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In Quicksilver, the first volume of the "Baroque Cycle," Neal Stephenson launches his most ambitious work to date. The novel, divided into three books, opens in 1713 with the ageless Enoch Root seeking Daniel Waterhouse on the campus of what passes for MIT in eighteenth-century Massachusetts. Daniel, Enoch's message conveys, is key to resolving an explosive scientific battle of preeminence between Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz over the development of calculus. As Daniel returns to London aboard the Minerva, readers are catapulted back half a century to recall his years at Cambridge with young Isaac. Daniel is a perfect historical witness. Privy to Robert Hooke's early drawings of microscope images and with associates among the English nobility, religious radicals, and the Royal Society, he also befriends Samuel Pepys, risks a cup of coffee, and enjoys a lecture on Belgian waffles and cleavage-—all before the year 1700.
In the second book, Stephenson introduces Jack Shaftoe and Eliza. "Half-Cocked" Jack (also know as the "King of the Vagabonds") recovers the English Eliza from a Turkish harem. Fleeing the siege of Vienna, the two journey across Europe driven by Eliza's lust for fame, fortune, and nobility. Gradually, their circle intertwines with that of Daniel in the third book of the novel.
The book courses with Stephenson's scholarship but is rarely bogged down in its historical detail. Stephenson is especially impressive in his ability to represent dialogue over the evolving worldview of seventeenth-century scientists and enliven the most abstruse explanation of theory. Though replete with science, the novel is as much about the complex struggles for political ascendancy and the workings of financial markets. Further, the novel's literary ambitions match its physical size. Stephenson narrates through epistolary chapters, fragments of plays and poems, journal entries, maps, drawings, genealogic tables, and copious contemporary epigrams. But, caught in this richness, the prose is occasionally neglected and wants editing. Further, anticipating a cycle, the book does not provide a satisfying conclusion to its 900 pages. These are minor quibbles, though. Stephenson has matched ambition to execution, and his faithful, durable readers will be both entertained and richly rewarded with a practicum in Baroque science, cypher, culture, and politics. --Patrick O'Kelley
Book Description
Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.
It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of "Half-Cocked Jack" Shaftoe -- London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds -- risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.
And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.
A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life,
Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.
And it's just the beginning ...
Download Description
"A plethora of e-book extras, not found in any print edition, including: 1) INTERVIEW: Neal Stephenson shares intimate details and insight behind the making of Quicksilver; 2) QUICKSILVER METAWEB INTRODUCTION: Stephenson's take on his creation of a web-based network that may someday rival the internet; 3) QUICKSILVER DRAMATIS PERSONAE BY TYPE: a complete and concise list of characters grouped by character type
The long-awaited first volume of The Baroque Cycle comes to e-book at last (with loads of extras to boot)! Set against the backdrop of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Quicksilver tells the intertwining tales of 3 unforgettable main characters (descendants of characters from Cryptonomicon) as they traverse a landscape populated by mad alchemists, Barbary pirates, and bawdy courtiers, as well as historical figures including Ben Franklin, William of Orange, Louis XIV, and many others. This breathtaking story ranges from the American colonies to the Tower of London to the glittering palace at Versailles, and all manner of places in between - and plays out during a singular nexus point in history, when rationality triumphed over mysticism, monarchy was overthrown, markets become free, and religious tolerance gained ground over harsh oppression.
Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver is here. A monumental literary feat that follows the author's critically acclaimed New York Times bestseller Cryptonomicon, it is history, adventure, science, truth, invention, sex, absurdity, piracy, madness, death, and alchemy. It sweeps across continents and decades with the power of a roaring tornado, upending kings, armies, religious beliefs, and all expectations.
Customer Reviews:
Does not quite live up to the sum of its parts-but I think I'll finish the cycle.......2007-10-08
As an undertaking, Quicksilver is an intriguing work. Book one is an examination of the life and times of such luminaries as Newton, Hooke, and Liebniz, I found it to be fascinating. The quest for understanding as seen through the eyes of the fictional Daniel Waterhouse takes the reader through an era of optics, physics, biology (and the ugliness of vivisection) with a gusto and verve that carries the reader quickly through the section. The insight into these great thinkers shows Stephenson as a master of incorporating, history, science, and drama into a fine mix.
Things bog down a bit when the picaresque of the next book, starring Jack with the "oh, so accurate" nickname, and Eliza, who Jack has saved from enslavement in Turkey, who will be the prime mover of the third section, and follows them across Europe. Both characters are pleasant and likeable but as they move from adventure to adventure it started to become a bit predictable and made me long for the philosophical arguments of the first book. This all leads to an inevitable end which is at least intriguing in the originality of how Jack's travels finally end.
