Reproductive Biology of Invertebrates, Volume 9, Part B, Progress in Male Gamete Ultrastructure and Phylogeny

Book Description

Includes significant advances in knowledge of spermatozoal ultrastructure of priapulida; mollusca: relict taxa; Polychaeta including pogonophora and myzostomida; euclitellata; nematoda; tardigrada; onychophora and chelicerta.

It is part of the ninth volume in the series: Progress in Male Gamete Ultrastructure and Phylogeny.

Book Description

Updates knowledge of the ultrastructure and phylogeny of spermatozoa of the invertebrates. Much new information is included on the sperm of non-chelicerate arthropod groups: the Decapoda, Pentastomida and Myriapoda and also the Lophophorata, and the unequivocally deuterostome groups, Echinodermata, Chordata, Urochordata, and Chephalochordata.

It is part of the ninth volume in the series: Progress in Male Gamete Ultrastructure and Phylogeny.

Book Description

Book Description

FORT DODGE IOWA, MARCH 21, 1868My life is perfect. I know my place. I connect to the planet. No demands are made on me. From time to time I am cradle-rocked. Jolted. Thus reminded of Source, which is comforting if disquieting. Time is no concern. Rumblings above of no consequence. Mysteries below irrelevant. I am entirely defended. Safe beyond sensation. Congealed eternity. I think I will sleep now. Or am I asleep? BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK APRIL 10, 1868George Hull drifted through a dream, smoking himself. He'd turned into a cigar, a Partagas El Cid Corona: thick, mellow, and slow-burning. George enjoyed the transition to dead ashes. His marvelous aroma wafted shimmering rings through the streets of Binghamton, New York, then fractured to color and gave the town a rainbow.His flesh rang the alarm that spoiled the metamorphosis. He woke shivering, naked in his bed, with no cover for protection. George looked over at his skimpy wife, Angelica. The blanket thief. She'd managed to wrap herself in their brown comforter and looked more like a cigar than he had in his dream. George, who had entered her the night before and filled her with a hive's worth of honey, thought, "Maybe somewhere inside something provident is happening." He owed her a baby.Angelica breathed in shallow little gasps. George imagined she must have lungs the size of snow peas to suck such tiny gusts of air. Sometimes she slept so silently he would shake her to see if she was alive. No matter what the hour, when he woke her, Angelica jumped to attention, alert, cordial, ready to serve him. Then he would snap at her, accusing her of sleeping too quietly, of feigning death. A smiling Angelica would make some effort to apologize through her puzzlement. She confused his rage with concern.For all Angelica's vulnerable grace, she was the one who had rolled herself in the blanket and left her husband rubbing his body to get the blood flowing. He stood naked doing knee bends, stretching his arms, trying to connect with the icy first light.George heard noises from the factory downstairs. His father, Simon Hull, and younger brother, Ben, were already breakfasted and at work. Industrious men of vision and conviction, they began their labors while owls still blinked at dawn.George put his ear against the wall of his brother's room. The chilled ear flamed with sounds from a boiling sea. George was suddenly alive. He went out to the hall, quietly as a man of generous proportions could go, his large feet making old boards groan. Angelica was sealed in sleep, a jar of preserves protected by glass and wax.When he came to the door of the room where his sister-in-law slept, he caressed its milky-white knob as if it were a breast. That door was a friend. It opened silent as a curtain.It amazed George that two women could be so unlike. Hushed, skimpy Angelica with her miserly breathing and plush Loretta who gave out the sounds of a bellows. Angelica smelled like a candle. Loretta steamed vaporous rose-water fog, enough to confound the seasoned captain of a clipper ship.Loretta Hull chewed on a moan, her jaws moving slowly from side to side as if she munched music. Her mouth opened like a salty wet shell. Her wide face smiled, the face of a cherub with a halo of red-gold hair. Awake, that hair was disciplined into a tight bun.Asleep, it wandered like wild vines, trickled like spilled wine.Loretta awake was different too, a staunch, ample woman often grave as a tombstone. But in bed, ah, well, a marvelous island. And even though her bed was half empty, she rationed the blanket into equal shares. Ben would never rouse from his sleep with a rattling blue behind and balls shrunk to pits.George dared to move closer. He lifted Loretta's woolen cover from the bottom. There were her feet, toes curled, ten startled witnesses to an unfolding crime. She trembled and shifted like an earthquake, rolling