The Harsh Cry of the Heron: The Last Tale of the Otori (Tales of the Otori, Book 4)

The Harsh Cry of the Heron: The Last Tale of the Otori (Tales of the Otori, Book 4)
Average customer rating:

The Best for Last

A Fitting Sequel

Interesting

An Author Who Obviously Hates Happy Endings And True Love

It never ends.

The Harsh Cry of the Heron: The Last Tale of the Otori (Tales of the Otori, Book 4)
Lian Hearn
Manufacturer: Riverhead Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Brilliance of the Moon (Tales of the Otori, Book 3)

Grass for His Pillow (Tales of the Otori, Book 2)

Across the Nightingale Floor (Tales of the Otori, Book 1)

Heaven's Net Is Wide (The Tales of the Otori Series)

Red Chrysanthemum: A Thriller (Sano Ichiro Novels)

ASIN: 1594489238
Release Date: 2006-09-07

Book Description

The surprise fourth installment, the epic conclusion of Lian Hearn's beloved, bestselling Tales of the Otori.

The Harsh Cry of the Heron: The Last Tale of the Otori is a truly epic novel. It is the rich and satisfying conclusion to the Tales of the Otori series that both completes the characters' lives-prophesied and otherwise-and brilliantly illuminates unexpected aspects of the entire Otori saga. The Harsh Cry of the Heron is the only fitting end to such a stirring series: a book that takes the storytelling achievement of Lian Hearn's fantastic medieval Japanese world to startling new heights of drama and action.

Hearn's Otori series is the best (and only) literary expression of a cultural phenomenon that has swept through cinema (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), comics (manga), and popular culture at large. And, with this book, Hearn delivers in full ninja vs. samurai fashion the kinetic, simultaneously heartbreaking and uplifting resolution that the Otori's hundreds of thousands of fans richly deserve-whose epic satisfaction will surely draw even more readers into the fold.

Customer Reviews:

The Best for Last.......2007-09-28

Ms. Hearn teased and tantalized us but this was definitely the best book of the bunch. I'm including Heaven's Net Is Wide in the equation too. I can't say I wanted it to go down like it did but then again I'm reading her story not mine and I wasn't disappointed in the least. I had no complaints. Highly recommend this book as well as the entire series.

A Fitting Sequel.......2007-07-14

I much enjoyed the first three Tales of the Otori books, and number four did not disappoint. The author presents the historical picture very effectively, while weaving a tale of epic proportions. Few authors so well command the skill of showing the right balance of fairness and unfairness, justice and injustice happening to the central characters. If you read the first three books, you must get this one, and if you did not, but have an interest in feudal Japan, get all four.

Interesting.......2007-07-07

I am a huge fan of the first three books. I read this one with very high expectations for that reason. I would hate to use the word "disappointing" but it really wasn't what I expected. It was a good read, don't get me wrong, but it will never live up to the original trilogy. I would recommend buying it... The begining was alright, the middle was jumpy and drawn out, and the end was quite twisted and unexpected, but captivating all the same. Over all worth it though. Enjoy.

An Author Who Obviously Hates Happy Endings And True Love.......2007-06-27

I am always a bit wary when writing a review because I don't want too unintentionally give away to much plot and spoil it for people. I will try not to give away anymore of the novel than any of the other reviewers have...That being said I must say what a complete disappointment this book was! I enjoyed the first three books, though felt they were a bit doom and gloom and depressing at times as well. I listened to the entire series on audiobook and tried to listen to the fourth without going back but got 40 minutes into the book and had no idea what was going on! Even after listening to the third book again I was often confused by all the many different characters and the plot twists that depended on you remembering previous novels. The names of many of the characters are so similar that, even though I feel the narrators were wonderful, I was often confused as to who was who. All this I could put aside and give 3 stars to this book if it wasn't for the ending...Horrible! As many others feel it had a hurried feel to it as if the author was thinking "Uh oh getting way too long I better end it soon". And without giving away too much plot the character change of Kaede from the first 3 books to this one really stretches plausibility and her COMPLETE character change at the end was beyond the slightest credibility. The message the first three books seem to impart is "love can conquer all" and the message the last book imparts is "love WILL conquer all so if your stupid enough to try it watch your back"...Not the kind of book or message I want to waste 20 or so hours of my life on...Bottom line = Avoid this book at all costs!

It never ends........2007-05-30

I liked the first three books well enough. The first was the best (if implausible), the second quite enjoyable (even though it strained credibility) and the third was alright (absolutely unbelievable). My reading speed kept diminishing as the series progressed, but my true challenge was trying to finish this one, the fourth. This book is practically unreadable.
Just as all the other reviewers have said, it's too convoluted and has too many characters by half (wracking your brain to remember who was who=not fun). NOTHING HAPPENS during the first 3/4 of the book. They travel here and there and talk unlikely politics. So finally the writer wraps up the whole mess in a narrative of the main character's fate.
If you enjoyed the original 3 books, skip this and enjoy your memories.

Money Changes Everything: Twenty-Two Writers Tackle the Last Taboo with Tales of Sudden Windfalls, Staggering Debts, and Other Surprising Turns of Fortune

Average customer rating:

Insightful perspectives
This book was okay
This one will have you thinking about how money has affected YOUR life and is a FUN read!
Money Does Change Everything

Money Changes Everything: Twenty-Two Writers Tackle the Last Taboo with Tales of Sudden Windfalls, Staggering Debts, and Other Surprising Turns of Fortune
Jenny Offill , and Elissa Schappell
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Mr. Wrong: Real-Life Stories About the Men We Used to Love

ASIN: 038551669X
Release Date: 2007-01-16

Book Description

The editors of The Friend Who Got Away are back with a new anthology that will do for money what they did for women’s friendships.