It's the third section with its political intrigue between William of Orange and Louis the XIV that really lowered the rating for me. Its interminable slowness of letters with secret codes and court intrigues wore me out, and I found I really didn't care what was going to happen to Eliza; a condition no lead character should ever be in.
Still there is enough here to make me want to see what happens next, so I'll muddle through and hope the other books are the equal to the first section of this one.
The Foundation Series for the new millenium.......2007-09-04
Isaac Asimov's Foundation Trilogy/Series is considered one of the great science-fiction collections ever written, forming the basis of countless derivative and inspired works over the past fifty years. The Baroque Cycle will not, unfortunately, inspire fifty years of copycats, for a unique reason: it would be far too difficult to undertake with even moderate effort. This is a nine-book/ three-volume masterpiece of historical fiction that really has no peer in my experience (and please comment if you find any!)
As an aside, I could, at length, review each of the nine books and prattle on endlessly about this or that, but that's far too many reviews for what I intend to say about the Cycle as a whole. My comments apply to all books equally.
The cycle begins in the mid 17th century and spans the adulthood of one Daniel Waterhouse, a fictional contemporary of Isaac Newton. Of course, it also traces the life of one Jack Shaftoe, a fictional hero with his roots in every pirate story ever written or filmed. And then there's the mysterious Enoch Root, popping up again from the Cryptonomicon to move things along as the deux ex machina of certain story elements.
The number of interleaved story lines would be an impressive enough feat of writing, but the historical references were simply amazing. The sheer amount of research Mr. Stephenson invested for the Cycle must have been enormous. In short, Mr. Stephenson describes London before, during, and after the Great Fire of 1666 politically, sociologically, geographically, architecturally, and economically; he performs the same rigor of place-setting with Hanover and present-day Germany, Paris and present-day France, diverse parts of Egypt, Algeria, India, Mexico, South America, and Boston. This is the kind of book series that would inspire high-school students to PAY ATTENTION. For, if the students really do their homework and have a teacher partnered with them to put the book details into their proper context, you could quite possible craft an entire school year around the nine books, such is the depth and breadth of scholastic research involved in putting together such a series. It's no small achievement or idle boast: Mr. Stephenson has in some way taken his education and put it to its greatest use, as an inspiration to students.
All of this would be for naught if the stories weren't truly excellent at their core, and they are. You could boil down the Shaftoe story line to "pirate story" but that sells it short after the first book -- and there are eight more to go. What starts as a pirate story quickly become something of a precursor to spycraft and terrorism/counter-terrorism in the 17th and 18th centuries: currency manipulation, political scandals, and assassinations. I haven't even mentioned Isaac Newton versus Gottfried Leibniz in the battle for Calculus, or Isaac Newton's Alchemy, the reconstruction of London post-fire, the gold trade, the silver trade, piracy in the Atlantic and Pacific, the timber economy, the commodities exchange of northern Europe, the court at Versailles, and so on. I'm astonished as I write this.
This is well-worth the time invested to read, as a Cycle. If Mr. Stephenson ever posted his complete bibliography, or if some doctoral student ever decided to craft that two-semester, eight-course class tracing the book's scholarship, I would be among the first to delve deeply into it and re-learn my forgotten history, mathematics, and economics. Simply, this is one of the finest fiction series ever written.
-Fred
The best book(s) I have ever read.......2007-08-02
Even though it took six months to read through Quicksilver, Confusion and The System of the World, it was a joyous and enlightening six monthes. I am now almost finished with Cryptonomicon, which is really like a sequel to the Baroque Cycle.
Quicksilver is really just as good as the others. It is so great that I am probably going to re read the entire cycle and just make it a Neal Stephenson year.
I think these books are better than Cryptonomicon, I think they are genius. I think it is related to the fact he wrote the books in long hand and perhaps that makes the work better.
Who knows? But I just wanted to put it down how much I loved all of these books
Neal knows how to do it.......2007-06-06
I read the reviews before I started this one since I wanted to see if it would be worth the time. I was a little worried by some of the reviews, but actually found that it exceeded my expectations. Stephenson keeps it interesting, despite what people have said about the letter-writing and political intrigue going on in the second half of the book.
I have started reading The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 2), and actually had to put it down. From the reviews, it sounded like most people liked The Confusion better, but so far, I have to say I like Quicksilver better (I'm only about half way through The Confusion, though).
