Average customer rating:
- not fun but a classic
- An exploration of relationships of many types
- Disappearing author
- Graceful 'Disgrace'
- The modern disgrace of being old, white and learned.
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Disgrace
J. M. Coetzee
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
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Binding: Paperback
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Coetzee, J.M.
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ASIN: 0140296409
Release Date: 2000-10-31 |
Amazon.com
David Lurie is hardly the hero of his own life, or anyone else's. At 52, the protagonist of Disgrace is at the end of his professional and romantic game, and seems to be deliberately courting disaster. Long a professor of modern languages at Cape Town University College, he has recently been relegated to adjunct professor of communications at the same institution, now pointedly renamed Cape Technical University:
Although he devotes hours of each day to his new discipline, he finds its first premise, as enunciated in the Communications 101 handbook, preposterous: "Human society has created language in order that we may communicate our thoughts, feelings and intentions to each other." His own opinion, which he does not air, is that the origins of speech lie in song, and the origins of song in the need to fill out with sound the overlarge and rather empty human soul.
Twice married and twice divorced, his magnetic looks on the wane, David rather cruelly seduces one of his students, and his conduct unbecoming is soon uncovered. In his eighth novel, J.M. Coetzee might have been content to write a searching academic satire. But in Disgrace he is intent on much more, and his art is as uncompromising as his main character, though infinitely more complex. Refusing to play the public-repentance game, David gets himself fired--a final gesture of contempt. Now, he thinks, he will write something on Byron's last years. Not empty, unread criticism, "prose measured by the yard," but a libretto. To do so, he heads for the Eastern Cape and his daughter's farm. In her mid-20s, Lucy has turned her back on city sophistications: with five hectares, she makes her living by growing flowers and produce and boarding dogs. "Nothing," David thinks, "could be more simple." But nothing, in fact, is more complicated--or, in the new South Africa, more dangerous. Far from being the refuge he has sought, little is safe in Salem. Just as David has settled into his temporary role as farmworker and unenthusiastic animal-shelter volunteer, he and Lucy are attacked by three black men. Unable to protect his daughter, David's disgrace is complete. Hers, however, is far worse.
There is much more to be explored in Coetzee's painful novel, and few consolations. It would be easy to pick up on his title and view Disgrace as a complicated working-out of personal and political shame and responsibility. But the author is concerned with his country's history, brutalities, and betrayals. Coetzee is also intent on what measure of soul and rights we allow animals. After the attack, David takes his role at the shelter more seriously, at last achieving an unlikely home and some measure of love. In Coetzee's recent Princeton lectures, The Lives of Animals, an aging novelist tells her audience that the question that occupies all lab and zoo creatures is, "Where is home, and how do I get there?" David, though still all-powerful compared to those he helps dispose of, is equally trapped, equally lost.
Disgrace is almost willfully plain. Yet it possesses its own lean, heartbreaking lyricism, most of all in its descriptions of unwanted animals. At the start of the novel, David tells his student that poetry either speaks instantly to the reader--"a flash of revelation and a flash of response"--or not at all. Coetzee's book speaks differently, its layers and sadnesses endlessly unfolding. --Kerry Fried
Book Description
Disgrace--set in post--apartheid Cape Town and on a remote farm in the Eastern Cape--is deft, lean, quiet, and brutal. A heartbreaking novel about a man and his daughter, Disgrace is a portrait of the new South Africa that is ultimately about grace and love.
At fifty--two Professor David Lurie is divorced, filled with desire but lacking passion. An affair with one of his students leaves him jobless and friendless, except for his daughter, Lucy, who works her smallholding with her neighbor, Petrus, an African farmer now on the way to a modest prosperity. David's attempts to relate to Lucy, and to a society with new racial complexities, are disrupted by an afternoon of violence that changes him and his daughter in ways he could never have foreseen. In this wry, visceral, yet strangely tender novel, Coetzee once again tells "truths [that] cut to the bone" (The New York Time Book Review).
