As We Are Now: A Novel

As We Are Now: A Novel
Average customer rating:

Do these places really exist?

Well written but made me so sad.

Powerful and moving

Dignity Within

Gifted and talented writer

As We Are Now: A Novel
May Sarton
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393309576

Customer Reviews:

Do these places really exist?.......2007-02-21

This was a real eye opener. It really makes one think if there are really nursing homes that would treat their patients the way Caro and the others were treated. Caro was a very strong willed woman who refused to give in the daily humiliation brought on by Harriet and Rose the owners. In the end she may have gotten her revenge, but at what price?

Well written but made me so sad........2003-01-01

I like Sarton's character, Caroline Spencer. I wanted to rush in and bring her to my home. This book brings to light the humiliations of our Seniors and I really wanted this story to enlighten me. It actually made me very sad.

It was a very easy and fast read (only about 130 pages long) and it was so nice to get to know "Miss Spencer". This book should remind us that our aged are intelligent, and have feelings, and deserve to be treated with respect. I am thankful for that aspect of the novel. I give it a 3, only because I found I was so saddened by the suject. Perhaps I should score it higher, as a testament to Sarton's wonderful writing and believability.

Powerful and moving.......2002-03-11

Caroline Spencer is an aging schoolteacher who gets placed in a caregiver's home by her family. She is soon faced with the fact that her caregiver Harriet Hatfield is not unlike a jailer, though she probably means well. Caro is subjected daily to petty cruelties and subtle humiliations, and she almost succumbs to actually taking the tranquilizers she's brought. She keeps a journal to retain her faculties and as a last defense against infirmity. When a married woman temporarily helps out around the home, Caro learns the true nature of love, late in her life. Harriet finds Caro's journal and nearly destroys Caro's morale, but this only drives Caro into a last act of defiance and release. This is the second Sarton book I've read; the first being "Mrs Stevens Hears The Mermaids Singing" (#95 of the 100 Best Lesbian & Gay Novels). Her writing is superb and so beautiful. "As We Are Now" is her indictment against the treatment of the elderly and a brilliant book about growing old and struggling to cling to the world. Kate Millett's memoir "Mother Millett" also deals with the treatment of the elderly in this country, and it's sad to see that it hasn't changed much.

Dignity Within.......2002-03-09

I have long admired May Sarton's willingness to tackle tough subjects that deal with the inner reality of her characters as they face issues or things about themselves that are not always pleasant. One of my favorite works for example is A Reckoning, in which a woman comes to terms with her own premature dying. Here in As We Are Now, however, Sarton pushes past even her own limits to probe an issue that festers behind the scenes of our youth-obsessed culture - the relegation of the elderly to rest homes, nursing facilities and sanitariums; any place in short where the rest of society doesn't have to see or think about them. What makes Sarton's book such an achievement is how she is able to depict the sordidness and relentless oppression experienced by her main character Caro, while infusing her at the same time with a dignity and strength of character that transcends the worst the situation can dish out. The triumph of the novel is that in the end, we come to see Caro not as an elderly woman, but as a woman infused with a light of her own making.

The story begins with Caro being placed in a rest home by her older brother. Caro has had a heart attack and can no longer live in her own home, and the older brother's younger wife can't handle having Caro live with them. Unfortunately, or perhaps predictably, the rest home is little more than a holding tank where the residents are treated like mentally deficient children, and any attempt to buck the system results in punishment. The most disturbing aspect of the whole thing, however, is that Caro is perceptive, bright and very much alive. A former teacher with students who still write her, she reads and studies poetry, observes and comments astutely on her fellow residents, and replays her favorite music in her mind to keep herself busy. As a reader you want someone to do something, for some long lost relative to appear, a former student to offer a haven, or the visiting minister to report the abominable conditions. Only slowly do you, like Caro, become resigned to the fact that this is what happens to the elderly in our society, and come to realize that the only escape will forged within and by herself.

That Sarton has managed to give her character dignity, that the novel stands as a testament to the strength and beauty of the human spirit rather than a condemnation of society, is remarkable. This book should be read by anyone who has or will be faced with the issue of aging - in other words by everyone.

