Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls

Amazon.com

Veronica Vera is an artist, sex activist, and founder of the world's first cross-dressing academy, a truly fabulous institution that has been serving the unique educational needs of "boys who want to be girls" since 1992. Serving more than 100 students a year at her New York City campus, Miss Vera offers courses in makeup application, how to walk in high heels, etiquette for budding princesses, sex education, and, of course, getting frocked. More importantly, she teaches each member of her largely heterosexual male clientele to develop his inner femme and to "take the insights of his femmeself and integrate them into his male persona."

Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls is an informative textbook for readers who want practical advice about all things femme (complete with illustrations and homework assignments). It includes an anecdotal "herstory" of Miss Vera's experiences as a pleasure activist and gender educator and a delightful document of the transformation of the academy's students as they prance toward "gender euphoria" in high heels and glimmering tiaras. This is an indispensable guide for emerging femmes of all ages, sexes, and sexual orientations, as well as an insightful, humorous, and sassy work sure to interest all devotees of gender studies. --Julia Steinmetz

Book Description

It is estimated that three to five percent of the adult male population of the United States feels the need, at least occasionally, to dress in women's clothing. Judging from enrollment at her academy, Miss Vera would say that figure is low.

Veronica Vera founded Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls in 1992 and started a gender revolution. Working from the pink palace of the Academy's intimate Manhattan campus, she has helped hundreds of students embrace and master Venus Envy through her expert instruction in the arts of dressing up, making up, going out, and acting like a lady. In her new book, she shares her priceless wisdom with the world.

With sparkling wit and dazzling insight, Miss V gives us the 411 on body hair, foundation garments, make-up, and dressing, as well as offering invaluable advice on Creating a Herstory (finding the real life story of the femmeself within) speech, manners, walking in high heels, and--that biggest step of all--going out in the real world all dressed up. Amply illustrated and filled with the real stories of students and graduates, Miss Vera's Finishing School also offers a fascinating history of how the Academy came to be, as well as Miss Vera's own incisive gender manifesto.

"As we step boldly toward the new millennium, many more of us will be doing it in high heels," says Veronica Vera. In Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls, she proves conclusively that, after a long day in wingtips, there's nothing like slipping into a pair of spiked heels.

Customer Reviews:

Essential guide/information for CD's and their SO's.......2007-08-23

Highly recommended...informative and amusing, but sensitive to the particular issues/questions of the TV or CD and their partners and families...

Fun read, but don't expect to learn anything........2007-06-21

It is fun to read, it is interesting. But as far as explaining anything about how to dress femme, you won't learn from it.
When I first picked up the book at a glbt store, I was excited and could not wait to read it. About 1/2 way thru the book, I felt stupid for having paid $15 for it.
I give it 3 stars cause like I said - it was entertaining. BUT, at the time, I was looking to learn to dress, not be entertained by some advertisement for a school that one weekend costs more than I make in a month. This book is like the movie dumb and dumber, it is entertaining, but really stupid otherwise.

Fun and Philosophical.......2006-01-08

"For every woman who has burned her bra, there's a man ready to wear one. Or so says Veronica Vera, who founded Miss Vera's Finishing School for Boys Who Want to Be Girls in 1992 as a resource for that part of the adult male population that feels the need to dress in women's clothing. This book unveils the naked truth about cross-dressing in a fun and philosophical way for would-be girls--and real girls, too! 35 photos."--© zebraz

A Must Read.......2006-01-04

First, know that I am all man, and I personally have no interest in learning how to cross dress. However, I found this book at my friend's house one night when I could not sleep, and being an attorney, I have to read. Let me tell you, this is a book I could not put down. If you want to understand not just the "why" but the "how to" of cross dressing, this is the book for you. It should be considered a must read for any transgender, transsexual, multigender, gendersexual, or transmultisexual. My only criticism is that it should have more tips. I want to sell the look on a bidet if I have the chance. Or my friend does, I mean.

