Average customer rating:
- hallelujah!
- Mixed bag of tricks
- I'm a latecomer to Saunders
- Brilliantly dark distopian fiction
- Remarkable, ridiculous... repetitive?
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CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
George Saunders
Manufacturer: Riverhead Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1573225797 |
Amazon.com
George Saunders, a geophysicist, maps out magical realism with this short story collection. He puts an American spin on that sensibility in the sensationally good title tale, where things in a "Westworld"-like amusement park go extraordinarily wrong, but in ways in that make perfect sense to any denizen--or reader--in the modern world. CivilWarLand is hilarious, yet ultimately sad and moving--and isn't that life in a nutshell? And how can you resist any writer who cooks up titles as good as "Downtrodden Mary's Failed Campaign of Terror"?
Book Description
In six stories and the novella, Bounty, Saunders introduces readers to people struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world. "(Saunders) has created a surreal, weirdly persuasive picture of the devolved future now taking shape in our own worst and most potent tendencies."--Tobias Wolff.
Customer Reviews:
hallelujah!.......2007-02-04
the kind of book that makes reading a PLEASURE. mr saunders has an incredible immagination and writes clean direct prose, and (best of all) is not afraid (or is capable of) writing ENJOYABLE stories. so many authors (especially short stories writers) simply crap out pretentious writer workship type material without any story to tell at all. Such writing is simply empty ego (hidden under the delusion that the writer is being "important"). this wonderful author actually has stories to tell, on top of fantastic prose skills. one of the best short story collections i have ever read. thank you, mr. saunders.
Mixed bag of tricks.......2006-11-04
An interesting debut collection. Most striking is Saunders's style - concise, terse, with wry humour and cleverly weighted comic dialogue. Some of these stories, especially the Novella, Bounty, tend to sag a little and come across as a little cliche hysterical realism, but there are also sections of fine comedy. Best of all, I reckon, is 'The 400 pound CEO' about an obese office gimp who ekes out a tragic existence in a nightmarish corporate scenario with a sadistic boss.
Saunders has something of a cult reputation. He deserves a larger audience.
I'm a latecomer to Saunders.......2006-07-14
Just had the pleasure of reading Civilwarland a few months ago. I should have read it years ago. A critique of this wonderfully imaginative book seems superfluous, given all the other reviews here that are accurate in their portrayal of this book as a truly unique, even seminal, work. Inspired and funny, anyone awake enough to see through America's specious promises of equality and fairness will appreciate Saunders' offering.
Brilliantly dark distopian fiction.......2006-05-02
I got CIVILWARLAND in Bad Decline from a friend, and having never heard of Saunders before that I put off reading it for a few months. When I finally did on a week-long road trip, I was blown away. I sat in a campsite in Arizona and laughed out loud as I zoomed through all the stories in the book in most of an afternoon and evening.
Not much to say that hasn't been said here already, but if you like the work of Kurt Vonnegut, Tom Robbins and/or Douglas Adams, you MUST read Saunders work. Hilarious!
Remarkable, ridiculous... repetitive?.......2006-03-02
After completing all of the stories in CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, it has never been clearer what an original, thrilling voice George Saunders is. In story after story, the humor is bitter and incisive, finding the cruelest and cleverest method to deliver a punchline, which would be remarkable even without the staggering, sometimes debilitating pathos the humor comes from - take this section-concluding line from the first story I read in the collection, "The 400 lb. CEO" - "The sun sinks, the moon rises, round and pale as my stupid face." It's a line of scabrous humor, of fluid rhythm, and of profound sadness. Yet as each story rang with the same degree of acid-laced angusih, I began to get a little wary of Saunders one-note style. He excels at it, but each story is a present-tense first-person tragicomedy of occasionally liberating, occasionally deadening trauma. It makes a remarkable read, but one that doesn't demand a straight read - any guess about the type of story you're about to begin would probably be correct, so, it'd only be tiresome to read the book cover to cover. The novella in this collection, "Bounty," is the most apocalyptic of all of Saunders' creations, but even as it becomes a savage, even visionary work, it begins to fall into a tautological loop - one quixotic character after another shows up only to have his/her impish belief systems ridiculed for a few pages, becoming a fairly redundant cycle of humanity reaffirmed and rejected. You'll read through it in no time, but it'll make you wish Saunders had a few more tricks up his sleeve.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on June 22, 1996. The length of the article is 371 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: CivilWarLand in bad decline: stories and a novella.(Brief Article)
Author: Gale Walden
Publication:
The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1996
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: v16
Issue: n2
Page: p180(1)
Article Type: Book Review, Brief Article
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Review of Contemporary Fiction, published by Review of Contemporary Fiction on June 22, 1996. The length of the article is 386 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: George Saunders. CivilWarLand in bad decline: stories & a novella.(Book Review)
Author: Gale Walden
Publication:
The Review of Contemporary Fiction (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1996
Publisher: Review of Contemporary Fiction
Volume: 16
Issue: 2
Page: 180(1)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
- Won't be finishing this book
- It's the best one without Amelia Peabody
- not worth the read...:(
- A tourist in the Holy Land gets more than she bargained for
- worth a rainy afternoon
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The Dead Sea Cipher
Elizabeth Peters
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0380731142
Release Date: 2001-07-03 |
Book Description
It was the start of a grand adventure in a land of antiquity, a rare opportunity to visit biblical places shrouded in mystery. But in a Jerusalem hotel room a world away from everything she knows, Dinah van der Lyn hears angry voices through the wall, followed by a crash and a brief cry in English...for help! The brutal shattering of an evening's stillness becomes a prelude to terror. Without warning, Dinah has been unwittingly pulled into something unholy transpiring in a sacred city, and she must find answers hidden in the shadows. And she must trust an enigmatic stranger as she races through ancient, twisting streets teeming with secrets and peril, a man who may be leading her to safety...or to her doom.