onto her stomach. Her nightgown pulled up to her waist and George confronted her glorious rump. He raised the blanket higher to examine her powerful legs and thighs. A few wisps of auburn hair blossomed between her legs. God's garden. George mapped her landscape with the eyes of an ancient troll.His sister-in-law sighed and turned on her back. A shaft of young sunlight made her sex glow. He reached out and slipped her gown off her shoulders. Breasts with nipples like pussywillow destroyed all restraint. George kissed those flowers. Then he spread her legs and mounted her. Her hand guided him into Binghamton's warmest nook. When he came he bit his tongue to keep from screaming.While George deflated, Loretta opened her eyes and whispered, "Nothing happened, did it?""Nothing happened.""Go back to your room, George. Don't you have any respect for me or for yourself?""I'm lower than a beast. A moth flying to flame.""This is the third time this month that you've come sneaking in here. Take no for an answer. Go downstairs. Roll your cigars and be grateful for your wife, your work, and a place to Live. Leave well enough alone.""Well enough? I am the unhappiest man in America.""There must be a more miserable man.""You'd be hard put to find him. Loretta, let me kiss your fruit basket. The peck of a starving sparrow.""We have an order for twenty dozen Ulysses Supremos to get out by Tuesday. Go downstairs. And before you go do me one favor. The chamber pot. You're positive nothing happened? I was in such a deep sleep.""An innocent sleep. No, you woke in time to save your honor and my conscience. I thank God for that and ask, if not for passion, then for compassion. I promise never to bother you again. I am a changed man. Only allow me to watch you relieve yourselfGeorge loved to watch her squat."Why, George?" Loretta said, settling onto the ironstone throne. "You've been to Niagara Falls. You went there on your honeymoon. Remember?""Not a nice thing for Venus to say." Back in his room, George watched Angelica's flat face while he dressed. She was moon pale. The little mouth had stopped gulping air like a goldfish. It was sealed shut, tight as a pod. Her blanket didn't move up and down to confirm her existence. He resisted the urge to shake her.Loretta's rotten remark about Niagara Falls reminded George that a year before, almost to the day, he'd come within a shriek of committing murder. He was standing with Angelica, looking out at the silver torrent, watching time spill to frenzied water. The endless hemorrhage frightened him. Why was Niagara considered a haven for lovers? Ah, the endless gush of passion. Ah, the majesty of nature. Ah, the reminder that fragile creatures must huddle together, cleave together for survival.Maybe with a woman like Loretta beside him, a more substantial lady, sweet fury and moans to match the turbulence outside, he would have felt differently. As it was, the newly married George Hull stood on a cliff growling back at the falls while the silent bride beside him gazed into their future like a mirror reflecting nothing. George almost pushed her over the edge.He had done the decent thing and honored his agreement with Hamish Flonk. The widow Flonk was now Mrs. Hull, and better off than before. But did she know it? Angelica was so yielding, so givng, so permanently gracious, it was impossible to read her heart.When the contract had been drawn with her former husband, George focused on the sum involved. Three hundred gold dollars, an honest and respectable agreement by any standard. The provision that George would replace him in the nuptial bed "should the Lord in His infinite wisdom choose to strike down the said Mr. Flonk in the course of battle" seemed a meaningless conceit.Hamish Flonk agreed to serve as George Hull's surrogate in a war that couldn't possibly last for more than a year. Would America allow herself to be torn apart? Besides, being a lumpish sort of man and not the brightest, this Flonk might suffer some wound or even capture, but Flonk was the Salt of the Earth, a fellow blessed with a lon

Customer Reviews:

Brilliant. The best!.......2001-06-05

Is this giant too big for America to see ? I first read about it in an English magazine in a piece I think by Michael Moorcock or Martin Amis, who claimed Jacobs as one of America's funniest writers. Well it took the Brits to see Chandler, Faulkner, Welty and a dozen others before we did, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. A prophet in his own land indeed! This is a superb, mordant, intelligent, clever and wonderfully funny novel which should be on every literary studies syllabus in America. I can't add much to the other reviewers -- except to join in the applause. Jacobs is a first rate writer. This is the first book I have read of his and I'm desperate for more. A great American novel, nothing less.