A finalist for The National Book Critics Circle Awards
Coetzee is the only writer to have been awarded the Booker Prize twice
Download Description
Set in post-apartheid Cape Town, Professor David Laurie attempts to relate to his daughter, Lucy, and to a society with new racial complexities. But that is disrupted by an afternoon of violence that changes him and his daughter in ways he could never have foreseen. Coetzee is the only writer awarded the Booker Prize twice, and this work is a finalist for the National Book Critic Circle Awards.
Customer Reviews:
not fun but a classic.......2007-10-01
This book is somewhere between an under graduate text and a book I'd actually like to read. The fact that I actually finally read "Disgrace" is more attributable to my spying it at my parent's house (i.e. for free) then any other factor. I raced through it in about two hours, it's hardly a slog. More like a high lit version of a "beach book" then anything else. Which is not to characterize Disgrace as a beach book- far from it.
The subject matter- the story of a disgraced South African professor (non tenured) who is expelled from his life in Cape Town after a brief, benign affair with a student, only to land with his lesbian back-to-the-earth daughter in the east of South Africa, is a total bummer, but the writing is excellent and the message- the kind of an obverse version of a colonialist text- sits on the mind.
It's hard to really "review" a novel without giving away significant plot points- something that other good reads reviewers should take note of (like the other reviewers of this book) but the brevity and alarcity of the writing in Disgrace makes it a worth while read.
An exploration of relationships of many types.......2007-09-27
Boy, does middle-aged, twice-divorced, would-be ladies' man Professor David Lurie change over the course of this story! He beds one of his students and is denounced by his university. The resulting fallout sees his arrogance eroded and his power removed. His life is seemingly altered for the worse. By the end of the book I felt this turning point may have done him some moral and spiritual good.
Lurie moves out to his adult daughter's land allotment where a savage attack, and the resulting emotional fallout, further press in on his fragile state.
The book, set in 1990s South Africa, explores relationships of many kinds: lustful, unrequited, dissolved, passionate, tepid, familial, racial, those of victim and perpetrator. There's much to think about in this multi-layered story, written in deceptively simple language, charting the complicated, yet 'ordinary', lives of a handful of people struggling through their existence. It's easy to see why it won the 1999 Booker Prize.
Disappearing author.......2007-09-01
Coetzee achieves the amazing feat of disappearing in this book. The writing is neither brutally stark nor ornate; it's neither discursively descriptive nor abstract. It is just a stoy, plainly told. The characters are, mostly, neither heros nor villians. The story is clearly told, yet the story and its lessons are far from clear. To me, it seem like Hemingway without ego (imagine!) or a more narrative, story-telling, and hopeful DeLillo. 100% recommended.
Graceful 'Disgrace'.......2007-08-30
Many reviews here have described the novel. I, however, just want to comment on a few essential reasons as to why this is a 'must read' for anyone interested in literature.
1. An extremely 'gracefully' written book, on some of the most 'disgrace'ful events that can occur in a man's life.
2. An in depth insight into the sufferings of the people of Africa, especially women. An eye-opener.
3. A non-animal lover turning into someone who cares for animals. How beautifully the transformation 'occurs - occured'.
4. Philosophy written with a fine touch of dark humor.
5. Some scenes are abhorable, you "should" hate the main character in the book, but there is something so enchanting about his personality that you actually end up liking him. He is not trying to please anyone. He is who he is and most importantly, he does not care what people think about him.
I could not put the book down once I started it. The Booker Prize was well-deserved.
As for J.M. Coetzee, he has a unique style of writing. A person who completely deserved the Nobel Prize (2003).
This book and its author have won a spot on my 'favourites' list.