Download Description
It was the start of a grand adventure in a land of antiquity, a rare opportunity to visit biblical places shrouded in mystery. But in a Jerusalem hotel room a world away from everything she knows, Dinah van der Lyn hears angry voices through the wall, followed by a crash and a brief cry in English...for help! The brutal shattering of an evening's stillness becomes a prelude to terror. Without warning, Dinah has been unwittingly pulled into something unholy transpiring in a sacred city, and she must find answers hidden in the shadows. And she must trust an enigmatic stranger as she races through ancient, twisting streets teeming with secrets and peril, a man who may be leading her to safety...or to her doom.
Customer Reviews:
Won't be finishing this book.......2006-04-14
I've read 300 of the 362 pages and I can't be bothered to finish.
Not particularly well written. The secondary characters are un-developed and annoying... in fact, the same can be said for the main characters. I don't care what happens to them. I don't care about finding out what the "mystery" is. I can't figure out how they could possibly have fallen in love. The author just springs it on you. It's a bit insulting to the reader, in fact.
The heroine is passive and whiny... "[spies (or whatever) are following me and I'm going to do nothing about it except wait for them to spring on me at every tourist site and "ruin" the tourist experience for me.]"
This is my first book by this author, and unless I forget her name (it's a very bland, forgettable name) and accidentally buy something by her again, it is the last.
I'm really glad I only paid a buck for it.
It's the best one without Amelia Peabody.......2004-08-10
I love this story. It tells the story of the Dead Sea Scrolls and brings them to life for me. I enjoyed the heroine, Dinah, because she seemed to be a real person. This was my favorite Peters mystery that did not feature Amelia Peabody. Peters love affair with Egypt is clear and this mystery did not disappoint me. Give it a try and see if Dinah doesn't grow on you.
not worth the read...:(.......2003-02-19
I'd read THe Love Talker before and didn't think too much of it but I figured maybe I was too judgemental, but then I read this one and I don't think these books are all that great. There is practically nothing on character development or any love growing...ooh I meet a guy and ooh I'm in love with one and not the other because...God alone knows why...
Anywayz, I'm glad mine was a used copy! It was very boring.
A tourist in the Holy Land gets more than she bargained for.......2002-12-05
Dinah is on a tour of the Holy Land. Her ailing father was unable to make the trip, so she is sure to save up as many memories as possible for the biblical scholar. On her first night, she hears an argument and what appears to be a murder. She calls for help and this sets in motion a series of events that she may never forget, if she survives it all.
I really enjoyed this book, it reminds me of her novels as Barbara Michaels without the supernatural element that seems to run through those. It starts out slowly, but quickly picks up speed and is very hard to put down at the end.
worth a rainy afternoon.......2001-10-22
Many E. Peters fans have found that her strongest works are the series books, especially Amelia and Vicky Bliss (though Jaqueline Kirby does have her admirers). The non-series aren't so good in general, partly because they're all earlier books, and partly because having to wrap characters up in one go seemed to encourage her to make them flatter.
If you're out of Amelias and want something new for a change, this is one of her better non-series books. Interesting (more than the Jackal's Head) and fun (more than 400 Rabbits).
Camelot Caper and Legend in Green Velvet are decent choices too.
