The Partly Cloudy Patriot
by Sarah Vowell
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (05 September, 2002)
list price: $22.00 -- our price: $14.96
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (49)

Those Lacking a Sense of Humor Need Not Apply
I got this book on CD from the library and have since purchased it for several friends.As funny as the book is, hearing her say the words aloud is even better.Her voice has this unaffected, almost uninterested quality that drives home her point all the more.

Her writing runs from hysterically funny (the toutist in Salem looking for a witch trivet) to touching (description of teenagers practicing what to do if a classmate begins shooting).

Make no mistake--this is not an unbiased retelling of history, but rather a (reluctantly) self-proclaimed history buff who shares her experiences and point of view on history.Her voice is unique and hysterically funny.I highly recommend it.

Wonderful Read - Even Better "Hear"
Sarah Vowell is a particularly cynical and yet sometimes hilariously funny author who can fill the mind with imagery with a single two word phrase like "Nerd Isreal".In this book she explores her own particular brand of patriotism and her point of view on history and the world now.The book is an interesting, albeit short read that captivated me and made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion.However, to truly get the voice of this book, one should definitely listen to any of Vowell's past readings on NPR.Her voice, her particular way of flatly stating the absurd in her (sorry, Sarah) nasal overtones brings the reader fully into the book.If you can imagine her reading the book to you, it brings it into a whole new dimension.

Great spokeswoman for nerds and leftist patriots
I whipped through this collection of essays in about three days with little effort.Sarah Vowell is a completely unapologetic nerd and left wing patriot, and writes on subjects as diverse as Al Gore, Tom Landry, a lunchroom 700 feet below sea level at Carlsbad Caverns, Pop-A-Shot Basketball, Tom Cruise, and Gettysberg.

While some of the essays are more personal diversions, such as the one describing her life as a twin, a common theme through the book is her love of the USA and her desire to learn as much as this country as possible.I had to admire the fact that even though George W. Bush is the brunt of jokes throughout this book, she describes how proud she was to sing The National Anthem at George W. Bush's first inauguration, while other dissenters remained silent.

Vowell always seems to have a unique insight on something, and provides commentary on details few ever really notice. It isn't really deep analysis, but entertaining and insightful.However, if Al Gore had taken Ms. Vowell's advice, it's a good chance he would have become The President, in my opinion.

For nerdy, left-wing patriots such as myself, give it an extra 1/2 star. ... Read more

Isbn: 0743223527
Sales Rank: 20873
Subjects:  1. American Essays    2. American national characteristics    3. Anecdotes    4. Description and travel    5. Essays    6. Government - U.S. Government    7. History    8. Literary Criticism    9. National characteristics, American    10. Politics and government    11. Travel - United States    12. United States    13. United States - General    14. Current Events / General    15. Vowell, Sarah   

Carter Beats the Devil
by Glen Gold
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (18 September, 2002)
list price: $14.95 -- our price: $10.17
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

In Carter Beats the Devil, Glen David Gold subjects the past tothe same wondrous transformations as the rabbit in a skilled illusionist's hat.Gold's debut novel opens with real-life magician Charles Carter executing aparticularly grisly trick, using President Warren G. Harding as a volunteer.Shortly afterwards, Harding dies mysteriously in his San Francisco hotel room,and Carter is forced to flee the country. Or does he? It's only the first ofmany misdirections in a magical performance by Gold. In the course of subsequentpages, Carter finds himself pursued by the most hapless of FBI agents; falls inlove with a beautiful, outspoken blind woman; and confronts an old nemesis benton destroying him. Throw in countless stunning (and historically accurate)illusions, some beautifully rendered period detail, and historical figures likeyoung inventor Philo T. Farnsworth and self-made millionaire Francis "Borax"Smith, and you have old-fashioned entertainment executed with a decidedly modernsensibility.

Gold has written for movies and TV, so it's no surprise that he delivers snappy,fast-paced dialogue and action scenes as expertly scripted as anything that'scome out of Hollywood in years. Carter Beats the Devil has a mustachioedvillain, chase scenes, a lion, miraculous escapes, even pirates, for God's sake.Yet none of this is as broadly drawn as it might sound: Gold's characters aredriven by childhood sorrows and disappointments in love, just like the rest ofus, and they're limned in clever, quicksilver prose. By turns suspenseful,moving, and magical, this is the historical novel to give to anyone whocomplains that contemporary fiction has lost the ability to both move andentertain. --Mary Park ... Read more

Reviews (164)

Non-stop entertainment!
I have to confess that I am not a reader who is overly concerned with writing styles or genres, and will not pretend to be as knowledgeable as most of you about literature. I found this book by chance and it has been one of the most interesting and entertaining books I have ever read! As many of you have commented, the book reads like a film and is very difficult to put down! The huge variety of characters are lifelike and charming, the plot is irresistable and the historical and technical details are bought to life by the authors enthusiasm and add a delicious depth to the book! Although I may not know of any tecnicalities of what makes a book good, I know that I enjoyed this one thoroughly on entertainment value and would recommend to everybody!

Matinee marvel
Readers who crave the titillating type of tale of the 'daVinci Code' would be satisfied with Gold's take on Carter. You can sense the author's enthusiasm in researching his subject and the spirit of playfulness, at the core of stage magic performance, is the beneficiary of this resourcefulness. It's a 'ripping yarn' with more than an eye and ear on potential film rights: easily translated into the kinds of media that were challenging Carter's career, and would eventually replace it as a large scale theatrical event. The battle between good and evil reaches its nadir with the struggle of magicians backstage, after Carter's greatest feat. Good, of course in such tales, triumphs, and Carter rides away with his beautiful belle to happy days. Likening this, as I note, to 'Kavalier and Clay' is an injustice to the tonal depth and rectitude of Chabon's masterpiece and its empathetically drawn main cast.

Pick a card, any card.....
Carter Beats The Devil is one of those rare novels you find in modern literature that exceeds expectations right from the beginning.

To reveal all the secrets revealed in this fine novel would be akin to revealing the sleight of hand employed by a magician, and therefore spoil the illusion.

Bearing that in mind, the novel opens with the participation of President Warren G. Harding in one of Carter's magic shows. Immediately following, the President dies, making Carter one of the chief suspects.

Gliding back in time, the novel then reveals Carter's initial foray into the world of legerdemain, and propels readers back to a childhood fancy that becomes a lifelong ambition. How often do our childhood ambitions become realized in our adult endeavors?

