Book Description
Milk Glass Moon, the third book in Adriana Trigiani's bestselling Big Stone Gap series, continues the life story of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney as she faces the challenges and changes of motherhood with her trademark humor and honesty. With twists as plentiful as those found on the holler roads of southwest Virginia, this story takes turns that will surprise and enthrall the reader.
Transporting us from Ave Maria's home in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Italian Alps, from New York City to the Tuscan countryside,
Milk Glass Moon is the story of a shifting mother-daughter relationship, of a daughter's first love and a mother's heartbreak, of an enduring marriage that contains its own ongoing challenges, and of a community faced with seismic change.
All of Trigiani's beloved characters are back: Jack Mac, Ave Maria's true love, who is willing to gamble security for the unknown; her best friend and confidant, bandleader Theodore Tip-ton, who begins a new life in New York City; librarian and sexpert Iva Lou Wade Makin, who faces a life-or-death crisis. Meanwhile, surprises emerge in the blossoming of crusty cashier Fleeta Mullins, the maturing of mountain girl turned savvy businesswoman Pearl Grimes, and the return of Pete Rutledge, the handsome stranger who turned Ave Maria's world upside down in
Big Cherry Holler.
In this rollicking hayride of upheaval and change, Ave Maria is led to places she never dreamed she would go, and to people who enter her life and rock its foundation. As Ave Maria reaches into the past to find answers to the present, readers will stay with her every step of the way, rooting for the onetime town spinster who embraced love and made a family.
Milk Glass Moon is about the power of love and its abiding truth, and captures Trigiani at her most lyrical and heartfelt.
Download Description
Milk Glass Moon, the third book in Adriana Trigiani's bestselling Big Stone Gap series, continues the life story of Ave Maria Mulligan MacChesney as she faces the challenges and changes of motherhood with her trademark humor and honesty. With twists as plentiful as those found on the holler roads of southwest Virginia, this story takes turns that will surprise and enthrall the reader.
Transporting us from Ave Maria's home in the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Italian Alps, from New York City to the Tuscan countryside, Milk Glass Moon is the story of a shifting mother-daughter relationship, of a daughter's first love and a mother's heartbreak, of an enduring marriage that contains its own ongoing challenges, and of a community faced with seismic change.
All of Trigiani's beloved characters are back: Jack Mac, Ave Maria's true love, who is willing to gamble security for the unknown; her best friend and confidant, bandleader Theodore Tipton, who begins a new life in New York City; librarian and sexpert Iva Lou Wade Makin, who faces a life-or-death crisis. Meanwhile, surprises emerge in the blossoming of crusty cashier Fleeta Mullins, the maturing of mountain girl turned savvy businesswoman Pearl Grimes, and the return of Pete Rutledge, the handsome stranger who turned Ave Maria's world upside down in Big Cherry Holler.
In this rollicking hayride of upheaval and change, Ave Maria is led to places she never dreamed she would go, and to people who enter her life and rock its foundation. As Ave Maria reaches into the past to find answers to the present, readers will stay with her every step of the way, rooting for the onetime town spinster who embraced love and made a family. Milk Glass Moon is about the power of love and its abiding truth, and captures Trigiani at her most lyrical and heartfelt.
Customer Reviews:
Book Review.......2007-10-01
Great book! Author is awesome. First time reading her books & really enjoyed the triology.
GOOD READ.......2007-06-01
I BOUGHT THIS FOR MY STEPMOTHER AND AUNT. THEY BOTH LIKE HER BOOKS REALLY WELL.
Milk Glass Moon.......2007-02-11
I have loved all of the Big Stone Gap Novels - "Milk Glass Moon" is the third in this series which will charm anyone who enjoys a kind of "down home" story, as we journey through life with Ave Maria, her husband,Jack, and their daughter, Etta, and all their friends in Big Stone Gap. I call this one of my "feel good" books (Please note, I feel the same way about Fannie Flagg's books) - you want to pack up and move to Big Stone Gap and be a part of their lives.
The third book in the "Big Stone Gap" quartet.......2006-09-09
After following the troubled MacChesney marriage in the second book, readers now focus on the adolescent Etta as she struggles with growing up. Her mother Ave Maria, too, has difficulty allowing her daughter this passage, especially after losing her toddler son Joe to leukemia.
Yet, like her mother, Etta promises to become a strong young woman. This doesn't make the MacChesneys any easier, though, when longtime family friend Stefano Grassi comes to visit from Italy...
This book is the second of the "Big Stone Gap" quartet; the fourth book is scheduled for release at the end of October 2006.
Wonderful book!.......2006-05-24
Like the 2 previous novels about Big Stone Gap and the MacChesney, I love this one too! I am glad to see that there is another book, The Return to Big Stone Gap, coming out in September.
Book Description
A New York Times Notable Book, Mother’s Milk is a brilliantly stylish and witty novel by a master of modern British fiction. Widely acclaimed in the United States and the UK, Mother’s Milk follows the Melroses, the same family featured in St. Aubyn’s trilogy, Some Hope. First we meet Robert, who provides an exceptionally droll and convincing account of being born; then Patrick, a hilariously churlish husband who has been sexually abandoned by his wife in favor of motherhood; then Mary, who’s consumed by her children and an overwhelming desire not to repeat the mistakes of her own mother. All the while, St. Aubyn examines the web of false promises that entangles this once illustrious family, whose last vestige of wealth—an estate in the South of France—is about to be permanently donated by Patrick’s mother to a new-age foundation. The result is captivating and unexpected.