The modern disgrace of being old, white and learned........2007-08-21
In this novel, Coetzee reveals that he is one of those all too few contemporary authors unafraid to address uncomfortable contemporary issues. A South African author who fought against the injustices of apartheid, he nonetheless paints a frank portrait of the society that has emerged in its aftermath. But this book is not simply about South Africa. Here, it is simply the most apt setting for a portrait of the world-wide death of white, male authority, and with it European high culture and art as the supreme social good. Coetzee explores what it means for a world not to be built on these values but for the only agreed thing of worth to be that of the equal right to pleasure of each individual. He exposes the absurd contradiction of such a world, in which reason and learning count for little, and yet which continues to treat animals with shameful barbarity. The learned professor and lover of romanticism discovers painfully what happens when an entire civilisation puts feeling before reason and not simply a few priviliged 19th century aristocratic rebels such as Byron or indeed present day white male professors of literature.
The juxtaposition of the professor's charge of sexual harrasment with the brutal gang rape of his daughter is not easy to interpret, or rather it can be read and interpreted in many ways. On the one hand, the actual rape of his daughter Lucy serves to show how vindictive and ridiculous the charge made against him of simply having consenting sex with an adult student was. It can also be read as an attempt to understand such viciousness in contemporary gender and racial politics, the excessive yet inevitable wish to redress the historical abuses wrought by the power of the white man.
In the end, language is seen to be a human tool, one which we use to justify and rationalize our all too animal needs and resentments. Language is indeed used to cover the bare human soul, not in order to sing but to allow ourselves to be in denial over our animal natures. That the professor finally learns to recognise the souls of the abused animals in his daughter's shelter is the novel's graceful moral.
Book Description
Olmstead Press is proud to publish for the first time in paper, Ladies of the Court, with a new chapter by the author and a new Introduction by Frank Deford. The stars of the women's tennis tour are the richest, most famous, and most conspicuous female athletes in the world, and yet the public's perception of them is often limited to the little that can be gleaned from press conferences and photo opportunities. Eager to get beyond the cosmetic image, Michael Mewshaw followed the circuit from Rome to Paris, London, New York, and points in between. Along the way he met teenage millionaires such as Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati, and Mary Joe Fernandez. Then he talked to their opponents, obscure girls struggling to stay on the tour and continuing to pursue a dream. He spoke with adolescents, anxious about their emerging sexuality, and veterans trying to balance love affairs, marriages, and motherhood with the demands of a tennis career. He had bristly encounters with ferociously ambitious fathers who live through, and off of, their daughters. From sociologists and sports psychiatrists, he learns about teenagers sexually abused by middle-age men, coaches who consider sex just another perk of the job, and the groupies, gofers, and hangers-on who have their own troubling agendas. An acclaimed novelist, Mewshaw captures the essence of the complex characters. A celebrated sportswriter, he analyzes matches, discusses strategy, and describes practice sessions and conditioning programs. He interviews the most renowned coaches, trainers, and sports agents. Most important, as award-winning investigative journalist, Mewshaw is in a position to subject the women's tennis tour to the sort of scrutiny it rarely receives.
Book Description
Elite Romans periodically chose to limit or destroy the memory of a leading citizen who was deemed an unworthy member of the community. Sanctions against memory could lead to the removal or mutilation of portraits and public inscriptions. Harriet Flower provides the first chronological overview of the development of this Roman practice—an instruction to forget—from archaic times into the second century A.D.
Early memory sanctions were employed by political families in an effort to preserve their social standing or limit the embarrassment caused by a disgraced relative. Bans in the Late Republic, however, turned into punitive measures used against political rivals. By the imperial period, emperors imposed postmortem disgrace in attempts to control elite dissent or its image, but they could also become subject to such posthumous sanctions themselves. Flower explores Roman memory sanctions against the background of Greek and Hellenistic cultural influence and in the context of the wider Mediterranean world. Combining literary and legal texts, art and archaeology, this richly illustrated study contributes to a deeper understanding of Roman political culture.
Book Description
"Imagine a British John Waters crossed with David Sedaris."-
The New York Times Book Review
Set both in Tuscany and in the trendy haunts of London, this hilarious sequel to the popular
Cooking with Fernet Branca is further evidence of Hamilton-Paterson's wit and comic inventiveness. The inimitable Gerald Samper is back, with his musings on the absurdities of modern life and his entertaining asides during which he comments on everything from publishing to penile implants, celebrity sportswomen to Australian media moguls. Plus, there's his marvelously eccentric recipes. A smart literary romp featuring a cavalcade of misadventures and memorable characters.