The story then follows a chain of events, partially foretold by a medium, that bring Carter to his present position of world-class magician, and famed practicioner of darker arts. Followed by the secret service, Carter employs all his skills to remain one step ahead of them, and uncover the truth behind the death of the President.

A fantastic novel, full of trade secrets and extraordinarilly realized period detail, Carter Beats The Devil is a fascinating read, a revealing look at the art of magic, and a thrilling story.

Highly recommended. ... Read more

Isbn: 0786886323
Subjects:  1. (Warren Gamaliel),    2. 1865-1923    3. Carter, Charles J.    4. Fiction    5. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    6. Harding, Warren G.    7. Literary    8. Mystery & Detective - Historical    9. Mystery fiction    10. Fiction / Literary    11. Reading Group Guide   

East of the Mountains (Vintage Contemporaries (Paperback))
by David Guterson
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (18 April, 2000)
list price: $14.00 -- our price: $14.00
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

David Guterson's first novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, was a true ensemble piece, in which even a high-stakes murder trial seemed like a judgment passed on the community at large. In his eloquent second novel, however, the author swings dramatically in the opposite direction. East of the Mountains is the tale of a solitary, 73-year-old Seattle widower. A retired heart surgeon, Ben Givens is an old hand at turning isolation to his advantage, both professionally and personally: "When everything human was erased from existence except that narrow antiseptic window through which another's heart could be manipulated--few were as adroit as Dr. Givens."

Now, however, Ben has been dealt a problem entirely beyond his powers of manipulation: a diagnosis of terminal cancer. With just a few months to live, he sets out across the Cascades for a hunting trip, planning to take his own life once he reaches the high desert. A car crash en route puts an initial crimp in this suicide mission. But the ailing surgeon presses onward--and begins a simultaneous journey into the past. Between present-tense episodes, which demonstrate Ben's cranky commitment to his own extinction, we learn about his boyhood in Washington's apple country, his traumatic war experience in the Italian Alps, and the beginning of his vocation.

Guterson narrates the apple-scented idyll of Ben's childhood in a typically low-key manner--and orchards, of course, are seldom the stuff of melodrama. Still, many of his ambling sentences offer miniature lessons in patience and perception: "They rode back all day to the Columbia, traversed it on the Colockum Ferry, and at dusk came into their orchard tired, on empty stomachs, their hats tipped back, to walk the horses between the rows of trees in a silent kind of processional, and Aidan ran his hands over limbs as he passed them with his horse behind him, the limbs trembling in the wake of his passing, and on, then, to the barn." The wartime episodes, however, are less satisfactory. Clearly Guterson has done his research down to the last stray bullet, but there's a second-hand feeling to the material, which seems less a token of Ben's detachment than the author's.

There is, alas, an additional problem. Begin a story with a planned suicide, and there are exactly two possible outcomes. It would be unfair to reveal Ben's fate. But as the forces of life and death yank him one way, then another, Guterson tends to stack the deck--particularly during a bus ride toward the end of the novel, when Ben's fellow passengers appear to have wandered in from a Frank Capra film. Yet East of the Mountains remains a beautifully imagined work, in which the landscape reflects both Ben's desperation and his intermittent delight. And Guterson knows from the start what his protagonist learns in painful increments: that "a neat, uncomplicated end" doesn't exist on either side of the mountains. --James Marcus ... Read more

Reviews (191)

Achingly Familiar Landscape and Character
As a native Northwesterner, I am always suspicious about books written about this region. So many writers don't get it right, but five a quick gloss to Puget Sount, toss in a little Mt. Rainier and rhapsodize at entirely too much lengh about the San Juan Islands.

But Guterson's got the sense of place just right.The book opens with an aging and terminally ill Seattle physician's decision to return to the scene of his youth and end his life.

I found myself gasping with recognition in Guterson's account of the surprisingly long and difficult journey over Snoqualmie Pass to Eastern Washington. The landscape sings such a familiar song through Guterson's words.

His protagonist initially displays the contained stoicism so typical of the region's Scandinavian-American residents.And like them, he rises to complex challenges, spilling forth his humanity at every turn.The protagonist's achingly difficult night on the Columbia plateau was so real that it was painful to read.

The doctor has to be one of the best fictional characters I've encountered in a long time.In fact, he is so skillfully drawn that I find myself unable to decide whether Guterson's greater gift is for evoking character or landcape. In any case, this is defintely a five-star book.

East of the Mountains- a full course meal
David Guterson writes an eloquent and accurate description of his character Benjamin Givens and the Pacific Northwest in this novel. The descriptions posess rich, swelling phrases, while not appearing verbose. There is a sweetness in his language that balances out with the bitter content of the novel. One finds himself siding with the ongoing disaster that seems to follow Ben Givens, instead of siding with Ben's original intent. The author of Snow Falling on Cedars appeals to all audiences, and all areas of the literary palate. From the sour first chapter to the ripe, but not artificial sweetness of the last page, Ben Givens traverses through eastern Washington and his own memories until he regains the identity he lost generations ago. David Guterson portrays the moral, "One never stops learning at any age," beautifully in this novel.

Heartful, Mindful, Soulful
I was utterly shocked when I saw that this book had only earned 3 stars (at the time of this review).It is hands down one of the best books I have ever read.My wife and I were about 2 weeks from relocating to the area where the book is set so that may have played a role in my enjoyment of the book

The travels of the protagonist lead him, and the reader, to consider life and death.I gave this book away after I read it only to go and buy another copy for myself.I will read it again and again. ... Read more

Isbn: 0156011042
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. General    4. Fiction / General    5. Reading Group Guide   

Merrick (Vampire/Witches Chronicles)
by ANNE RICE
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (02 October, 2001)
list price: $7.99 -- our price: $7.99
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Just when you thought it was safe for a bloodsucker to go out in the dark in New Orleans, along comes Merrick Mayfair, a sultry, hard-drinking octoroon beauty whose voodoo can turn the toughest vampire into a marionette dancing to her merry, scary tune. In Merrick, Anne Rice brings back three of her most wildly popular characters--the vampires Lestat and Louis and the dead vampire child Claudia--and introduces them to the world of her Mayfair Witches book series.

It is Louis who brings about the collision of the fang and voodoo universes. Louis made Claudia a vampire in Rice's classic Interview with the Vampire, in which she was destroyed, and now he's obsessed with raising her ghost to make amends and seek guidance from the beyond. (Claudia physically resembles Rice's young daughter who died of a blood-related illness. Rice nearly died of a diabetic coma in 1998, and writing Merrick turned her excruciating recovery into an exhilarating burst of creativity).