Ours is a culture of confession, yet money remains a distinctly taboo subject for most Americans. In this riveting anthology, a host of celebrated writers explore the complicated role money has played in their lives, whether they’re hiding from creditors or hiding a trust fund. This collection will touch a nerve with anyone who’s ever been afraid to reveal their bank balance.

In these wide-ranging personal essays, Daniel Handler, Walter Kirn, Jill McCorkle, Meera Nair, Henry Alford, Susan Choi, and other acclaimed authors write with startling candor about how money has strengthened or undermined their closest relationships. Isabel Rose talks about the trials and tribulations of dating as an heiress. Tony Serra explains what led him to take a forty-year vow of poverty. September 11 widow Marian Fontana illuminates the heartbreak and moral complexities of victim compensation. Jonathan Dee reveals the debt that nearly did him in. And in paired essays, Fred Leebron and his wife Katherine Rhett discuss the way fights over money have shaken their marriage to the core again and again.

We talk openly about our romantic disasters and family dramas, our problems at work and our battles with addiction. But when it comes to what is or is not in our wallets, we remain determinedly mum. Until now, that is. Money Changes Everything is the first anthology of its kind—an unflinching and on-the-record collection of essays filled with entertaining and enlightening insights into why we spend, save, and steal.

The pieces in Money Changes Everything range from the comic to the harrowing, yet they all reveal the complex, emotionally charged role money plays in our lives by shattering the wall of silence that has long surrounded this topic.

Customer Reviews:

Insightful perspectives.......2007-03-18

I really liked this book. It's amazing how everyone views money differently! The essays kept my interest and I am recommending the book to others.

This book was okay.......2007-03-15

It wasn't bad for the most part. it was nice reading the different ways people's lives turned out. Some parts of this book were a little boring to me though. I felt like it was too many people whining about getting too much money or being in too much debt.

This one will have you thinking about how money has affected YOUR life and is a FUN read! .......2007-03-04

FIrst off, this is NOT a how-to book on personal finance. If you want that, go find one of the tons of books on the subject. But this book could help you change your outlook on money and think about how your own life has been affected by it. Each essay in this book is a personal confession or revelation about how money or money problems (or obtaining a sudden windfall) greatly changed someone's life.
Let's face it- Discusing one's personal finances with friends, even family, can be as taboo as discussing sex - and so it is relief to find a book where that taboo is broken. I'm sure plenty of readers will relate to the dilemnas of twenty two writers who explore the various ways money has altered their lives, whether it was going into a deep depression during a debt crisis, living with guilt after inheriting money as a 9/11 widow, being open about money fights with one's spouse, why someone would take on a vow of poverty or the unique challenges of dating a heiress.
This book will make you think - and perhaps rethink- your attitude towards finances. After all, it's only money - or is it?

Money Does Change Everything.......2007-02-27

We get into more trouble when we don't communicate well with others. Money has always been such a taboo. It would probably solve so many problems if people could talk more openly about this subject. Money has too much power over us. Wouldn't be nice if we could value people more than money?

The Last Word and the Word after That: A Tale of Faith, Doubt, and a New Kind of Christianity

Average customer rating:

How to follow Jesus and not worry about Hell
Turn from burn
Easy read, on a touchy, complicated subject.
Well Written & Wrong
Hopefully Not McLaren's Last Word!

The Last Word and the Word after That: A Tale of Faith, Doubt, and a New Kind of Christianity
Brian D. McLaren
Manufacturer: Jossey-Bass
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Story We Find Ourselves In: Further Adventures of a New Kind of Christian
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Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel

ASIN: 0787975923

Book Description

For all those seeking more authentic ways to hold and practice Christian faith, Brian McLaren has been an inspiring, compassionate—and provocative—voice. Starting with the award-winning A New Kind of Christian, McLaren offered a lively, wide-ranging fictional conversation between Pastor Dan Poole and his friend Neil Oliver as they reflected about faith, doubt, reason, mission, leadership, and spiritual practice in the emerging postmodern world. That conversation widened to include several intriguing new characters in the sequel, The Story We Find Ourselves In, as Dan and friends continued to explore faith-stretching themes from evolution to evangelism, from death to the meaning of life. Now, in this third installment of their adventures, Dan and his widening circle of friends grapple with conventional Christian teachings about hell and judgment and what they mean for our relationship with God and each other. Is there an alternative to the usual polar views of a just God short on mercy or a merciful God short on justice? Could our conflicted views of hell be symptoms of a deeper set of problems – misunderstandings about what God’s justice and mercy are about, misconceptions about God’s purpose in creating the world, deep misgivings about what kind of character God is and what the Christian gospel is for?

Customer Reviews:

How to follow Jesus and not worry about Hell.......2007-07-23

In my opinion, not quite as interestingly written as his second book in the series, this final book in the trilogy by McLaren does try to answer some of the most serious questions plaguing Christians in the post-modern age. The biggest question, "how can a good God let people burn forever in Hell", is parried and for me convincingly dealt with. McLaren thinks that preoccupation with a formula to keep ourselves and friends out of Hell (and to Hell with the heathen) detracts us from loving God and loving our neighbor, and from trying to make the world better, and therefore basically ignores the teachings of Jesus (the last word by the way is LOVE). McLaren falls back on C.S. Lewis in The Great Divorce to speculate on what "Hell" might really be like - and that is good enough for me. The story of a Church crisis and recovery with reconciliations is timely and heart warming, as is the happy double wedding ending - however, it left me with still a lot of unanswered questions - I suppose as intended.