Average customer rating:
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DEAD SEA CIPHER
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I80VEE |
Average customer rating:
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The Dead Sea Cipher
Manufacturer: Star Weekly Novel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Pamphlet
ASIN: B000BTK3WU |
Average customer rating:
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THE DEAD SEA CIPHER
ELIZABETH PETERS
Manufacturer: DELL PUBLISHING
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General | Peters, Elizabeth | ( P ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Paperback | Peters, Elizabeth | ( P ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000E66D74 |
Product Description
Beirut...Sidon...Tyre...Damascus...These fabled cities became places of sinister mischief and sudden violence as lovely young Dinah searched for the secret that would explain the strange markings on a torn piece of paper given her by a man marked for death.
Product Description
This Audiofy audiobook chip packs Grace Conlin's full 8.5 hour reading of "The Dead Sea Cipher" on a tiny memory card. A single Audiofy audiobook chip, hardly larger than a stamp, holds a complete digital audiobook, and saves the last listening position automatically, unlike CDs. With an SD memory card slot or low-cost adapter - like those for digital cameras - this Audiofy audiobook chip can be played on Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh desktop computers or laptops (Microsoft Windows XP/2000/Me/98, or Apple Mac OS X 10.3.9 and above) or transferred to Apple iPod media players. Audiobook chips also move seamlessly to most Palm OS and Pocket PC handheld PDAs with SD expansion slots, as well as Treo and Windows Mobile "smartphones" (Palm OS 5.2 or Windows Mobile 2002 and above)... Dinah Van der Lyn hears the cries for help through her hotel room wall, cries in English in the middle of Beirut. That was the beginning of an odyssey of terror that takes Dinah to Sidon, Tyre, Damascus, and Jerusalem, racing through twisting streets, not knowing if the man she is following will lead her to safety or into a deadly trap.
Product Description
5 massmarket paperback Titles By Elizabeth Peters - Love Talker - Summer of the Dragon - Devil May Care - Camelot Caper - Dead Sea Cipher
Average customer rating:
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The Dead Sea Cipher
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I9IOOW |
Average customer rating:
- Image craft
- William King needs to learn how to end a book
- More insite into the Space Wolves
- More insite into the Space Wolves
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Grey Hunter (Space Wolf Series / Warhammer 40,000)
William King
Manufacturer: Games Workshop
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Contemporary
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ASIN: 0743443004 |
Customer Reviews:
Image craft.......2002-07-16
The pictures this book paints are dynamic and form the feel of watching a film. This leads to an easy reading book that flows off the pages.
Complaints about the ending are misfounded, subtle elements introduced when Ragnar gets acustomed with the Wolf Lords, come back into play when he himself is described as one.
An exsellent novel for light and fun reading. Warhammer 40k Players will appreciate it only more.
William King needs to learn how to end a book.......2002-05-15
The book itself was ok - I really liked the interaction between Ragnar and Sven, but damn, the ending just came up and hit you. It was like someone told him to stop the book at page 288 and when he hit it, he just ended the book.
The whole premise to the story is "how did Ragnar become a wolflord without first becoming a Grey Hunter." Did he tell you this? No. There was a fairly lame plot device (like you'd see in a RPG) to get some action in, but there was little to none plot resolution at the end.
I was really hoping King would improve on his endings from his Gotrek and Felix stories, but in fact, he's getting worse. If you liked the first two books, you'll probably like this one, but I cannot highly recommend it.
More insite into the Space Wolves.......2002-03-19
I think that this was an excellent book. You learn a lot about how the Wolves are run, from the low ranking Blood Claws, to Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf himself. I would have prefered more action though. There is a lot of developement in Ragnar's character though, and it makes me wonder how high he will climb in the Space Wolves.
More insite into the Space Wolves.......2002-03-19
I think that this was an excellent book. You learn a lot about how the Wolves are run, from the low ranking Blood Claws, to Logan Grimnar, the Great Wolf himself. I would have prefered more action though. There is a lot of developement in Ragnar's character though, and it makes me wonder how high he will climb in the Space Wolves. Overall this is an excellent book and I highly suggest it for any fan of Warhammer 40,000, or of science fiction in general.
Average customer rating:
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The Buffalo Hunter (Gunsmoke Western)
Zane Grey
Manufacturer: Gunsmoke Westerns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
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ASIN: 0754081354 |
Average customer rating:
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Buffalo Hunter and Other Stories
Zane Grey
Manufacturer: John Curley & Assoc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States
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ASIN: 0893407631 |
Product Description
183 pages.
Hardcover.
Join us, young horsewomen! Travel the world with Kit Hunter and the coal-black Dixie - the magnificent "Wild One" whom Kit captured from the moors and trained, until between them they became the most successful high-jumping combination of horse and rider ever to skim a five-barred gate!