As with all of Stephenson's books, this one is exceptionally well written, with an epic storyline and the great descriptions I got used to in Cryptonomicon. I can't believe that Stephenson wrote the whole thing by hand before typing it up (or having someone type it for him).
A missed opportunity.......2007-06-02
One can understand the wish of the author to provide the framework showing the primitive circumstances within which the great minds of western civilisation had to live and work. The book suffers however from an overabundance of superfluous detail ( some of which as far my country is concerned is factually incorrect)and in parts almost becomes a tourist guide to 17th century Europe. In other parts it falls into "best-sellerish" plots, and thereby misses the opportunity to demonstrate how these great minds actually arrived at the discovereis that in many instances changed history.I will certainly not puchase volumes two and three. For those interested in Leibniz I can recommend "the courtier and the Heretic" by Matthew Steward (Norton)
Average customer rating:
- Awesome book!
- Excellent Resource
- Another Rohnke Winner!
- Good on games, lacking on the rest
- It Just keeps getting better
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Quicksilver
Steve Butler , and
Karl E. Rohnke
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Customer Reviews:
Awesome book!.......2007-02-13
Karl Ronke is the man! I wish all of his books were still in print. If you are into team building/low ropes initiatives, or if you need to get your team communicating and working together this book is for you. Very well written, easy to read and the pictures from the '80s are hilarious!
Excellent Resource.......2003-06-03
I have used many of the team challenges in this book in my work in youth ministry and public education. There are ideas for everything from ice-breakers to large group challenges that are very effective for building community and encouraging people to work together toward a common goal while having fun at the same time. While some of the ideas require more complex props, many can be done with items you have readily available around the house or office. All of the ideas would work as effectively with youth or adults in a variety of settings. Best of all, the text is written in Rohnke's witty style that makes reading about the games almost as fun as playing them.
Another Rohnke Winner!.......2002-03-11
This is another Karl Rohnke winner. If you work with experiential learning (either with kids or adults) this is a great book to have in your library. This book contains a lot of old activities as well as some new ones. As with a lot of experiential activities -- it's great to have the procedure written out. This book is well worth the price.
Good on games, lacking on the rest.......2002-02-06
I was disappointed in this book. It becomes clear as you read it that it is written for an audience already familiar with the author's Project Adventure. Unfortunately this isn't made clear on the back cover or anywhere else. The first chapter advises telling the group about The Experiental Learning Curve, The Full Value Contract, and Challenge by Choice - but none of these are covered at all in this book - and worse still, the book doesn't even refer one to where one COULD find out about them, beyond a brief mention of another book ("Youth Leadership in Action") on the last page of the book. Also, if you have a basic knowledge of leading experiential learning, then you will not learn anything from the irritatingly chatty introductory chapters of this book. Buy this book based on the games only.
It Just keeps getting better.......2001-03-29
I was just starting out leading a team building group and I found this book to be an incredible help. With some creativity, almost all of the activities can be adapted for adolescents and done in-doors. The section on leadership was good but a little simplistic. Regardless I consult this book almost every week and do not know what I'd do with out it!!! I highly reccomend it!
Book Description
Midnight Louie, alley-cat extraordinaire and Las Vegas’s hairiest, hard-boiled PI, finds himself literally walking a tightrope when a fabulous museum opening at one of Sin City’s swankiest casinos is marred by a little thing like death.
Louie's loyal roommate, feisty PR freelancer Temple Barr, has snagged the commission of her career: repping the opening exhibition of the Russian Czars' priceless treasures at the New Millennium Hotel, the apex of which is the Czar Alexander Scepter, a priceless jewel-encrusted artifact.
Trouble is, the hotel has booked an aerial magic act right above the exhibition.
Temple works at a breakneck pace to coordinate this logistical nightmare. Tragedy ensues when a performer dies right above where the collection will be displayed and the police threaten to shut everything down. But the word “no” isn’t one heard often in Las Vegas when money is involved and the show (or shows) must go on. Just as things seem to be working perfectly, another performer dies…and the scepter vanishes. The culprits could be international art thieves, Russian mafioso, or Chechen rebels out to embarrass the current Russian government.
Or it could be someone else, perhaps someone Temple knows all too well . . . .
Temple and Louie both have enemies in the magic act--evil magician Shangri-La and her curare-nailed performing Siamese cat, Hyacinth--and on the ground--ever-suspicious homicide lieutenant Carmen Molina, who's itching to pin the heist and murders on Temple's significant other, ex-magician and sometimes ex-spy Max Kinsella, now oddly AWOL. Worse, as Temple and Louie's separate investigations bring them both close to the truth, it's clear that someone has decided to hang them out to die too.