Gifted and talented writer.......2002-01-21

May Sarton's protrayal of an elderly schoolteacher entering a nursing home, stripped of her dignity and privacy is heartwrenching. I loved the book and found myself questioning the way we ignore our aging population. The author pointed out that people spend years in nursing homes and become shells of what they were. They retreat into despair and decline only because they are ignored from others. It is so sad and yet there is so much truth to the way we shune our elderly population

NOW Who Do We Blame?: Political Cartoons by Tom Toles

Average customer rating:

Sheer Genius, the People's Poet Cartoonist Laureate

NOW Who Do We Blame?: Political Cartoons by Tom Toles
Tom Toles
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0740755587

Book Description

It's been a decade since political cartoonist Tom Toles collected his panels in book form. He's had a busy decade and plenty of time to further sharpen both his wit, commentary, and pen. NOW Who Do We Blame? presents an editorial master at the top of his game, in all of his whimsical, sometimes scathing, and always insightful glory.

Toles, editorial cartoonist for the Washington Post, includes his favorite frames from the past several years. His subjects include the 9/11 Commission, the 2004 presidential election, terrorism, the Middle East conflict, Yasser Arafat, Afghanistan, Iraq, and of course President George W. Bush. The collection title, in fact, comes from a panel showing Bush at his desk, covered with miniatures of the "GOP White House," "GOP Senate," "GOP House," and "GOP Supreme Court." "Now who do we blame?" asks the puzzled Commander in Chief.

Such is the humor, satire, and intelligence of one of the most accomplished and widely read political cartoonists working today. Toles, who draws himself as the artist working in the lower right corner of his panels, takes on every issue and every powerbroker that crosses the national screen.

Customer Reviews:

Sheer Genius, the People's Poet Cartoonist Laureate.......2006-06-02

I start every day with the Tom Toles cartoon in the Washington Post, and consider him to be the Nation's poet cartoonist laureate. I've taken to buying his books as well, for cheer, for reflection, as gifts, and as a collector's item.

The publisher has done this book a real dis-service by not using Amazon's "about the book" information upload capabilities. The table of contents, for example, not provided by the publisher, is provided here to demonstrate that this is a "serious" cartoon book that is both hysterically funny, and poignantly pointed at REALITY. The contents, as organized by the author:

Politics and the Election
Gays and Religion
Law and Regulations
Press and Media
Health and Education
Science and the Environment
Social Security
The Economy and Budget
Security
WMD and Beyond

This is, quite simply, a sensational book. I will end by noting, somewhat pointedly, that Tom Toles' human wisdom as displayed across all these topics, makes a great deal more sense to me than the idiot "banana words" of most Republican and Democratic candidates for any elective office. Tom Toles for President! (I smile--he's too good a man for the job, unless we change the way we elect Presidents).

Consider also Googling for his web site and sharing his daily cartoons with others--Tom Toles is as close as we get in America to the Solidarity movement and samizdat freedom thinkers that broke the back of communism--now we need to break the back of ideological extremism and predatory capitalism, and that can start with the sharing of Tom Tole's great work.

Average customer rating:

Dark & Humorous!!!!
Best poetry since Edward Gorey!
Funny, strange poetry for kids (or not)

Now We Are Sick
Neil Gaiman , Stephen Jones , and Andrew Smith
Manufacturer: Dreamhaven Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Neil Gaiman and Stephen Jones have gathered together a unique collection of funny, frivolous and frightening poems by thirty of the world's best known science fiction, fantasy and horror authors. You are guaranteed to scream with laughter and chuckle in fear as you enter the warped imaginations of these masters of the macabre, for better or verse. Poems by: Brian Aldiss, Sharon Baker, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, Simon Ian Childer, Storm Constantine, Galad Elflandsson, Jo Fletcher, John M. Ford, Stephen Gallagher, David Garnett, John Grant, Colin Greenland, James Herbert, Richard Hill, Diana Wynne Jones, Garry Kilworth, Harry Adam Knight, R.A. Lafferty, Samatha Lee, Alan Moore, Kim Newman, Ian Pemble, Terry Pratchett, Jessica Amanda Salmonson, Jody Scott, S.P. Somtow, Alex Stewart, David Sutton and Gene Wolfe. "If for children you mistook The rhymes and poems in this book, We must at once apologize And open up your blinkered eyes. Please do not feel sad or lonely When we warn: FOR ADULTS ONLY!" - The Editors Reviews: "A very morbid, very funny collection." - Amazing Stories "Slick, gross, humorous, wry, slanted, poignant, moving, vomit-inducing and great, great fun . . . If you have the same warped sense of black humor as I do, then this is a definite must." - Starburst "A delightful anthology of gruesome rhyme." - The Dark Side

Customer Reviews:

Dark & Humorous!!!!.......2006-08-14

I love this book!!!! It's a riot!! It's definitely not for children. Adults Only Please!!!!!!!!!!!