Vampire David Talbot lobbies Merrick to call Claudia's spirit and slake Louis's guilt, but Talbot winds up in the grip of an obsession with the witch. You see, Talbot, unlike most vampires, lived 70 years as a human, so his sexual response to humans is still as strong as his blood thirst. Merrick can cast spells to make men crave her, and Talbot is tormented. After she reads his palm, he muses, "I wanted to take her in my arms, not to feed from her, no, not harm her, only kiss her, only sink my fangs a very little, only taste her blood and her secrets, but this was dreadful and I wouldn't let it go on."

The secrets of Merrick are dark and sensuous, but the book is a romp animated by Rice's feeling of coming back to life through the magic of a literary outpouring. The narrative flashes back to the past, to an Indiana Jones-ish adventure in a Guatemalan cave, and to scenes from many other Rice novels. It may be helpful to read Merrick with the Rice-approved guidebooks The Vampire Companion and The Witches' Companion at hand.

After many books, Rice's grand Vampire Chronicles tale was in peril of getting long in the tooth. Merrick Mayfair's magic represents an infusion of fresh blood. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Reviews (304)

not the best
Although the book itself was entertaining it wasn't even close to being near the pinnicale of what Anne Rice is capable of writing at.With this book we find Loius once again as a main character along with Merrick and our old friend from The Talmasia.This book never quite able to capture the intimacy or "Human" aspect of the characters as Anne Rice's previous stories have.It is just another book that a great writer as written well below her capablity.

Character counts Ms. Rice!
Like many here, I thoroughly enjoyed the first three Vampire Chronicles.I even liked the next two, although that's where the character development began to deteriorate.After "Memnoch..." though, I'm just reading entire books for a few bits of plot.I can understand a character changing in the course of a book, or several books, but on the same page?David is in love, then he's angry, then he's in the depths of despair, then he's in love again, etc.Merrick is strong, then a weak young girl, then strong, then a drunk, then a powerful witch, then a weak link. I know that IRL people are complex, but it seems like all the characters in this book have ADD, or Anne Rice has developed it while writing about them.And is it part of the vampire blood that you lose all ability to stick to your convictions?I was so hoping that Merrick would not be turned, and yet she was.Making her confess it was a "spell" did not make it all right either.
I liked Merrick for what she was, just like I liked Louis for what he was, and now they are each something new, and different, and horrible.This could be intriguing, or tragic, but to me it's just disappointing and sad.

A pleasent melding of two chronicles.
Merrick is Anne Rice's return to her beloved Vampire Chronicles, this time with a little twist. She also melds her Mayfair Chronicles into the story, creating a thrilling page-turner of a book. The story follows Rice's best vampires, Lestat, David Talbot, Louis and Claudia.

Louis is even more melencholy than usual because Claudia is on his mind. Ever since Jesse, another member of the Talasmaca told him she knew of Claudia's ghost, Louis can't get her out of his head. Lestat is still in his deep slumber, so Louis enlists David to contact one of his old students, a powerful witch named Merrick Mayfair, who still works with the Talasmaca. Louis wants Merrick to contact Claudia's ghost, to see if she is at rest or if she still wanders lost for all time, so if she isn't at peace, either Merrick or him might make her move on. By doing this Louis feels he'll somehow fill a hole that's been there ever since Claudia was originally murdered way back in Interview with the Vampire.

David agrees and recounts serveral stories about his days with Merrick when he was still human. He tells many tales of how Aaron and him came to take her into their fold and many other tales of adventures they set out on together and how powerful a witch she really is. The story comes to an end with a fateful meeting with the ghost of Claudia and a few things that happen after the fact.

Don't be too fooled by the Vampire/witch meshing though. Although Merrick is a Mayfair, she's only of distant relations to all of the main characters from Rice's original witch chronicles. Not that Merrick isn't a great character, because she is, but it would have been nice to see some of the other Mayfair's make an appearance. Still, it's nice to see the two tales join together.

This book is another well written tale by Rice. Once again she paints rich new characters, as well as furthering the immensely interesting lives of her returning characters. The tale is rich in detail and has several adventerous parts like when Merrick and David go in search of a cave secreting lost artifacts. It's fast paced and always fun.

... Read more

Isbn: 0345422406
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Horror    3. Horror - General    4. Literary    5. Occult    6. Fiction / General   

The Devil in the White City:Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
by ERIK LARSON
Average Customer Review:
Hardcover (11 February, 2003)
list price: $25.95 -- our price: $16.35
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Author Erik Larson imbues the incredible events surrounding the 1893 Chicago World's Fair with such drama that readers may find themselves checking the book's categorization to be sure that The Devil in the White City is not, in fact, a highly imaginative novel. Larson tells the stories of two men: Daniel H. Burnham, the architect responsible for the fair's construction, and H.H. Holmes, a serial killer masquerading as a charming doctor. Burnham's challenge was immense. In a short period of time, he was forced to overcome the death of his partner and numerous other obstacles to construct the famous "White City" around which the fair was built. His efforts to complete the project, and the fair's incredible success, are skillfully related along with entertaining appearances by such notables as Buffalo Bill Cody, Susan B. Anthony, and Thomas Edison. The activities of the sinister Dr. Holmes, who is believed to be responsible for scores of murders around the time of the fair, are equally remarkable. He devised and erected the World's Fair Hotel, complete with crematorium and gas chamber, near the fairgrounds and used the event as well as his own charismatic personality to lure victims. Combining the stories of an architect and a killer in one book, mostly in alternating chapters, seems like an odd choice but it works. The magical appeal and horrifying dark side of 19th-century Chicago are both revealed through Larson's skillful writing. --John Moe ... Read more

Reviews (353)

The best non-fiction I have ever read!
Erik Larson paints a detailed picture of the trials and tribulations of the men and women who created the 1893 Worlds Fair, the White City. He also interweaves stories about the seedier side of Chicago where the fair was held. The stories all revolve around the famous and infamous who would eventually have a profound effect on society in one way or another.
I loved this book because it reads like a fiction novel but is absolutely non-fiction. It had as many actual quotes from each character as possible, mostly taken from letters. This makes the book much more believable and interesting.
It was a time I was not familiar with so I was intrigued instantly. The people and events were bigger than life, awe inspiring, and sometimes horrifying. This book has opened up a new world for me. I hope to find other historical books that are as well written.