Second, look at the cover. Am I the only one who thinks the tall one is hot? I mean, seriously, that's a chick, right?

Great Entertainment Value.......2005-02-20

A cheerful look at the world of the closeted cross-dresser, this book describes Veronica Vera's approach to offering cross-dressing services to men who have sufficient funds to be able to travel to her New York "Academy" for "lessons" of one sort or another.

Illustrated profusely with photos of students and staff, there are chapters covering everything from attitude, through body shaping and deportment, to finishing touches such as makeup, etiquette and outings. You can follow the adventures of students like Sally Sissyribbons as Ms Vera covers "studies" such as Home Ec, Fashion, Field Trips and Sex Education.

Yet, despite the sprightly, titillating approach to cross-dressing there are some very useful tips and tricks sprinkled throughout. More, Veronica Vera's philosophy and some very timely words of wisdom can be found, strategically placed for the most effect. For example, while covering the subject of what is referred to as "passing," she says, "You can sell what you believe in, so believe in your right to be your femmeself and you will be empowered in all aspects of your life."

Although the book provides the reader with lighthearted, humourous entertainment, if that is what you are after, I would not recommend it to the person who is seriously looking for advice or support on transgender issues.

The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident

Average customer rating:

Good Story - Excellent Detail
i love it
Disappointing
one of the greatest books i have read
one of the greatest books i have read

The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident
Dick Couch
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Naval | Military | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0609810464
Release Date: 2005-05-31

Book Description

In America’s new war, the first guns in the fight are special operations forces, including the Navy SEALs, specially trained warriors who operate with precision, swiftness, and lethal force. In the constantly shifting war on terror, SEAL units—small in number, flexible, stealthy, and ef?cient—are more vital than ever to America’s security as they take the battle to an elusive enemy around the globe.

But how are Navy SEALs made? Dick Couch, author of the acclaimed Warrior Elite, follows SEALs on the ground and in the water as they undergo SEAL Tactical Training, where they master combat skills such as precision shooting, demolitions, secure communications, parachuting, diving, and first aid. From there, the men enter operational platoons, where they subordinate their individual abilities to the mission of the group and train for special operations in specific geographic environments.

Never before has a civilian writer been granted such close access to the training of America’s most elite military forces. The Finishing School is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what goes into the making of America’s best warriors.

Customer Reviews:

Good Story - Excellent Detail.......2007-05-18

What I appreciate about Dick Couch's books is the way he takes us inside. This book does a fantastic job of that! Everything you could ever want to know about SQT is here. It also has the same, wonderful "human element" that Warrior Elite has, but possibly to a lesser degree. Probably because of the technical aspects of the training itself, I did feel like some of the people got lost in it all toward the end. All in all, I have nothing negative to say - this was another awesome Dick Couch book.

i love it .......2006-04-24

I LOVE IT SO MUCH THAT AFTER HIGH SCHOOL I WANT TO TRY BUD/S FOR MYSELF TO SEE I CAN DO IT.. I KNOW IT WILL BE HARD BUT I THINK I CAN MAKE IT....

Disappointing.......2006-01-01

One of the things that reveals itself throughout the book is that Dick's writing style gets old. If it wasn't for the ongoing story in "The Warrior Elite", I would have been bored with Dick's narrative. In "The Finishing School", the pace is slackened due to the fact that the men are all BUD/S grads and have less to worry about. It takes more patience to read and at times it feels like the pace is very slow. Another thing you'll notice is that Dick doesn't reveal much about the details regarding finishing schools. During BUD/S, people can actually see the candidates train in Coronado and the suffering is no secret. However, when they continue on, the training they get is much more classified. This is understandable, but at that same time it feels like Dick is talking much without revealing much. For someone who wants the details, this was frustrating and took out a significant amount of my interest. I haven't read the latest Couch book on SEALs, but I hear it's the same. Here's an advice for Mr. Couch - don't write a book that people will read for its details and not reveal anything. Better off waiting for several years and disclosing the info (like Haney's Delta Force) than beating around the bush. On the other hand, you'll get the big picture about what BUD/S grads do after BUD/S on their way to earn the trident.