Best poetry since Edward Gorey!.......2005-12-17

I grew up on the work of Edward Gorey, and have long bemoaned the lack of anything else similar and new. I have also long been a fan of Neil Gaiman. I picked this up as a gift, but had to check it out before giving it away, and found the best nonsensical/horror poetry I've seen since that of Mr Gorey. As a matter of fact, I immediately called all of my local comics and bookstores, trying to track down a few more copies, so I could give them to all my family, also Gorey fans. Couldn't find a one. Thank God for Amazon.
The back cover of the trade paperback contains a short warning poem, the last two lines of which read:
"... Please do not feel sad or lonely
When we warn: FOR ADULTS ONLY!"
but personally I do not believe that this work is any more gruesome, or explicitly violent than the works of Mr. Gorey, which I feel helped me to be an inquiring child.

Funny, strange poetry for kids (or not).......1998-09-14

Now We Are Sick is a collection of original poems by sf, Fantasy and horror writers. The quality is a bit mixed: some are really good (Terry Pratchett, Alan Moore, Gene Wolfe) some are gross (Harry Adam Knight, Kim Newman) and some are just silly (S.P.Somtow). The overall effect is funny. Just don't let any kids get near it, though.

Amazon.com

Trollope's 1875 tale of a great financier's fraudulent machinations in the railway business, and his daughter's ill-use at the hands of a grasping lover (for whom she steals funds in order to elope) is a classic in the literature of money and a ripping good read as well.

Book Description

'Trollope did not write for posterity,' observed Henry James. 'He wrote for the day, the moment; but these are just the writers whom posterity is apt to put into its pocket.' Considered by contemporary critics to be Trollope's greatest novel, The Way We Live Now is a satire of the literary world of London in the 1870s and a bold indictment of the new power of speculative finance in English life. 'I was instigated by what I conceived to be the commercial profligacy of the age,' Trollope said.

His story concerns Augustus Melmotte, a French swindler and scoundrel, and his daughter, to whom Felix Carbury, adored son of the authoress Lady Carbury, is induced to propose marriage for the sake of securing a fortune. Trollope knew well the difficulties of dealing with editors, publishers, reviewers, and the public; his portrait of Lady Carbury, impetuous, unprincipled, and unswervingly devoted to her own self-promotion, is one of his finest satirical achievements.

His picture of late-nineteenth-century England is a portrait of a society on the verge of moral bankruptcy. In The Way We Live Now Trollope combines his talents as a portraitist and his skills as a storyteller to give us life as it was lived more than a hundred years ago.

Download Description

Trollope did not write for posterity," observed Henry James. "He wrote for the day, the moment; but these are just the writers whom posterity is apt to put into its pocket." Considered by contemporary critics to be Trollope's greatest novel, The Way We Live Now is a satire of the literary world of London in the 1870s and a bold indictment of the new power of speculative finance in English life. "I was instigated by what I conceived to be the commercial profligacy of the age," Trollope said.

Customer Reviews:

"You need a special kind of man who understands the way we live now to lead you into that new world of peace and prosperity.".......2007-09-18

Often considered Trollope's greatest novel, this satire of British life, written in 1875, leaves no aspect of society unexamined. Through his large cast of characters, who represent many levels of society, Trollope examines the hypocrisies of class, at the same time that he often develops sympathy for these characters who are sometimes caught in crises not of their own making. Filling the novel with realistic details and providing vivid pictures of the various settings in which the characters find themselves, Trollope also creates a series of exceptionally vibrant characters who give life to this long and sometimes cynical portrait of those who move the country.

Lady Carbury, her innocent daughter Henrietta (Hetta), and her attractive but irresponsible son Felix are the family around which much of the action rotates. They are always in need of money and Lady Carbury writes pap novels to support the family (and Felix's drinking and gambling). In contrast to the Carburys, and just as important to the plot, are the Melmottes. Augustus Melmotte, who has come from Vienna under a cloud of financial suspicions, has acquired a huge estate for himself, his foreign wife, and his marriageable daughter. Boorish, but determined to become a leader of society, Melmotte provides moments of humor for the reader, though he is scorned by an aristocracy which is nevertheless beholden to him for his investments.

When Melmotte becomes the major investor in a plan to build a railway from California to Mexico, Paul Montague, a handsome engineer who has been working in America, arrives in town. A ward of Roger Carbury, cousin of Felix and Hetta, he soon finds himself in love with Hetta--and in competition with Roger for her hand. Felix courts the Melmottes' daughter for her fortune, and she falls in love with him while he dallies with a local domestic worker. Investors dash to buy shares in the Mexican railway, with their investments ending in the sticky hands of Melmotte, who has bigger plans.