Turn from burn.......2007-06-09

Talking about a discovery! I was already going up into the first two books of the trilogy, but this one strikes all! 2000 years of Christianity influences by one of the hottest subject of religion, Hell. Suddenly you're walking along with pastor Dan and Neo to discover the revealing truth about the Gates of Hell. You might wanna leave this book for what it is if you're all too sure about what you believe, but this book gives you something to think about. If this doesn't grab you... The gospel is getting better and better.

Easy read, on a touchy, complicated subject........2007-04-03

If you have always wondered, "is hell real or not?", or are just curious to what different ways there are of looking at the concept of Hell, Brian McLaren does an excellent job of taking the facts and inserting them into a novel. A novel that is enjoyable and also easy to read.

You may not come away with all the answers, but you will come away with all the questions, lots of answers, and direction on where you can find more answers.

Whatever you do, don't only read the book half-way through just because your feeling your ego hurt and think the author is a heretic. Give the book a chance. Read it in the spirit it is being presented to you. And if you still have unanswered questions when done, then do some homework as the characters in the book did.

Definitely a book I am going to share with anyone struggling with the concept of Hell.

Well Written & Wrong.......2007-01-06

If you are already convinced that Orthodox Christianity has been fundamentally flawed in its conception of God's justice, in the existence of Hell, in the manner in which Scripture is to be read and interpreted, and the purposes of God in Creation, then this book will affirm your convictions and make you feel warm and fuzzy all over.

If you are grappling with the issues of life and wonder how this notion of God fits in a world which seems to explain everything without regard to a vital spirituality. Then in this book you will find all the right questions being asked and done so in a highly readible, winsome manner. Be Aware! The right questions are asked but the wrong answers provided. (Yep, I believe in certainty & that certainty of doctrine is a good thing!)

If you are seeking insights into how Conservative Evangelical Christians handle these questions and how they have discovered the Scriptural warrant for their answers, then all you will find in this book is a straw man caricature that reduces the highly nuanced, warmly compassionate views of Reformed Theology down to a power monging, insecure soul who just cannot rise to the challenge of critical thinking.

There is no doubt of McLaren's courage nor his willingness to address tough questions. The essential problem is his post-modern convictions about truth. To McLaren, anything that is repugnant to his own sensibilities must be wrong. He, at heart, must be the final judge of what is true (for himself, I am sure he would say, even if not for anyone else). Therefore, if the Scriptures proclaim something which he finds repugnant to his own sensibilities, i.e. God inflicting an eternity of conscious torment on people that McLaren considers "good", then the Scriptures must be interpreted in some way that is more in line with his own thinking. "God is much better than we have ever thought" is his version of the Gospel and on the bare face of it, that idea has much to commend it. But the idea that God is "much better", or "too good" to countenance the idea of Hell comes down to recasting God in McLaren's image, something which I would think God finds highly offensive.

McLaren seeks to elevate our thinking about God. That is good. What is not good is that he is more than willing to read back into Scripture every post-modern literary technique which he has adopted and to presume that Jesus dealt with issues the way that he, McLaren, would deal with them.

If you are asking the questions that McLaren asks, then "you go, girl!" Keep at it. Do not allow yourself to stop with the answers he provides. There are answers "after that."

Hopefully Not McLaren's Last Word!.......2006-11-10

Absolutely loved this book! It is possibly my favorite of McLaren's books from the New Kind of Christian series. He tackles the subject of the hereafter with amazing finesse. I thought the book was thoughtful,kind and challenging while looking into the subject of hell. His chapter regarding the Holocaust Museum was incredibly moving and personal.
The characters vary some from book to book, but the main ones are recognizable, and new ones keep the focus fresh. It is possible to jump right in on this third book without previously reading his first two.
However, I found it helpful to have some background from reading them in order. McLaren always leaves me hungry for more.

James Fenimore Cooper : The Leatherstocking Tales I: The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie (Library of America)

Average customer rating:

The Pioneers
volume 2 is 5 stars!
THE WORLD OF ADVENTURE
Rediscovered treasure

James Fenimore Cooper : The Leatherstocking Tales I: The Pioneers, The Last of the Mohicans, The Prairie (Library of America)
James Fenimore Cooper
Manufacturer: Library of America
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Classics | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

James Fenimore Cooper : The Leatherstocking Tales II: The Pathfinder, The Deerslayer (Library of America)
James Fenimore Cooper : Sea Tales : The Pilot / The Red Rover (Library of America)
Nathaniel Hawthorne : Collected Novels: Fanshawe, The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, The Marble Faun (Library of America)
Jack London : Novels and Stories : Call of the Wild / White Fang / The Sea-Wolf / Klondike and Other Stories (Library of America)
Washington Irving : History, Tales, and Sketches: The Sketch Book / A History of New York / Salmagundi / Letters of Jonathan Oldstyle, Gent. (Library of America)

ASIN: 0940450208

Customer Reviews:

The Pioneers.......2003-03-20

In The Pioneers (1823) James Fenimore Cooper, who created the forerunner of backwoods heroes, depicts the clash between individualistic and communal impulses of people in the early development of a frontier settlement in upstate New York. The founder of the settlement, Judge Temple, is the personification of a bourgeois planned and stable society. He believes that laws imposed on individuals separate people from savages and are prerequisites for a civilized society. By trying to educate his settlers in practical approaches to farming and building and conservation of natural resources for practical use, he wishes to establish social and economic relations which are essential for a firmly structured society. Richard Jones, business assistant to Judge Temple and, later, the Sheriff of the county, is an egotistical jack-of-all-trades and represents a spirit of restless competition by which one pursues riches in order to climb the ladder of success. In contrast, the old hunter, Natty Bumppo, the solitary individual who lives in harmony with nature, is a frontier individualist who has a vision of a frontier society coexisting with nature. He craves traditional attitudes while fearing and despising civilization and its wasteful ways. His individualism is considered as a threat to Templeton and his natural laws eventually bring him into conflict with the "civilized" Judge and the people who are destroying the wilderness, a conflict that ultimately makes him escape the encroaching civilization and the lawless settlers.

volume 2 is 5 stars!.......2002-11-06

I give this 3 stars, because LotM is included here, but the other 2 novels are slow, tedious and well, I've never finished them. Volume 2 of these nice volumes includes The Deerslayer and the Pathfinder, two exciting novels that I recommend, perhaps even before LotM. My favorite is the Pathfinder. Natty Bumpo is awesome in that adventure!

THE WORLD OF ADVENTURE.......2002-09-17

I strongly believe that James Fenimore Cooper belongs to the American and the world history. I learned the history reading his books. I have all of them and I still open them once in a while even now, forty years later.

Rediscovered treasure.......1999-07-05

Cooper's works are wonderful blends of action and character development, evoking every emotion from the reader. "Last of the Mohicans" may be his best known novel in the Leatherstocking series (story line order: Deerslayer, Last of Mohicans, Pathfinder, Pioneer, and Prairie), but all five are really great frontier adventures for the outdoor woods lovers.

Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance

Average customer rating:

Compelling in the Extreme!
I couldn't stop reading
Amazing work
My Favorite Non-Fiction
Outstanding Book

Last Breath: Cautionary Tales from the Limits of Human Endurance
Peter Stark
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Essays & Travelogues | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books

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Last Breath: The Limits of Adventure
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Wall and Piece

ASIN: 0345441508
Release Date: 2001-10-02

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Prepare to have some of your greatest fears laid bare in this collection of riveting, and often terrifying, "cautionary tales from the limits of human endurance." Based on interviews with accident survivors and the medical specialists who treat them, veteran outdoor writer Peter Stark offers mostly fictitious accounts (there is one based on a true historical incident) of people caught in life-threatening situations. In Last Breath, he thoroughly explores what happens to the human body and mind during drowning, a long fall, burial beneath an avalanche, hypothermia, dehydration, mountain sickness, the bends, malaria, scurvy, hyperthermia, and contact with a poisonous jellyfish. Stark packs enough historic and scientific information and page-turning suspense into each chapter to make them all fascinating and useful. And he answers some perplexing questions in the process, such as why those suffering from acute hypothermia often rip off their clothing in an effort to save themselves.

No, Stark does not have some unresolved death wish--he readily admits that he fears death. But he also understands that the fine line between life and death actually entices outdoor adventurers to risk everything for the chance to explore their own physical and mental limits. In fact, it is exactly this close proximity to death that makes the experience come alive for certain individuals with the overriding desire "to strip away the superfluous, to remove the protective boundaries between that thing you call a self and something larger." These are the stories of those who crossed the line. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

Sudden, extreme deaths have always fascinated us-- and now more than ever as athletes and travelers rise to the challenges of high-risk sports and journeys on the edge. In this spellbinding book, veteran travel and outdoor sports writer Peter Stark reenacts the dramas of what happens inside our bodies, our minds, and our souls when we push ourselves to the absolute limits of human endurance.

Combining the adrenaline high of extreme sports with the startling facts of physiological reality, Stark narrates a series of outdoor adventure stories in which thrill can cross the line to mortal peril. Each death or brush with death is at once a suspense story, a cautionary tale, and a medical thriller. Stark describes in unforgettable detail exactly what goes through the mind of a cross-country skier as his body temperature plummets-- apathy at ninety-one degrees, stupor at ninety. He puts us inside the body of a doomed kayaker tumbling helplessly underwater for two minutes, five minutes, ten minutes. He conjures up the physiology of a snowboarder frantically trying not to panic as he consumes the tiny pocket of air trapped around his face under thousands of pounds of snow.

These are among the dire situations that Stark transforms into harrowing accounts of how our bodies react to trauma, how reflexes and instinct compel us to fight back, and how, why, and when we let go of our will to live.

In an increasingly tamed and homogenized world, risk is not only a means of escape but a path to spirituality. As Peter Stark writes, "You must try to understand death intimately and prepare yourself for death in order to live a full and satisfying life." In this fascinating, informative book, Stark reveals exactly what we’re getting ourselves into when we choose to live-- and die-- at the extremes of endurance.

Customer Reviews:

Compelling in the Extreme!.......2006-12-04

I read this book in nearly its entirety on a flight home from NY. What a compelling can't-put-down read! I HIGHLY recommend it! This book contains fictionalized tales of real life experiences that humans have gotten themselves into when pushing themselves to the limits in the dangerous outdoors. There are chapters on hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration, falling, drowning, high altitude sickness, avalanche, scurvy (a particularly nasty chapter), predators, malaria, and the bends. It's one of those extremely rare books that really make you appreciate the comfort of sitting in those cramped, poorly designed aircraft chairs.

I couldn't stop reading.......2006-02-02

This is not a book I would have normally bought. I picked it up at a Bookseller's Convention where publishers were giving away books. As a lover of books, I couldn't turn this or a couple dozen others, down. But this book is fascinating!