Can fancy footwork and detection save our intrepid duo?
Customer Reviews:
Best entry since "Jeweled Jumpsuit".......2006-10-19
The series has been going since 1992. I've been reading it since then and may be more bothered than most that in the early volumes Matt grew up on a farm and in later ones in Chicago; that in the early volumes Temple has older brothers and sisters, while in the later ones only older brothers. Ah, well. Not everyone is a historian. Someday, perhaps, a continuity specialist can take a hand before there are new reprints.
The recent volumes have been pleasant entertainment. This one is more. It's worth the price of the whole book just for the chapter in which Temple, who has managed the unlikely achievement of "falling away" from Unitarian Universalism simply by dint of not going to church feels a need to consult a "religious professional" and hies herself off to the Las Vegas strip mall storefront incarnation of the denomination. It is priceless social commentary.
In other words, there's a lot more substance to this book than to the several prior ones in the series. It makes me very anxious to see what will be occuring in the remaining nine volumes (cat in r through z).
I would remark to Ms. Douglas that since I'm past retirement age, I would appreciate it if the next nine could appear on a schedule that permits me to read them before it's too late :)
Mystery and wily detective felines on the Vegas Strip.......2006-08-10
I have to admit, I'm reading this series more as one gigantic, 27-chapter book rather than as a bunch of individual books. It makes waiting for the next chapter a real pain in the neck. Still, as long as Ms. Douglas keeps me interested, I'll keep devouring each chapter as long as she keeps writing them (in the case of the last three books, that's meant buying them as soon as they hit the shelves - or even pre-ordering them).
Yes, it is a gigantic romance novel, cleverly disguised as a series of mystery novels; but there is overall mystery in the "romance" part of the deal, as well. Douglas has gotten us deeper and deeper into both, with murders and mayhem intertwined with the main characters so that each chapter can be enjoyed on its own, but OH, it's so much better when one has read every chapter so far!
In this chapter, intrepid PR rep Temple Barr has taken on a brand-new job as the public relations represenative to the newest, flashiest Strip attraction, the opening of the museum at the New Millenium Hotel, where the jewels of the last Czars will be on display, along with an aerial magic show featuring both foes and friends (or, at least, neutral acquaintances). Temple's still being pulled in many ways by love interests Max (the somewhat shady but heroic former magician, the counterterrorist who is trying to infiltrate the insidious guild of magicians, the Sith) and Matt (former Catholic priest who is now ready to take the dive into the sexual, secular world - and will do so with no one but Temple); but she always has the impressive short, dark, and handsome Midnight Louie, her steady feline friend, who always watches her back and makes sure she - and those around her - stay safe.
Louie has his own problems this time out. He's still dealing with his maybe-daughter Louise, his partner in Midnight Inc. Investigations, and the curare-clawed Siamese Hyacinth. Now Hyacinth has a lovely Siamese body double with eyes for Louie (fortunately for Louie, his own Persian girlfriend the Divine Yvette is not on the scene this book), plus the Big Cat buddies in the magic show. Louie has plenty to keep him busy, right down to life-saving of friend and foe alike.
I think, though, Ms. Douglas needs to take a vacation to Vegas to update herself. She has done an admirable job of starting the series in 1992 and, while only about two years of book time have gone by, Vegas has flexed and grown and changed around the characters so it is the Vegas of 2006 - and the way Vegas changes, that does take some work. However, in this book mention is made of how the Cloaked Conjurer, the fictional character Douglas based loosely on similar masked "magician revealers" in this world, is the only magician working with big cats in Vegas since Siegfried & Roy went dark. That's not true - both Dirk Arthur at the Tropicana and Rick Thomas at the Stardust do their magic show with big cats (including those distinctive white tigers). Also, the last two books have made a big deal about how "everything" at the Bellagio requires a second mortgage in order to dine - also out of date. The Bellagio is still pretty snazzy, but there are several restaurants the "common man" can eat at for a reasonable-to-moderately expensive price (it's the Wynn you need to sell your children to eat at, now).
But despite my own love of Vegas, and occasional problems with the desert descriptions (I'm a Southwest native), I still love the stories, and I really enjoyed the heck out of this current chapter. I can't give away the shocks and surprises, of course, but I will say the final chapters had me almost screaming aloud in amazement. But I've followed these characters through thick and thin; I'll still be around NINE years from now when we finally see "Z." ("Cat in a Zebra Stripe"? Who knows!)