Customer Reviews:
A love hate relationship with this book.......2007-08-08
I liked this book and hated it. I doidn't like the father figure, I felt he used his depression as an excuse to be cruel to his family. A selfish indivual, who blamed all his problems on his mother. The children where delightful characters. The language was wonderful, and a delight to read. The imagagry at the beginning sucked me right in and it was the langugage that kept me reading the book. I did prefer The Night Watch. (By Sarah Waters)
What a slog.........2007-07-17
It is odd perhaps that I would describe this short novel as a "slog," but there it is. While reading it, I spent a lot of time complaining to family and friends about the hateful, annoying novel I was reading. It started out particularly bad. The first section is written from the perspective of the family's five year old. I have to say, I really don't think this guy can write kids, or maybe he was trying to imagine what it would be like to describe the thoughts of a child in very adult language - I dunno. All I can say is it was excessively annoying.
Things get a little better when the perspectives of the adults take over, particularly the pathetic and eternally unsatisfied father and husband, Patrick. Now, I will be honest. What really got to me about this novel is its unrelenting cynicism. I know that other reviewers describe this as 'acerbic wit,' but for me it was just too much. Each and every character is loathesome. Each and every aspect of their lives is a bore and a chore. Now I am a single woman, so I guess I might have to admit that reading about the discontents of married people brings some amount of satisfaction. And in fact, Patrick could be quite amusing in his rants and raves (there were probably not enough of these). Also, I should add that NO ONE dislikes excessive earnestness more than me, but this novel, as I said, was unrelenting. And do I really need to hear multiple descriptions of how disgusting fat people are? I mean, that just comes off as snobbish and unkind, not really witty. And who can't find something good to eat in New York??
As many times as I was tempted to put down this book forever, I didn't - mainly because I have a compulsion that does not allow me to stop reading a book early. But despite this, the book did win me over in a certain way, and its author is a skilled writer, even if he sees no goodness in life, love, family, or any of New York's myriad restaurants. My advice to you? If I were being honest I would say - life is short, go read the Iliad or something. But if you dislike your spouse and regret having children and really hate your mother, you might enjoy it!
Well Written but been there seen that story Arc.........2007-07-08
This is an enjoyable book to read as it is very well written full or wit and lots of clever metaphors and descriptions.. I enjoyed it.
However, although it is entertaining, it's story structure is predictable and has been done before, though I guess nothing is really new.
Despite this I would still recommend reading this book just because the descriptions are so delicious.
More on dysfunctional families - well written but nothing special.......2007-06-17
The British love writing about dysfunctional families - there are dozens of good literary novels published each year about them - and if not for the fact that Edward St. Aubyn's book was shortlisted for the 2006 Man Booker Prize, it wouldn't have stood out as an obvious pick The secret torments of the Melroses aren't particularly exceptional or interesting. Fact is, they're all a little messed up in the head because they had dads or mums who didn't do the right thing by them when they were little. By implication, their own kids will some day grow up similarly afflicted. The problem with reading books like these is that with somebody - a parent or better still, society at large- to blame, we are encouraged not to take responsibility for our own actions. And so it goes on.
Be that as it may, "Mother's Milk" is indeed a very well written book. We dwell in the heads of each character merry-go-round style and let their interior monologue reveal their inner most feelings and frustrations to us. Of the lot, I found Mary's voice the most sympathetic and truest. A woman fighting a losing battle against the demands of motherhood is universal and a phenomenon most people can identify with. However, Patrick's spiraling resentment at losing his place in Mary's bed to his kids, his mother Eleanor's bizarre determination to disinherit him and leave her property to some New Age cause, his descent into self-pity and response by mooning about, getting drunk on the beach and making out with his friend Julia, etc only seems like childish petulance and grows increasingly tiresome. I also had problems with the voices of the two boys, Robert and Thomas - they're far too old for their ages and therefore lack credibility. Kettle, Mary's high society mother may seem like an obvious caricature but she's believable and explains Mary's obsession with becoming everything she's not. Even poor Eleanor's crankiness may be explained by her own past. The best part of the book for me was Chapter 4 - about the family's never again holiday with Josh Packer and his posh family - the antics of these nouveau riche are a scream !
If you're into books of this genre, you will enjoy "Mother's Milk". If not, there's nothing too special here that should make this a must-read. If only the Man Booker Prize nominating committee would be more daring in its choice of new titles for the award. I haven't read it yet but fellow nominee M J Hyland's "Carry Me Down" promises to be another one from this same genre.
The Melrose family holidays.......2007-03-22
Edward St Aubyn is a terriffic writer. Mother's Milk is a good novel, though not a brilliant one. It's themes are familiar - dysfunctional family life, the burdens of wealth and privilege, mid life crises galore, though St Aubyn is a fresh and talented enough stylist with a gift for realistic characterisation and turn of phrase to invest them with new life.
The novel is a curiously fragmented journey through a few years of the Melrose family life, mostly covering periods when they are on holiday in France and, subsequently, America after Patrick's senile mother gives away the family home in France to a new age charlatan. St Aubyn's descriptions of wealthy families in decline are sublime. His style is redolent of the fragile, waspish Evelyn Waugh of 'A Handful of Dust', comparing wealthy people to 'the shrill pea in the whistle of their possessions' for instance. St Aubyn, being a member of the decaying British gentry himself, is perfectly positioned to observe the caustic snobberies and hypocricies of his characters.