Often addressing the reader directly, Trollope fills the novel with action and subplots which illustrate a wide variety of themes, often depicting his characters satirically to illustrate the social, political, and financial ills of the day. Ahead of his time for his depiction of the lively, intelligent woman whose role is defined (and limited) by her social and financial position, Trollope creates a number of resourceful women--and a number who are willing to do almost anything to marry a wealthy man. As is customary in Victorian novels, the good are rewarded here, and the evil are punished, but Trollope's characters, unlike those by Dickens, for example, usually control their own destinies. Broad in scope, thoughtful in construction, complete in its depiction of 1870s' England, filled with wonderful characters, and absolutely engrossing to read, The Way We Live Now is one of the great novels of the nineteenth century. n Mary Whipple

not a whole lot has changed over the past century or so.......2007-08-30

This is a tour de force by Trollope. Having finished the Barchester series, I decided to take on another while on a trip to San Francisco (featured somewhat in the novel). I think I enjoyed this most of all. It compares best with Thackery's Vanity Fair--there is no hero. Nearly all of its characters are fully fleshed out. Sir Felix finds ways to sink lower than the reader thinks he can sink. Melmotte is a superior version of Kenneth Lay. And Mrs. Hurtle is incomparable, as well as an unadulterated delight. She personifies one of the main themes: the English are spent, and the real life is to be found in America, even for its recognized faults.

The novel is long, but this reader was never bored. The plot was a fine thicket which built to a cresendo followed by a cleanly knotted and leisurly and satisfying finish. David Brooks gives a good introduction in the Modern Library edition, which also contains excellent endnotes. Highly recommended.

Wonderful summer fun.......2007-07-03

One should be cautious with regard to the consumption of Trollopian tales; they are addictive. Read one and you will go back for another. The Way We Live Now is a delightful novel full of well crafted characters. Winifred Hurtle is fascinating;certainly she is far too much woman for Paul Montague.
Doug Wilson
Boston

Big and cynical with a fine eye for character........2007-01-17

This is my second Trollope, chosen after reading and enjoying The Warden earlier this year. With The Warden, I was surprised how modern it was and by how much I enjoyed the novel. (I had avoided reading Trollope forever, thinking it was just too dusty and Victorian) I am so glad that I picked up The Way We Live Now as my second outing with the author.

The long format (800 pages) gives Trollope time to show his amazing skill with characters. I can only add my voice to the chorus of people justly praising his skill with female characters-- particularly when compared to other writers of the time. Marie Melmotte is generally singled out for praise. I have to confess that I was quite fond of Winifrid Hurtle. This woman has been more sinned against than sinning. She is complex and dignified, and may be the best character in the book.

In fact, although the novel is ostensibly about Augustus Melmotte, I would be willing to argue that an even larger part of the book is about women finding happiness in less than typical ways. Whether it is Georgiana Longstaffe or Mrs. Carbury, the woman in The Way We Live Now are making the best choices that they have available, given limited circumstances. I thought that in this sense it was still topical, and very brave.

I would recommend The Way We Live Now very highly. It does have a lot of pages, and requires some patience. But, it doesn't require as much patience as one may expect. I promise you, that once you get into it, it is not an effort at all to read. The Gilded Age by Mark Twain could make an interesting counterpoint to this book, dealing as it does with such similar material but from a very different perspective.

The Victorian Age -- on rich display.......2006-12-31

It's a pity that Trollope is a minority pleasure. Far more readers know Dickens, and comparisons are inevitable. In "The Way We Live Now" we see all his strengths on display: tortuous but believable plotting, a clear-eyed view of people's frailties, and best of all, his realistic portrayals of women. This latter skill leaves poor Dickens choking in Trollope's dust. In this fine and hugely readable novel, the women are perhaps even more finely drawn than the men, especially Marie Melmotte. At first she is merely a simpering pawn of the plot, but soon shows her mettle.

One of the troublesome aspects of the novel is the anti-Semitism of some of the characters. Oh well, perhaps we can accept it as part of the characters' personalities, but still, in the age of Mel Gibson, it makes one cringe.

This surely must be Trollope's longest book. But I sped through it, hardly letting the book drop from my hands even for meals. The subjects are human greed, the struggle for position, and the fluidity of class even in Victorian Britain. Everyone must discover this master for themselves.

