and "dangerous Grains" My wife and I decided to go on a gluten free diet. Within 1 week my lower back pain and leg arthritis went completly away. Within 3 weeks my acid reflux went away. I had these pains since I was about 40 and began to dread getting older. Had acid Reflux since I was 50. I was 57 when I went on this diet and I am now 59 and feel like I'm 35 again. My wife had more severe symptoms like head and feet sores for many years without relief from our local skin doctors. She was also semi diagnosed with Lupus symptoms from our local Rheumatologist. She has been symptom free for 2 years now with no thanks to the medical profession. Your going to want to read the book. I sent both books to each of my family members; now its there choice.
A must read.......2007-05-11
I found this book to be a life saver. After many years of not knowing quite what was wrong with me (bloating, mood swings, fuzzy thinking, weight gain, intestinal cramping, cravings, tiredness, the list goes on)I now have an answer - I am wheat/gluten/dairy sensitive.
I've been on this diet just a short time and I already feel like a new person. No pills or gimmicks involved, only changing your diet and eating healthy. I can think clearly, I don't have the daily bloat, cravings for sweets or that tired run down feeling I used to get.
Pick up the book and see for yourself.
Grainy picture.......2007-04-17
A really good explanation of how grains, particularly the gluten grains affect practically everyone. Even more insightful is that disorders can be outwardly symptomless!! The only problem in avoiding grains the author recommends eating animal products and some veg but no mention of fruit. Personally I feel this strategy will cause one to potentially swap one set of troubles for another by chowing down on meat and dairy. Please please read Grain Damage by Doug Graham. Gain exceptional health, lead an exceptional life.
a clarification for the negative reviews.......2006-12-27
All of the negative reviews of this book seem to share the same confusion so I thought I should clarify the misunderstanding. Of course whole-grained diets are healthy for you, IF YOU ARE NOT ALLERGIC TO THEM. The epidemic this book and others like it is discussing is the large percentage of people who are allergic to wheat/barley/oats or have celiac disease who are unaware that this is even possible. When these people eat wheat products, their immune system produces IgG antibodies to the wheat as it mistakenly believes that the wheat is a foreign invader. Continuous high levels of IgG antibodies in the body wreak havoc and cause numerous symptoms from migraines to arthritis. This information is supported by scientific literature. A person can be tested for antibodies to common food allergens to definitively proove if they are experiencing a food allergy. The author also discusses that oftentimes the foods we are allergic to are the ones that we eat almost obsessively. Often people with wheat allergies are carb junkies. This is because when the body has an allergic reaction, it secretes endorphins that the body can actually become addicted to so your body craves the things that are harming you. I have personal experience with wheat, and other food, allergens that caused me to develop what looked like rheumatoid arthritis at age 25. When I altered my diet based on IgG testing my symptoms disappeared. I am not some far out spacy hippy or some pop science junkie, I am a student at a US medical school on my way to being an MD. I have read the literature that supports these theories and understand the science that they are based on. There are many MDs who support this theory and utilize it to help their patients. If you suffer from the symptoms that are described in this book, it is worth while to try an elimination diet or get IgG testing. If you do not have allergies then of course whole grains (not the bleached out proccessed crap that most americans eat) are an extremely healthy part of a balanced diet.
Book Description
In his fascinating last book, Edward Said looks at a selection of essays, poems, novels, films, and operas to determine what late style may explain about the evolution of the creative life. He discusses how the approaching death of an artist can make its way “with anachronism and anomaly” into his work, as was the case in the late work of Thomas Mann, Richard Strauss, Jean Genet, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, and C. P. Cavafy. Said examines Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Genet’s Le captif amoureux and Les paravents, Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Visconti’s film of Lampedusa’s The Leopard, Euripides’ The Bacchae and Iphigenia at Aulis, and Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice, among other works.
He points out that one can also find an “unearthly serenity,” in last works, for example, in Sophocles, Shakespeare, Rembrandt, Matisse, Bach, and Wagner, which, as Said puts it, “crown a lifetime of aesthetic endeavor.” But in On Late Style he concentrates on artistic lateness as “intransigence, difficulty, and unresolved contradiction.” He also writes about Theodor Adorno and about Glenn Gould, who chose to stop performing, thereby creating his own form of lateness. Said makes clear that most of the works discussed are rife with deep conflict and an almost impenetrable complexity. In fact, he feels that lateness is often “a form of exile.” These works frequently stood in direct contrast to what was popular at the time, but they were forerunners of what was to come in each artist’s particular discipline—works of true genius.
Eloquent and impassioned, brilliantly reasoned and revelatory, On Late Style is Edward Said’s own great last work.
Customer Reviews:
Late Style Said.......2007-06-18
Edward Said's writings never aim to make the obvious observation but instead seek to discover underlying strands of ideas that buoy up the work at hand and reveal subterranean layers of meaning. When he accomplishes this, his writings brim with the enthusiasm of a new discovery or the pleasure of understanding a familiar work in an unfamiliar way.
The cost to the reader not infrequently consists of wading through thickets of inpenetrable prose, prose that needs be hacked at to decipher the meaning intended. This necessity may be exacerbated in this collection by the fact that it was left unfinished and unpolished at his death. Nonetheless, skill in reading Theory and the jargon that attends it is required to comprehend, not to say appreciate, much of the early chapters. Happily much of this falls away as the book proceeds and many pearls are revealed undisguised and in fascinating verbal settings.
I continued to have difficulties with much of the entire enterprise: to wit, are Mozart's late operas really "late style" considering the man died so young? Surely they became "late style" by way of premature mortality alone. Extrapolating late style from one book wonders such as Di Lampedusa also stretches the point.
And yet incomplete, impenetrable and, as always, arguable Said, paradoxical as it sounds, remains more intellectually stimulating than most comparable critics, and still repays the effort it takes to read him.