The not so gay '90's
Erik Larson's "The Devil in the White City" is actually an intertwining of two stories with a common locale, Chicago, being the connection.The White City refers to the 1893 Columbian Exposition held in Chicago to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the new world.The devil is an apt description of Dr. H.H. Holmes a monstrous, psychopathic serial murderer residing in Chicago around the same time.In alternating chapters Larson narrates details surrounding the creation of the exposition and the grisly, unthinkable exploits of Holmes.

When it was decided to construct a huge world's fair, the cities of Chicago, St. Louis, Washington and New York were vying for the right to host it.Chicago eventually won that honor.Chicago, which had just replaced Philadelphia as the second most populous city in the U.S., was anxious to upgrade it's image.Long thought of as only a slaughterhouse and meat packing center, an impressive Columbian Exposition would do much to enhance it's status as a metropolitan area.As a result, widely respected architect Daniel Burnham was appointed director of the exposition.Together with his partner John W. Root, the creative genius for their renowned architectural firm, they recruited the finest architectural minds in the country to design and construct the fair.Part of the group consisted of Frederick Olmstead, a landscape architect responsible for the design of Manhattan's Central Park.Together they created a fairy tale like city complete with beautiful white painted neo-classical buildings in Jackson Park, along the shores of Lake Michigan.The exposition which ran for six months while plagued with problems and cost overruns was a rousing success.It introduced cutting edge exhibits and products which are still famous today.For example George Ferris introduced the ferris wheel, a colossal 264 feet high with 36 pullman sized cars to hold scores of passengers.This was meant to rival the Eiffel Tower constructed for the 1889 Paris world's fair.

While this 19th century magic kingdom was being created,Dr. H.H. Holmes was a physician operating a pharmacy in Chicago near the Jackson Park location of the fair.Holmes fraudulently bought businesses, secured goods and services with out payment with a slick demeanor, contrite personality, good looks and trustworthy deep blue eyes.All the while he was bilking people out of money while feeding his penchant for homicide.He was fond of marrying, seizing his wife's assets and then killing her.He also was an expert of convincing people to take out life insurance policies, naming him chief beneficiary and then killing them.Using all his devious tricks for procuring services, he had a building built across from his pharmacy desgned to serve as a hotel during the fair.It was actually a castle of horrors complete with airtight rooms in which gas lines were connected to kill patrons at Holmes' whim.He also had a kiln built to enable him to dispose of the bodies, as well as quicklime pits to do the same.

Prior to his apprehension by Detective Frank Geyer, it was speculated that this cool and despicable killer had done away with between 9 and 200 individuals, many of them young single inexperienced, impressionablewomen coming to Chicago from small towns.

Larson's novel was a mixed bag.Details surrounding the exposition while interesting for the most part, tended to get tedious.The story of serial killer Holmes was certainly more captivating.The connection between the two events was not a particularly strong one.

Devil in the White City
I learned a lot of things from this book.Not life things, but historical things.It was well researched and although it took me about 80 pages to get into it, it was well worth reading, and extremely interesting, as it took you to 1891 - 1893 and the architects and planners for the Chicago Worlds Fair, and it interlaced a second story (about every other chapter) about a real serial killer that preyed upon people, women, men, and even children.Products that came from the fair included Cracker Jacks, Shredded Wheat, and the Ferris Wheel!I would recommend it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0609608444
Subjects:  1. 1861-1896    2. Architects    3. Biography    4. Case studies    5. Chicago    6. History - General History    7. Illinois    8. Mudgett, Herman W.,    9. Murder - General    10. Murder - Serial Killers    11. Serial murderers    12. Serial murders    13. True Crime    14. United States - 19th Century    15. United States - 19th Century/Turn of the Century    16. United States - State & Local - General    17. United States - State & Local - Midwest    18. History / United States / 19th Century    19. Mudget, Herman, W    20. Mudgett, Herman W    21. World's Columbian Exposition    22. Murder    23. Reading Group Guide   

Plainsong (Vintage Contemporaries)
by KENT HARUF
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (22 August, 2000)
list price: $13.95 -- our price: $10.46
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Plainsong, according to Kent Haruf's epigraph, is "any simple and unadorned melody or air." It's a perfect description of this lovely, rough-edged book, set on the very edge of the Colorado plains. Tom Guthrie is a high school teacher whose wife can't--or won't--get out of bed; the McPherons are two bachelor brothers who know little about the world beyond their farm gate; Victoria Roubideaux is a pregnant 17-year-old with no place to turn. Their lives parallel each other in much the same way any small-town lives would--until Maggie Jones, another teacher, makes them intersect. Even as she tries to draw Guthrie out of his black cloud, she sends Victoria to live with the two elderly McPheron brothers, who know far more about cattle than about teenage girls. Trying to console her when she think she's hurt her baby, the best lie they can come up with is this: "I knew of a heifer we had one time that was carrying a calf, and she got a length of fencewire down her some way and it never hurt her or the calf."

Holt, Colorado, is the kind of small town where everyone knows everyone's business before that business even happens. In a way, that's true of the book, too. There's not a lot of suspense here, plotwise; you can see each narrative twist and turn coming several miles down the pike. What Plainsong has instead is note-perfect dialogue, surrounded by prose that's straightforward yet rich in particulars: "a woman walking a white lapdog on a piece of ribbon," glimpsed from a car window; the boys' mother, her face "as pale as schoolhouse chalk"; the smells of hay and manure, the variations of prairie light. Even the novel's larger questions are sized to a domestic scale. Will Guthrie find love? Will Victoria run away with the father of her baby? Will the McPherons learn to hold a conversation? But in this case, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and Plainsong manages to capture nothing less than an entire world--fencing pliers, calf-pullers, and all. Kent Haruf has a gorgeous ear, and a knack for rendering the simple complex. --Mary Park ... Read more

Reviews (399)

Great Post-modern literature!
I thought that this book was a great book for many reasons. Most importantly, the book draws the reader in very closely and does not let go until the end. This is accomplished mostly by vivid characterization. The book does an excellent job at "showing" the characters instead of "telling." This helps the reader develop connection with the characters on multiple levels. And because the characters of the story are always going through some type of hard time readers feel sympathy for them. This is how they draw the reader into the novel.
Also, another main reason this book is great is because it teaches the readers an important lesson. It teaches the reader that there are two main types of relationships-good and bad. The former should be kept, while the latter should be discarded. It shows this through numerous relationships that develop throughout the novel.
Therefore, I think Plainsong is a great book for many reasons, but mostly because of its closeness with its readers and moral lessons.

Grabs you without you realizing you've been grabbed
I picked up Plainsong on a business trip and finished up in the Cincinnati airport.Not in the airport per se... on the tarmac, still 8th in line for take-off, actually, leaving me wanting more for the hour and twenty minutes we were in the air.