Average customer rating:

Writer to be treasured!
A Minor Masterpiece
Bad Book - Familiar Story
Can He Love Again??
All We Have Is Now

All We Have Is Now: A Novel
Robert Taylor
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312284810

Book Description

Ian McBride, a principal in a prominent repertory theater company, erected an emotional wall after his longtime lover died of AIDS. But during rehearsals for The Tempest, Jimmy Davidson, the actor playing Ariel, begins to chip away at Ian's walls. After twelve years along, Ian finds himself once again deeply and happily in love. Despite the usual bumps of any relationship, Ian and Jimmy begin to slowly weave their lives together.But during a visit to his family's home in Kimberley, Texas, Jimmy is savagely murdered in a bias attack. Wanting revenge and needing the solace and closure he never found after his first lover's death, Ian goes to Kimberley for Jimmy's funeral and the trial. Buffeted by the media that have descended to cover the sensational case, and regarded with suspicion and distaste by the town and by Jimmy's equally bereft parents, Ian is isolated and alone with his rage, sadness, and loss. That is, until he finds an unlikely ally in the person of Jimmy's beloved grandmother, Livie, a woman of great compassion and emotional fire, and with a secret history of her own.All We Have Is Now is a moving and powerful novel of love and loss, of hate and understanding, of grief and resolution.

Customer Reviews:

Writer to be treasured!.......2007-05-12

Taylor is an exceedingly fine writer..one that will give you pause when taking up your next books! Fine writers are few!

A Minor Masterpiece.......2006-04-26

This engrossing and satisfying novel is a minor masterpiece. I expected it to be unbearably sad, yet in the end, it was also unexpectedly uplifting. Like all really masterly novels, one is left with an understanding of the complexity of life, of the different shades of good and evil, and with regret that things should be as they are, that we should all inevitably endure suffering and loss, and yet somehow survive.

The narrator, Ian, is an actor. He's closed himself off after his lover died from AIDS. He deflects advances, and ends relationships as soon as he feels his heart getting involved. Then he meets Jimmy, a young actor, young enough to be his son. And Jimmy pursues him. And wins him.

Not many months later, Jimmy is killed in a hate crime, back in his home town. Ian goes there for the funeral and the trial of Jimmy's murderers. He is befriended by Jimmy's grandmother, who reveals her own secret -- which isn't what you'd think, nor one a lesser writer might have chosen. And he learns about himself, too, about courage and hatred and the need for revenge -- and forgiveness.

The story is nicely paced, the courtroom scenes not too long, the development of their love beutifully done, and perfectly contrasted with the depressing horrors of the trial and Jimmy's murderers' lives. And the unexpected twist at the end is heartrending -- and exactly the right point to end the book.

This is a book which will remain in your mind long after you have finished it. It's marvellous, filled with humanity and an understanding of and insight into the human condition. Sumptuous. Read it.

Bad Book - Familiar Story.......2004-02-29

This book takes all of the familiar things from the Matthew Shepherd story and turns it into a book about his boyfriend being killed and how he deals with it. The story was contrived but the grammar and writing style were also contrived as well. The way people speak in the book is not comfortable and the breaks in sentences is simply repulsive.

Can He Love Again??.......2003-04-29

This novel begins with a moving prologue in which Ian describes the death of his lover, Trevor, Ian's life partner who has died of AIDS. The devastating impact of Trevor's death leaves middle-aged Ian empty, no longer willing to love another, and totally devoted to his career as a repertory actor. Will he ever be able to love again? Well, several years pass, and Ian finds himself drawn to a beautiful young actor from Texas, named Jimmy, who's playing Ariel in the company's production of "The Tempest". Jimmy falls for Ian as well, and slowly works his way inside the walls of Ian's heart. But on a visit home to Texas, tragedy strikes, as Jimmy is the victim of a hate crime. Ian once again finds himself the survivor after Jimmy's death. Will he be able to rebuild his life again? Or will this be too much for him to overcome? Ian flies to Texas for the funeral and the second part of the novel begins revolving around the trial of Jimmy's killers. Will justice be served? And will Ian be able to show forgiveness?

I think the strength of the novel is placed on the second part of the book. The relationship Ian develops with Jimmy's grandmother is beautifully told, and the strength, love and friendship they discover in each other is truly heartwarming. Taylor's taken on two hot topics of the last twenty years in gay politics, AIDS and hate crimes, and has done a remarkable job with them. Yes, it's a take on the Matthew Shepard story, and no one is denying that, and this story could never compare to the tragedy of Matthew's death. However, the more these tragic hate crime stories are told, in whatever form, credit should be given to whoever gets the message across of how wrong and hateful these senseless attacks are. This is a well-written story about love, loss, and the desire of the human spirit to survive.