He is also redolent of Christopher Isherwood, in camera mode, though St Aubyn's precise camera moves viewpoint. The book opens bizzarely with an account of Patrick's son, Robert, who remembers his birth: 'Why had they pretended to kill him when he was born? Keeping him awake for days, banging his head again and again against a closed cervix'. Through the novel the focus shifts to Patrick, whose mid life crisis, his affair with his girlfriend of old, Julia, his sexual abandonment by his wife, his selfish desire for solitude and neglect of his family duties is brilliantly done. Then we hear from Mary, who, in compensating for her own abandonment in childhood by her mother, Kettle, makes up for it by sacrificing her own existence in her selfless desire to be a good mother.
St Aubyn is a writer very much concerned to be original, and he does this by focussing on the few areas of existence not covered by words. Hence childbirth; hence, at the other extreme, advanced old age. The final sections when Patrick's mother requests to be taken to Switzerland for assisted suicide is heart rending, with her crumbling dialogue and wasting body brought alive with precision on the page. These make for interesting sections, away from the standard domestic drama pieces of Patrick's facetious attitude towards life.
As a result of paying attention to these semi-conscious zones of existence, however, the narrative suffers from jumpiness, characters move about without clear explanation. As other reviewers have mentioned, the form perhaps suffers as St Aubyn shoehornes in another immaculate riff on, say, obesity in America, or a Wildesqe aphorism from the mouth of Patrick. The children, Robert and Thomas, are understandably articulate, but from the dialogue St Aubyn gives them they come across as freakish prodigies. This is unrealistic, though perhaps understandable, since the author's tragic childhood meant he must have grown up almost at double speed.
Currently St Aubyn is a great talent of which he is not yet in full control, a tributary in search of a river. I predict a great novel somewhere down the line, when he harnesses his considerable abilities and better balances all the teetering aspects of the human condition he currently grapples with.
Book Description
In the silent pre-dawn city hours -- alone with his thoughts about Rina Lazarus, the woman he loves, three thousand miles away in New York -- LAPD detective Peter Decker finds a small child, abandoned and covered in blood that is not hers. It is a sobering discovery, and a perplexing one, for nobody in the development where she was found steps forward to claim the little girl. Obsessed more deeply by this case than he imagined possible, Decker is determined to follow the scant clues to an answer. But his trail is leading him to a killing ground where four bodies lie still and lifeless. And by the time Rina returns, Peter Decker is already held fast in a sticky mass of hatred, passion, and murder -- in a world where intense sweetness is accompanied by a deadly sting.
Customer Reviews:
tragedy in the family.......2007-01-25
One night police sergeant Peter Denker stumbles on a two-year-old girl. She is covered in blood, but isn't hurt. After a lot of hard work Denker finds the home where the girl lived, but inside he discovers a massacre: four dead bodies, all covered with bees and honey. As if that isn't enough, one of Denkers friends is being accused of rape.
Faye Kellermans third Denker-novel is another pageturner. Filled with daunting descriptions of a family argument that turned into disaster. But also a novel about human emotions and friendship, and how friendship can change.
Just keep getting better and better!.......2006-10-27
If each new installment of this series continues to surpass the one before it, we're gonna need more stars. This is the third entry in the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Series and I thoroughly enjoyed this one on all levels. The first one (The Ritual Bath) was, I thought, a little too heavy on the religion, although, the crime took place at the Yeshiva (Jewish School), so it was understandable. The second one (Sacred and Profane) was better, but still a little in your face with the religious stuff. This one, though, perfectly balances the religion and the mystery/crime plot - there was nothing to distract me.
The reason the religion enters into the series is because Rina is an Orthodox Jew, and very serious about it. Decker now knows that his biological parents were Jewish, but he was raised Baptist by his adoptive parents, so Rina's world is all new to him. He is determined to stick with his studies and convert to Orthodox Judaism - at first, mainly so he can marry Rina, but as he gets into it and learns more, his faith begins to offer some comfort for him in his life as an LAPD Police Detective. (His colleagues have begun calling him "Rabbi," much to his chagrin).
Anyway, this story starts with Decker finding a toddler wandering around alone one night in the middle of a new suburban community where no one will admit to ever having seen the little girl. She is so cute and friendly, that she captivates Decker and the fact that she was found wearing a blood-soaked sleeper makes this a potentially tragic case in the offing. Decker doggedly pursues it - after all, there is nothing for him to go home to, since Rina packed up and moved to New York - and he has no one else to blame, since it was he who suggested they needed breathing room. (But he didn't mean 3000 miles worth!)
While Decker hunts for the girl's parents (hoping to find them alive, but afraid they won't be), he also tries to help out an old Army buddy of his. He and Abel Atwater went through Basic together and then fought side-by-side in Vietnam together. Abe lost a leg (and something else more important to him, as you'll find out later in the book) in the war and has never come to terms with it - he's an embittered man who frequents prostitutes on a regular basis. He's in trouble now because one of those prostitutes has accused him of brutally raping, beating and stabbing her. He denies the whole thing. Decker wants to believe him, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he's not altogether sure the man his friend has become isn't capable. He is determined to find out, though, so he makes some discreet inquiries - something that could very well come back and bite him in the [...] because a police detective isn't supposed to be working for the defense.
So, Decker is balancing all this while trying to get back together with Rina which makes things pretty tense all the way around. Lots of history for Decker in this one - we discover the defining moment of his life in Nam that shaped the man he is today. Even though he's a wee bit too perfect sometimes, Rabbi Schulman is one of my favorite characters (I often wonder if he is based on any one real person), and we see more into his past as well in this one. Good character development. I hope we see more of Atwater in the future - he's a very intriguing character too. There are plenty of tear-jerking moments as well as funny moments (the fight between Decker and Atwater is just hilarious!), so don't miss out on this one. (The background is laid out at the start, so you don't have to read the first two in order to enjoy this one, but why not go ahead and read them too?)