one of the greatest books i have read.......2005-11-29

If you have ever wanted to be a NAVY SEAL, then this is the book for you. This book takes place from the Vietnam War up to the 2000's. This book is about the training a NAVY SEAL has to go through before earning his trident. The story is told by the author, Dick Couch. This is an action packed book. The characters in this book are changed about every five pages because there isn't really any main characters. The conflict in this book is about trying to get the NAVY SEAL trident. I believe you would like this book because it tells about NAVY SEAL training. Dick Couch has wrote 8 books including, The Warrior Elite, Covert Action, and SEAL Team One. Dick Couch commanded a SEAL platoon in Vietnam that conducted one of the few successful POW rescue operations of the war. He also served in the CIA. Dick and his wife ,Julia, live in central Idaho. Also his style of writing if very easy to understand. This book makes me think about how hard it would be to become a NAVY SEAL. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in the NAVY. This is a fun read.

one of the greatest books i have read.......2005-11-29

Average customer rating:

Que lastima! It's really a romance!
Just not up to snuff
Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Solid, fast-paced romantic suspense
Reads like a romance novel

The Finishing School
Michele Martinez
Manufacturer: Harper
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0060724013
Release Date: 2007-01-30

Book Description

In a glittering penthouse high above Park Avenue, two beautiful teenagers, students at an exclusive Manhattan girls' school, lie dead under suspicious circumstances. Feeling pressure from the top to solve the high-profile case fast, Melanie breaks all the rules and goes undercover. Teamed with Dan O'Reilly, a hard-to-resist FBI agent with a talent for making her pulse race, Melanie embarks on a wild chase from the rarefied world of New York's elite private schools to the darkest recesses of the city's nightlife. And, ultimately, into a fight for her life against a devious killer who has no intention of getting caught.

Download Description

Michele Martinez, author of the critically acclaimed Most Wanted, which USA Today called ""a breakout,"" brings back savvy, sexy federal prosecutor Melanie Vargas in a new case that pits her against a very clever, very scary killer

Customer Reviews:

Que lastima! It's really a romance!.......2007-07-05

The premise sounded good--a gritty mystery based in New York with a strong female ADA. Instead, this book is a female-in-jeopardy romance with some gratuitous violence thrown in. The strong female is bullied, successfully, by her obnoxious female boss. She continues to make stupid moves and bad decisions while decrying the possibility of the same from her teenage witnesses. Oh, and every once in a while, the author reminds you that the protagonist is Latina by having her think in Spanish phrases. This is a great title for those who love romances and have a strong stomach.

Just not up to snuff.......2007-04-25

I gave this book two stars because the writing is good, but....make no mistake, it's a romance. The author TRIES to make it a mystery, but there are just too many mistakes. Right off the bat, on page 10 the heroine walks into a room that, "reeked of vomit, feces and spoiling meat". I naturally assumed the bodies had been there for several weeks - nope. They'd only been dead a few hours! Bodies do not start to rot that fast - especially when the windows of the room were open and it was winter! Okay, I gave it a pass, and kept reading but found the characters totally unbelievable and not the least bit professional. On page 47 we had both Bridgit and Bernadette! Oy, why not just call them both Mary? With a darth of names to choose from, why on EARTH didn't the author find two at least a wee bit different? I immediatley got the two women confused. By page 52 we were in a full-fledged romance with sweating palms, heaving breasts and trobbing members. Okay I made that last part up but it was pretty bad. I gave up and went on to read a real mystery.

Excellent!!!!!!!!!!!!!.......2007-04-10

Michelle's second book was even better than the first! I'm not completely finished reading it but the excitement is almost coming to an end. I can't wait to read the next one.