Average customer rating:
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Hunter's Heart, the Hunters, Book 2
Kimberly Grey
Manufacturer: Hard Shell Word Factory
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary
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ASIN: 0759904731 |
Book Description
Romance, Contemporary: CJ Murphy's been framed. A bounty hunter out to get her man, she steps into a trap that only one person can help her get out of - a man called Griff. Griff is a bounty hunter, too. An ex-cop he figures CJ to be innocent. He also figures to help her catch those who set her up. What neither of them plan on, though, is falling in love!
Download Description
ROMANCE, CONTEMPORARY: CJ Murphy's been framed. A bounty hunter out to get her man, she steps into a trap that only one person can help her get out of - a man called Griff. Griff is a bounty hunter, too. An ex-cop, he figures CJ to be innocent. He also figures to help her catch those who set her up. What neither of them plan on, though, is falling in love!
Book Description
The author of Almost Vegetarian presents the one book that full-time and part-time vegetarians need on their shelves--a book that contains more than 600 contemporary low-fat recipes and invaluable nutritional and culinary information about the vegetarian way of life. 500 line drawings.
Customer Reviews:
It's been donated ..........2006-03-20
Pretty thorough info on a variety of grains/vegetables; however, I completely agree with earlier reviewers. Some major recipe omissions in the soybean category, frugal with spices, and really opinionated -- e.g., she ruthlessly "disses" Quinoa, which is very nutritious and, in my opinion and that of many others, tastes great.
Is it my imagination, or are the recipes predominantly Western European?
keep coming back to it after 8 years.......2005-02-23
I must have picked up this cookbook at the bookstore when it was newly published because it looked good. Unlike many other cookbooks I've bought under similar conditions, it has stood the test of time and I keep coming back to it, year after year, as my tastes and lifestyle have changed. The recipes taste fresh and flavorful; they are healthy as can be because the ingredients are mostly fresh produce and grains and beans. My favorites sections are breakfast, curries, and one dish meals. The guides inside make it a reference and encyclopedia for my use. My only suggestion: publish it in hard cover or improve the binding. Mine is in two pieces now!
this is a WIEGHT LOSS book NOT a vegi book.......2003-08-24
This book is not a vegetarian cook book it is a weight loss book that takes great dishes and then removes all the fat and spice until they taste like low sodium card board. Diana Shaw authors this book as one of those naive middle aged ladies who assumes if you are a vegetarian you are on a weight loss diet. Her refusal to use the words cream, cheese (other then cottage) and butter, other than to scold the use of these ingredients, and her annoying placement of "nonfat" in front of the word yogurt made me draw a habit and a ruler over her book jacket photo. The only 2 reasons you should buy this book are A) to deprive yourself of real food in an effort to lose weight or B) to avoid having to buy spices, because she uses close to none. If you want a good veggie cookbook stick to the Moosewood series or Madhur Jaffrey or any thing other than this book.
I disagree!! This is a must-have.......2003-05-25
I'd like to reply to the other reviewer here, who gave this book 3 stars for the ridiculous reason that it doesn't have enough recipes for tofu, tempeh, and seitan. I think what we need is EXACTLY more vegetarian cookbooks like this--don't we have enough tofu cookbooks? The vegetarian universe encompasses SO MUCH MORE than these three ingredients, and all I can say is THANK GOD someone finally put out this huge thick book full of recipes using other foods! Just wanted to say how simple and great tasting these recipes are--please don't misinform other readers about this treasure trove of vegetarian info-- just because you happen to want "more tofu" !!
mmm... not overly impressed.......2002-09-23
I am no hardcore vegetarian but do enjoy meatless meals. I love cooking and experimenting different foods. I particularly enjoy dishes that include beans, tofu and grains (as in, I'm not a huge fan of having to eat a big platter of steamed broccoli and carrots for dinner...) Well,I have to say that I was rather disappointed in this "essential" vegetarian cookbook, for it almost contains none of those recipes I was hoping for! Mostly she introduces "weird" meals that require mail-ordered foods. Well, not too handy if you ask me! I have however tried a few recipes, mainly muffins (very nutritious and healthy) but all the recipes seem faulty...! I am an experimented cook and all I've tried to bake in this book so far did not turned out. I leave muffins and breads in the oven for hours and they do not cook in the centre etc. Have those recipes ever been tested??? This being said, I have to say that few cookbooks offer such appealing descriptions (too bad the actual recipes don't match the mouth watering introductions) and such complete nutritional information. If you think you were a bunny in a past life and don't care what your food tastes like, then this might be great for you. As for me, this book is on its way to a charity!
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