Book Description
In this provocative, wide-ranging book, Richard Manning offers a dramatically revisionist view of recent human evolution, beginning with the vast increase in brain size that set us apart from our primate relatives and brought an accompanying increase in our need for nourishment. For 290,000 years, we managed to meet that need as hunter-gatherers, a state in which Manning believes we were at our most human: at our smartest, strongest, most sensually alive. But our reliance on food made a secure supply deeply attractive, and eventually we embarked upon the agricultural experiment that has been the history of our past 10,000 years.
The evolutionary road is littered with failed experiments, however, and Manning suggests that agriculture as we have practiced it runs against both our grain and nature's. Drawing on the work of anthropologists, biologists, archaeologists, and philosophers, along with his own travels, he argues that not only our ecological ills-overpopulation, erosion, pollution-but our social and emotional malaise are rooted in the devil's bargain we made in our not-so-distant past. And he offers personal, achievable ways we might re-contour the path we have taken to resurrect what is most sustainable and sustaining in our own nature and the planet's.
Customer Reviews:
A book for a welcome yet unexpected change of view.......2006-03-13
A book that takes up where the classic, "The Naked Ape", left off. This goes into the very beginnings of civilization and the fall out for some of the whys and consequences of it. Its premise is that our nature as hunter-gatherers is diametrically opposed with our agricultural/civilization way of life. Indeed civilization benefits only a small percentage of society. Mankind, as a whole, was far better off in being and soul as the hunter-gatherers. Well researched with an intuitive yet novel approach reminiscent of Desmond Morris's original. The kind of book that leaves you at its end with a better perspective of the world in which we live. A great book.
We are a victim of all we eat!!.......2006-02-04
There is no scholarship in the book, a few reference that are minimally supportive to his cause.
The premise of the book is that Agriculture hijacked civilization 10,000 years ago. Hijacked!!! How do you prove that one? He believes ALL agriculture is detrimental, including organic. He asks us to go back to hunting and gathering in the form of "perenial polyculture" and describes the satisfaction of a Buffalo hunt in a farmers field. He believes (no proof at all) that hunter gatherers had sensory abilities that make us moderns practically robotic. Are we victims of agriculture? - there is a real arrogance here for the reader, who apparently is too ignorant to see what has happened. This author has not got a clue what it meant to be a hunter gatherer, and there is little description of their lifestyle other than how the author feels when he goes out hunting.This is real belief in and grief for the loss of the garden of eden.
It is written like a expose, a conspiracy of the elite( probably started by a female), who just wanted to keep slaves and accumulate wealth.
This is a real disservice to people trying to improve/reform and innovate in agriculture.
It should have no stars at all(that option did not seem to be available) and I would not have read it, if it had not been choosen by my bookclub
Insightful, nuanced, but arguments need more proof.......2005-08-03
This book looks at how agriculture has affected the history of civilization and argues several conclusions. First, agriculture is not the optimal way for humans to draw sustanence from the earth. Instead, a lifestyle of hunting fishing, and gathering is. Second, the advent and spread of agriculture brings with it the concepts of social organization and hierarchy, private property, division of labor, slavery, and diseases spread to man from animals. Third, agriculture in the industrial world has reached the point that farms produce more food than people can eat, and farm products are now tools of trade and barter. Last, in industrial countries, agriculture and associated industries have colluded to create national policies that encourage more and more agricultural output and consumption, even though nobody starves in said countries.
Being a book about the history of the world and how it has changed, the author examines several key issues relating to the subject. These include:
1. The transition from a purely hunter-gatherer society to a society where hunting/gathering was practiced along with agriculture.
2. The transition to a purely agricultural society
The author argues that each of these steps was probably helpful in the short run in terms of better diet and higher sustainable populations, but in the long run they were less efficient than what came before it. Specifically, they led to overpopulation and then famine as soils were depleted. This in turn forced communities to migrate and come into contact with other communities, thereby leading to war. Long term effects include the growth of government to regulate and manage agriculture, armies to guard farm land, and the division of society into different groups according to how each could best contribute to the agricultural process.
The arguments and conclusions provided in this book are very insightful and would be new to most lay readers. However, there are several drawbacks to this book. First, it is short of empirical evidence. Many of the arguments are made using idealized models. Second, the book argues mainly from the history of the West, the Middle East and Africa. There is little mention of how agriculture has evolved over time and space in Australasia, Oceania, and pre-Columbus Americas. These are crucial omissions as the geography and climate in these lands vary greatly from that found in Europe, the Middle East, and sub-saharan Africa. Third, the arguments made in this book tend to minimize the affects due to different geographies, climates, and the occurrence of natural disasters such as earthquakes, volcanoes, etc...
Overall, this book is very insightful and worth reading. The subject matter of this book is growing in importance in recent decades, and agricultural policy is becoming highlighted as a factor in international relations, especially between Western and non-Western countries. The book's arguments should be read carefully though, and there are doubtless better referenced texts on this subject.
from hunter/gatherers to farmers & famine.......2005-04-22
Rebeccasreads highly recommends AGAINST THE GRAIN as the one history book that will change the way you look at the food on your plate, the vittles in your fridge, the produce at the supermarket, & the vast fruited plains of grains.
Richard Manning ranges far & wide, from past to present & into the future. He opens heretofore sacrosanct doors to show us how we handled agriculture & how we're doing it now, & what it is doing to our food supply. As well as the "dead zones" we are creating.
You will travel from a world newly refurbished after the glaciers withdrew down the ages on every continent & see our way of life from a truly different point of view.
After reading AGAINST THE GRAIN you might just find yourself mourning for a different way of life, one closer to this planet we call home.
Outstanding!
Thoughtful assessment of the sorry state of agriculture.......2004-09-28
Walk into to any supermarket and you probably feel very good about all of the choices you have. After all, the average supermarket carries over 25000 items these days. But if you are like most people, the vast majority of the items you will wind up purchasing are highly processed and contain precious little in the way of nutritional value. Did you know that nearly 2/3 of the calories the average American consumes come from just three crops--corn, wheat and potatoes?