Little Cat Feet?.......2006-08-09
Nah, more like Agatha Christie clad in a snazzy pair of Stuart Weitzman stilettos ...
Another classic romp through the Strip with Temple and Louie! From the Max/Matt question to Molina's stalker, the ongoing "myth-arc" elements of the book are fun as always; the mystery du jour is a little lighter than normal but look for a classic whodunit moment.
My one issue: Temple, you are not meant to be a blonde!
I do warn you against cliffhanger endings.......2006-07-28
Mrs. Douglas has created a wonderful world of characters based in Las Vegas. (It has been twenty years or more since I was last in Las Vegas, so I cannot tell if her rendering of Las Vegas resembles the real city today. There are obvious fictional aspects to her rendering.)
In this, her most recent novel, she has her characters doing believable things, and interesting things. She is particularly skilled at making the works of her animal characters believable. (Even my favorite cat, Hyperbole, is nowhere near as smart as Midnight Louie, but, hey, this is fiction; and Hyperbole, before he decided to retire, was pretty durned bright for a cat.)
She is remarkably skilled in her portrayals of the love interests of her characters, and in the aid her feline characters give their (not owners, but) hosts.
We will all wait with baited breath (I feed my cat cheese when I want him to catch a mouse) for the R novel.
(If you con't know what a "cliffhanger ending" is, read Edgar Rice Burrough's "Princess of Mars".)
I want to haunt the author to find out what's next!.......2006-07-28
I have always been a fan of Midnight Louie and his red-headed, spike-heeled assistent Temple Barr - but my favorite book in the series have a certain unbeatable combination.
First, of course, is a great mystery, which Temple and Louie must work together to solve, with the help and or hindrance of a cast of colorful, intriguing characters.
Second is watching the almost impossible-to-decide love triangle between Temple, Matt Devine and the mystifying Max Kinsella.
Finally it must have a plot which allows Louie to play a big part in solving the mystery and having a few capers of his own.
And Cat in A Quicksilver Caper does all of this. It's, in my opinion, one of the best Louie books in a while )and Ihave loved them all.) Lots of Louie, lots of a love triangle that seems more impossible to resoove than ever, a great mystery, lots of undercover magic and mystery - and a cliffhanger so shocking that I wanted to haunt the author to hurry up and tell us more. So shocking that I sat with my mouth open turning pages back and forth thinking I must have misread.
Trust me - this one is a must!
Product Description
Book Club Hardcover Edition
Customer Reviews:
Consolidation of the 3rd Triad of Garrett Books.......2005-11-12
Since most of Cook's Garrett books are long out of print and very difficult to come by, you might end up having to buy this consolidation to find the individual stories. This book, "Garrett Investigates," is the 3rd of the three consolidated so far. The others are "The Garrett Files" and "Garrett, P.I.." This book contains the 3rd triad of stories in the Garrett series: "Deadly Quicksilver Lies," "Petty Pewter Gods," "Faded Steel Heat." "The Garrett Files" contains the 1st triad: "Sweet Silver Blues," "Bitter Gold Hearts," and "Cold Copper Tears." "Garrett, P.I." contains the 2nd triad: "Old Tin Sorrows," "Dread Brass Shadows," and "Red Iron Nights." The remaining two books ("Angry Lead Skies," and "Whispering Nickel Idols") still appear to be in print on their own. As were the other two consolidations, this book is well bound, has good quality paper, and is well cut. As a pure average of my ratings for the three contained stories, I rate this book at a Very Good 4 stars out of 5. My individual reviews follow:
"Deadly Quicksilver Lies:" Not Very Happy With This One. Unfortunately, it's not up to par with the rest of the series. First, the book just seems to wander around in the middle. Garrett doesn't seem to be going anywhere with the mystery. It does pick up near the end, but that leads to the second problem: the solution to what's been happening just doesn't mean anything. We know who did what to whom and why (mostly). But, nobody really gets anything out of it. For the reader, the answers to all the questions are just emotionally empty. The final "big" problem with the book is that the character of Garrett's love interest, "Chastity," just falls apart. She's fine through most of the book, but then at the very end, she just drops out of the character (personally, emotionally, and professionaly) Cook set up for her. There's no explanation for it. It's very jarring and unwelcome. Because of this, I can only rate this book at an OK 3 stars out of 5.