Customer Reviews:
Samper's Delicious Present.......2007-02-16
Yes, Samper is back, cooking up delectable dishes that tend to explode delightfully in his own face. This book is just as funny as "Cooking With Fernet," though if anything the satire is angrier, more focused. We meet Millie Cleat, the "one-armed old sea bitch" whose megalomania is a wondrous match for Samper's, and who (like Samper) has a gift for hoisting herself with her own petard. There are times when Samper comes dangerously close to being a three-dimensional character, but fortunately his penchant for awful puns, double entendres, and lewd anagrams saves him from this unwelcome fate. He remains a rootless hedonist who makes a crust by writing celebrity biographies and who even convinces himself that "in default of any serious alternative ... lotus eating is definitely the way forward." Ever the survivor, he moves from one disgraceful episode to the next, his adventures all alike in being completely devoid of significance. And in his wake you can hear the grateful laughter of his readers.
Samper is back!.......2006-11-17
and he gets into the most ridiculous situations. It is still laugh out loud and read out loud funny. Less cooking than in "Cooking with Fernet Branca" - perhaps there are a limited number of gut wrenching culinary combinations even the fertile imagination of Hamilton-Paterson can dream up? I have to say, I did miss Marta. Sometimes the solid pages of Samper reflection got to be too rich, like gorging on hunting dog pate.
I got the feeling at the end that perhaps Samper still has some legs for further books, and if that happens I'll make some time and space, pretend that I've flown to a safe distance from "TV Cheffies" and all things mundane, and savor the further adventures of this most unusual character.
Customer Reviews:
gentlemen's game.......2005-10-13
The book contains a fascinating report of two gentlemen that were the victims of two unfair events: Roberto De Vicenzo was the victim of an unfair (and recently modified) rule and Goalby was the victim of an unfair treatment by the media and some golf fans. The two of them had a very gentle reaction after the incident and remained close friends. The book is a refreshing story about excellence in sports.
Serous error in the review by Stanley Hudy "Hudy's Hardcovers".......2005-08-02
I haven't read this book, though I'd like to. There is a serious error in the review by Stanley Hudy, which is why I am writing.
He says Goalby bogeyed the last hole, and appeared to lose the Masters by a stroke. That is not what happened. Goalby made a brilliant par on the last hole, and appeared set for a playoff the next day with DiVicenzo. Instead, DiVicenzo signed the wrong scorecard, and Goalby was declared the outright winner.
Both golfers played incredible golf that last day. A miscarriage of justice, IMO, that the outcome was decided the way it was, instead of on the course.
Golfer a winner despite having Masters taken away.......2005-07-18
Golf author Curt Sampson pulls the reader back in time to the age of the 1960's when the nation was torn apart about the Vietnam War, coping with the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and presidential candidate Robert Kennedy as well as the bitter fight for the White House between Hubert Humphrey, Richard Nixon and George Wallace.
In the beginning of the spring, a tournament was played at a small, private club in Augusta, Georgia called The Masters.
It is here that once again history was made, but not in a positive manner as one golfer was elevated from virtually unknown to historic and another was declared a winner, but vilified by the media in one fell swoop, or the lack of it.
In the 1968 Masters, South American professional golfer Robert De Vicenzo appeared to be tied in a two-way tie with American Robert Goalby, forcing an 18-hole playoff.
For DeVicenzo, he was so disgusted with his won bogey late in the round, forcing the tie with Goalby that he broke USGA rule 38. He wrote down the wrong score on his scorecard, one stroke higher than he actually finished his round.
The mistake was made by playing partner Tommy Aaron on the 17th hole, giving De Vicenzo a par four, when he actually made a birdie three. Not only had the South American done so in front of a touring professional, but also in front of a nationwide audience.