Author Richard Manning sure got my attention with this fascinating book "Against The Grain". Manning argues that for the vast majority of history human beings were "hunter-gatherers". That is, people would migrate to where the food was and partake of a vast assortment of foods, everything from fruits and vegetables, to nuts and legumes and fresh meat. This all began to change about 10000 years ago with the advent of agriculture. Over the centuries people came to rely on fewer and fewer crops for survival. Manning notes that the pattern was virtually identical all over the world. Soon human beings came to rely on just a handful of crops, all high in carbohydrates, for survival. In recent decades the rise of huge conglomerates like ADM (Archer Daniels Midland) has further exacerbated the problem. Corporate entities do not view crops as food. Rather, they view crops as commodities and it is for this reason that family farms have all but disappeared, people in poor nations go unfed despite massive crop surplusses and those in rich nations wind up eating a largely bland and less than nutritious diet.
For those of us like myself who are poorly informed on these issues this book is certainly an eye-opener. Manning not only exposes the serious flaws in our current system but also proposes reasonable fixes to a number of these problems. Perhaps when we become aware of all those "empty" calories we ingest each day we will begin to think more carefully about the foods we eat. This book is extremely well written and kept my attention throughout. I would recommend it to just about anyone eager to learn more about these extremely serious issues.
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- 'Against the Grain' as 'Against Nature' - it's all 'A Rebours'
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Against the Grain (Ã Rebours)
J. K. Huysmans
Manufacturer: Dover Publications
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Book Description
Because of his extreme sensitivity to the absurd and grotesque in human affairs, the protagonist of this masterpiece of decadence has estranged himself from society and savors the most bizarre aspects of human existence in his quest for novelty. This landmark novel is filled with weird images and biting wit. Introduction by Havelock Ellis.
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Des Esseintes proceeded to turn about and warm between his hands a ball of styrax, and a very curious odour filled the room, a smell at once repugnant and exquisite, blending the delicious scent of the jonquil with the filthy stench of guttapercha and coal tar. He disinfected his hands, shut away his resin in a box hermetically sealed, and the stinking factories vanished in their turn. Then, he tossed amid the revivified vapours of lindens and meadow-grass some drops of "new mown hay," and on the magic spot, instantly bared of its lilacs, rose mounds of hay, bringing with them a new season, scattering their delicate odours reminiscent of high summer.
Customer Reviews:
'Against the Grain' as 'Against Nature' - it's all 'A Rebours'.......2005-08-17
This review is a copy of one I wrote for 'A Rebours' under its alternative title - 'Against Nature'. Perhaps it will be useful to readers of 'Against the Grain' - and act as a vector to the other reviews of this novel under the alternative title.
This is an extraordinarily self-indulgent work, a tirade by the author against all those sensual things that we enrich our lives with - food, wine, literature, religion, music, travel ..... And yet, in the end, the hero of the story, Des Esseintes, fails in his attempt to isolate himself and cocoon himself in all these things he treasures so much - he becomes ill and has to abandon the attempt. So why does this 'novel' work? It is a very strange one, but it is certainly a novel(ty), perhaps even a nova! Is it the fluidity of the writing (and the translation I read by Margaret Mauldon)? Is it the content that connects in so many ways, in so many directions? For me there was a special fascination although the basis for me as I had lived my life was totally different to Des Esseintes. His experience was a withdrawal from the world after extravagant and self-damaging, self-indulgence. For me, I had imagined doing exactly what Des Esseintes did (but my life turned in a different direction), but my basis had been one of rigorous but perhaps equally self-damaging, self-denial. Would the outcome have been different? I can only speculate but I suspect not. I think Huysmans is right on the money!
An experiment in eccentricity.......2003-06-03
Des Esseintes, the protagonist (and basically the only character) of this book, is a man of noble descent who has tried everything in life: he has mingled with the frivolous and found them vulgar and empty-headed. He has lived among the intellectuals and found them petulant and arrogant. He is tired of life, especially in these (his) vulgar and superficial times. So he sells a number of properties and buys a house in the countryside. His idea is to reject everything that is "natural" and concentrate on art and artifice. He lives in complete solitude, barely interrupted by a couple of silent servants. He spends much time choosing the colors, the furniture and the pictures for his house. Along the book we are witnesses to his tastes in a number of realms, such as painting, literature, flowers, perfumes and music. Sometimes it seems to be just a long catalogue of sophisticated, rare and decadent pieces. This book is a big fantasy of reclusion, of elegancy, of sophistication. Give yourself some time and be an eccentric for a day. If you read it with a sense of humor, you'll find an enjoyable piece of French décadentisme, certainly on the periphery of the Western Canon, but representative of a way to view life.
Its atmosphere is very Gothic, gloomy, silent and full of beautiful things. The main character is a bit of a lunatic, but his bored and irritable personality has a touch of glamour. If you sometimes feel filled up with the world, if you sometimes fantasize about winning the lottery and then buying a big house full of the things you love, a place to retire and reject society and all its annoying and ugly characteristics, then you will find this book a very cool way of retiring from the world.
Lucky for you it's still in print!.......2001-03-31
I read this book 20 years ago and still consider it one of my very favorites. It is so good to see that it is still in print. I'll just add a bit more to what the other reviewers at amazon have said. This book was a favorite of Picasso, and it's easy to understand why. Huysmans was the ultimate modern artist, and had he not become a writer he would have assuredly become a painter. Des Esseintes decorates the shell of a living tortoise with jewels and colored glass so that the light, reflected off the roving gems, accentuates the colors of the room, adding continuous and subtle variation. Now that is a sense of color! His heighten senses go further to invent new art forms: a perfume organ, for instance. Des Essentes, is also a bit of a sadist. He conducts social experiments, turning innocent ordinary working class youths into criminals by cultivating within them a taste of luxury. By the way, if you can, try obtaining a copy of the book with Arthur Zaidenberg's illustrations; they are an exquisite addition. Huysmans other books are also worth reading, especially Down There (la-Bas), a book about 19th century French Satanism that nicely weaves stories about the extreme Medieval sadist, Gilles de Rais, whom Huysmans portrays as an aesthete much like Des Esseintes. Both books are gems.