You can skip this one.......2006-10-06
Maybe there was pressure to get another book out fast. This was the first of hers I'd read - it is without doubt weaker than the five I've seen since. Over the mountain is a set of cardbord cut-outs. Everybody is either an inbred racist hick bee farmer, or a worthless racist biker or wannabe. There is nothing interesting or compelling about any of them. Back in town, you have the cheap constructs. First, Peter's Army buddy with the wooden leg that must be filled with all the booze and drugs he took in thirty years of marginal living because he can't handle reality. When Peter has problems in his conversion training, the Rabbi just happens to save the moment with a story from his Concentration Camp days. I realize now that this fact was presented in an earlier book. Neither plot line ends up in an interesting or novel way. It seems like after a certain number of pages you are told what happened. Most of her other books are so much better...
A Lost Toddler Leads To A Gruesome Discovery & Investigation........2005-08-21
"Milk and Honey," the third in the Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novels, proves to be as good a read as "Day of Atonement," my first venture into Faye Kellerman's excellent mystery/sleuth series. This is a stand-alone novel, and one can easily get to know the cast of characters and their history without having read the prior books. Ms. Kellerman's Decker/Lazarus novels are a terrific change of pace from my usual fiction reading. Although these have their share of violence, gruesomeness and unsavory individuals, the ethnic/cultural aspect of the stories and the sheer humanity of the characters are refreshing.
Peter Decker, a detective with the Los Angeles police, is still courting Rina Lazarus, an Orthodoz Jewish widow and the mother of two small sons. Raised a Baptist, Peter is studying with Rabbi Aaron Schulman to become a Jew, but at times has doubts about the course he has chosen. He and Rina are very much in love. Apart from her beauty, outside and in, Decker is drawn to her total lack of guile. Rina, who in no way wants to pressure him, needs to find out how committed her finance is to their relationship and to becoming an observant religious man. She has taken her boys back east, to visit with her ex in-laws in Brooklyn.
Late one night, thinking of Rina thousands of miles away, Peter is unable to sleep and takes a drive into the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. He finds an adorable toddler wandering around by herself in the early morning hours. After checking with people in the near-by housing complex, he determines the child to be lost or abandoned. When he gets her into the light, Decker discovers she is wearing blood-soaked pajamas and is covered in bee stings. He is concerned that something has happened to the little girl's parent(s) or guardian, since the blood does not seem to be her own. He feels for the bewildered child and is determined to find her family. His partner, Marge Dunn, places their small charge in foster care while they look for the relatives. Their search is relatively short, but what they find will lead them into a long and horrific investigation concerning a family feud turned violent, an overabundance of passion and death. No spoilers here!!
Meanwhile, Abel Atwater. an old buddy from his Vietnam War days appears in need of help. Atwater lost a leg and some of his sanity in the war. Now it appears he has been charged with the rape and mutilation of a prostitute. He swears he is innocent. Peter has some doubts.
The author deftly handles the workings of various intense personal relationships and solving multiple crimes with apparent ease. As with the other Kellerman book I read, her characters are her strength. They are truly three-dimensional and their dialogue is extremely realistic - at times just plain funny, at others quite moving. Her mysteries are solid. No loose threads are left behind. I plan on reading more of this excellent author's work and highly recommend it to others.
JANA
ask Honest Abe(l) you'll enjy this one.........2005-07-03
Not joshing about what I said...whose Abel? read this and find out.... This was was EXCEPTIONALLY good...I really loved it Faye Kellerman is an extremely talented author.
Book Description
It's off to the hot springs for the Ikeda and Morii families! Hidari takes the opportunity to seduce Yoshinori by going to his room and stripping! How will Yoshinori react? Meanwhile, Miki has set her sights on Hidari's father, Yusuke...what will happen between those two?! Then there's drama on the soccer field as Minamo watches Yuki become very friendly with both Wataru and Nobuko! Is Minamo's close relationship with Yoshinori in danger?
Book Description
Ever since Yoshinori filled in for his sister Yuki at a photo shoot, he has developed a secret passion for cross-dressing. When he slips on a skirt or dress, and steps out in public, he learns a great deal about what it means to be a woman...and a man. But when Yoshinori--dressed as Yuki--hears childhood friend Hidari confess her love for him, things get a bit out of control! Tomochika Miyano unique and unforgettable take on sexual identity, emotional angst, and metrosexual chic is a bishonen explosion of excitement, intrigue, and seduction.
Customer Reviews:
More of the same..?.......2007-09-07
Yoshinori enjoys cross dressing. To the point where he once filled in for his sexy sister in a photo shoot and now he takes photos of himself in drag. But he feels the need to do even more - like go out in public in a dress! But what happens when two girls seem to fall in love with him - one BECAUSE he is dressed up like a girl?
While it may seem just more of the same the plot and issues are very adult. Even without some of the nudity and fan service I would suggest this series only for adults.
While it is labeled a Romance/Comedy it seems to be very serious much of the time. The volume also includes two short bonus stories. For ages 18 and up only.