Last Breath is a collection of short stories fictionalizing the events--the why, how and results--when man pits himself, sometimes unwittingly, against the elements. For instance, the first story titled: As Freezing Persons Recollect the Snow: Hypothermia, follows a young man's journey from the moment he makes the wrong decision that exposes him to a snow storm in the Colorado Mountain to. . . Well, I'm not going to tell you the end. Each story is different, but each intriguing. Stark goes into detail on what happens in someone's mind and body as they face deadly element. Call me ghoulish, but I couldn't stop reading.

Patricia Lewin
Author of BLIND RUN, OUT OF REACH, & OUT OF TIME

Amazing work.......2004-02-03

This book is one of the best I've read in a long time. To the first reviewer, he clearly didn't understand this book, as is shown by the following reviews.

The author is brilliant, after the chapter on thirst I went to the fridge and drank two sodas right away. The writing is intelligent, you don't get the feeling he's trying to dumb it down to the lowest common denominator. There is just enough medical information to make you understand what is going on physically, but not overwhelm you.

I highly, highly suggest you read this book.

My Favorite Non-Fiction.......2003-12-02

I first read a chapter of this book in paddler magazine and the way Peter Stark described the drowning of a kayaker (Chapter 2: A River of One's Own) in detail right down to the amounts of oxygen remaining in his lungs at various periods of time. The entire book is written as en ewcellent blend of fact and fiction and while the scenarios are not true they are composites of true stories, and some of Stark's imagination, which gives them a realism that pure fiction can't match. The facts Stark gives are sound, he obviously did his homework and he even gives a bibliography so you can check out some of his sources. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get outside.

Outstanding Book.......2003-01-31

This book just blew me away. A wonderful blend of fact with realistic, fictional stories to make the points really come across. I couldn't put the book down until I finished it straight through the first time I read it. It's so well written that I've been able to enjoy rereading it several times.

What Did I Do Last Night?: A Drunkard's Tale

Average customer rating:

Light-weight Drunkard's Tale
"Fear and Loathing" in London and New York
bloody fun and scurrilous
Outrageous !

What Did I Do Last Night?: A Drunkard's Tale
Tom Sykes
Manufacturer: Rodale Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Alcoholism | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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The End of the World as We Know It: Scenes from a Life

ASIN: 1594864632
Release Date: 2006-10-03

Book Description

Tom traces his alcoholism back to his British boyhood at Eton College, Englands oldest and most exclusive boarding school, where the boys had to wear tail suits to class and there was a school pub. He delves into his aristocratic familys well-documented fondness for the bottle and covers his own drinking apprenticeship as a trainee journalist on Londons famously alcohol-sodden newspapers. Whether he is getting arrested for drunk driving at the age of 15, climbing naked into his friends and colleagues beds, or simply trying to file an emergency front-page update while reeling from a cocktail of Ecstacy and magic mushrooms, Tom takes the reader on an addictive journey into the insanity of intoxicationall too often followed by a mossy tongue, a dull headache, and one burning question: What the hell did I do last night?

Customer Reviews:

Light-weight Drunkard's Tale.......2007-06-17

I guess that the book was entertaining enough, but woefully absent of any real dramatic tragedy that would surround the life of a hardcore alcoholic. He never woke up in jail or beaten bloody in England or New York. No horror nor any particular insight into the disease of alcoholism or drug addiction. Plenty of Alcoholism light. It gets much much uglier.

"Fear and Loathing" in London and New York.......2007-01-13

Tis is a brilliant book full of hair raising tales and high jinx. Incredibly funny. The author was an alcoholic who managed to wangle a job as the chief night life writer and bar reviewer at the Evening Standard and then the New York Post with disastrous (but hilarious) results.
Highly recommended. Not for the squeamish!

bloody fun and scurrilous.......2006-10-21

Tom Sykes writes without being sentimental or judgmental. This guy is now sober but he used to drink like a fish and race around New York and London misbehaving. His is a cautionary tale, but he writes it with panache and a light touch. Buy this book now and you'll read it in one sitting. Cleverer than Toby Young or Candace Bushnell, most astute than Milan Kundera, as straightforward as Bill Bryson, and as disreputable as Jay McInernery or Brett Easton Ellis. This is a sure-fire hit.

Outrageous !.......2006-10-13

I picked this up and started reading it, and it is a pretty funny autobiographical work on a British guy who really, really liked to party and drink. At one point, he makes the point that if you don't really know what a blackout is, you are not a true alcoholic (that definition is no doubt not the one the medical community in the U.S. gives, but it also is probably pretty accurate). He explains it as like having your "memory chip" for the past (x) hours totally erased. So, he often wakes up on a couch somewhere (Britain and then New York when he moves there), not knowing where he was last night. Hence, the title of the book. I think this book is actually pretty outrageous, in the good and bad sense of that term. I found it very, very honest and compelling. I don't think we need really to go into all the "you shouldn't do what he did" stuff. I think that will be clear to people who read the book. The book is actually very funny, and very outrageous.

Average customer rating:

This is only one Chapter out of 'All The Rage' dont buy it! Not worth $14.95
The LAST RAKOSH a giant ripoff

The Last Rakosh: A Repairman Jack Tale
F., Paul Wilson
Manufacturer: Overlook Connection Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1892950804

Book Description

Jack finds himself, and his friends, at a traveling carnival. During a look through the freak show, they come across what was believed to be extinct: a Rakosh. Or is it? Jack had made sure that the Rakoshi were dead -exterminated. Jack style. But now, somehow, there appears to be evidence of a Rakosh. The Last Rakosh puts Jack back on the trail of this new mystery that will thrill and entertain, in Repairman Jack style. Previously available as a short story, this version has been completely revised into novella length for this special publication. Previously available in hardcover, The Last Rakosh now being published in an affordable trade paperback.