The Ultimate Social Dropout.......2000-06-17
Des Esseintes, the protagonist of Against the Grain (A Rebours), is, without a doubt, literature's ultimate social dropout. Dissatisfied with the limitations of the natural world, he hides from human society, constructing his life so that even his own servants are invisible to him.
While looking at others with disdain (and this is putting it mildly!), Des Esseintes's opinion of himself grows ever higher until he has "no hope of linking up with a mind which, like his own, took pleasure in a life of studious decrepitude; no hope of associating an intelligence as sharp and wayward as his own with that of an author or scholar."
Just as Des Esseintes eschews the natural, he embraces the artificial. In an early chapter, he chooses the colors for his country house near Paris based on their appearance under artificial light. He comes to the conclusion that one can obtain a satisfactory sea bath at home because "without stirring out of Pris it is possible to obtain the health-giving impression of sea-bathing...for all this involves is a visit to the Bain Vigier, an establishment to be seen down on a pontoon moored in the middle of the Seine."
Eventually, Des Esseintes moves beyond mere artifice and seeks to remove from his life the natural in all its aspects. When he becomes unable to ingest food orally, he feeds himself through enemas and finds this method far superior.
Des Esseintes's realm of artifice soon becomes his only god. He is safe in his virtuality, enjoying travel without risks, lust without passion and social interaction only with imagined beings.
The heart and soul of Against the Grain is really the debate between nature and artifice and man's role as the creator of his own universe. Des Esseintes is the ultimate aesthete; a man whose desire to obliterate the natural is transformed into the limitless experience of artistic creation.
Against the Grain represents typical French decadent literature in which the whole is subordinate to the parts. It must be understood that decadence in literature is an aesthetic, rather than a moral conception; the opposite of classicism, in which each part must subordinate itself to the enhancement of the whole. Each has its virtures, and in order to appreciate one to the fullest, we must learn to understand and appreciate the other.
Against the Grain may well be the greatest novel to emerge from the French decadent experience, and it has exerted much influence over later writers. It is the fullest, most detailed account of the search for artifice, a search that is particularly akin to today's virtual world of cyberspace. As such, Against the Grain is more relevant than ever and should be highly recommended, even required, reading.
Absolute Classic.......2000-04-28
It really doesn't surprise me that this novel has been reviewed by only one person at this site. What a statement about the reading patterns of present-day culture! From my teens through my twenties, I snatched up every Penguin Classic I could find on the bookshelves in NYC and San Francisco. I guess I just came up in a different literary milieu. This novel was one of the true gems that I encountered at that time. This is probably the seminal avante-garde novel. It's hero, Des Esseintes, is basted on Absinthe (or hashish) half the time and his life is one prolongued hallucination. The author takes the reader so intricately into the main character's life, that we are living alongside him, absorbed in his decadence. We are invited to his parties (which rival Trimalchio's), are absorbed in his fantasies (which rival Fellini's)and basically are tripping with him in his unique and solipsistic universe. Oscar Wilde described this as the strangest work of fiction he had ever come across. Though not a great Wilde fan, I couldn't agree with him more on that point.
Book Description
Healthy food doesn't have to be boring and bland. Look to the Mediterranean for innovative, fresh, and nutritious ideas. In
Against the Grain, award-winning cookbook author
Diane Kochilas offers up a collection of satisfying, good-for-you recipes inspired by the exotic dishes of the Mediterranean.
Whether you're trying to lose weight or simply improve you're eating habits, sticking to a good carb diet is a great idea. The Mediterranean diet isn't all breads, grains, and pasta -- it includes plenty of fish, chicken, lamb, vegetables, and fruits.
Against the Grain includes recipes for everything from light bites, such as tapas, soups, and salads, to hearty entrees and sides. The ingredient lists are supermarket-friendly and prep time is minimal, so busy home cooks can whip up healthy meals in minutes, every night of the week.
In addition to classics like Fresh Tomato Soup with Moroccan Spices, Chicken Cacciatore, and Pan-Seared Shrimp with Romesco Sauce, there are innovative, exotic new dishes like Grilled Skewered Lamb with Mint and Garlic Pesto, Pork Medallions Marinated with Olives and Orange, and Roasted Red Pepper and Feta Soufflé.
One of the basic principles of the Mediterranean lifestyle is that everything should be enjoyed in moderation. In
Against the Grain, no foods are forbidden or totally off limits. Instead, you'll find formerly "sinful" ingredients like rich cheeses, potatoes, rice, fragrant nuts and oils, and wine incorporated into savory meals. Yes, the recipes are healthy and nutritious, but, more important, the dishes in Against the Grain are hearty, satisfying, and flavorful.
Customer Reviews:
Good recipes, but no color and no photos.......2006-02-25
I have lots of cookbooks, and this one has unique recipes and good extra information. The outside cover is colorful and nice quality, implying the same inside. The inside pages are, however, thin (like newspaper) and have no color and no photos. I appreciate glossy cookbook pages because you can clean off grease and spills. This one is hard to keep clean in the kitchen and is less inspiring without photos or color.
Tasty resource for low-carb recipes plus good foodie reading.......2005-12-25
`Against the Grain' is the fifth book by leading culinary writer in English on Greek food, Diane Kochilas. And, it is written as a source book on Mediterranean recipes for low carb diets, primarily in response to the author's taking up first the Atkins and then the South Beach diet regimens which limit carbohydrate intake. The title of the book is a pun on the fact that grains, especially wheat, rice, and corn are such a big part of the Mediterranean diet.
This book raises the issue that while the Mediterranean cuisines are commonly thought to be so healthy, why is it that not only carbohydrates, but especially carbohydrates from processed white flour are such a bit part of classic Mediterranean cuisines in bread, pasta, couscous, and dumplings of various sorts. The author answers part of this question when she cites that until quite recently, white flour and its products were simply not available to people with average or low incomes except on special occasions. However, one of the most basic poor people's staples, chestnuts and chestnut flour are very high in carbohydrates with little collateral nutrition in the calories. Another part of the answer is that the `healthy Mediterranean diet' story arose from a demographic study of residents of Crete, which is a very small sample of the whole Mediterranean cuisine.