As players typically keep the score of their opponents in tournaments, it was not uncommon for Aaron to keep De Vicenzo's card, but it was the British Open winner's right and duty to review his card before signing on the final, attesting line.
With De Vicenzo disgusted with a bogey on the 18th hole, opening the door for Goalby to win the championship, the South American failed to review his own scorecard, simply signed it and left it on the table before being whisked away for a green jacket ceremony.
Unbeknownst to De Vicenzo, Goalby bogeyed the same 18th hole, appeared to lose the tournament by a single stroke and gave up his shot at a green jacket.
"The Lost Masters' reviews the events that led up to that fatal moment and the triple-standards that applied to the USGA rules in previous high profile events.
Sampson reveals that the rules were bent on at least two previous occasions, but with the possibility of a foreign competitor winning the Masters, the rules should be applied correctly, strictly and without fail.
Adding to the rules infraction is Sampson's revelation of the power that the ailing Bobby Jones still held at Augusta. The once-great golfer, ravaged by a car accident resided on the grounds and was consulted by the Masters staff.
It was Jones' own ruling that decided De Vincenzo's fate.
In a single instant, De Vincenzo lost the Masters, Goalby won it, and life changed forever for both golfers.
The ever-lovable South American became renown throughout the world as the golfer who had a major championship stolen from him, the USGA became a laughingstock by comedians and sportswriters and Goalby became one of the most hated golfer's in the world.
For younger golfers who are learning the game or one who has played for years, "The Lost Masters' is a requirement for any duffer as a reminder of how important the rules are and how they are applied in the game of golf as well as the way of life.
Customer Reviews:
The Novelist Tells the Legend.......2006-08-07
The author (VL) grew up on the next block in Fall River; VL knew Lizzie from the "dubious source of in-group hearsay". Lizzie Borden was the sane, civilized woman accused of a madman's crime. The case interests many because of her sole opportunity to commit the crime, yet the idea of guilt is incredible. There are two legends. One was a simple, warm hearted girl who became the victim of the police and an ambitious DA. The other was a grasping murderess who lusted after a fortune (p.29). Up on the Hill they thought Lizzie did it, also loved her Dad, but suffered from a "spell" or temporary insanity seen in some families. Lizzie's mother suffered from migraine and fits of rage (p.47). The author claims a form of epilepsy for the crime.
VL claimed Lizzie's inquest testimony told what specific facts Bridget was paid not to tell. But does anyone have any proof that Bridget was ever paid to shield Lizzie? Page 38 tells of the good works Lizzie did before the tragedy. VL read both volumes of the Trial transcript and the preliminary investigation. VL believed Uncle John was used in a scheme to get Abby away from the house that morning, and mailed a letter to cover it up. VL also tells how the Fall River Globe and Providence Journal were against Lizzie, while those who knew her Dad were not. VL imagines a hiding place from the testimony about not searching "2 or 3 dresses" (p.153). Wasn't this confession of "culpable negligence" just a trick to make the jury believe that dress was there? Page 121 tells of a "broken off handle", but common sense says it was sawn off! Page 210 tells about Jennings secret documents kept hidden to his dying day, and beyond, to prevent their use in "any new phases of police investigation". VL notes circumstantial evidence stands while eyewitnesses may lie or be mistaken, and is the only evidence available for crimes done in secret. It may be questioned by "the man in the street" because it assumes or infers from the facts (p.215).
VL says Lizzie was lucky in that her judge was appointed to the bench when her lawyer was Governor. But I wonder if assigning the right judge to the right case is just payback time (p.229). The book skips over Kieran's testimony and its importance (p.235)! Kieran could not see his assistant from the doorway when he was on the floor, and could only see him if he turned his head when going down the steps. VL is also wrong in stating the hatchet found in the cellar was the murder weapon; we know now that the murder weapon left a shred of gilt paint in Abby's skull, so it was fairly new. And Knowlton knew this! VL also omits Justice Dewey's quotes on evidence and experts (p.291-4); it is as true today as then.