Joe Hanssen

All We Have Is Now.......2003-02-03

All We Have Is Now is Robert Taylor's latest novel about a lonely actor who finds love for the second time in his life but loses his lover after he is brutally murdered in a hate crime.
...
The murder sets off a complicated tapestry of events in the small Texas town where Jimmy grew up. A media circus trial ensues, discrimination and gay bias unravels, and Jimmy's parents finally come to terms with their son's homosexuality with the help of Jimmy's grandmother, Livie and Ian.

The book has a reflective feel to the Matthew Sheppard case and even mentions it during the trial but I don't think Taylor was trying to motivate his readers in that direction. Taylor brings many different messages to the table with his book. He explores the relationship between a younger gay man and an older gay man, he works a psychological profile on how to deal with a lover's death from AIDS and a hate crime, and he tries to deal with the emotions of a lover's parents whom are not acceptable to the gay lifestyle.

Taylor succeeds in making this novel a tearjerker. There is a lot of sadness through out and you can get into each one of the characters streams of consciousness but I think Taylor sensationalized Jimmy's murder too much and gave it an overblown look....

The American Novel and the Way We Live Now

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The American Novel and the Way We Live Now
John Aldridge
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0195031989

Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell: A Story We All Really Need Now More Than Ever

Average customer rating:

The Simple Life

Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell: A Story We All Really Need Now More Than Ever
Bruce Eric Kaplan
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Cartooning | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1416545492

Book Description

One Sunday afternoon, an ordinary couple named Edmund and Rosemary decide to go for a walk in their Brooklyn neighborhood. Within moments, they are plunged into a wonderful, nerve-racking, hilarious, unique adventure that begins with a cell phone and ends in a jungle halfway around the world.

In Edmund and Rosemary Go to Hell, famed New Yorker cartoonist Bruce Eric Kaplan uses his trademark incisive wit to explore what it is that prevents us from seeing all that we have. By turns wickedly funny and oddly touching, this provocative and ultimately hopeful picture book for adults will appeal to anyone who has ever been stuck in traffic or, more to the point, stuck inside themselves.

Customer Reviews:

The Simple Life.......2007-07-20

Kaplan's book is a small wonder, a wittily observant tale about two people who discover that the world we live in is Hell itself. Kaplan's wry humor gives us reason to believe things are about as bad as they can get: from the pointlessness of the arts to the garishness of McMansions, the bankruptcy of government to the spoils of Wal-Mart.

Yet in the midst of such decline, Edmund and Rosemary find solace in small pleasures, the simple things that give us comfort in our daily lives: listening to the rain outside, caring for a pet, having a confidante. Ultimately, then, Kaplan's book is a modest call to appreciate those small pleasures and to put our worries, faults, foibles into some perspective.

Kaplan's spare artistry works to great effect here, and his book will hopefully remind you that there's much to take comfort in, even feel good about, when the world around us seems irrevocably damned. It's a welcome parable for our times.

Mr Dooley: Wise and Funny We Need Him Now

Average customer rating:

This book was hillarious!

Mr Dooley: Wise and Funny We Need Him Now
Barbara C. Schaaf
Manufacturer: Lincoln-Herndon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Mr. Dooley is the wise and witty character created by Finley Peter Dunne. Mr. Dooley talks about women, politics, war, taxes, marriage, money and most aspects of American life.

Customer Reviews:

This book was hillarious!.......1998-03-16

At first, I was doubtful. After all, how funny could
a columnist from 1900 be?

I was wrong! This book had social and personal
commentary that goes for today.
My favorites were the marriage articles
.

The way we live now: A novel
Average customer rating:
The way we live now: A novel
Anthony Trollope
Manufacturer: Harper & Brothers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Trollope, Anthony | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00085MALO

The Way We Live Now: Parts 1 & 2 (Unabridged)
Average customer rating:

Tape of "The Way We Live Now''

The Way We Live Now: Parts 1 & 2 (Unabridged)
Anthony Trollope
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download

Trollope, Anthony | Classics | British | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000VA1P94

Customer Reviews:

Tape of "The Way We Live Now'' .......2005-08-09

this was recieved with great excitment only to find that the second tape was recorded so low that it is impossible to hear and therefor the listener has abanded the whole set and we do not know the quality of the rest of the set

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