In opening this book, I feel it is actually more difficult for it to attain a high rating than a straight cookbook on Mediterranean food. This is because in addition to presenting good recipes, the book aims to present recipes that will help you loose weight. Bobby Flay's latest book, `Grilling for Life' takes a very similar tack, in that he is using a nominally healthy (low fat) food preparation technique and telling us what the (negative) nutritional analysis of each dish is. By negative, I mean the amounts of all the things we wish to avoid on one or another style of diet, that being calories, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium and total carbohydrates, plus the good stuff, fiber and protein. Neither book deals at all with the principles behind the various diet regimens. This means that these books are probably not really going to help you unless you know the ropes of your diet of choice. Kochilas does spend a little time discussing the difference between saturated and unsaturated fats and how the latter (olive oil) is better than the former (animal and tropical fats), but neither book explains how the nutritional analyses were done and neither book has a nutritional expert as a co-author.
Kochilas nine chapters are:
Eggs for Breakfast, Brunch, and Dinner
Small Plates of the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Garden in a Bowl
Side Dish and Main Course Vegetables
The Mediterranean Soup Kitchen
Fruits of the Wine-Dark Sea
Chicken and a Few Duck Dishes
The Sacrificial Lamb
The Ubiquitous Pig and a Few Beef Dishes
The first two chapters really puzzled me, as the calorie, fat, and sodium counts on so many of these recipes seemed rather high. On the other hand, it was interesting to see some of the tricks to keep some basic carb flavors, such as potato, in some recipes without adding much potatoes (its done with potato peels). In the vegetable, soup, and fish chapters, it was not surprising to see all the bad stuff drop to reasonable levels. Even the chicken and lamb dishes were pretty reasonable, especially with calories. I guess Ms. K. wanted to end on a luxuriant note when her last recipe is the French Bistro classic, Steak au Poivre done with shell steaks and weighing in with 594 calories per serving.
In spite of the winnowing of carbs from grains and selected fruits, I confess that almost all the recipes look very, very tasty. As with all of Ms. K.'s books, I find this a fascinating read, even considering the dismal subject. There is plenty here to enrich your insight into Mediterranean cuisine. And, it is important to note that the book does cover the entire Mediterranean and even goes pretty far inland to get some all time favorite recipes.
Ultimately, I give this five stars because of the great culinary storytelling, the quality of the recipes without limiting oneself to one method of cooking, and the fact that the list price, $24.95 is far below the conventional $35 for a new celebrity cookbook.
Recommended.
Book Description
Bhob Stewart's long-awaited Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood is the definitive book ever produced on the career of one of science fiction and comics' finest artists. In addition to a remarkable memoir of life at the Wood Studio, former Wood associate Bhob Stewart also provides a biographical portrait, tracing Wood's life from Minnesota to Manhattan while exploring the humorous spirit, dark detours, and psychological twists of a gifted maverick who often went against the grain. From childhood drawings and ambitious teenage samples to an endless parade of pages for a variety of publishers - Avon, EC, Fox, Marvel, Warren, and more - plus illustrations for Galaxy Science Fiction, this is the most stunning display of Wood art ever assembled. Many of the artists and writers who knew Wood personally have also contributed articles and essays, making this book a huge compendium of imaginative art, insights and critical commentary. Bill Pearson, executor of the Wood Estate, has made available rare drawings directly from Wood's own files, while noted art collector Roger Hill, an authority on artists of the EC era, provides a wealth of obscure, previously unpublished Wood drawings and paintings.
Customer Reviews:
When Better Drawings Were Drawed..........2006-03-27
"Against the Grain" is an excellent collection of artwork by the late comic book artist Wally Wood, accompanied with essays by his friends and associates.
If you've never heard of Wood, you are in for a major treat here: Martians, robots, other-world landscapes, elves and dinosaurs have never looked better before or since Wood's time. Wood's crisp handling of pen-and-ink, his superb attention to detail (which fans called "beautiful clutter") and his extraordinary use of shadow and light are here for the reader to behold. The illustrations cover the entire range of his career, including his work from the 1950s with EC comics, his illustrations for Galaxy and other sci-fi magazines and his final masterwork, "The Wizard King".
Whether it was a grotesque monster from an unknown planet or a parody of Superman, a complicated machine from the 24th century or a fighter jet battle, a lush female in a tight-fitting spacesuit or a caricature of a contemporary politician, Wood could draw it. He could have you reeling in terror from space aliens or laughing out loud with "Batboy and Ruben." His influence on future generations of cartoonists was extensive, and some of them pay tribute to him in this book.
He had both friends and fans, some of them aspiring artists who probably would have paid him just to work in his studio. He could play guitar and entertain a group with his conversation, which tripped from art to politics to science.
Thomas Edison once said that invention is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration, and Wally Wood must have understood that perfectly. His creations were the result not just of skill but of hours of labor. This is obvious from the fine details of such pieces as the spaceship interiors of "There'll Be Some Changes Made," his use of high contrast lighting in "Atom Bomb", the precisely-falling raindrops and slanted spears of "Joan of Arc," the exact movements of a medieval duel in "Trial by Arms"...
Phew! It's hard to know where to stop.
As a teenager and amateur cartoonist, I would imagine Wood as living in a Manhattan penthouse (for surely someone that talented would be rich) overlooking the New York skyline, working at his drawing board and surrounded by futuristic machines, while gorgeous women lounged about his bizarre-looking furniture. (He depicts himself in that manner in "My World", a tribute to science-fiction artists.)