Customer Reviews:

This is only one Chapter out of 'All The Rage' dont buy it! Not worth $14.95.......2007-07-30

'The LAST RAKOSH' is a chapter from 'ALL THE RAGE' . All the author did was take his novel 'ALL THE RAGE', reprint one chapter of it under a new title 'The LAST RAKOSH' . they are identical. I paid $4.99 for the special edition of all the rage and paid $14.95 to buy this book and I feel that I was ripped off. Buy 'ALL THE RAGE' instead of 'The LAST RAKOSH' and you will be be a lot better off. Don't buy this book

The LAST RAKOSH a giant ripoff.......2006-11-16

I have read every F.Paul Wilson 'repairman Jack' novel. I usually find his books nice light reading. His last effort 'The LAST RAKOSH' is not a new book. All the author did was take his novel 'ALL THE RAGE', remove two thirds of the story and reprint the rest of it under a new title. Read the last page of both stories, they are identical. I paid $4.99 for the special edition of all the rage, nice price and a nice book. I then paid $14.95 to buy The LAST RAKOSH. What a giant ripoff. I really feel that Mr. Wilson and his publishers should be ashamed. So save your money and but All The Rage. Why waste your money on one third of the story. I think Mr. Wilson owes my $14.95 plus shipping!

Mr. Wilson is lucky I don't know how to find Repairman Jack.

The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale (Tale of Young Americans)

Average customer rating:

Traitor or hero?

The Last Brother: A Civil War Tale (Tale of Young Americans)
Trinka Hakes Noble
Manufacturer: Sleeping Bear Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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The Silent Witness

ASIN: 1585362530

Book Description

In July 1863 the bloodiest battle of the Civil War was fought outside the sleepy Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. In The Last Brother the story of one small boy is told amidst the dramatic events of those early days of July. Though he is only 11 years old, Gabe is a bugler in the Union Army. He takes his responsibility very seriously; after all, there are over 60 different battle calls for buglers to learn. But what is even more important to Gabe is watching over his older brother Davy who, as a foot soldier, is right in the thick of the fighting. Two of Gabes older brothers have already perished, and he is not willing to lose the only one he has left. During those long days, Gabe meets another young buglerone who fights for the other side. Suddenly, what was so definite and clear has become complicated by friendship and compassion. Does one have to choose between service to country, to kin or to a friend? As the cannons fire and the battle rages on, Gabe must do his duty while searching for a way to honor all that he holds dear.

Customer Reviews:

Traitor or hero?.......2007-09-15

Set at the battle of Gettysburg this is story that does not glorify war. Instead, it gets children thinking about the fact that war often involves senseless death. Questions to ask after reading this book: Does the young Union bugle boy make the right decision? Is he a hero or a traitor? Ask young readers to look at his decision to halt the charge from the points of view of the different players in the war - his brother, his parents, his Conferderate counterpart, the generals, and even President Lincoln. Although this is a picture book, its message is one that can be debated even by high school students.

The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television

Average customer rating:

Great story, but misses a few important relevancies
An engaging, quick, entertaining read
Quick read, and honest about the prospects of invention
Fascinating and well-executed
Why can't we learn from the past?

The Last Lone Inventor: A Tale of Genius, Deceit, and the Birth of Television
Evan I. Schwartz
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Scientists | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

History & Criticism | Television | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Patents & Inventions | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

History of Technology | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
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The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story Of Inspiration, Persistence, And Quiet Passion

ASIN: 0060935596
Release Date: 2003-05-13

Book Description

In a story that is both of its time and timeless, Evan I. Schwartz tells a tale of genius versus greed, innocence versus deceit, and independent brilliance versus corporate arrogance. Many men have laid claim to the title "father of television," but Philo T. Farnsworth is the true genius behind what may be the most influential invention of our time.

Driven by his obsession to demonstrate his idea,by the age of twenty Farnsworth was operating his own laboratory above a garage in San Francisco and filing for patents. The resulting publicity caught the attention of RCA tycoon David Sarnoff, who became determined to control television in the same way he monopolized radio.

Based on original research, including interviews with Farnsworth family members, The Last Lone Inventor is the story of the epic struggle between two equally passionate adversaries whose clash symbolized a turning point in the culture of creativity.

Customer Reviews:

Great story, but misses a few important relevancies.......2004-01-12

I loved this book, the story of yet another unsung hero, the lone wolf pioneer, oblivious to the world's thieves, fighting to realize a dream, then getting ripped off for it at the moment of success. Ask yourself: who invented the lightbulb, the telephone, the radio, the airplane? You know the answer. (It might not actually be fully correct, but you can certainly come up with an appropriate name.) Now, who invented television? That is, the means of converting a moving image into a stream of electrons. Stumped? Some people know the names of Vladimir Zworykin and Philo Farnsworth, but not many. This book is the extremely fascinating story of Philo T. Farnsworth (what a name!) and how one man, David Sarnoff, succeeded in placing in the mind of the public the idea that television was created by him, as the leader of RCA/NBC. Zworykin worked for Sarnoff, and between the two totally ripped off the ideas and even the patents behind the creation of TV. While Farnsworth did receive a minimal amount of credit and some money during his life, in the end his name was buried as far as the public was concerned.