An American Original Alright!.......2000-07-13

Sly, randy, and splendidly researched, Harvey Jacob's novel is one for the ages.I did not expect this story to be told with so much humor or such understated insight into what our country - and many of its denizens - was like circa 1869. Marvelous descriptions, amusingly deft characterizations, some startlingly intuitive depths where one would least expect them to appear. This novel does not at all suffer to compare with the magnificent RAGTIME. I was most amused and impressed by the fast, witty dialogue, particularly between Barnum and Tom Thumb - what used to be called "crackling good" dialogue during the old screwball comedy days. Other scenes reminded me of the logical nonsense of CATCH 22. In other words:a hoot and a real pleasure to read - made me want to start it all over again once I finished. Harvey Jacob's marvelous imagination and talent has provided us with a celebration of American craziness and craftiness. Very funny and something else. So read it, already!

What a joy this book is!.......1999-07-27

Based on an all-American hoax, it tells an all-American story of suckers and entrepreneurs and proves that, here at least, one of each is born every minute. But beyond the hilarity--somewhere between the fictional spin on the factual fun-- Mr. Jacobs is making a point about what made America "great" and lo! it's that tension between suckers and entrepreneurs. And all of this is wrapped in a delicious, rollicking prose that makes you look up from your reading and say,"Honey, listen to THIS..." In other words, I'm giving it three thumbs up.

Stone Giant story a bit heavy but fun to stare at.......1999-06-25

The absolutely true story of the greatest hoax of the 19th century is given a charming retelling here. Problem: the author smirks early and often at his characters and at the credulous America that yearns to be fooled into believing in something. None of the characters is all that deeply drawn; each one bumbles through the story as best he can but without moving the reader all that much. Angelica's widowed plight, Loretta's promiscuity, George Hull's burning ambition to avoid disappointing his father, Herbert Black Paw's rage at the white God: these characters don't explore extremes of high or low, all are figures of fun to be pointed at. Yet the book never quite rollicks either. There are a few lurid incidents: frenzied sexual encounters with the celebrated midget General Tom Thumb; fatal elephant mishaps; and my favorite loon in a book full of loons is Salle, the mad sculptor kept in a cage by his former student. But these twists are neither inevitable enough to elicit the nod of recognition nor unexpected enough to drop jaws. It is as if the author were writing for an audience of stone giants who smile and shrug at puny mortals and their fleeting concerns. That said, the book is by far the most readable and funny and fast-moving of all the books in the "Ragtime"/"Banished Children of Eve" canon of sprawling Americana. Certainly worth a read.

Brilliant comic tour de force - lots of fun!.......1997-10-09

The royal monster mavens, Mary Shelley, who created Frankenstein's monster, and Rabbi Judah Low ben Bezulel, who popularized the Golem (a monster out of Jewish mythology) now have a crown prince to share their throne room - Harvey Jacobs, author of the wholly absorbing, outrageously funny novel, "American Goliath."

What a farce this is to get lost in! It is based on a true event: the faked discovery in 1869 of a 10-foot stone statue of a man buried on a farm near Cardiff, NY. The entire hoax - from sculpting the statue through burying and uncovering it - was cleverly staged. The statue was claimed by its fake discoverers to be the petrified remains of a giant who lived when giants walked the earth, particularly on the land that became the United States.

The Cardiff Giant, often called Goliath, became renowned all over an America desperate for diversion from the agonized memories of the recent Civil War. The giant was viewed by thousands of paying Ameicans for reasons that varied from simple curiosity to anticipation of a religious experience. Goliath is still with us, big as ever in his permanent home in the Farmer's Museum, Cooperstown, NY.