Solid, fast-paced romantic suspense.......2007-03-14

When two overpriveleged, popular white teenagers wind up dead from a heroin overdose, Federal Prosecutor Melanie Vargas gets a call from her boss in the middle of the night wanting immediate results. One of the girls, Whitney Seward, is the stepdaughter of an important politician who is currently running for Senate. Melanie is expected to find the drug dealer who sold the girls the heroin, and bring him to justice swiftly and quietly. But to Melanie, this OD case isn't as open and shut as it sounds.

For one thing, the dead girls were students at the elite Holbrooke school, a wealthy private school. On the night that they died, another student went missing as well--a scholarship student, Carmen Reyes. Carmen's father is the janitor in the building where the girls were found, and she seemed to have no connection to the other girls. For this reason, Melanie finds it hard to believe when the same heroin the girls overdosed from is found in Carmen's locker. It all just seems a bit too easy, and Melanie is determined to get to the bottom of things. She wants to find out what really happened to the dead Holbrooke girls, and to bring Carmen Reyes home alive--sooner rather than later.

At the same time, however, she's been assigned to a task force with her ex-love interest, Dan O'Reilly. Dan is a third-generation cop with a body made of steel who Carmen almost dated awhile back. When he winds up on the same case as her, she wonders if she'll be able to stop thinking about his body long enough to get her work done. When these two get together, they have to work to keep their minds out of the past and their feelings for each other, and instead focus on the case at hand and figuring out who would have wanted to murder two innocent teenagers--who it turns out might not be as innocent as they appeared.

The Finishing School is the second book in Michele Martinez's series about Federal Prosecutor Melanie Vargas. I never read the first book in the series, Most Wanted, but had no problems following the story without it. Their are a few ends left untied (like how Melanie and Dan met and their past history) but most of it is covered pretty well in flashbacks. I thought the story was fast-paced and entertaining, even though romantic suspense generally isn't my thing. I can usually figure out the endings of these sorts of books pretty early, but that wasn't the case with this one (I did figure it out, but only in the last 50 or so pages). I'd recommend The Finishing School for anyone in the mood for fast-paced and entertaining romantic suspense.

Reads like a romance novel.......2007-03-03

The story was good, but a bit far-fetched. However, the further I got into the book, the more difficult it was to actually finish it (which I eventually did). The problem was that as the story progressed it became more and more like a trashy romance novel, making it difficult to enjoy the story itself.

Unless the author can get away from her emphasis on the childish behavior of the heroine, I doubt I would ever pick up another of her books.

The Finishing School (Ballantine Reader's Circle)

Average customer rating:

Wow, she is a good writer
finishing school
Beautiful writing, but not enough plot.
Good beginning and ending
One of Godwin's best!

The Finishing School (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Gail Godwin
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Friendship | Women's Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0345431901
Release Date: 1999-04-20

Book Description

Justin Stokes would never forget the summer she turned fourteen, nor the woman who transformed her bleak adolescent life into a wondrous place of brilliant color. In the little pondside hut also known as the “finishing school,” eccentric, free-spirited Ursula DeVane opened up a world full of magical possibilities for Justin, teaching her valuable lessons of love and loyalty, and encouraging her to change, to learn, to grow. But the lessons of the finishing school have their dark side as well, as Justin learns how deep friendship can be shattered by shocking, unforgivable betrayal.

Customer Reviews:

Wow, she is a good writer.......2006-02-19

I am amazed that Gail Godwin is not a household name because her novels are excellent. In my opinion she is the best American novelist writing today and rivals British Kazuo Ishiguro for the best overall. Godwin probably wouldn't like this comparison but she is sort of like a modern day Jane Austen.

The Finishing School is probably my favorite of her novels and her concept of "congealing" was very impacting. She masters verbalizing the difficult-to-verbalize and the characters are completely engaging.

The title makes it sound a little girly, which I guess it is, but I am a guy who highly recommends it.

finishing school.......2005-11-05

When teenager Justin Stokes goes for a bike ride one summer day, she doesn't expect to meet a woman who will change her life. With a flair for the dramatic and a tragic past, Ursula De Vane doesn't enter Justin's life so much as she explodes into it. Justin, longing to free the constraints of her conventional aunt, inquisitive baby brother and recently widowed mother, finds in Ursula the kindred desire not to live an ordinary life. But when past secrets threaten to undermine their relationship, can she find it in her to accept that Ursula is human and flawed after all. Told from the perspective of the adult Justin, now an actress, still haunted by that summer.