Decent but why?.......2006-07-05
As an avid reader of manga invarious genres, my wife picked this up for me the other day. A silly title, with a decent smattering of art, both inside the book and on the cover. As i opened the book from it's shrink wrap, i felt that it was going to be some type of deviency, since hey, its manga, and its shrink wrapped. Im a huge fan of the Angel Sanctuary series, and that line has it's own weird moments. This was rather trite, and borish all at the same time. One cannot relate to figures in the book, nor justify actions in the characters age groups. One character, a young kid who everyone treats as such, and hasnt hit puberty, has more adult feelings than can be expected. Ok, so it's possible. But then why is she joking about her feelings with a pair of strawberries? Whatever. The main character is manic-depressive, and shows no connection to why he wears womens clothes other than "Hey, i can, so i will." The other love interest seems to be the most stable character through out the two (yes two) issues of the book. That is, until her 'feelings' come around. All i could think about is how expected each turn was. It's like watching an Aaron Spelling drama. All fluff and no substance.
So, would i recommend it? Based on story, not really. There are plenty of other 18+ year old story lines out there with more concrete characters, and better development. What about art? Well, it's decent, its not abstract or avant garde, nor hyper-realistic.
If you like Tenchi, and can handle the 'adult' humor in such, this is ok. I wouldnt have made it an Adult book, it's honestly not that 'bad'
Kept MY interest, and thats saying alot! LOL.......2006-06-02
THIS IS DEFINATLY NOT FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 OR ISNT MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE SEXUAL SITUATIONS/DEPICTIONS!!!!!!!
Im 19, and MUST have ADD, i just know it. LOL. Most manga I have read these days are well...slow. For the new price of the manga (usually 9.99+) and with so many of them to get, Its hard for me to maintain Interest in a story thats gonna cost me 70+ bucks seeing as how usually the story fades out after the first 2 volumes. I was impressed that the story in this held strong EVEN for justthe first volume. The only thing i didnt care too much for was the flipping and flopping of emotions...(IE, i love her, but i love HER, i want HER but i dont wanna hurt her, ect...)but seeing as how I AM bipolar LOL i got used to it. The crossdressing was a turn on for me especially since my fiance does it so i can actually relate to it and the feelings and stuff he goes through. Im just glad this seems to be a manga i can pick up from barnes and noble ect and not have to order from specific company since it is by tokyopop which is who most of my manga is by. Anyways im rambling I WOULD reccommend this to anyone who has the thoughts and or experience of crossdressing or who just wants a good, solid story so far. And if you want somthing else that is sexually stimulating id reccommend: Hot Gimmick, Gravitation, Hyper Police (for the art), and various Yaoi depending on what interests you. THIS IS DEFINATLY NOT FOR ANYONE UNDER THE AGE OF 18 OR ISNT MATURE ENOUGH TO HANDLE SEXUAL SITUATIONS/DEPICTIONS!!!!!!!
Average customer rating:
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Yubisaki Milk Tea Volume 3 (Yubisaki Milk Tea)
Tomochika Miyano
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Yubisaki Milk Tea Volume 2 (Yubisaki Milk Tea)
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Yubisaki Milk Tea Volume 1 (Yubisaki Milk Tea)
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Kashimashi, Volume 1
ASIN: 1598162926
Release Date: 2006-11-28 |
Book Description
Yoshinori just can't decide whom he has a crush on: Minamo or Hidari. Seems like Yoshinori will never be able to muster up the courage to tell Hidari how he truly feels about her. But he better think of something quick--Yuki seems to be getting very close to Hidari, too! Sounds like this love triangle needs to be redrawn...
Customer Reviews:
Yubisaki Review.......2007-04-05
An excellent addition to the series. I remember watching Tenchi or Ranma and aknowledging that if the guy choose between the girls then the series would be over yet still feeling frusrated that no progress ever occured. So I like how in this series the man though indecisive clearly isn't satisfied with the status quo. In this volume Nori stops jumping between girls and chooses Hidari. He even makes it clear to Minamo that he has choosen Hidari. In some ways you respect him more for this. Still you can't help but wonder: Is he just jealous when Minamo moves on? Does he still love her? Can he return to the status quo or as he broken it? Also it's interesting to see Nori agonize over questions that don't bother most men: Will sports ruin his girlish figure? Is he too tall? Is his voice to deep? To answer he keeps hearing compliments that feel more like insults. I feel so sorry that I wish the author could just throw him in a jusenkyo spring.
Hidari's character is more developed as well. One chapter is told from her POV. Overall volume three is a terrific read that leaves you wanting more.
Average customer rating:
- "Boredom...the only reason anyone on earth cared about anyone else."
- A promising debut novel by a gifted writer
- Quirky musings about a dysfunctional family
- (3.5) When life gives you lemons...
- Excellent
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Bitter Milk: A Novel
John McManus
Manufacturer: Picador
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Loverboy
ASIN: 0312301936
Release Date: 2005-05-12 |
Book Description
From Whiting Award-winning writer John McManus comes a debut novel of startling originality and mystery The son of an unknown father and an ostracized mother, and the next of kin in a long line of bastard relatives,nine-year-old Loren Garland lives a life of subtle mystery beneath the shadow of an East Tennessee mountain. It is on his family's broken-down estate that Loren's imagination grows, and with it, the extraordinary voice of Bitter Milk,a young boy named Luther who may be Loren's imaginary friend, his conscience, or his evil twin. And yet outside the puzzle of Loren's brain, there are the darker goings-on of his family-his mother who wishes she were a man, his new uncle who plans to develop the Garland land intoreal estate, and his withered grandfather who holds the clan together through truculence and fear. When Loren's mother disappears, he must set out on a quest of his own devising, tossing aside the trappings of youth in order to discover the truth of the world.