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Despite his talent and his fans, Wood became a life-long alcoholic who worked in dank basements, spending weeks at his drawing board, half-wishing he could enter the fantastic environments he was creating and flee all his problems with publishers, bills and imperfect women. It was as if all his emotions had been bottle-necked and could only come out on the drawing board. (One of his three wives was a psychiatrist who concluded that he just had to control everything or else.) In the end, he just walked away from it all, putting himself to sleep with a handgun in 1979.
Still, his fans and associates have assembled this superb collection and hopefully there will be more of them.
The triumph and tragedy of Wallace Wood.......2005-06-22
I came upon this book while browsing a comic shop in Cambridge, and soon realised it was the long promised comprehensive survey of Wood's art and career. I applaud Bhob Stewart for his perseverance and obvious passion in bringing this book to publication. Any fan of Wood's will want to read this book. It contains tons of great art ; some of it obscure and previously unseen, and the biographical information it presents is thorough, and illustrated with great photos. A blurb on the back of the book proclaims, "Hooray for Wally Wood" and sure enough the vivid and imaginitive genius of Wood is on full display between its covers. This is the triumph part of his story, and it makes it a must have art book. But this book bravely explores the person of Wood as well,including the negatives, and the price he paid for his obsessive genius. It's a tragedy that anyone who knows Wood's story is familiar with, and it speaks loudly to the American culture at large, and how we have in the past, sometimes treated our heroes like throwaway commodities. After seeing some of the gorgeous art in the book, it seems incongrous to imagine the same Wood staying up for 3 days on Dexdrine to ink a Wonder Woman comic, but it happened, and frequently. A giant like Wood routinely worked on mediocre jobs just to scrape by. This warts and all approach is as honest as it is heatbreaking, and in my opinion transforms the book into a work of art of another variety, in its portrayal of a gifted but tortured individual. Attention, Hollywood!
Assistants Paul Kirshner, Nick Cuti and others contribute amazing , written tributes to Wood that say just how much they loved the guy, all the while dealing with his difficult personality. For these heartfelt rememberances alone, this book is a welcome, if sobering addition to the legacy of the great Wallace Wood.
I don't know if the author's intent was to produce anything more than a beautiful art book and tribute to his friend, but the fact that this book also functions as a cautionary tale that provides insight into the creative process and inner workings of such an American icon as Wood, is a facinating by product that should be of interest to any general reader.
This is looking the gift horse in the mouth, but..........2004-06-22
Although it had been promised to be a "definitive biography" by the publisher, Against the Grain: Mad Artist Wallace Wood continues the piecemeal format of everything that has been available about Wood and his contemporaries (Severin, Elder, Ingels, Crandall, Williamson, Craig, Davis, et al) for the last 40 years. -Which is to say it's a rambling book of personal essays/reminiscences, panel discussion excerpts and brief, fan-flavored interviews. The books one undeniable saving grace is that it is very generously embellished with samples of the artist's work. But overall, it feels like a blow-out issue of Squa Tront.
This will scratch the itch of the diehard and casual fan who wanted a coffee table browser on the subject. For those, like me, who hoped, finally, to see the subject's life drawn in one cohesive portrait by an insightful Boswell, it's a letdown, or "more of same."
I hope the book does well. It is, perhaps, an urgently needed Wood intro for newer generations who lack a sense of history. It is a welcome public reminder/declaration of Wood's place in The Comic Pantheon, where he clearly stands shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Roy Crane, Milt Caniff, Walt Kelly, Al Capp, Chester Gould and, dare one utter it, the Great Charles Schulz. Honest, it's not a bad little read. But I wish it had offered something new on the subject, or at least somehow extended the genre of fan appreciation/criticism established by Squa Tront during the 60s and 70s. As it is, this book has an odd way of making me feel that an entire generation, my generation, never really grew up.
Blazing Colors!.......2004-06-08
This is the penultimate guide on an artist who changed the way comic art is rendered today. This gargantuan exercise on artist Wallace Wood is an absolute for those who grew up with Woods magnificent style as well as the modern aspiring artist. Everything we see in comic art today can be traced in some shape or form to this master of pencil and India ink. The hand which so elegantly wielded the brush has been expertly brought back to life by Bhob Stewart. The text is written with a panache and flair almost completely missing from modern journalism on a subject so sadly underreported these days. Thanks to this wonderfully illustrated labor of love, the art of Wally Wood shall continue to live on for generations to come. All of today's modern heroes would not, could not exist had Wood's artistic creations not covered the span of decades. He was a true 20th-century Renaissance Man. "Against The Grain" is a work to be savored, embraced, shared by all serious artists who desire to know where it all began, and the man who rendered a new direction for a new century, Wally Wood.
A Worthy Look At Wood's Work.......2004-04-03
I've been reading "Against The Grain" on and off since late
December and, if you're a fan of comics art, this is a must-get for your collection: the late Wallace Wood was one of the comics field's greats, both as an illustrator and a cartoonist.
Like Wood's work, this is a beautiful book, well worth having; editor Bhob Stewart (assisted by Bill Pearson and Roger Hill), has done a great job. There are 35 essays by people who knew the artist, covering every aspect of his varied career. The selection of art does that as well: I have a fairly comprehensive collection of Wood's work, but there's quite a lot here that I was aware of and hadn't been able to obtain, as well of material I never knew about but was glad to see (like his illustrations from "Planet Stories," and his roughs for "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"). There's his early work when he was just learning his chops, his roughs, his pencils, his cartoons, his comic book work, his illustrations --all done in variety of different techniques and mediums, all (save for the early material) displaying Wood's beautifully crisp line style.
Book Description
An abundant selection of incisive writings from The New Criterion, the magazine that has emerged as the foremost voice of critical dissent in the culture wars. No one who reads this volume can be in any doubt what the cultural war in the U.S. is all about, or who ought to win it. --Paul Johnson, Wall Street Journal
Customer Reviews:
Partisan Criticism=Good Criticism.......2006-06-17
Although I tend to disagree with a lot that's in here the criticism is nevertheless quite good. If you enjoy art & cultural criticism then this is a wonderful compilation to dig into.