Beautiful writing, but not enough plot........2005-03-18

Justin Stokes, a precocious, despondent 14 year old adolescent, feels trapped in a rural "one-horse" town to which her family was forced to move for monetary reasons. Justin's only respite is her fleeting relationship with Ursula DeVane, a vibrant educated woman in her forties, who lives with her highly sensitive, classical pianist brother. For one summer, Justin goes out of her way to develop a relationship with Ursula, as basically everyone else that she has contact with, including her family members, bores her. As one might expect though, Ursula and her brother have a past which eventually catches up with them, and which profoundly affects Justin, even into her adulthood. Although Gail Godwin virtually promises to "shock" her audience, a reader of contemporary novels will hardly be shocked.

Godwin is one of our best contemporary writers. Her description of detail (for instance, how she describes a garden, or a pond in the forest) rivals the best 19th century British authors. I love, for example, how Justin practices her pronunciation of the name "Ursula" in attempt to impress her older friend.

My criticism of the novel is there is not enough of a story to justify 300+ pages. I think I might have enjoyed it more if it were 100 pages shorter, or even written as a novella. On the other hand, Godwin is such a remarkable writer, that I always enjoy reading her, even if the book is somewhat slow-going.

If you are interested in reading Gail Godwin, I would recommend starting with "A Southern Family," which is longer, but more compelling, and easier to get through.

Good beginning and ending.......2001-11-11

I had a bit of trouble getting through the middle of the book: I lost interest but towards the end it picks up again.

One of Godwin's best!.......2000-06-07

When this book was first released in the 1980's, I was an avid fan of Godwin's and couldn't wait to buy it. I devoured it in two sittings, loving every minute with teenage Justin and the wiser, more enigmatic Ursula. I'm pleased to see the story hasn't become dated, and that it's every bit as enjoyable now that I'm closer in age to Ursula than to Justin. Although this is on the surface a coming-of-age story, it also explores the necessity and dangers of mentorship, of friendship, of implicit trust. The characters are heartfelt and true, and Justin, with all her emotional needs and confusion, is one of the best female teenage characters in American literature.

Book Description

Jenny Woodward, a beautiful young schoolmistress — and revolutionary activist — is cruelly mistreated by a commissary of police in Paris. Chased by his vicious treatment, she heads to Brittany. There, to her delightful consolation, she finds herself trapped in a stormbound house with a number of sexy young women, many of whom she finds are willing to waste away the days amid torrents of sexual excess.

Customer Reviews:

Certainly not the kind of school I had to endure ...........2001-01-01

A five star must have for the erotic library especially for those readers that enjoy getting their just deserts in the end .... mostly if not exclusively ... LOL

In Finishing School our hero, is the assistant master in a residential French boarding school for young ladies to receive their tutoring. Seeing as to how the Vitorians loved to see diligent spankings and back door you know what this book is probably the very best enjoyed by the reader. Our hero certainly knows how to draw a fine line between the discipline and the seduction. The writer persues his story from the mans' point of view one never really gets an impression of whether the girls were really enjoying themselves or were just resigned to allowing our hero to dominate them so that they could avoid the inevitable physical punishments that seem to have been normal and accepted at these Victorian boarding schools ......

One of the better of the Blue Moon series this 1990 editon also has a 28 page afterword written by our friend Mr. Richard Manton. Unfortunately much of it is just a teaser for the book Finishing School ....