Customer Reviews:
"Boredom...the only reason anyone on earth cared about anyone else.".......2005-09-02
Set on the slopes of Chilhowee Mountain in rural Tennessee, Bitter Milk is the strange coming-of-age story of a Loren Garland, a nine-year-old boy who lives with an assortment of weird family members and attends school with an equally weird assortment of teachers and students. Bright but very fearful about school and all other aspects of his life, the 150-pound fourth-grader lacks friends his own age, and he clings emotionally to his mother, Opal. The more he seeks attention from Opal, however, the more often his alterego, Luther, who is the book's narrator, clamors for attention. Opal, who prefers to be called Avery, has been avoiding her extended family for almost a year while exploring life as a man, and she is frequently depressed and impatient with Loren.
Upon the death of his grandmother and the sale of the family's land to developers, Opal/Avery suddenly disappears, telling Loren, in a peculiar note, to call her sister Ruby and to go there to dye eggs for Easter. From this point on, Loren is shunted from relative to relative, and though he stops eating and blames himself for his mother's disappearance, he also begins to learn something new about himself in each bizarre household. Luther remains hidden inside him and stays relatively quiet until Loren begins to make friends with Eli, Ruby's abusive young stepson, who introduces him to the joys of alcohol and the sniffing of Magic Markers.
Though the author frequently gives lyrical descriptions of nature--birds, animals, plants--he also shows the ignorance (the "ignartness") of man toward nature. The trees Loren loves on the mountain are being bulldozed for development, a cat is grotesquely abused and then killed, a fish hooked through the eye is not put out of its pain. However much these people abuse nature, however, they also abuse each other-breaking noses in fights, mocking each other, telling the elderly grandfather that he is going to die, deliberately goading a teacher and then defying her, tormenting fellow students.
Filled with bizarre characters who resemble hominids more than humans, the novel shows a "society" that is still close to the level of tooth and claw. Though Loren learns a good deal about himself, the characters around him do not, and many readers will neither identify with them nor care what happens to them. Though there is a good deal of dark humor in their lives, the characters lack charm and the humor often falls flat. Ultimately, the novel remains rooted in the unique, never developing the universal themes which make the reading of novels rewarding. (3.5 stars) n Mary Whipple
A promising debut novel by a gifted writer.......2005-08-22
BITTER MILK by John McManus
August 21, 2005
Rating: 3 ½ stars
Here's a book that was unique from the start. The debut novel BITTER MILK by John McManus is narrated by a character that does not exist, except in the mind of its main character, Lorn. The narrative is rambling at best, almost like a stream of consciousness type of writing.
The story takes place in the east hills of Tennessee, and 9-year old Lorn lives there with his mother. He's overweight and very much the loner, except for his "friend" Luther. Lorn's mother isn't your typical maternal character. She's very independent and has wanted to be a man for a long time. Luther, the imaginary friend (or is he real? The book does a good job making him as real as he may seem to the boy Lorn), has a mind of his own, and as the reader will find out, in some ways Luther is in competition with Lorn's mother. Luther wants Lorn all to himself, but Lorn is trying to get the attention of his mother, who is so obsessed with her own troubles. Yet, Luther is treated as a real person, as is seen when Lorn's mother sets a place mat at every meal for Luther as well as Lorn.
This is southern gothic at its best, with characters that are dysfunctional and situations match the characters that live them. The crux of the story is Lorn and his self-esteem, and the reader will watch him start off as a very insecure boy, but moving toward adolescence and growing in self-confidence by the end of the novel. What is interesting is that Luther, at least for a while, disappears. Lorn no longer needs him, especially when he is off looking for his mother, who had gone away due to reasons Lorn is not aware of.
Besides the focus on Lorn and his mother, there is the subplot of the new uncle who has brought developers to their mountain, planning on taking over the family land and turning it into moneymaking real estate.
BITTER MILK is a very difficult read. It's non-traditional in its structure, with no chapter breaks or quotation marks to denote conversations. Yet, if a reader is willing to delve into the life of Lorn Garland, they will walk away that much more enriched. John McManus shows promise as a literary talent, although this novel does not quite succeed in doing what he was trying to accomplish. However, I would definitely keep an eye on this author, because he's one that is not afraid to challenge literary standards and try something new for the sake of his art. The youngest ever recipient of the Whiting Writer's Award, John McManus is a writer that will go far.
Quirky musings about a dysfunctional family.......2005-08-03
Wow, talk about your dysfunctional families. Loren Garland's takes the cake. Avery, his Mother --- who desperately wants to be a man --- tells her nine-year-old son, "Whatever they [other family members] say to do, do something else completely different, cause everything they say is useless cause they don't understand you." Great advice for a grossly overweight, fatherless boy, don't you think? Well, actually, maybe it is, once you meet Aunt Ruby, Uncle Cass and Papaw --- Mother's cranky old father. Between the three of them, they don't have the brains to walk a straight line. And if you think that doesn't make sense, neither do they. If Papaw isn't making up illogical, obscene songs, he's spewing illogical, nonsense lines. Everybody tells him so. He doesn't care. He has just buried Mamaw and now he is fixing to sell the old homestead to a developer. He doesn't care about that either.
But the dysfunction doesn't limit itself just to Loren's family. Oh, no. It extends all the way into his school. Ms. Rathbone, his teacher, can hardly be called, um, competent. Rather than handle the classroom's antics, she yields to frequent bouts of yelling and barely controlled tantrums. And the principal --- well, it is hard not to wonder about Mr. Ownby. The best one can say is that he seems to be on Loren's side, which is a rare thing indeed.