I loved it.Unlike some books with multiple story lines, no one story over another held my interest more.I was equally engaged in all.That balance is very delicate and was surely thought out to the nth degree in the editing process.

The characters were the heart of the story, way above the plot.They were lifelike, real, human, etc.These could have been members of my own family, had I come from the Plains.

Those quiet and beautiful McPheron brothers were at the core of the story.I would have loved an entire novel just about them, but then I would have missed out on other gems like Tom, burnt but not quite broken, and Maggie, who, as Haruf describes her (I'll have to look this up), "(doesn't) get defeated or scared by life."I could have used a lot more information about the two boys and Tom's ultimate retribution against the Beckmans, but I think that's just my reaction to the injustice they suffered.

My only criticism was the editing choice behind the lack of quotation marks.Maybe I'm just a purist when it comes to that sort of thing, but I believe you need a really good reason for such a break in traditional punctuation standards.Like, maybe if you're writing from the first person point of view and you want all of the prose to merge together, dialog and narration, to indicate that the speaker isn't really distinguishing himself, in his own mind.Here, though, it was a distraction to me, at least at first.

I know some writers choose to do things like that just to be different.Charles Frazier, in Cold Mountain, for instance, preceded each sparse line of dialog with a dash, instead of wrapping it in quotes.I struggled with that as well.Then again, Frazier won the National Book Award and Haruf was nominated, so maybe those who judge like the breaks from tradition.Who knows?

I just prefer my narration and dialog to be clearly delineated.Plus, when you do something like that, you need to be extra careful with your commas, since that's all that separates the speech from the speaker, and I found three or four comma splices as I was reading along which threw me off track.

Regardless of that very minor complaint, the writing was excellent and the characters were the best I've come across since The Shipping News, which is still on the top of my list of personal favorites.

AsPerfectAsItGets
Here is a simply brilliant book, a slice of life, deceptively simple, in Holt, Colorado, a tiny farming town in the middle of nowhere.

We are introduced first to Tom Guthrie, the good and decent high school teacher whose wife lies in a deep depression in her darkened room, refusing to get up. So Tom, a good man through and through, is single-handed raising their two boys, Ike and Bobby, who are only a year apart and who cope with their mother's "disappearance" with a stoicism beyond their years.

Then there are the two old McFaren brothers, bachelors who have farmed their cattle for some 60 years after the death of their parents. They are gruff, taciturn, set in their ways, and the adult version of Ike and Bobby.

Turning their world completely upside down is the young, pregnant teenaged girl, Victoria, who winds up in their care through a series of events I won't describe here...but who opens their craggy hearts to love and longing after too many years to count.

And that is the whole simple story: how human love and kindness, juxtaposed against the roughest of realities (and there are plenty of them, especially those described on the farm), can bring redemption and meaning to any life.

I found this book to be completely brilliant, in a way that Richard Russo's "Empire Falls," which it vaguely resembles and which won the Pulitzer Prize, never was. "Plainsong" is a masterpiece. ... Read more

Isbn: 0375705856
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - General    3. Literary    4. Sagas    5. Fiction / Literary    6. Reading Group Guide   

Word Freak : Heartbreak Triumph Genius Obsession World Competitive Scrabble Players
by StefanFatsis
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (30 July, 2002)
list price: $15.00 -- our price: $10.20
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Like a cross between a linguistic spy and a lexicographic Olympic athlete, journalist Stefan Fatsis gave himself a year to penetrate the highest echelons of international Scrabble competition. Word Freak is the account of his journey. It's a wacky grab bag of travelogue, history, party journal, and psychological study of the misfits and goofballs whose lives are measured out in Scrabble tiles.

Fatsis gives us all the facts about Scrabble--from the story of the down-on-his-luck architect who invented the game in the 1930s to the intricacies of individual international competitions and the corporate wars to control the world's favorite word game. He keeps the reader turning the pages as we get involved in the lives of the Scrabble obsessives: men and women who have a point to prove against the world and have chosen Scrabble as their playground and their pulpit. As Fatsis goes on his own quest to attain the coveted 1600 rating, we actually get obsessed with him as he lies awake at night pondering moves and memorizing lists of words. For anybody who is interested in words, Word Freak provides an entertaining and absorbing read. --Dwight Longenecker, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (84)

BRITNEY SPEARS = PRESBYTERIANS = BEST IN PRAYERS
"The next morning, remarkable things happen. At Table 3, Nigel Richards plays THIONINE, a violet dye...Three turns later, Nigel lays down USE, forming UG, SH, and ETHIONINES, which is an amino acid...On the next turn, [his opponent] Adam makes another extension by playing BAM to the triple word score, forming BUG, ASH, and METHIONINE, another amino acid..."

Author Stefan Fatsis gets a writing assignment that turns into a full-blown obsession, as he finds himself drawn inexorably into the quirky world of competitive Scrabble. Fatsis explores Scrabble from many perspectives, ranging from the history of the game to the physical changes that take place inside a Scrabble expert's brain.

But the bulk of the book is devoted to spotlighting the personalities that Fatsis comes into contact with, and to his own efforts at achieving an expert rating. The book basically follows this quest, breaking repeatedly to discuss some other aspect of the game.

Along the way, Fatsis explores some interesting social issues. Why is the sport dominated by women at the lower rankings, but ruled by men at the coveted expert level? Why do so many of the top achievers seem to be walking basket cases? What obligation (if any) does Hasbro, which owns the North American rights to Scrabble, have to foster the legitimacy of the sport?

The excerpt above is one of dozens of play by play descriptions of the board that demonstrate the vast gulf between expert players and the types of players who bust out the game during family gatherings. Most Scrabble experts don't even know the meaning of most of the words that they use; their vocabulary is bolstered by memorizing list after list of the 120,000 words found in the Scrabble dictionary. They calculate the odds of drawing certain letters from the bag, and they might bluff by intentionally laying down a phony in the hopes that their opponent won't have the gall to challenge it.

I enjoyed this book very much, especially after I got through a somewhat slow beginning. It fails to rise to the level of the best nonfiction books on similar topics, but it does present a compelling look at a little-imagined subculture from a variety of interesting angles.