Book Description
An extensive manual for surviving without wheat or gluten, including a resource guide, shopping tips, and a listing of support groups for celiacs.
Customer Reviews:
extremely uneven.......2004-09-18
This book has multiple personalities. One is a personal story of coming to terms with having celiac disease. Another is lists of resources for the gluten intolerant. And a third kind of mixes the two -- tells how the author was able to come to terms with things because she developed strategies for living and eating.
First of all, it's really important to know that a lot of the information about what you can and can't eat is just plain wrong. Some of that is because these things become outdated quickly, but some is less understandable than that. For instance, she says that while cream soups are likely to have gluten in them, broths won't. That's totally untrue -- most of the common brands of broth do have gluten in them. And it's a particularly odd mistake to be making given that on other things, she advocates being far more careful than the standard resources do. Like she says don't use distilled vinegar because it MIGHT be distilled from wheat, but again, everything else I've read on this subject says that 1) it's probably not distilled from wheat but more importantly 2) the distillation process removes gluten.
So if you're going to get this book, get it for the personal part, about how she dealt with her diagnosis. It's pretty entertaining and there's some value to being reminded that you're not the only one. That said, while I think it's valuable to have something to read in that area, I'd say she's more than just slightly eccentric. A lot of her stories about how her friends reacted to her diagnosis seem like extreme worst-case scenarios -- suffice it to say that I was diagnosed long before I was as sick as she describes herself as having been, yet my friends were a lot more sympathetic than she says hers were.
Finally, with regard to her strategies for living. Another review here mentions that they're sort of for the caviar set, and I have to agree. These are instructions for someone who not only has a LOT of money to spend on special-ordered foods, but who feels comfortable asking restaurant staffs to go way out of their way to accommodate her.
On the whole, I'd say there are better resources than this book. Some of them are online, others are informational books like Shelley Case's "Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide." But if you want to read everything you can on celiac disease and living gluten-free, this is at least entertaining.
a must-have, for the wheat-intolerant "newbie".......2004-01-28
I've had this book since late August '03, and already I have probably read through the entire thing about 4 or 5 times..and it's still great! Not only does it have tons of information, tips, & recipes, ...it is HILARIOUS! Reading it makes me feel like maybe i'm not the biggest weirdo for having to dissect my food in front of everyone at a dinner party. I swear, any celiac/wheat intolerant person who reads this will finally be able to laugh out loud at all the funny/eccentric things (i.e. eating caviar w/ a spoon, bringing your own rice pasta to Italian restaurants) that one tends to go through with gluten/wheat intolerance. Especially after you've just been diagnosed (as I had), it's great to know that there's someone else out there who has the same annoying issues as i do (i.e. difficulty eating out at restaurants, dining with friends), and can offer some good advice on how to cope.
So, the next time you're down in the dumps because you had to sit through your neighbor's pizza party by munching on peanuts and carrot sticks (and gathering weird/pitiful looks from others at the same time), don't sit and mope..go and read "Against the Grain" and you'll be a happier camper!
chatty but sloppy.......2003-04-12
Some of the advice in this book is great, especially on suggestions for enjoying meals socially without feeling like a freak. However, based on the title and the author's condition, it's easy to assume that the only foods recommended in the book are gluten-free, and that's not true. Several of the recipes and purchased-food recommendations are wheat-free, but not gluten-free, and are NOT clearly identified as such. I found the tone to be rather snobbishly superior, as well- perhaps a nice book for those in the caviar-eating set, but not written for the unprivileged who can not expect to be waited on hand and foot or to be able to afford all the specialty foods the author considers necessities.
The Celiac's Bible.......2002-09-02
Along with the words, you have Celiac-Sprue Disease, your GI doctor should hand you this book and tell you to go home and read it. A diagnosis of Celiac seems overwhelming and the diet restrictive. The author uses humor and common sense along with personal experience to ease the pain and educate the consumer reading the book. Although a Gluten-Free diet is unlike any other, you can get a good, basic feel for it using this book. It helps to get one over the hump and on the road to wellness. I highly recommend this book. If you have Celiac Disease do yourself a favor and get it, if you have a friend or loved one with the disease show them that you care.
A must-read for anyone going gluten-free or wheat-free.......2001-05-28
This is not a cookbook (although there are a few recipes in the back). It's more like a survival manual or a book-length pep talk, specifically written for people with celiac sprue, which is a severe form of gluten intolerance. But I'm finding the ideas and encouragement are applicable to anyone who is gluten-free or wheat-free for any reason, and in fact they're even worth skimming by anyone dealing with food allergies or other significant dietary changes (such as cutting out dairy or sugar). It's a funny and well-written book, including sections on anti-cheating strategies, restaurant assertiveness training, and etiquette for people with dietary restrictions, along with the expected list of product suggestions (with extensive mail-order information). I've looked at a *lot* of special diet cookbooks and guidebooks in the past couple of years, and have been disappointed by most of them because they frankly haven't had much in them that I hadn't already learned somewhere. This book is a fresh exception. I would have liked to see more specifics on various baking substitutions (maybe in the next edition?), and there is a lot of product information that may be regional or get outdated (so I expect a second edition would be a good idea), but even with those minor imperfections I still would highly recommend this book.
Book Description
Geoffrey Nyarota was the editor of the Daily News, Zimbabwe’s only independent newspaper, for four years. In this time, he chronicled the decline of the country under Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF-controlled regime. As a young man, Nyarota fervently believed that his children would know the freedom of democracy that he himself had been denied in colonial Rhodesia before Mugabe became independent Zimbabwe’s first head of state in 1980. But when he discovered that the returned war heroes were more interested in enriching themselves than in uplifting the poverty-stricken millions, he unflinchingly began to expose the wholesale corruption and greed, nepotism and fraud perpetrated by the Mugabe government. It took state-planted bombs, torture and intimidation, costly legal fees and, finally, a contract on Nyarota’s life before he fled his homeland at the beginning of 2003 to go into exile.