"Petty Pewter Gods:" Good, But a Bit Disjointed. This is a good book that's fun to read. Unfortunately, it's not quite as good as other books in Cook's Garrett series. In many places, you can see that Cook wrote bits and pieces of the book and then cut-and-pasted them into the final order. It's not a big problem, it's just that the roughness is a bit disconcerting. A more irritating problem is that Garrett is working with a couple of pantheons of gods which I just couldn't keep straight. The individual gods, and the pantheons they belong to, just blend together and I couldn't tell who was doing what to whom. The biggest problem, though, is that the ending just appears out of thin air in the last 10 pages of the book. As I got closer and closer to the physical end, I kept wondering if this was going to be a two-parter: there was just no indication of a reasonable solution. With a sudden flurry of activity, the Dead Man and Garrett take a guess at what's going on and all heck breaks loose (which confirms their theory). Not a very satisfying ending at all. Still, I did enjoy reading the book and do recommend it. I rate this book at 4 stars out of 5.
"Faded Steel Heat:" Very Good But Has Inconsistencies. As are all Glen Cook's books with the title format of [adjective][metal type][noun], this is an interesting, fun, action-packed read. It's definitely a page-turner. Unfortunately, the minor inconsistencies I noticed in the previous book seem to be propogating in this one. Some of these errors are merely editing or lack of note-checking. For instance, near the beginning of this book, Garrett's talking to CAPTAIN Block. But, from two books back, we know that Block was promoted to COLONEL. A hundred pages on, though, Cook's got Block back as a COLONEL. In another case, Garrett's looking at a captured wagon. He specifically notes ONE prisoner. A couple pages later there are TWO prisoners. One page later, THREE. More seriously, there are behavioral problems. For instance, Garrett and his harem can't keep their minds on their business. In earlier books, Garrett's womanizing didn't really interfere in his business. In this book, both he and the women just stop working on important things (like infiltrations, kidnappings and murder) for a little bit of groping. And I mean they stop right in the middle of those things: not afterwards. Also, Garrett just misses obvious clues. He narrates to us about them, but nothing apparently clicks in his head. And then there's where he takes Tinnie with him to visit the headquarters of The Call (a militant human rights group). But, as noted in earlier books, Tinnie is part elf. Nobody ever notices. These problems are still minor. This is definitely a book to read (along with all the rest of the series). But, because of these discrepencies, I've lowered my rating for the book to 4 stars out of 5.
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Mercedes Benz: Quicksilver Century
Karl Ludvigsen
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Book Description
The Classic Guide to Recovery from Alcoholism
This no-nonsense guide to understanding and recovering from alcoholism provides new hope for alcoholics, their families, and friends. Hard-won experiences -- Father Martin is a recovering alcoholic -- underlies this thorough yet always clear presentation. Chalk Talks sheds new light upon the complex problems of alcoholism, which affects the mind, body, soul, and emotions. Father Martin does not preach or moralize but remains practical in discussing attitudes toward, and reasons for, alcoholism; the physiological/psychological effects; health problems; symptoms; intervention; treatment and support; and where to turn for further information and assistant. Chalk Talks is not a scientific treatise but a message of hope to all persons concerned with America's number-one health problem.
Customer Reviews:
Not Very Happy With This One.......2005-11-07
This is the 7th in Cook's Garrett series ("Sweet Silver Blues," "Bitter Gold Hearts," "Cold Copper Tears," "Old Tin Sorrows," "Dread Brass Shadows," "Red Iron Nights," "Deadly Quicksilver Lies," "Petty Pewter Gods," "Faded Steel Heat," "Angry Lead Skies," and "Whispering Nickel Idols"). Unfortunately, it's not up to par with the rest of the series. First, the book just seems to wander around in the middle. Garrett doesn't seem to be going anywhere with the mystery. It does pick up near the end, but that leads to the second problem: the solution to what's been happening just doesn't mean anything. We know who did what to whom and why (mostly). But, nobody really gets anything out of it. For the reader, the answers to all the questions are just emotionally empty. The final "big" problem with the book is that the character of Garrett's love interest, "Chastity," just falls apart. She's fine through most of the book, but then at the very end, she just drops out of the character (personally, emotionally, and professionaly) Cook set up for her. There's no explanation for it. It's very jarring and unwelcome.
Because of this, I can only rate this book at an OK 3 stars out of 5.
BTW: At the time of this review, this book is long out of print. It's tough to find anywhere. As an alternative, look around for the SFBC's "Garrett Investigates." This book is part of that collection.
My 2nd least favorite of the series.......2002-10-05
While this story does have it's good moments and even funny moments, it's rampant anti-gay attitude puts me off completely.