Loren worries about everything. Almost anything might cause him to drown, gag, fall off the earth, or just shrivel up and die. How he functions at all is truly amazing. It may be that Luther keeps him going. Luther --- who, incidentally, has no body --- narrates Loren's story. While Luther is generally pretty accurate, he can be frank to the point of downright meanness. Apparently, Mother created Luther the same day she created Loren. But for some reason, she acts as though she is jealous of her son's imaginary friend.
When Mother unexpectedly disappears one day --- and coincidentally Luther disappears at the same time --- Loren is left to fend for himself. First, he tries out a night at Cass's house, but doesn't like either Cass or his skanky girlfriend. He decides Aunt Ruby might be better, but that turns out not to be the case either. Papaw may be his favorite, but he's a loony old goat, not really a fit guardian for the boy. But then, no one in Loren's family is. For a few days, Loren bounces from one family member to the next, learning a great deal about all sorts of stuff in a very short time. By the end of the book, he just might have learned enough to get by. But now what if Mother returns?
BITTER MILK is one chapter --- albeit a 195-page-long one --- in Loren Garland's life, full of quirky characters and interesting adolescent musings.
--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
(3.5) When life gives you lemons..........2005-08-01
Nine-year old Loren Garland carries more than one voice in his bulky body. Although food has been his primary comfort, he also relies on Luther, the narrative voice of Bitter Milk, for an appropriate perspective on the world. An outcast in a family of eccentrics who live near Chilhowee Mountain, Tennessee, Loren feels safest with his mother. Opal Avery Garland suffers from gender dysphoria, unable to make peace with a yearning for maleness, but trapped in her female body. When she leaves abruptly after the death of her mother, MawMaw, Loren is left in the care of relatives who fail to understand the confusion he bears.
Passing from one family member to another, Loren confronts his aloneness, often shutting out Luther's nattering objections. But Luther refuses to go quietly; he has inhabited Loren's mind for far too long as an invaluable ally. When none of the family members, Aunt Ruby, Cass, or Eli can reach the confused boy, they leave him to wander the back roads of his imagination, collecting bits of truth about a world that has turned increasingly hostile. Loren is most deeply troubled by his mother's recent departure, unsure what this action bodes for his future, amid whispers of her sojourn in a mental hospital for depression or treatment of another kind to reject the physical signs of her gender. Is this a time-out or abandonment?
The closer Loren gets to his truth, the less power Luther exerts over his alter-ego, a boy chipping away at the walls of his own denial. While the recently sold family property is surveyed for construction and family members decide how to spend their expected windfall, Loren reconstructs his inner child in a mutable world. With regional dialog that reflects family life in the shadow of a Tennessee mountain invaded by progress, the old ways clash with a surge of opportunistic greed. Characters reminiscent of The Beans of Egypt, Maine, rendered clumsy in their efforts to communicate, struggle to comprehend a woman who wants to be a man and her overweight, troubled son. But it is Loren/Luther who makes lemonade from this batch of bitter lemons. Luan Gaines/2005.
Excellent.......2005-05-28
A careful reader not given to name-dropping from the publishing industry (like the first reviewer) will surely see what an excellent novel BITTER MILK is. Essentially a bildungsroman like most first literary novels, BITTER MILK does two things worth praising: 1. it shows us the character's inner discoveries while 2. painting the outer pressures that confuse yet fascinate him. Excellent.
Book Description
Milk & Cheese -- a carton of hate and a wedge of spite! Follow the adventures of these dairy products gone bad as they trash the American pop culture landscape. Violence, humor and lots of shtick. Comic book funnies at their finest.
Customer Reviews:
funny, violent, clever, repetitive and everything else good.......2004-03-07
This is the best humor comic I have ever read, laughing out loud through every issue. Milk and Cheese basically hate everything and everyone with the exception of booze drinks, sharp objects, TV, Don Knotts, violence and Threes Company. They do what every person has wanted to do at least once in their lives (or several times a day for some)...maul and eye gouge their way through most segements of the population. Nobody is safe from these dairy products gone bad, they taget everyone from fat people to stand up comedians (with satisfying results)! That being said, keep the kids and the easily offended Sallys away from this one. The book is summed up best in their own words: "We hate what you hate, and we hate you!"
Booze and violence.......2000-10-24
This is one of the funniest comics around today (another being DORK, also by M&C creator Evan Dorkin). Why is it funny? Because Milk and Cheese get away with something we all wish we could get away with: getting liquored up and beating the crap out of annoying people. That's all this comic is, but then that's all it needs to be. Well, maybe that, and a dash of talk-show viewing, but even to do that, they have to rend, pummel, lacerate, and bludgeon anyone who gets in their way. This is pure mayhem, a 2-man riot.
Hilarious dialogue only adds to the mayhem. It's apparent that M&C take their mission, to destroy all idiots, very seriously. The question is: how can Evan Dorkin take essentially the same storyline and make it entertaining over and over again? Believe me, he does it VERY well, and the little comments and asides add immeasurably to the fun. I would prefer to give this 9 of 10, so please forgive the 4.
Now if only he'd start collecting DORK in trade editions. I need more!
Dairy Products Gone Horribly Wrong.......2000-04-06
MILK & CHEESE : Alcoholic dairy products filled w/ hate and aggression bent on correcting the status quo and the insipid (are they the same? They think so). It's downright hilarious and completely leftfield. An absolute *MUST* for anyone who sees a riotous playground in seeing an animated carton of milk and a wedge of cheese (my heroes) wreak havoc on everything and everyone.