Customer Reviews:
The Ultimate Journalist.......2007-06-13
Geoffrey Nyarota is an unbelievably experienced man. His stories bring shivers down your back and tears to your eyes. He has been through more than most people can imagine. His artful language skills portray a wistful look at Zimbabwe, where this man longs for the country he loves.
Beautifully written, brutally honest...
6 stars out of 5.
A very interesting autobiography by Zimbabwes premier journalist and fearless Editor.......2007-03-20
Geoffrey Nyarota started off his career as a teacher in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe in the 1970's. He describes firsthand the brutalities civilians endured and those he himself experienced at the hands of both the security forces of Ian Smiths government and ZANLA guerrillas fighting in the area where he taught. The intensification of the war forced the closure of many schools resulting in him embarking into a career in journalism. Having the unique experience of being a black journalist in the white dominated media of Rhodesia provided him with the necessary experience and qualifications allowing him to rise to the top of his field post-independence with postings as Editor of the Manica Post and most notoriously the Chronicle of Bulawayo. He gives insight into the extremely difficult situation he found himself in as Editor of the Bulawayo Chronicle during the Gukurahundi massacres, facing the dilemma of risking personal safety and telling the public a story that needed to be heard. As a youth growing up in Zimbabwe in the 1980's I personally feel one of Mr Nyarotas greatest achievements was his exposure of corruption in Robert Mugabe's government through the Willowgate car scandal and resultant Sandura Commision. An extremely brave act fuelled by his belief in freedom of the press and his uncompromising tenacity in pursuit of the truth, these unfortunately were not seen as admirable qualities by his superiors and cost him his job as Editor.
Mr Nyarota continued in his fight to expose corruption and fraud as founding editor of the Daily News, an independent newspaper and a breath of fresh air to us Zimbabweans for years force fed government propaganda through the state controlled media. The odds were stacked heavily against the Daily news however it persevered and won a few battles but unfortunately the Government won the war forcing closure of the paper and Mr Nyarota into exile.
The book is unique in that although autobiographical, it covers important periods of Zimbabwean history by a resident Zimbabwean, most recent works charting the rise and decline of Zimbabwe have been penned by non-blacks and foreigners. He follows the transformation of notorious Zimbabwean politicians and military figures from their student and liberation war days to their rapid accumulation of wealth and power post-independence. He gives recognition to Zimbabwean heroes snubbed and forgotten after having fallen out of favor with ZANU PF such as Dzinashe Machingura and Willie Musarurwa to name a few. Unfortunately his accounts are not always chronological and at times he digresses, however his experiences of Zimbabwean politics, politicians and society coupled with his good sense of humor make the book in general very interesting to read.
Very importantly, he highlights the grave dangers African journalists and their families risk in pursuit of the truth, the repercussions being more harsh and brutal than western journalists protected by their respective governments.
My hope is that his story does not end here and that he will return home soon to continue uncovering the truth.
Book Description
Contrarian investing--what it is, how it works, and why millions of successful investors see it as the only logical choice
"(Davis is) one of the most widely respected technical market analysts operating today."
--Louis Rukeyser
Contrarians say that, when it comes to investing, the crowd is wrong more often than it is right--and prove it with their 200-year history of success! The Triumph of Contrarian Investing is a fascinating, in depth examination of the impact of crowd psychology on markets, how the crowd is often predictably incorrect, and how investors can use long-proven contrarian investing strategies to uncover tremendous buying and selling opportunities.
Ned Davis, one of today's biggest names in investing, reveals:
- How to ignore the temptation to "join the crowd" and uncover tremendous opportunities
- Consistent signs that a stock's price has been driven too high or too low
- Strategies for protecting contrarian portfolios when--as sometimes happens--the crowd is right
Download Description
Contrarian investing--what it is, how it works, and why millions of successful investors see it as the only logical choice"(Davis is) one of the most widely respected technical market analysts operating today." - Louis Rukeyser. Contrarians say that, when it comes to investing, the crowd is wrong more often than it is right--and prove it with their 200-year history of success! The Triumph of Contrarian Investing is a fascinating, in depth examination of the impact of crowd psychology on markets, how the crowd is often predictably incorrect, and how investors can use long-proven contrarian investing strategies to uncover tremendous buying and selling opportunities. Ned Davis, one of today's biggest names in investing, reveals: * How to ignore the temptation to "join the crowd" and uncover tremendous opportunities * Consistent signs that a stock's price has been driven too high or too low * Strategies for protecting contrarian portfolios when - as sometimes happens--the crowd is right
Customer Reviews:
Disappointment.......2007-02-19
I have respect for Ned Davis as an analyst and this led to me buying his book.What a disappointment.Only 70 pages and the rest meaningless page after page of charts.I believe it is misleading to advertise a book of 188 pages and then only have 70 pages of content!! Buyer beware
The Triumph of Contrarian Investing: Crowds, Manias & Beating the Market by Going Against the Grain.......2006-06-26
This book did not contain much information, only 70 pages of text. The rest of the book being made up of a series of graphs.
The author frequently referred in the book to subscription research services he offers, as if the book was an advert.
I was disappointed with this book.
Too simplistic.......2005-08-14
Buyer beware...the book is padded in large part by graphs and data. The actual chapters are short and can be covered in a day...This is a beginner's book with little insights...Professional stay away!
Only for a beginner.......2004-09-12
First let me say, Ned Davis Research does excellent work. I was hoping to get some insight into the types of research his company uses. But I'm sorry to say I can not recomend this book to anyone but those completely unfamiliar with sentiment analysis. Only the basics are covered. Over half of the book is stock charts showing fundamental variables (I thought this was about sentiment?) and is a waste of space. He does say he is using these variables as a measure of investor sentiment but maybe they could have used a handful of charts as examples, not over half a book that is only 170 pages long.
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- Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve (Magic Tree House, 30)
- Heart-Shaped Box: A Novel
- Hell Hath No Fury (Multiverse, Book 2)
- His Needs, Her Needs: Building an Affair-Proof Marriage
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
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