PI Garret back in action.......1998-08-21
I don't know how this book escaped customer review. The whole PI Garret series is incredible. The odd mixture of classic Sam Spade PI in the fantasy world of elves, dwarves, centaurs, the generations old war is so entertaining. I could have been a flop, but Glen Cook pulls every book off in style, leaving me waiting for the next one. MORE MORE!
Average customer rating:
- It was a gift
- Just for Love
- Bad man , Bitter women
- honest and endearing
- Great book!
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My Husband the Rock Star: Ten Years with Quicksilver Messenger Service: A Memoir
Shelley L. Duncan
Manufacturer: Flower Child Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
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ASIN: 0972101802 |
Book Description
Gary and Shelley are teenage lovers. Gary's burning desire is to be in a rock and roll band. With his best friend, drummer Greg Elmore in tow, the two men set out for San Francisco. Shelley runs away from home, following her man to the big city life. Within months the members of Quicksilver Messenger Service gather their musical forces together and hit the stages of the Fillmore and Avalon Ballrooms together with their cronies, the Dead and the Jefferson Airplane.
So join this husband and wife as they take a wild ride into San Francisco during the 60's, when everything seemed possible, when magic was the norm, and when growing up turned out to be the hardest thing of all.
Customer Reviews:
It was a gift.......2006-11-10
It was a gift to a good friend. Fast delivery great shape I always trust Amazon.
Just for Love.......2006-05-15
It is funny how we treat musicians. We enjoy their music, we buy their albums, we accord them celebrity status, we want to know all of the salacious details of their lives and we try to keep them in some form of stasis so that things never change. Even a relatively competent local band has it's share of fans and if they begin to achieve some commercial success they soon assume all the trappings of stardom from the roadies to managers and the groupies.
For many of us born in the 1950's pre-eminent would be the Beatles, the Fab Four, who galvanised millions of us, men and women alike into some form of mass hysteria, and their are many, who still cling to their heroes of yesteryear and hold out for the latest release of some Holy Grail of unreleased Beatle music.
The initial attraction for me of this particular book was that the author was the ultimate insider witness to one of the most revered of the legendary Bay Area bands of the 1960's: Quicksilver Messenger Service. My prime motive was to learn more about the formation of the band and their music but I quickly found that this was a book about a relationship born out of love but no less a part of the story of the birth of a legend because of that.
It is very hard not to be sympathetic with the author's tale. The summer of love began for her much earlier than in 1967 and she, in effect, lived the dream. Unlike many others who have followed in her path, as the spouse of a rock star, she did not begin her relationship as a groupie. In the early days at least that was one direction from which there was no competition. As time goes by and success rears it's ugly head then all the perquisites which attend with that success follow on as sure as night follows day. I do not condone the rock star behaviour or lifestyle but observe that it must be very difficult for anyone undergoing the success to be strong minded and strong willed enough to resist all of the temptations that they come across. Unfortunately, succoming to those temptations has real, very hurtful effects on others.
This is a remarkable, open account of a young woman's love for her man. It is a brutal recognition of her development from a somewhat naieve young girl to a battle hardened woman throughout trials and tribulations that less strong willed characters would have wilted beneath. It is a compelling account of the love and devotion to her children and her small coterie of friends who have remained true to this day. It is an indictment of selfish behaviour of a talented rock star who was unable to resist temptation.
Alas, this book is not about the music as such but it does provide the starstruck with some insight into what it is to be a professional musician. The constant practising, especially when one of the most gifted members of the band, John Cipollina was such a perfectionist, the late nights, the touring, the constant time away from home and family, the long long road to success only to find out how ephemeral that success may be. There is insight too into how insestual the relationships can be and the emotional wreckage inflicted upon everyone involved. One can think that success and wealth are appropriate compensations for the lives they lead and the effects on their families but surely no amount of money and wealth can ameliorate the damage on the discarded wives, girlfriends, children and groupies, nor can it mitigate the shortened lives of many musicians who surrender to the attractions of drugs and alcohol.
I think that Shelly Duncan has survived as a strong and resilient woman who espouses much of what many of us believe is the true spirit of the sixties. Gary Duncan is shown to be as weak as most men are and to be a very human figure rather than some sort of rock god. It is a truly beguiling account of the other side of this life which I and millions like me discoverd in the 1960's and I wholeheartedly commend this book.