I do have some criticisms of the book. My biggest problem is that Fatsis placed himself in an uncomfortable situation in which he had to walk the line between objective journalist, competitor, and good friend to the players of the game. At times, these roles conflict unavoidably. Instead of working his way up into a position of acceptance by the expert level players, Fatsis has used his journalistic credentials to "buy" his way into the tightly knit group, and his association with the top players is a key component in the progress he achieves as a competitor. Also, I see a difference in how he writes about himself and his fellow players. When talking about others in the game, he is brutally honest in analyzing their lives and their games. When talking about himself, he is only brutally honest about himself as it relates to the game. We get to know everything about Stefan the Scrabbler, and very little about Stefan the person. The fact that he respects his own privacy more than the privacy of his peers is a little troubling.

On a similar note, Fatsis uses the platform of his book to break one of his own cardinal rules, complaining about the luck of the draw. He never fails to point out when his opponents draw more desirable tiles, but he rarely mentions it when he "gets lucky" in this same way.

Also, I thought that perhaps too much time was spent giving back stories on some of the luminaries of the game; it felt to me as if perhaps he felt an obligation to write a little more than was necessary about the people he'd befriended.

Despite these small complaints, I thought that the book flowed fairly well. Fatsis's flair for language comes through in some of the writing, and the description of crucial tournament decisions by the best in the world are filled with tension and excitement. Also, we come to care for many of the offbeat personalities who have hung their life's ambitions on Scrabble. Matt Graham, Marlon Hill, and "GI Joel" Sherman are more than just characters; I found myself concerned for their well-being, and cheering for them as they struggled to find a place in this world.

You don't have to be a word-hound to enjoy this book; it is a keen and insightful look into a highly competitive sport, and that's going to be interesting to just about anyone.

Narrator's personality gets in the way.
I've done my best to read Word Freak, having heard great things about this memoir of the Scrabble championships but so far I just can't get past my dislike of the narrator. He interupts the flow of the book to either brag about his education (he has a degree in journalism) and yet he revels in his ignorance of words when the other better Scrabble players most often not only know if a set of tiles makes a word but what that word means. The author seems satisfied with only memorizing the word minus the definition because if the word were important he'd already know it. He does after all have a journalism degree. I passionately hate that line of reasoning.

Welcome to the fast lane of Scrabble
To most people, Scrabble is a board game they played as children and may still play with friends and family.To a few other people, it's the passion of their lives--they eat, breath, and live Scrabble.In "Word Freak," journalist Steve Fatsis takes the reader into the rarified and eccentric world of competitive Scrabble players.

One of the pleasures of the book is seeing the author gradually drawn into the obsessions of the game.When he first begins his investigations, Fatsis is a decent recreational player, but nothing special.As his work goes on, he becomes more and more involved in the competitive aspects of the game.He begins to memorize word lists and strategies to rack up more points and anagrams his way through the day.He enters tournaments and before he finally quits competitive play, builds up his national ranking to a low but nonetheless respectable level.

"Word Freak" takes the reader on an interesting ride.Along the way, Fatsis provides a brief history of the game, portraits of the brilliant but idiosyncratic players who populate the upper echelons of tournament Scrabble, and a general introduction to the rules,tricks and strategies of the game.There are a few parts that drag a little (notably Fatsis' explication of strategic playing--keep a Scrabble board or a piece of paper nearby to help yourself understand what he's talking about).But overall, the book is a marvelous introduction to one of the lesser known corners of the gaming world.
... Read more

Isbn: 0142002267
Subjects:  1. Board    2. Games    3. Games / Gamebooks / Crosswords    4. Games/Puzzles    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Puzzles    7. Games / General   

Everything Is Illuminated
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (01 April, 2003)
list price: $13.95 -- our price: $11.16
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

The simplest thing would be to describe Everything Is Illuminated, Jonathan Safran Foer's accomplished debut, as a novel about the Holocaust. It is, but that really fails to do justice to the sheer ambition of this book. The main story is a grimly familiar one. A young Jewish American--who just happens to be called Jonathan Safran Foer--travels to the Ukraine in the hope of finding the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis. He is aided in his search by Alex Perchov, a naïve Ukrainian translator, Alex's grandfather (also called Alex), and a flatulent mongrel dog named Sammy Davis Jr. Jr. On their journey through Eastern Europe's obliterated landscape they unearth facts about the Nazi atrocities and the extent of Ukrainian complicity that have implications for Perchov as well as Safran Foer. This narrative is not, however, recounted from (the character) Jonathan Safran Foer's perspective. It is relayed through a series of letters that Alex sends to Foer. These are written in the kind of broken Russo-English normally reserved for Bond villains or Latka from Taxi. Interspersed between these letters are fragments of a novel by Safran Foer--a wonderfully imagined, almost magical realist, account of life in the shtetl before the Nazis destroyed it. These are in turn commented on by Alex,creating an additional metafictional angle to the tale.

If all this sounds a little daunting, don't be put off; Safran Foer is an extremely funny as well as intelligent writer who combines some of the best Jewish folk yarns since Isaac Bashevis Singer with a quite heartbreaking meditation on love, friendship, and loss. --Travis Elborough, Amazon.co.uk ... Read more

Reviews (306)

Ban this Book!!!!
Safran has a intentional mindset of a man who has lived for so long and can't get nostalgia out of his heart. This book has affected me just as much as the reviews implicated it would and I can only compare him to one other writer, Kurt Vonnegut. I have yet to read his other novel but I am quite convinced I shall praise it just as much. Everything is Illuminated goes beyond teling a story of a man, a hero, a grandfather, and a bitch. It instills a passion that can tear apart a strong sense of urgency between love and life. Whether or not you like the bitter humor and impossible to follow dialogue, you will still be captivated to keep reading and hope your questions will be answered and your newfound answers once again questioned. To say anymore would be giving away too much.

Ambivalent --- At Best
Foer's "Everything is Illuminated" is -- in some places --engaging and entertaining and -- in other places -- confusing and frustrating.As one reviewer already indicated, there are some remarkably insightful comments ("She loved her new vocabulary of simply loving something more than she loved her love for that thing, and the vulnerability that went along with living in the primary world."), albeit these moments couldn't compensate for the drivel that characterized the remainder of the book.I did, however, particularly enjoy Foer's jab at Mormonism when he remarks that the shtetl was usually referred to as some variant of Trachim*, "except for maps and Mormon census records, for which it would go by Sofiowka" -- the reference to Mormon genealogy struck me as comical.

Read this one-of-a-kind book before the Aug 2005 movie
Picture a book about the Holocaust that has you bursting out in laughter at points.'Everything Is Illuminated' is that book - a seemingly impossible-to-pull-off-but-somehow-he-did-it blend of wildly inventive humor and dread horror, horror that plumbs the depths of human depravity.The talent who assembled this stunning tale - Jonathan Safran Foer - was only 24 at the time of publication.It's a stunning debut that literally set the publishing world on its ear.