The flimflam artists who conceived Goliath and established him in American history found their modern mythologizer in Harvey Jacobs. In "American Goliath," as in his dazzling previous novel, "Beautiful Soup," Jacobs reveals superb writing qualifications for telling the story of the Cardiff Giant and for contributing inspiring flimflam of his own.

Each of the monsters of literature has his own personality. Frankenstein's monster, for instance, is both violent and pathetic. The Golem exhibits terrifying power. Like these predecessors, the Cardiff Giant has strength but is distinguished from them by sexual power and sexual inquisitiveness. A sexy fossil? Isn't that too far out? Not at all because Jacobs' comic inventiveness depends greatly on his his demonstrated talent for making the far out seem plausible.

Here is an example. Terms like mass medium, mass hysteria, mass production, mass market, mass murder, and even Mass card are widespread with nothing inherently funny in any of them. In fact, the word "mass" has a lethargic quality. Against this common linguistic experience, Jacobs suddenly confronts us with his own mass phenomenon, which occurs, without warning, in a crowd gathered around Goliath. "Mass tumescence!" Don't ask. You will find it described on page 168, where you will also discover that you can relieve this condition by "communal prayer and the singing of familiar hymns."

Philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, politician Boss Tweed, actor Edwin Booth, financier Cornelius Vanderbilt, and justice Oliver Wendell Holmes are a few of the potpourri of fascinating peronalities from real life that help move the story from one imaginative and funny episode to the next. Great showman P.T. Barnum unsuccessfully tries to buy Goliath. Frustrated but persistent, Barnum hires a sculptor to make a copy of Goliath. Then, assisted by his celebrated protege, Tom Thumb, Barnum exhibits his stone clone with the brash claim that it is the only authentic ancient man.

Make no mistake: the two colossi are not just lifeless shapes of stone. They can think! Surely their thoughts will find their way into future studies of literary stream of consciousness techniques.

Book Description

As a discerning reader of nineteenth-century American fiction, Englishman Colin Ware is familiar with the tradition of transcending disastrous love affairs by booking the next ocean liner to Europe. Now that he has experienced the pain and humiliation of heartache firsthand, he decides to try this cure in reverse.

New Cardiff, Vermont, may be an infinitesimal blot on the rural American landscape, but to Colin it's the ideal place to mend his broken heart. The townsfolk are a quirky, endearing lot, and they welcome the migrating artist into their fold. Colin does his part by capturing his adopted countrymen and women in charcoal and ink. He even discovers love again -- with Mandy, an attendant at the Shining Shores nursing home. When Colin's ex arrives to woo him back to her and his native land, he has to choose between his new love and the woman he's known for years.

With its pitch-perfect dialogue, New Cardiff takes readers on the exhilarating cross-cultural odyssey of a man hurtling headlong into life.

Customer Reviews:

A case where the movie was as good as the book.......2005-10-08

After watching the rather splendid movie adaptation from this book (renamed hope springs), I decided to purchase this vocal book. The premise for this book is around an English character who, after breaking up with his partner back in England, travels to a small US town where he falls in love, only to have he's ex partner come back into their lives. Although this book can be dialog driven at times it is still an easy fast flowing book that, as long as you are not looking for any great meaning, should enjoy.

A Fun Read.......2004-07-07

Here is a novel that reads more like a play. It has virtually no narration and all dialogue. It is about an English gentleman (Colin) who gets dumped by his girlfriend (Vera) and comes to America to forget her. He somehow ends up in the small New England town of New Cardiff. He claims he stopped there because the town monument looked fascinating. Wherever Colin goes in the town the people are very friendly and curious about him. Every time he sees an interesting face he wants to sketch that person's portrait. The author does something quite interesting by including the sketches of each person in the book (reminiscent of Jack Finney's "From Time to Time"). Colin is "fixed" up by the owner of the Inn where he is staying, with a troubled woman who is a massage therapist in a medical facility (Mandy).