Bad man , Bitter women.......2006-01-22
I was hoping this book would about living life as a hippie and about QMS. It was for about the first half, then changed to a book about a marriage gone bad. A pretty good book but I could of done without the over and over episodes of Gary cheating of Shelley. I think she wrote this book as therapy for herself. She is a talented so buy it, it's a good read.
honest and endearing.......2005-07-08
Ms. Duncan was 16 years old when she ran away from home to marry Gary Duncan, guitarist in the seminal 60s SF jam band Quicksilver Messenger Service. I imagine many kids may not have heard of them ( unless they read Guitar Player Magazine, where Quicksilver's other guitarist, the late, incredibally inventive John Cippolina, is a revered figure...) but they were very popular, so the 'rock star' sobriquet is deserved.
The book is a delight to read and Shelly does a good job of telling us what it was like living day-to-day in the fabled 'summer of love' era.
What I feel makes the book so charming is her struggle to make a decent liveable home for her family, keep her straying man in line and have some kind of life with her friends-the usual ordinary stuff, while living in the center of one of the last great mass cultural experiments this country experienced. Among her peers were the members and extended families of the Dead, Big Brother, etc etc..
Ms. Duncan is quite frank about her sexuality, and her mixture of blossoming feminine awareness and old-school 'stand-by-your-man ' values is a refreshing change from the usual political rants ( male or female ) about those times. Having never had a sister myself, I learned some things about women's inner workings that surprised me. Her reasons for brief extra-marital affairs should be read by all men in serious relationships.
Although never a druggie, her descriptions of her two, obviously important experiences with LSD are among the best I have read.
I witheld one star because of several minor complaints. I wish there had been a little more about the shows that Quicksilver played, for one. The book suffers from some bad typos and editing problems. And her description of New York accents--well, take it from a New Yorker, they are OFF!
Another plus, however--the stories about John Cippolina, who she must have adored, and his family are wonderful. Still miss that guy. R.I.P. John!
And if you want to hear the music, get "Happy Trails" and play it LOUD! Quicksilver was probably the heaviest band of that era.
Great book!.......2003-11-20
After reading several books on the Summer of Love, San Francisco in the 60ies,... this was the first one that gave a real insight how everyday life back then really was. It shows both sides, the good and the bad ones, using a very colorful expression. Once I'd started reading I couldn't put it away until the end.
Customer Reviews:
My Favorite.......2003-11-23
I've read all of the "Warlock" series, as well as the "Wizard" series (Warlock's son, Magnus) and "Wizard in Rhyme series) and this is by far, my favorite of them all! It's extremely well written! It's touching and sensitive, without being sappy; yet full of adventure and the quick, dry wit fans have come to expect from Stasheff. I would have given it more than five stars if there had been the option.
Stasheff in High Style.......1999-12-16
Quicksilver's knight is a reader's delight. Well crafted from beginning to end, it draws together all the elements of the universe the author has created for the Gallowglass clan, including an encore performance by our favorite villainess, Diane Finister, whose everchanging appearance has managed to confuse the family so far, and whose determined malevolance certainly keeps a plot moving. Quicksilver is a terriffic character, "cut from whole cloth" so to speak, as Stasheff manages to not only make her a very real person, but manages to enlist us in her cause. Even a novice in Granmarye can follow the storyline, and as usual, the fast paced action is a tremendous aid in suspending our disbelief. Thumbs up for another Stasheff success!
I thought that this book was wonderful........1998-07-15
Geoffery Gallowglass is bored of every day things. He wants something exciting to happen. He sure got what he asked for. He is stuck between turning a beautiful bandit captin in and letting her live on her own. He then meets a stunning witch, and has to decide between the two. Some choice, eh?
Geoffrey Gallowglass takes his turn at entering adulthood........1998-06-16
I just read this book over again for the third or fourth time. Like all of the "Warlock" series, it was interesting on multiple levels. The High Warlock's middle son, Geoffrey Gallowglass, finds adventure, romance, intrigue, treachery, romance, intellectual challenge, comradery, wrongs to right, skullduggery and plenty of fun, as well as enough food for thought to keep him busy for years to come. This is a coming-of-age novel that is a delight. It fits in well with his sister Cordelia's story, M'Lady Witch, and is much easier reading than his brother Magnus' equivalent tale, Warlock and Son.
Not so hot.......1998-04-09
This book was a huge disappointment. I've followed the Warlock series for awhile and I think this has to be the worst, if not one of the worst in the seris. it was terrible. I mean, it felt that Christopher stasheff was trying to pull stuff out of his butt to make it into a working story like the prior Warlock books, but i just didn't buy it. It didn't feel right to me. Currently i am awaiting the book about Gregory, my personal Gallowglass fave, and i'm hoping it'll be up to Stasheff's old standards.
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