Prior to the book, however, was a short story version published in the New Yorker.Liev Schreiber bought the rights to that story, wrote the screenplay (with feedback from JSF), and directed it.Look for it in big screen release in August 2005.I'd recommend reading the book prior to the movie (I love being able to sit in the the theater and compare the two versions as the film goes along).

By the way, this Statistically Impossible Phrases ('SIPs') feature that amazon has added is superb!For 'Illuminated' we're provided with the following SIPs, which wonderfully evoke the reading experience of the book:

petrol man
premium person
his fanny pack
abacus bead
witnessed anyone
famous nightclub
dead arm
white string

For those of you who have read the book:is that a perfect list or what?

For example, that 'witnessed anyone' are two words of a phrase ('Have you ever witnessed anyone in this photograph?') uttered repetitively by Ukranian translator 'Alex' during what I think is the book's standout scene.It's three pages that riveted me and caused me to re-read it five or six times to soak in all the emotion.
... Read more

Isbn: 0060529709
Subjects:  1. Americans    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. Jewish families    5. Literary    6. Ukraine    7. World War, 1939-1945   

Seabiscuit: An American Legend
by LAURA HILLENBRAND
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (26 March, 2002)
list price: $15.95 -- our price: $10.85
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

He didn't look like much. With his smallish stature, knobbyknees, and slightly crooked forelegs, he looked more like a cow pony than athoroughbred. But looks aren't everything; his quality, an admirer once wrote,"was mostly in his heart." Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of the horse whobecame a cultural icon in Seabiscuit: An American Legend.

Seabiscuit rose to prominence with the help of an unlikely triumvirate: ownerCharles Howard, an automobile baron who once declared that "the day of the horseis past"; trainer Tom Smith, a man who "had cultivated an almost mysticalcommunication with horses"; and jockey Red Pollard, who was down on his luckwhen he charmed a then-surly horse with his calm demeanor and a sugar cube.Hillenbrand details the ups and downs of "team Seabiscuit," from early trainingsessions to record-breaking victories, and from serious injury to "Horse of theYear"--as well as the Biscuit's fabled rivalry with War Admiral. She alsodescribes the world of horseracing in the 1930s, from the snobbery of Easternjournalists regarding Western horses and public fascination with the greatthoroughbreds to the jockeys' torturous weight-loss regimens, including saunasin rubber suits, strong purgatives, even tapeworms.

Along the way, Hillenbrand paints wonderful images: tears in Tom Smith's eyes ashis hero, legendary trainer James Fitzsimmons, asked to hold Seabiscuit's bridlewhile the horse was saddled; critically injured Red Pollard, whosechest was crushed in a racing accident a few weeks before, listening to the SanAntonio Handicap from his hospital bed, cheering "Get going, Biscuit! Get 'em,you old devil!"; Seabiscuit happily posing for photographers for several minuteson end; other horses refusing to work out with Seabiscuit because he teased andtaunted them with his blistering speed.

Though sometimes her prose takes on a distinctly purple hue ("His history hadthe ethereal quality of hoofprints in windblown snow"; "The California sunlighthad the pewter cast of a declining season"), Hillenbrand has crafted adelightful book. Wire to wire, Seabiscuit is a winner. Highlyrecommended. --Sunny Delaney ... Read more

Reviews (599)

You'll be rooting for Seabiscuit!
Wow, can Ms. Hillenbrand tell a story! I was reading this in bed and my husband asked, "Why's the bed shaking like that?" Well, it was because Seabiscuit was pounding down the track and I felt like I was in the saddle. It was that real!

But this book is about far more than the action and excitement of the races themselves; it is about the people who came together to groom this fabulous little horse for success, and about the long-ago time when Seabiscuit's name was a household word.

Hillenbrand has exhaustively researched her topic, but she does something else at least as important: she breathes life into it!

Ironically a Human Story
"SEABISCUIT" is not so much a story about a horse, but rather a story about the lives of the men which that horse changes.

Red is an orphan of the depression. Scrapping to get by after abandoned by his parents, Red is half blinded as a "boxer" in human-versions of warehouse dog fights. He turns to horse racing. Although technically too big to be a jockey, he starves himself to make weight.

Buick is a bicycle repairman who stumbles into automobile manufacturing and makes a fortune. When he loses a member of his family in an automobile accident, the family crumbles.

Red and Buick are broken men who come together because of Seabiscuit. Buick is the owner of the scrappy horse, and his broken cowboy trainer insists Red is the only jockey with the scrappy fire to ride it. "SEABISCUIT" is as much their story as that of the horse.

Ironic that a story about a horse can end up being such a "human" story.

Judged on those merits "SEABISCUIT" is a gripping drama that is in the same league as "SECRET LIFE OF BEES, " "MY FRACTURED LIFE" and "THE DA VINCI CODE."

Tells A True American Story
Seabiscuit is the truest American story to ever happen. It's the American dream. The underdog becoming the biggest thing ever. The horse who enchanted America. I loved this story, you will too. Buy it and you'll see why. ... Read more

Isbn: 0449005615
Subjects:  1. Biography    2. History    3. Horse Racing    4. Race horses    5. Seabiscuit (Race horse)    6. Sports    7. Sports & Recreation    8. United States    9. United States - 20th Century    10. History / United States / 20th Century    11. Reading Group Guide   

East of Eden (Oprah's Book Club)
by John Steinbeck
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (18 June, 2003)
list price: $16.00 -- our price: $10.88
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (160)

One of the Greatest Novels In American Literature
I agree with other reviewers who said this was a life-changing novel.In my estimation, this novel is second only to "Gone With The Wind" in terms of excellence. John Steinbeck has created characters that somehow never quite leave you, and a story that keeps you enthralled long after you have finished the novel.If you are interested in seeing the movie, rent the 1981 remake with Jane Seymour, Timothy Bottoms, etc.Although it seems a sacrilege to say it as the great James Dean was in the original, the remake is much better.It follows the book faithfully and is able to explore themes that could not be explored in the 1950s.Jane Seymour, at the height of her beauty, is utterly believable as the evil Kathy.

A classic,
t is often for someone to come across great reads that actually changes the person's life. Reading Dostoyevsky's "The Idiot" and John Steinbeck's "East of Eden" had a profound influence on me. There was so much to learn from those stories since they were so complete in treating humanity. In fact, these are deep, insightful and inspirational books that one can not easily throw aside after one has finished. These major classics are books to ponder about, books for us to think and reflect over and over. If you haven't read this great piece of American literature, then I suggest that you do so.I also recommend: Anna Karenina and Disciples of Fortune-these are two other classic works withrich stories.