Mandy's skills help her to immediately help Colin forget Vera. Some of their dialogue exchanges are hilarious, reminiscent of Benjamin's and Mrs. Robinson's in "The Graduate" (of course that was by the same author). The plot gets interesting when Vera suddenly arrives and announces that she never really dumped Colin but through the influence of her sister, played an elaborate joke on him. So begins an interesting triangle.

The book is a lot shorter than it looks because it is mostly dialogue, which takes up a lot less on each page than a normal narrative story. Also, the dialogue for the most part is interesting and "different" from most books, which makes this a fun read.

Creaky "Cardiff".......2004-05-31

Charles Webb is best known for writing the soulless novel that inspired classic film "The Graduate." In "New Cardiff" he tackles a somewhat softer story, but his minimalist writing and flat supporting characters make it a story as light and forgettable as a breath of smoke.

Colin Ware is an English guy who has just been dumped for another man. Miserable, he decides to get over her (in the tradition of old novels) by going to the US, and somehow ends up in the dinky Vermont town of New Cardiff. The inhabitants are a bit odd but friendly, and Colin befriends quite a few when he sketches their portraits. He also becomes acquainted with Mandy, a smart, supportive young woman who starts giving him therapy for his broken heart.

But then Vera -- the woman who dumped Colin -- comes onto the scene. She reveals that the guy she supposedly dumped him for was all part of an elaborate joke. Colin forgives her for her involvement in tricking him, but now he's got an awkward love triangle to deal with. Vera is determined to scupper his new relationship with Mandy, and Mandy is saying that she never wants to see him again.

"New Cardiff" starts off on a promising note, with a guy going to new places to mend his broken heart. And the basic plot is a classic one -- a love triangle where the third party has to deal with old and new lovers, as represented by the countries they come from. But it feels instantly forgettable. Webb adds nothing new to the tale, and despite being around 350 pages long, the story itself is very short.

But Webb's writing is not up to the task -- it's suspended somewhere between bland screenplay and not-detailed-enough fiction. No descriptions, little action -- just page after page of dialogue. And the dialogue isn't exactly Shakespeare either: "It doesn't really show." "It doesn't?" "We've had worse." "Than this?" "Much." There are stretches of dialogue that are ALMOST witty, but they fall short because they are so underwritten.

And as a result, the characterization suffers. There's plenty of chemistry and cute bits between Mandy and Colin -- although his tale of first having sex with Vera is cringingly bad -- but unfortunately Vera is a cardboard cutout. The villagers also are bogged down with basic personalities and nothing else-- the nosy guy, the Jesus freak, and so on.

"New Cardiff" suffers from a terrible case of underwriting and an overabundance of cliches. While it has some cute moments, it's underwritten and overlong, and nothing you'll remember.

Light and cute, but hollow.......2003-09-24

"New Cardiff" describes the American vacation of London artist Colin Ware, who flees a failed love affair and finds himself washed up in the small town of New Cardiff, Vermont, home to an assortment of strange Americans and a struggling tourist industry. He manages to forget his troubles briefly, sketching townspeople and developing a relationship with another woman, but when his old girlfriend journeys from England to retrieve him his new life goes suddenly awry.

This story has much going for it. It's a classic love story complete with jealous rivalry, a long journey, and the promise (or threat) of marriage, but with quirky and entertaining plot twists to keep it fresh. The dialogue is rapid and often witty. The residents of New Cardiff are an amusing set of characters and provide comic relief.

But there's nothing in the story to provide comic relief *from*. The author never really gets into his story. The book is - despite its heft - actually quite short, with lots of blank space on each page, and is almost entirely composed of dialogue. The limitations of this format - no description or exposition - nearly overwhelm the story, and make any exploration of the characters or of the larger themes of the book impossible.

The book's continuous banter is surprisingly easy to read, and a hundred pages can fly by in an hour. But this ease and speed have a price: the whole book - all 354 pages of it - can be read in an evening and forgotten by the next morning, a frivolous waste of a story that could be so much more interesting.