Finishing Strong: Your Personal Mentoring and Planning Guide for the Last 60 Days of the School Year
Average customer rating:
Finishing Strong: Your Personal Mentoring and Planning Guide for the Last 60 Days of the School Year
Robert L. Debruyn
Manufacturer: Master Teacher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Your Personal Mentoring and Planning Guide for the First 60 Days of Teaching

ASIN: 1589920953

Book Description

In this book, we've selected from the 32 years of The MASTER Teacher program, the writings we know you would like your teachers to have to support the last two months of the school year. Accompanying each reading is a journaling activity. After the journal area are lines for taking notes along with both sides of the journal pages.

Average customer rating:

I just don't get it
Not Your Everyday
Not Sparks' best, but a fine close to a great career
Pirated book-copyright violation-buyer BEWARE!!!!
Your tax dollars at work

The Finishing School
Muriel Spark
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

From Muriel Spark, the grande dame of literary satire, comes this swift, deliciously witty tale of writerly ambition that recalls her beloved The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

College Sunrise is a somewhat louche and vaguely disreputable finishing school located, for now, in Lausanne, Switzerland. Rowland Mahler and his wife, Nina, run the school as a way to support themselves while he works, somewhat falteringly, on his novel. Into Rowland’s creative writing class comes seventeen-year-old Chris Wiley, a red-haired literary prodigy whose historical novel-in-progress, on Mary Queen of Scots, has already excited the interest of publishers. The inevitable result: keen envy, and a game of cat and mouse fraught with jealousy and attraction, both literary and sexual.

Customer Reviews:

I just don't get it.......2007-02-03

Sparks reviews are excellent so perhaps I'm missing something but the lack of effort angered me. A husband and wife teaching well-to-do highschool students and managing secrets and demons (including their own) - what's not to like? Unfortunately this book was almost like a screenplay. I could see the actors going through the motions but the book provided no insights or motivations. This is another British minimalist novel that shirks in-depth analysis. It feels like a cop-out; like the author is saying, "I'm going to present all this information as if its very insightful but really there's nothing here." Very disappointing.

Not Your Everyday.......2006-08-07

Witty and memorable... that was my impression from the first chapter. The story itself is about a (nomadic) finishing school, Sunrise College. I laughed at what they were actually learning there and the obsession war going on between Chris and Rowland. It's like watching a British soap opera with style. Very entertaining.

Not Sparks' best, but a fine close to a great career.......2006-06-26

Muriel Spark continued to produce excellent stuff to the end of her life. Her first novel appeared some 50 years ago. Her last (assuming there is no posthumous work awaiting publication) was The Finishing School. Like most of her novels, it is very short (in the neighborhood of 30,000 words), and sardonic in tone. It invites comparison with her most famous novel, _The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie_, in being about a school and about the relationship of a teacher to the students.

The Finishing School is set at College Sunrise, a school run by Rowland Mahler, a 29 year old who had a long ago success with a play and is now frustratedly trying to write a novel, and his wife Nina Parker. The school moves each term -- in part, it is suggested, to escape bill collectors. It is in Switzerland this term. There are nine students, apparently all around 17 years old, presumably having finished high school or the European equivalent, and now being "finished" -- either to head on to University or to other pursuits. One of the students, Chris, is writing an historical novel about Mary Queen of Scots.

The fulcrum of the novel is Rowland's jealousy of Chris. It becomes clear that this jealousy, ostensibly of the likely smashing success of his novel, has a homoerotic component. (Even though both parties are apparently heterosexual -- Rowland is married, though his wife is having an affair and plans to leave him, while Chris seduces several women during the course of the book.) Rowland spends much of his time fantasizing about killing Chris. Chris, meanwhile, ignores his classes, writes his novel in secret, and entertains visits from publishers and film producers.

Flitting around this central conflict are the problems of the other students and staff. One girl plans to become a minister (shades of the nun-to-be in Prime), another's father is suspected of smuggling, a couple are trying to arrange to get married to one or another of the boy students. The staff are involved as well, sleeping with the students on occasion, and planning their own futures. And the neighbors, a young woman and her somewhat older nephew, are also drawn into the intrigue.