Unfortunately, the author seems oblivious to the fact of similar rip-offs occurring right amongst some of the minor characters of the story, in particular Edison AND Marconi stealing, and trying to keep Tesla from receiving, the credit he deserved for lighting and radio discoveries. Everyone has their own axe to grind, but the fact is if you dig deep enough, there are probably stories like this surrounding every great technological advance.

Anyway, if you at all like the genre, this book is bound to become a classic for you. It's also a great cautionary tale regarding the weaknesses of the patent system as practiced in the USA.

An engaging, quick, entertaining read.......2003-12-03

More party conversation facts that you can expect to collect from 99/100 other books. A great story, well told. Professionally and rigorously researched. Fun to read.

Quick read, and honest about the prospects of invention.......2003-09-04

Evan Schwartz has done an excellent job in creating a fast read without the depth of A Beautiful Mind, but interesting nonetheless. His subject is after all a more straightforward individual than John Nash, although Schwartz, like Sylvia Nasar, does explore some of the darker corners of Farnsworth's personality.

Schwartz refreshingly does not engage in positivistic technological whoop-de-doo about the possibility of reviving the status of the lone inventor. During the dot.com boom there was some loose talk about the possibility of the better mousetrap but it is clear that the administered world, that Farnsworth's nemesis in the book (David Sarnoff of RCA) helped to install in the 1920s, makes technological innovation, by the lone inventor, the exception and not the rule.

Schwartz also does an excellent job of balancing the two very different (yet strangely alike) personalities of Philo T. Farnsworth versus "General" Sarnoff, who more or less browbeat Dwight Eisenhower into making him a General for Sarnoff's admirable war record.

For Philo T. Farnsworth belonged more to the 1890s than the administered, corporate world of the 1920s. His name is somewhat odd in that (like Edward G. Nilges) it confesses an unbroken attachment to a family-of-origin, and a need to at one and the same time identify with a clan, yet precisely identify oneself as an individual within the clan.

Sarnoff's name is cooler-sounding and more down-to-business to the modern and indeed the administered ear, and far more than old Philo, Sarnoff was "skilled" (if that is indeed the word) in manipulating, not technical and scientific realities but his relations with his fellow men.

Farnsworth was of course no slouch in the PR department, but Sarnoff was more aware that the effect of illusion could be self-reinforcing, and that Sarnoff could USE the technology (and let others tinker with the technology), as in Schwartz' example of Sarnoff's dog and pony show at the 1939 World's Fair.

Technicians may cry foul, but the unavoidable fact that one technology builds upon another MEANS that the administered world (in Farnsworth's time, of cheap radio buff magazines, in ours, of cheap personal computers) was brought into being by social engineers *malgre lui* like Sarnoff.

But one cannot give old-fashioned credit to the Sarnoffs and the Gates when one admits this fact, and the reason for this is the inseperability of the social illusion they created, and the feeling the rest of us that we have been subtly horn-swoggled.

At the 1939 World's Fair, young David Gerlenter was very impressed by what in fact had little relationship to reality but the illusion created by the Fair urged him not only to participate in the creation of the world of "tomorrow", it also made them enthusiastically not question its ideological presumptions.

Missing, of necessity, in Evan Schwartz' quick read is another (indirect) employee of David Sarnoff, and this is my cherubic but rather gloomy old pal Theodore Adorno.

[The frequency of mention of Adorno may indicate to the unwashed a stalker-like obsession although Adorno died in 1970, or it may indicate that I am on to something Big.]

Adorno was indirectly retained at the Princeton Radio Research project in the 1930s by an RCA funded group that was charged, by Sarnoff, with making radio more high-class, and Schwartz describes Sarnoff's own tastes, which were in the lingo of the day, high-brow.

Walter Damrosch, not "Damrouch" as it is in the book, was a popular classical conductor of the 1930s and performed, as Schwartz recounts, at an RCA celebration. Sarnoff hoped that Adorno, et al., would show him how to market, over radio and possibly television, "quality" programming.

Being an intellectual cousin of Farnsworth in the very different but in fact equally demanding field of sociology, Adorno seems to have disruptively wanted to first theorize the impact of Edison's, Marconi's, and Farnsworth's creations on the listener. Adorno, in a truly pragmatic spirit, wanted to take the material basis into account, but was forestalled from doing so.

Adorno was aware, ten years before the appearance of McLuhan, that the medium, in particular its necessary limitations, might become the message. He theorized that the limitations might be necessary using, not the Aristotelean or Boolean logic familiar to a Farnsworth, but a 'dialectic' call and response logic in which we might actually demand, in the case of music reproduction, the very experience that denies, excludes, an older, and possibly richer, experience.

Of course, the engineer then and now is engaged in finding ways to satisfy demands, and not prove their mutual exclusion, which is why theoretical sociologists are scorned by engineers. But Boolean logic's possibility happens to rest on the bare possibility of knowledge, and one of Farnsworth's limitations was that this blinded him to the importance of PR over and above valid patents.

But rare indeed is the engineer with this range of vision, and as a result, engineers, in reading this book, might be subtly encouraged to POLARIZE the urban and cosmopolite world of Sarnoff versus the more down-to-earth, nuts and bolts, ham and ham sandwich world of an Edison or Farnsworth. With the result that such men grow old without grace, and the ultimate justification of the technology is biased towards destruction.