The verdict of 'not guilty' was followed by a lengthy joyous pandemonium of cheers. The Providence Journal was alone in expressing dissatisfaction (p.296). Book Six tells of the aftermath. Lizzie's unpopularity resulted from two events. The suppression of "The Fall River Tragedy" (based on articles from a newspaper) meant that people could not reread the story. The Tilden-Thurber episode of alleged shoplifting was the last straw. Could the Yankees on the Hill accept parricide but choke on shoplifting (p.305)? VL quotes Phillips as to "signs of a lack of balance in later years" (p.306). And Lizzie became declasse after that big Maplecroft party for actors. VL says Bridget later moved to Montana, married, had children, and died aged 86 years (p.313). She concludes by telling about Lizzie's later years, death, and funeral. Emma broke a leg after hearing this, and and died ten days later. All lie buried in Oak Grove cemetery. In 1991 Arnold R Brown published his solution to the crime. Lizzie (and Emma and Uncle John) were innocent of the murders, but not of the cover-up. Her concocted explanation of an epileptic seizure seems to have been copied from Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep".
The second worst Lizzie Borden book I have ever read.......2006-05-23
Arnold Brown beats out Victoria Lincoln for the booby prize, but this is pretty bad. Ms. Lincoln tells us that she had been dining out on being the next door neighbor of the famous axe murderess for many years. And then Edward R. Radin had the gall to write a book, Lizzie Borden: the Untold Story, claiming that Lizzie was innocent. Well, Ms. Lincoln certainly wasn't going to stand for having her story ruined!
So she returned to Fall River, and discovered that she actually didn't live next to Lizzie Borden - the house was down the street. Never mind, she remembers everything else perfectly!
Ms. Lincoln tells us that she had an inside track. She was part of the apparently psychic upper crust of Fall River who knew what had happened. And most importantly, she and Lizzie were part of the same strata of a highly stratified society. No wait, actually, she tells us later, Lizzie Borden was a wannabe. And Lincoln herself was born eight years after the crime, but outside of that she was practically an eye witness.
Lincoln tells us at one point that everything in this new chapter was sworn to in court. This apparently includes the thoughts of Andrew Borden as he walked home - alone - in spite of the fact that he apparently only saw Lizzie and Bridget before his death and neither of them testified to being his confidant.
She informs us that Mrs. Borden must have sent Bridget outside to wash windows because she didn't want her to overhear an argument with Lizzie. This is because, as Lincoln helpfully tells us, we all know that fat women are lousy housekeepers, so she couldn't have sent her out because she wanted clean windows! Some writers have argued that Bridget disappeared with suspicious suddeness. I can easily understand why Bridget would want to go somewhere else, but Ms. Lincoln has a more compelling reason: the Irish are like that.
She also finds it damning that Lizzie started using the name Lizbeth, named her house, entertained actors, and that her middle name is mispelled on her tombstone. No doubt Lizzie/Lizbeth carved it herself. The odd thing is that Lincoln ends by arguing that Lizzie Borden couldn't leave Fall River, as she herself did. On the contrary, Ms. Borden, perhaps figuring that her story would follow her wherever she went, stayed in Fall River, but seems to have lived her life to suit herself. It is Victoria Lincoln who is still fretting over these trivialities, even if she did move away.
Edgar R. Radin did a lot of interesting, careful research, which Lincoln mostly ignores, as she ignores contradictory testimony at the trial. She also gives us vivid recountings of damning stories, only to finish by cheerfully telling us that actually, that is known to be false. Apparenty if Lizzie Borden allowed such ugly rumors to be attached to her name, she must be guilty!
Ms. Lincoln tells us that while all the other children avoided Lizzie as they would Lucrezia Borgia, she, darling, friendly little Victoria would often go down to visit her famous neighbor. She informs us that Ms. Borden seemed sometimes to be abstracted. After reading this, I imagine that she was hoping that little Victoria would go away if she wasn't encouraged.