This is the trade paperback that collects the first 4 volumes. Collect them all!
Milk and Cheese are godlike!!.......1999-08-07
Abolutely the funniest comics in the world!!! Read all of their books now!!!
Funny stuff.......1999-07-15
If you have a sense of humor and a strong stomach, you need to buy this book. My friend and I both agree that "Armed and Hammered" should be read by everyone, so when you buy this sit it on your coffee table and make your guests read it.
Average customer rating:
- Love it!
- A Good Read!
- Just okay
- One of my favorite writers... not one of my favorite books... :(
- ENJOYED IT
|
Milk In My Coffee
Eric Jerome Dickey
Manufacturer: Dutton Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| African American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Dickey, Eric Jerome
| African American
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
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Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
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United States
| Short Stories
| Literature & Fiction
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ASIN: 0525943854 |
Amazon.com
Dickey's third novel takes on the personal politics associated with interracial romance, as a chance encounter in a Manhattan taxi brings together Jordan Greene, a young black urban professional, and Kimberly Chavers, a white painter. Dickey gets far beyond the stereotypes, infusing all his characters with complex emotional lives, and while Jordan dominates the story, the multiple first-person narration shows just how deep Dickey's willing to get inside "all" his characters' heads. Milk in My Coffee is a story about two people coming to terms with the attitudes that shape their identities, where hearts and minds learn painful lessons about getting beyond what the eye can see. --Ron Hogan
Book Description
Tennessee native Jordan Greene is living the good life as a single, successful young professional in New York City. He has a great job and a best friend who's closer than a brother, but his rollercoaster relationship with J'nette is on a first-class trip to nowhere. Then he meets Kimberly, a fiery, talented artist with gorgeous long red hair and Irish cream skin. What starts as a shared cab ride turns into a long night of talking and laughing from the heart-- and that's a problem for a man with a picture of Malcolm X on his office wall. As romance blooms, Jordan reluctantly crosses the color barrier in search of true love, and finds himself confronting long-hidden issues in himself while dealing with friends and family who are none-too-keen on his new girlfriend. Once again, Eric Jerome Dickey explores a serious subject with his signature light touch, and taps a range of emotions from fragile heartbreak to powerful laughter in this deeply affecting tale of love...with a twist.
Download Description
Milk in My Coffee is the book that stirred up controversy and got readers talking...and laughing...and passionately debating...about Eric Jerome Dickey's bold portrait of racial identity and subtle understanding of sexual intimacy. It's the book that made Dickey a New York Times bestselling author and is the third in a string of consecutive #1 Blackboard bestsellers. Jordan Greene was in culture shock when he arrived in Manhattan from his Tennessee hometown. It seemed like rush hour lasted twenty-four hours a day -- but he managed to keep the pace and stay in the race, with a Wall Street job, a Queens apartment, and a very sexy girlfriend named J'nette. But when Jordan meets Kimberly Chavers, what really starts racing is his heart. This girl is funny, feisty, fine . . . and white. And for a man with Malcolm X's picture hanging on his office wall, that's a definite problem. . . .
Customer Reviews:
Love it!.......2007-06-25
I love everything EJD does, the man is a genius! I own almost all of his solo projects. I loved that this book like the others had many twists and kept me reading long thru the night.
A Good Read!.......2007-04-02
E. Dickey put together an interesting story, which focuses on an interracial relationship between Jordan and Kimberly. A story I believe that is intended to make us all take self-inventory on how we truly view such relationships. And bring enlightenment by the story's end.
With that being said, Jordan's and Kimberly's is a witty and realistic love story that is enjoyable to read, as Dickey takes the characters through all the changes of being in love.
In addition, it offers an honest inside view into what it's like to experience the pain and ignorance of prejudiceness among members of the same race and the scars it can leave behind.
Good job, E. Dickey
Just okay.......2007-03-26
I'm not an EJD fan but picked up this book to see what every one was raving about. It was a slow read for me at the beginning and didn't become good until around the 8th chapter. It was a well put together story that involved Jordan, (black male) and Kim Chavers, (white female). Jordan was dating a twin (his ex black lover), until that one taxi ride which landed him with Kim. Jnette (ex lover) ended up pregnant and all the friends that she and Jordan gained together thought he was the baby's daddy. Both women were liars from the start but he ended up falling for Kim. EJD did make Jnette out to be this ghetto super star and unlike some, this was just okay.
One of my favorite writers... not one of my favorite books... :(.......2007-03-20
I was disppointed by this book by Eric Jerome Dickey. I love his work, normally! But the characters were kind of one dimensional for me in this one. I enjoyed the storyline, but I think he could have explored it more in depth. This will not stop me from reading his work, but I will have to give this book away... not a keeper for me, unfortunately!
ENJOYED IT.......2007-02-20
This is the first book by Eric Jerome Dickey that I read and I really enjoyed it. It's a story about an interracial relationship and true love. I really like this man's style of writing and I enjoyed the story.
Book Description
Just when he thought Yuki was out, Yoshinuri gets pulled back in!As his body continues to go through changes, Yoshinuri decides that he can't continue cross-dressing. Now with "Yuki" gone, who can he get to model at the photography studio? Kurokawa begs him to continue--she is only able to open up to him when he is dressed as a girl. But when Yoshinori's best friend Wataru sees him dressed as Yuki, it's love at first sight!
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