Fascinating and well-executed.......2003-01-24

For science and invention-history buffs, this is a no-brainer, but even the non-technoid layperson will find this a fascinating and fast-paced read. The author does an excellent job of presenting the key characters' development and motiviation, interspersing very fluidly the important biographical details of both Farnsworth and Sarnoff with appropriate and necessary background information on the technological evolution that eventually drew their lives together.

Schwartz achieves an entertaining balance between the social history of television and radio, the scientific minutae of the early growth of these technologies, and the personal lives of the individuals involved. Without becoming self-righteous or dogmatic, he lets the reader know where he stands on the issue of scientific integrity versus commercial exploitation, and succeeds in proving his underlying thesis that Farnsworth was truly one of the last of his breed. Finely researched and tightly written, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Why can't we learn from the past?.......2002-12-24

Looking for precedence in the desktop PC operating system wars? The battle for television standard supremacy is exhibit ABC!

Similar to Microsoft's grab for OS hegemony in the 1980s and 1990s, RCA outmaneuvered archrivals AT&T, Westinghouse, Philco to capture the hearts, minds and pocketbooks of the American public. And while the battle was fought by the best minds Corporate America could muster, it was a lone inventor by the name of Philo T Farnsworth who gave RCA all it could handle on the innovation front, but was eventually outgunned by RCA honcho and master marketeer David Sarnoff, who perfectly played the courts to outlast the brilliant but business-challenged entrepreneur.

In fact, the story is reminiscent of IBM's early 1980s investigation for a PC operating system. Computer geeks might remember that at that time Digital Research's CP/M was considered the best of breed PC operating system, and Big Blue was desperate to have it power its fledgling IBM PC. IBM execs, however, couldn't get a meeting with CP/M's inventor Gary Kildall (IBM had arranged to meet him at home, but Kildall was off flying his plane, leaving his wife Dorothy to negotiate a deal but she wouldn't sign a non-disclosure agreement.). So Big Blue sought alternatives, eventually striking a deal with Microsoft for an operating system the then infant company didn't yet have rights to (which was eventually called MS-DOS). And the rest, as they say ... is history!

Sarnoff bluffed, licensed and marketed his way into the television space. Farnsworth like Kildall, was almost too bright for his own good. He thought the game would be decided by the technical merits of his product. That wasn't the case then -- nor is it now. It's not who invents the better mousetrap that wins; it's who defines, controls and spins the battle to suit his ends. It's marketing muscle not technological superiority -- as Microsoft has proven time and again.

Kildall died battered and bruised (physically and emotionally) not unlike Farnsworth who passed on as a penniless and forgotten man.

I could easily see this book turned into a major motion picture: Johnnie Depp in the Farnsworth role; Bob Hoskins as Sarnoff. But don't wait for the movie. This book is a page-turner -- you won't be disappointed. Farnsworth, like Kildall, can't be forgotten. It's books like this that guarantee he won't.

Average customer rating:

A dissenting view

I'm glad I stumbled on this one

President/Leweys Eco-Blends Inc

last Cry: native American Prophecies Tales of the End Times

Powerful and filled with insight into our own beginnings.

Last Cry: Native American Prophecies & Tales of the End Times
Dr. Robert Ghost Wolf
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Shamanism | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1412007232

Product Description

Last cry ... remains a time tested revelation about Prophecy and the coming of the Awakening...

Dr. Ghost Wolf has the unique ability of bridging many realities. Here he brings to light not only an indepth look at the teachings of the indigenous masters, but he also gives us profound insights into his own remarkable gifts of prophecy as a Shaman for the Metis People and leaves us looking ahead into the 21st Century with new eyes... Welcome to the Awakening.

Customer Reviews:

A dissenting view.......2007-10-07

I'll be the "designated" dissenting view here amongst all of these positive reviewers. This was not my cup of tea. That assuredly has alot to do with my estimation of this book. Above and beyond the rather off-the-wall mysticism and somewhat pseudo-native American spirituality, the editing is horrible. Misspelt words everywhere! I don't care how bad a book is in terms of its content, at least the author and publisher can check the spelling for god's sake! To me, that kind of error says alot about the author and the lack of professionalism in general. I just thought his viewpoint was hokey.

I'm glad I stumbled on this one.......2006-07-27

What a fascinating, wonderful book. It is thought provoking and stimulating reading. As a Christian theologian, i found it extremely wonderful and helpful reading.

Mary Sheeran, author of "Who Have the Power: a legend of the west"

President/Leweys Eco-Blends Inc.......2004-02-23

The most soul searching satsifying book. For a great mentor and teacher for those who will listen. Time ......this is to help prepare for the Great Comings............. I respect and thank him for the great insight

last Cry: native American Prophecies Tales of the End Times.......2000-04-20

I found this book to be incredibly insightful and informitive based completely in a shamanic light. Even those that do not follow this path can gather a lot of meaning from this book in regards to this: We are all from the same place...this earth. All fear and hate based on skin color, orientation, gender, species, etc...is completely futile. If people as a whole would understand themselves, being honest with themselves...I doubt that we as a whole would have any more hate and fear.

Powerful and filled with insight into our own beginnings........1999-01-06

This book resonated with the essence of my very being. It brings remembrance of our beginnings on this planet and in this dimension if one can accept it. It seems as though Robert Ghostwolf has hurried to get the information out and therefore, at times I did not have a full comprehension of the symbols such as the colored serpents. I have only a bit of native American blood and know only a little about the ancient religious beliefs of the people. Call me a crazy if you wish,but the book (for the most part) rang true to the depths of my being, and why not? Is it more outrageous than the stories in the Holy Bible from which I also draw great comfort and truth?

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