I don't encourage reading this book either, at least without also reading Radin and/or Kent's Forty Whacks.
the bible of Bordenites who think Lizzie did it.......2005-08-05
This account of the Borden murders by Victoria Lincoln is sometimes based on conjecture and has its errors; also sources are usually not cited. However, it's extremely informative in fact, quite plausible in theory, and probably the most entertaining Lizzie book in the non-fiction category. It won the Best Fact Crime Book award in 1967.
David Rehak
author "Did Lizzie Borden Axe For It?"
Customer Reviews:
The bible of Bordenites who think Lizzie did it.......2005-08-05
This account of the Borden murders by Victoria Lincoln is sometimes based on conjecture and has its errors; also sources are usually not cited. However, it's extremely informative in fact, quite plausible in theory, and probably the most entertaining Lizzie book in the non-fiction category. It won the Best Fact Crime Book award in 1967.
David Rehak
author of "Did Lizzie Borden Axe For It?"
An Insider's View of Lizzie Borden.......2005-07-19
Victoria Lincoln has done an excellent job of presenting her take on the Lizzie Borden case. A native of Fall River, herself, she presents a vivid picture of both Fall River and of Lizzie, too, and even knew Lizzie in the years after the trial. She seems to have thoroughly researched the case and her conclusions are are well thought out and conceivable. This is a must read for anyone interested in the Borden case. Once you have, you will look no further for answers; Lincoln has covered it all!
Lizzie Borden.......2003-10-09
I began to read this book about a year ago and I've yet to finish it, but as far as I've read it's good. I like the way they give details as to why it happened and the clues to look at. I've only read one other book on Lizzie Borden and it was good as well. I'm sure that by the time I finish, it will be on favorite list of books.
Best Book By Far About Lizzie B........2002-11-21
I have read many, many books about the Lizzie Borden case, and this one is the best. Not only is it so well-written that I find it impossible to put down, it gives an indepth history of the case and presents many facts which previously had been ignored. Although I don't necessarily believe Miss Lincoln's solution to the case (her diagnosis of Lizzie's temporal epilepsy is a bit far-fetched), I entirely believe her assertions that Lizzie hid her dress under another dress, that Lizzie wore her father's coat while she killed him, and that Lizzie did go to the barn to break the hatchet handle with the "vice-like thing" and was seen by the ice cream vendor. Miss Lincoln writes with the premise that since she is a woman and from Fall River, she can better understand Lizzie, the woman, than any other writer. She may be right. She has an uncanny ability to take the most innocuous comments made by Lizzie and others and see them for what they really were: clues. This is a good starting place for a Lizzie Borden novice, and a good read for someone who is just curious about the case or just enjoys a good book.
A Private Disgrace: Lizzie Borden by Daylight.......2002-09-26
On a stiflingly hot August morning in 1892 Lizzie Borden, of Fall River, Massachusetts, chopped her stepmother to death with an ax. An hour and a half later, she killed her father the same way. Although the story has been told by those least qualified to do so -- outsiders and men. Now, for the first time, this famous American crime is examined by someone with all the proper credentials: Victoria Lincoln is a native of Fall River and thus knows the never-revealed "inside" story of the crime that insular community regarded as its "private disgrace"; she is a woman, and as she convincingly demonstrates, the Borden murders -- and their solution -- can be fully understood only by a fellow woman.
Miss Lincoln comes up with startling new findings in her penetrating analysis of the crime. Among them: the hitherto unknown motive for the killings (a secret no one but an inhabitant of Fall River, Massachusetts, ever could possibly disclose); a startling new hypothesis to account for Lizzie's celebrated "peculiar spells" that casts new light on how the crime was committed; and the place where Lizzie hid the dress she was wearing at the time of the murders -- a mystery that has been plaguing criminologists for years.