Wit and literacy.......2003-06-13

One of the funniest, witty stories I've read in a long time.

Brit artist escapes collapsed love affair to regain equilibrium in a New England town. Webb's dialogue has not been bettered for sure-eared parody of English as she is spoke both sides of the Atlantic. I assume CW is American, and he lives in England, which explains his utter skill.

It's slated for a movie, and what a killer it'll make, and what plum parts all round.

A brilliant touch is to have sketches of the people that the central character draws and they are perfect. The temptation is to turn to the end of the chapter to see what 'Fred' (Webb's partner) has come up with. Every one a winner.

I've given it as a gift to so many loved ones and with one accord they've phoned to thank and congratulate on my unerring choice.

Customer Reviews:

Lyrical and moving poetry.......2002-09-05

Gladys Cardiff's poetry balances between the breathtaking and the acutely painful -- she opens doors with her images that lead the reader forward into new spaces, new emotional states. I recommend her work highly -- personal, moving, yet completely accessible and relevant. Gorgeous important work.

Rich and Complex.......2000-10-06

This is an amazing book, sophisticated and musical. Whether Cardiff is telling us about Giacometti, turtles, erotic photographs, or her joyful return to the Qualla Boundary, these poems are engrossing. I've reread the book several times since I bought it; its richness seems infinite.

Cardiff writes intelligently about art, grief and loss........1999-11-20

Cardiff's poetry is intelligent, humane and passionate. Hers is a poetry of conciliation. She is not preaching to the converted. Her Native American heritage doesn't "limit" her poetry, it illuminates it. "Repatriation" presents one of the most complex of cultural subjects in such a way as to foster an understanding which reading any number of articles could not equal. Art, loss, grief, the natural world--these are Cardiff's subjects. While her poems are sometimes difficult and challenging, the rewards they offer are well worth the effort. The poem "It has something to do with final words," about an air disaster, and about the power of poetry and words themselves, is one I return to again and again.

Third Collection Of Poetry From Gladys Cardiff.......1999-09-21

This collection of poetry is mainly based on naturalistic & Native American themes. The poems are more hit & miss than all around solid. While literariy sound, they lack in giving inspiration. Decent, but not a great work.

Average customer rating:

Cardiff Giant

Manufacturer: Julian Messner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
ASIN: 0671497197

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Cardiff Giant
Sharon Shebar
Manufacturer: Julian Messner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

General | History & Historical Fiction | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Baby-3 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0671438514

Cardiff Hill Mystery/Best Teller Stories Series (Pacemaker Bestsellers Book)

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Cardiff Hill Mystery/Best Teller Stories Series (Pacemaker Bestsellers Book)
Janet Lorimer , and Janet Lorime
Manufacturer: Lake Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0822453401

The Insecure Workforce: Abstracts from the 1997 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference Held at Cardiff Business School, (Management Research News)

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The Insecure Workforce: Abstracts from the 1997 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference Held at Cardiff Business School, (Management Research News)
John Salmon , Edmund Heery , and Ed Heery
Manufacturer: Barmarick Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Labor & Industrial Relations | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1853851280

Book Description

Specific issues consideredThe Insecure Workforceinclude:
* labor markets and the growth of insecure work
* the management of insecure work
* trade unions and the representation of insecure workers
* job insecurity and personal well-being
* insecurity and consumption * insecurity and political behavior.
This book will be of interest to students and academics working within the disciplines of management, industrial relations, sociology and economics, who are concerned with employment and labor market change.

Download Description

This book explores the assumption that an insecure workforce imposes costs on the wider economy and society through lower rates of skill formation, reduced consumer confidence and family instability.

The Mystery of the Cardiff Giant (Cover-to-Cover Informational Books)

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The Mystery of the Cardiff Giant (Cover-to-Cover Informational Books)
Pat Perrin , and Wim Coleman
Manufacturer: Perfection Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0756913470

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New Cardiff
Charles Richard; Webb, Charles Webb
Manufacturer: Washington Square Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QSGCLW

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