Absolutely Amazing

Standing in front of monsterous shelves at Border's, staring at my summer reading list with 600 pages of Steinbeck in my hands, I think: "My teacher is trying to kill me." That was two years ago.

If I could pin down any one reason or instance that transformed me from the proverbial couch potato to avid reader, this epic novel would be it.

Steinbeck's East of Eden is absolutely spacktastuler (yes, so good, I just had to fabricate a word for it).The novel, set in the early 20th century, follows the story of the Trask family.A parallel to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, the conflicts between members of the family in two generations serve to explore the nature of good and evil and mankind's tendencies toward each.Steinbeck is able to envoke deep-seeded, universal questions while stunning the reader with a playful subtleness.

Perhaps most defined is the developement of character.The reader cannot help but fall in love (or undying disgust)with each of Steinbeck's masterfully crafted personas.

The book is long - 600 pages in four parts - but every bit the worth and more.The ending, not to be spoiled, even served to leave a beading tear in the eye of this hopeless "tough guy."

Truly a masterpiece of modern times. ... Read more

Isbn: 0142004235
Sales Rank: 894
Subjects:  1. Children of prostitutes    2. Classics    3. Fathers and sons    4. Fiction    5. Literature - Classics / Criticism    6. Salinas River Valley (Calif.)    7. Sibling rivalry   

Four To Score (A Stephanie Plum Novel)
by Janet Evanovich
Average Customer Review:
Paperback (15 June, 1999)
list price: $7.99 -- our price: $7.99
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Editorial Review

Stephanie Plum, the trash-talking New Jersey bail bondswoman ofthis popular series, is tracking Maxine Nowicki, who's wanted for skippingout on a car-theft charge lodged by her ex-boyfriend. Now the ex-boyfriend's very interested in getting back the love letters he supposedly wrote toMaxine. But what he's really looking for is the secret on which Evanovich hangsher screwball cast of colorful minor characters, including Sally Sweet, a cross-dressing drag queen; Lula, the 250-pound ex-hooker whoworks for Steph's boss; Cousin Vinnie, the bail bondsman; Grandma Mazur, who packs a Glock and is always looking for a little action; and Joyce, a wannabe bounty hunter who's been cramping Steph's style since sheplayed pass the salami with Steph's ex-husband. The action doesn't get much farther from Trenton than the Jersey Shore, but when Steph's apartmentand car are blown up by the others on Maxine's trail and she moves in withJoe Morelli, the handsome, arrogant cop she's been hung up on sincehigh school, it gets hotter than the craps table in Atlantic City. Plum's fans won'tbe disappointed in this fourth outing in the series, and they're likely tobe even more interested in the snappy patter and sexy shenanigans than inthe mystery that holds it all together. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Reviews (212)

Cheaper elsewhere!
I just ordered two of the Evanovich novels for my significant other, and paid too much.Try your local Target store--the whole series in paperback was $5.99 each!

I'm sure there are fantastic reads, just too pricey.

Not one to miss!
If you have been following the simmering saga of Stephanie and vice cop Morelli in the previous three books, you must read this book, where their love is finally consummated!You won't be disappointed.Plus, the book has all the humor and wackiness of all the others.

Explosively Funny
In this installment, Stephanie Plum is back with a bang.The accident prone ditzy bounty hunter manages to get blown out of her car and apartment, and into Joe Morelli's spare bedroom.

In addition to her trusty sidekick Lula, she now has a nearly seven foot tall transvestite musician (who's not gay), and her pistol-packing Grandma in her conspicuous entourage.

The case this time is to bring in a waitress who's skipped bail.Like all her other assignments, this one sounds easier than it looks, and before you can say "pepper spray" things start heating up.To make matters worse, Morelli's family has the grapevine buzzing, and her sleazy cousin Vinnie has assigned her long-time arch rival to the same case.

The steam picks up this time around, and the sparks between Stephanie and Joe are as hot as Trenton in a heat wave. The plot is a bit jumpy, but the fast pace and humorous situations make it a worthwhile read.

Amanda Richards, April 3, 2005

(In memory of Bob Zeidler, a very funny guy and great reviewer, who left us to our own devices on April 2, 2005.) ... Read more

Isbn: 0312966970
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Mystery & Detective - Series    4. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths    5. Mystery fiction    6. Mystery/Suspense    7. Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths   

Immortal in Death (In Death (Paperback))
by J. D. Robb
Average Customer Review:
Mass Market Paperback (01 July, 1996)
list price: $7.99 -- our price: $7.99
(price subject to change: see help)
US | Canada | United Kingdom | Germany | France

Reviews (28)

Loved it!
I have to tell you that this is better than the first! You just fall in love with gal pal Mavis in this one. (And continue to love her and Eve as the series goes on.) The series is one of the best I've ever read and I read a lot. Not may authors can compare. Hope the series continues for a long time.


Reviewed by Rosanna Filippello Author of the Angelo Mysteries Series published by JustMyBest inc. Book One--Angel of Death, Book Two--Angelo of Justice
(Angel of Truth to be released Fall of 2005)
www.detective-angelo-mysteries.com

Tough and tender married love
I am not a romance genre fan (generally the reverse), but I love the dynamics in the marriage of Eve Dallas and Roarke:both deeply wounded and deeply in love with each other.A loving marriage has tremendous healing power, a wounded past has tremendous power to make waves in a marriage, and Nora Roberts (alias J.D. Robb) has struck a beautiful balance in this book.

Good, but could have been better
Liked the first two books in this series better than this third, but it is still a recommended read.My problem with this book was that the ending just kind of dropped off.Would have like a few more pages of happiness, maybe some details on the wedding, (what did Mavis wear???).Despite the sub-par rating of 4 out of 5, I still have trouble putting the books down.Roberts does a good job teasing us with the romance which is probably why after three books about the same couple, I'm still interested in their lives.

Basically, you either like this series or you don't.If you like it, you need to read each of the books in order to get the full appeal.Though this wasn't my favorite of the three I read, it was enjoyable. ... Read more

Isbn: 0425153789
Sales Rank: 3655
Subjects:  1. Fiction    2. Fiction - Mystery/ Detective    3. Mystery & Detective - General    4. Mystery & Detective - Police Procedural    5. Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths    6. Mystery fiction    7. Mystery/Suspense