It is told, as ever with Spark, in a very spare fashion. Several months pass quickly, odd people are described doing odd things in the most deadpan of fashions, and by the end we know them fairly well and we know their fates. It is dryly funny, enjoyable to read and archly believable despite all the unusual characters. It is not, I think, nearly as good as Spark's best work -- in part it is not really about as much, I don't think -- but it is a fine piece of fiction.

Very disappointed to get this book which has no bar code and clearly appears to be "home project" of copyright violation: Poorly bound with delayed delivery. As a collector of books, any one would be disappointed to get this wreck of disjointedly bound, unauthentic appearing copy of a book. I have contacted the publisher to investigate a possible copyright violation. It is a shame that Amazon.com is the cybervehicle of such books!

Your tax dollars at work.......2005-12-19

The US government has done a lot of the reviewing work on this for me. The Library of Congress catalog entry (who does these?) reads as follows:
1. Creative writing -study and teaching - Fiction. 2. Teacher-student relationships - fiction. 3. Lausanne (Switzerland) - fiction. 4. Fiction-authorship -Fiction. 5. Married people- fiction. 6. Teenage boys - Fiction
That does describe a lot of it. All that's left for me is to put in a bunch of superlatives and give it five stars. An amazing thing that should be irrelevant is the author's date of birth (1923). I was reading the latest Muriel Sparks with enjoyment as a teenager. I didn't think I'd still be doing it in 2005. This is sparkling (sorry) up-to-the minute satire with never a cliché or a wasted word.

Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys: A Novel

Average customer rating:

delightfully twisted - Garcia knows how to do things right
Funny and original
Way Better than Chick Lit
Wasn't worth finishing
One of the funniest...

Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys: A Novel
Eric Garcia
Manufacturer: Avon A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Comic | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Casual Rex: A Novel
Anonymous Rex/Casual Rex Omnibus
Hot and Sweaty Rex: A Dinosaur Mafia Mystery (Dinosaur Mafia Mysteries)

ASIN: 0060781319
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Book Description

Cassandra French is a twenty-nine-year-old business affairs lawyer for a movie studio in Los Angeles. She has a creepy, platitudinous mother who is under house arrest for telemarketing fraud; and two best friends: studio exec Claire, who's sleeping with her shrink, and Lexi, a blond man-magnet of a yoga instructor. Oh, and she also has three handsome young men chained to cots in her basement. They're enrolled in Cassandra French's Finishing School For Boys.

Cassie has spent years in the dating hell that is Los Angeles, finding man after man who doesn't quite match up to her exacting standards. When Owen, a promising young man she meets at a baseball game, becomes a glassy eyed drunk by the seventh inning, she decides that all he needs is a little push in the right direction; after he passes out in her car, she brings him home, locks him up downstairs, and commences a year and a half of lessons on color coordination, behavior on dates, and ocassionally, sex. Owen proves an able student and is followed by two other likely candidates.

Things start to get a little complicated when Jason Kelly, Hollywood's biggest heartthrob, tries to seduce Cassie into fudging a contract issue on one of his movies. That's no way to treat a lady -- and Cassie has just the cure.

With an endearingly amoral heroine, a pitch-perfect L.A. setting, and a cast of unforgettably warped characters, Cassandra French's Finishing School for Boys is a shockingly funny, original, dead on satire of the dating scene.

Customer Reviews:

delightfully twisted - Garcia knows how to do things right.......2007-09-12

Cassandra French - Cassie Bear to her mother - works as a counsel in business affairs in a movie studio in LA. Her best friends - Claire and Lexi - often go with her out on the town where they try to find the perfect boy for the evening. Oh, and by the way, Cassie has three young men chained up in her basement while she puts them through her Finishing School to be the perfect men.

Written in the form of a journal, Cassie comes across as delightfully amoral and at the same time self-deprecating. She does not at all feel that what she is doing is wrong and, in fact, feels that she is doing the men and the world a huge favor. Of course, when she takes an opportunity and adds a movie star - Jason Kelly - to the School, things become decidedly more complicated.