A PRIVATE DISGRACE is far more than a superb book of fact crime; it is a distinguished piece of writing. Victoria Lincoln is a seasoned, best-selling novelist who has a special relationship with her subject: as a child, she not only lived up the street from Lizzie Borden, but knew her personally. Step by step, Miss Lincoln unfolds the background of the crime; she evokes the special mores of the Fall River upper crust who lived "up on the hill"; she painstakingly re-creates the inquest where Lizzie nakedly admitted her guilt and then was saved by a fantastic stroke of luck -- because of a technicality, the damning inquest trial. But Miss Lincoln does not end with Lizzie's celebrated aquittal; she takes the story beyond to her latter days when, as Lizbeth of Maplecroft, Lizzie lived perhaps her strangest life of all.
The Borden case is one of the most enduring -- and perplexing -- landmarks in American crime annals. A PRIVATE DISGRACE is bound to be regarded as the classic book on this classic American crime.
Book Description
Naughty Natasha Linnett makes her kinky relationship with the late artist Phillippe Faucon (from Peach) a news story, and the money from the sale of his looted paintings leaves her comfortably off, Unfortunately for Natasha, she arouses more interest than she bargained for. Whether photographed playing spanking games in Regent's Park or suffering serial sexual indignities at the hands of the gutter press, Natasha finds that life with the paparazzi on her tail is anything but sweet
Customer Reviews:
"Natasha Linnett, a truly bad girl -- who must be punished!".......2005-06-09
Famous for her connections as La Peche, the last model and muse of the late artist Phillipe Faucon, naughty Natasha Linnett finds herself comfortably rich from the sale of his looted paintings. With three secret admirers, rubber doggie bones, a lover with a foot fetish and plenty of disciplining men who are happy to dominate her, what more could a girl like Natasha want? (Other than to enjoy the fruits of her labour with lots of kinky sex and to stay out of the public eye?)
After Natasha enjoys a romp with Percy Ottershaw in Regent's park, and a good spanking, her decision to keep a low profile is squashed when her saucy antics are captured on film. Glutton for punishment, we follow the `lengths' she has to go through to retrieve the photo's from discerning paparazzi Andy Devlin. Will she get them back, before her face (or rather bare bottom) is splashed all over the newspapers? And who is the third illusive secret admirer she cannot track down?
If you are a fan of Penny Birch's work already, as many of you are, you will no doubt be familiar with the amazing high level of sexual content there is in her books. If, like me, you are new to this genre, then you're in for a real treat. Penny Birch is the mistress of erotica and a wonderfully talented writer. Drawing information from a mixture of real life experiences and a vivid imagination, Penny Birch delves into the explicit thoughts and fantasies of down to earth characters in contemporary, believable settings. Moreover, In Disgrace has a strong story line, a gift when it comes to attracting readers and clearly evident in the quality and quantity of her writing. I liked the fact that this story follows on from Peach and When she was Bad, and for that added touch, you will often find Penny Birch's characters know and interact with each other. Even six books later, Natasha Linnett is truly a bad girl -- who must be punished.
A spanking good read!
Don't miss my review of Playthings
No Disgrace Here!.......2005-05-11
Natasha Linnet is back and in fine form. One of Penny Birch's on-going heroines, she enjoys one of her best outings in this book. She is on top of the world, financially independent and very sassy in her approach to satisfying her needs, most of which include spankings and dirty sex, from both male and female. Penny displays a good level of energy in this book, which has not only a good plot, but a strong storyline that allows Natasha a wide variety of adventures. As usual, she gets more than she bargained for, but that's fine with her. Penny's skill at describing scenes, both the actual and those that Natasha fantasises about, is as good as or better than it has ever been. I enjoyed both. Penny strikes the perfect chord between fun and nasty, but never too nasty. Natasha's old friends Monty and Percy make appearances, and are up to their usual antics. Penny also introduces a couple of new characters who have a few new twists on how to deal with Natasha. This book can be read as a first time, stand-alone story, or as part of the "Natasha cycle", which started with "Brat". Either way, it's a lot of fun, and well up to Penny's high standards.
Average customer rating:
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William Worth Belknap: An American Disgrace
Edward S. Cooper
Manufacturer: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0838639909 |
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