I loved Garcia's Dinosaur Mafia books, and this book is again a great bit of fiction - romantic comedy, maybe? It is hard to decide exactly what genre it fits into. At any rate, I strongly recommend it for anyone who likes a good laugh - it's a riot.

Funny and original.......2007-07-26

Cassandra French is your typical twenty-something lawyer working in Los Angeles. She spends time with her friends, has a crazy mother (hers is on house arrest), a budding romance with a club owner, and hasn't been to the gym in weeks.

Except, she has one dirty little secret.

Tired of dating the same Neanderthals over and over again, Cassandra decides to do something about it. One afternoon, in a flash of inspiration, she kidnaps a 260-pound electrician who comes on to her at a baseball game, hoping to shape him into a man who will function properly in society. Thus, her Finishing School is born. Thngs come to a climax when she kidnaps Academy Award-winning actor Jason Kelley. Once you get past the fact that this book is supposed to be satire, its actually pretty funny and enjoyable. Although Cassie's friend Lexi is completely annoying, and Cassie's behavior bizarre, to say the least, our narrator has a lot of funny lines. Highly recommended.

Way Better than Chick Lit.......2007-06-26

This book was enough to give me ideas about locking Eric Garcia in my basement and chaining him to a word processor so he'll write more books. A writer with his immense talent should surely have written more than five by now. I'm a huge fan of his Rex series, and I absolutely loved this book. Not too many men can write a female character this well, that alone earning him some respect. And the story was great, too.

Cassandra French is a lawyer in business affairs at a studio. Her best friend Claire is an executive at Fox, and their trio is completed by Lexi, a thin, sexy yoga instructor. Cassie's life seems fairly normal, except for her housecoat-wearing mother who accosts strangers on the street and asks them to call Cassie on her behalf, since she has been banned from using telephones as part of her sentence for telemarketing fraud. Cassie's one other little quirk is the three men she keeps chained in her basement. Owen, Alan, and Daniel are all promising young men she met who all had small, fixable flaws that Cassie convinced herself she could correct through a program of positive reinforcement. One by one she added them to her Finishing School, and things were going just swell until she impulsively adds a fourth student, a famous Hollywood star. Things start spiraling out of control, leaving Cassie no choice but to call on Claire and Lexi to help, but things get even worse when her friends take so quickly to the idea of Cassie's Finishing School. I had no idea where any of this was going or how it was going to end, so I kept eagerly plowing through to the exceptional conclusion.

This book is a fun, lighthearted romp through the twistedly sane mind of Cassandra French. I found myself laughing out loud throughout. Eric Garcia writes great books, and I wish he'd get busy and write more.

Wasn't worth finishing.......2006-08-30

I did the same thing as many other people: started reading it, didn't like it, and skipped to the end, hoping for an outcome I didn't find.

I don't often give books up without finishing them. This was one of the few.

Oh, one another thing, the book jacket, which I didn't read before picking up the book, describes Cassandra as "endearingly amoral." For me, those just aren't two words that go together.

If you like characters who behave selfishly with no consequences, this book is for you.

And as for the laughs? I read about 150 pages before I skipped to the end. I didn't laugh once. Not in my head, and not out loud, either.

One of the funniest..........2006-08-15

and most creative novels I've read recently! Loved the male take on chic-lit novels. Hilarious concept!

Arizona Highways, May 1955 (Route 66, Southern Pacific Railroad) (Vol. 31, No. 5)

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Arizona Highways, May 1955 (Route 66, Southern Pacific Railroad) (Vol. 31, No. 5)

Manufacturer: Arizona Highway Dept
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000KO9JEO

Beaulieu Finishing School for Secret Agents

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Beaulieu Finishing School for Secret Agents
Cyril Cunningham
Manufacturer: Pen and Sword
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Intelligence & Espionage | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Espionage | True Accounts | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0850525985

Book Description

During World War II, the isolated country estate of Beaulieu became the principal training camp for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), Britain's premier wartime espionage and subversion organization.

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