Amazon.com
The hero of Carolyn See's The Handyman has something of the sacred and more than a little of the profane about him. Back in his native Los Angeles after an abortive stay in Paris, Bob Hampton sets himself up as a jack-of-all-trades in order to pay for his art supplies. Soon, however, he's emotionally involved with several of his employers--each of whom is "sandblasted by life" and each of whom he does his best to rescue. In fact, this unlikely savior seems to work quick wonders on these dysfunctional households. What matter if he ends up bedding a few of the females in the process? But more to the point, Bob is roused by his role:
I was beginning to get the idea that maybe you couldn't change the world but you could paint sadness over, brighten the whole thing up. And maybe the bright stuff would bleed down into the interior and start changing it.
Carolyn See's story of Bob Hampton's seminal summer of '96 would be intriguing in itself, but she gives it another dimension--and several more layers--by framing it with two grant-application letters, circa 2027. It seems that a certain young researcher wishes to explore the early oeuvre of the eminent Robert Hampton, as well as his relations with the "Testigos" or "Witnesses." These witnesses, as one reads on, are all the people he encountered, changed, and was changed by in 1996; and one of the key pleasures in The Handyman is matching up each individual against his or her sadder, younger self. Like its title character, See's novel is casually inspiring. --Winnie Wheaton
Book Description
With this brilliant novel about the surprises of destiny and the origins of fame, the critically acclaimed author of Golden Days ("Extraordinary . . . a very, very important book"-Los Angeles Times Book Review) and Making History ("Radiant . . . exciting and imaginative"-Cleveland Plain Dealer) firmly establishes her place as one of the preeminent chroniclers of our times.
The Handyman is the story of Bob Hampton, an aspiring young painter who has had to face the humbling fact that he doesn't know what to paint. And how are you supposed to be an artist in this world if you don't have a vision? Bob trades in his artist's palette for a minivan full of house paints, hammers, and nails, and sets about earning a little cash as a handyman.
Although he turns out to be very bad at fixing the things he's hired to fix, Bob demonstrates quite a knack for fixing the lives of the people around him. In the midst of his jerry-built repairs and inspired home improvements, Bob meets an extraordinary cast of characters--rendered in all their delightful eccentricity and human frailty as only Carolyn See can-each of whom shows Bob the true scope of his own remarkable talent. There's Angela Landry, a housewife with far too much time on her hands, a sexpot of a stepdaughter, and a son in need of attention; Jamie Walker, whose allergy-prone and ADD-afflicted children keep a menagerie of scaly pets that far exceed Jamie's managerial skills; Valerie LeClerc, older, sadder, and certainly wiser than Bob; and Hank and Ben, who leave a narrow-minded Midwest only to find unremitting illness and isolation in the California of their dreams.
Replete with stunning images and all of Carolyn See's trademark humor and wisdom,
The Handyman depicts the countless ways in which our lives are intertwined and the profound effects we can have on one another. It is the kind of surprising and miraculously uplifting novel we have come to expect from the woman Diane Johnson has called "one of our most important writers."
From the Hardcover edition.
Customer Reviews:
Wanna be an artist/seeking an authentic life? You'll like it. .......2006-02-07
I loved Carolyn See's book, Making A Literary Life, so I wanted to check out her fiction. I agree with the reviewers who said the first pages of the grant application were confusing before you know the story, perhaps they would have worked better at the end.
I almost stopped reading the book about 80 pages in, because I just found it too hard to believe that someone who advertises as a handyman gets called into all these strange situations and doesn't hesitate to help, even to the point of caring for an AIDS patient....not to mention that of course all the women, from very young to old enough to be his mother, want to jump in bed with him.
But I'm glad I stuck it through, the writing is worth it. Her descriptions of LA made me want to take a trip and see some of these neighborhoods. Most of the characters were likeable if a bit cliched. I'm definitely planning on reading some more fiction by Carolyn See.
A fascinating, entertaining novel.......2004-10-30
Anyone who knows anything about writing will certainly be able to tell that this book is well written. The characters, from major to minor, are all very well drawn. Ms. See has a terrific sense of humor which she employs to great effect as Bob Hampton, a handyman who eventually becomes an artist, touches the lives of various ordinary (and not so ordinary) folks in Los Angeles while he bumbles from one odd job to another. The research proposal at the beginning of the book is fascinating: the scholar who is interested in Hampton's art obviously has an exaggerated opinion of the handyman's humble and awkward beginnings. The proposal is full of ludicrous critical jargon, which masquerades as praise, but in effect says little about the artist himself. That's what this book is about: an unlayering of a man who comes to find inspiration through everyday, often menial, experiences, and transform them into art. A highly recommended, very enjoyable novel.
A Perfect Day At The Beach.......2004-07-17
What could be better than lounging on the beach on a hot summer day, completely absorbed in a trashy novel like The Handyman? This is the one to stuff in your beach bag. Carolyn See is the queen of the tossaway tale, light and breezy, perfect for passing the time until the sun goes down and the fun starts up. Who cares if the characters are caricatures? Or if the plot never thickens, but merely curdles? Bob Hampton, the implausible cardboard cut-out protagonist of The Handyman, would surely enjoy filling his empty hours reading this book, as any self-infatuated person would. On the whole, this is as good as any Harlequin novel, but much more erudite and artsy. (Well, Bob is an Artist-In-Training, right?) Have at it, and enjoy!
Best book I've read in a long time.......2004-01-29
and I read 4-6 books a week. Too many recently-published, well-written books have depressing plotlines that leave one feeling hopeless about humanity. This book is the opposite. The well-crafted paragraphs give interesting insights into the nature of the creative process, in the context of a compelling story that is hard to put down. And, when it was over, I felt happy and sated. As I result, I was deeply puzzled by some of the vituperative Amazon reviews, and can only conclude they were primarily written by a single person with some kind of personal grudge against the author. It is ironic that a book celebrating the power of an individual to positively effect the lives of others is the subject of such unpleasant anonymous attacks. This is a very good book, and I highly recommend it.
1 star is far too kind.......2004-01-22
Reading this, I felt my mind congealing into a turd. (No digestion necessary!) A TV dinner for the mind--"meat" of unnatural shape and texture (I guess it's meat; I mean, it kinda looks like meat), token vegetables, and laden with sodium-rich artifical flavorings.
I literally threw this manuscript across the room, effectively ending my stint as a literary scout. It is crap on so many levels--the "plot," the amatuerish and utterly trite crypto-Christo symbology. Jesus! Imagine my surprise--nay, horror--a year or so later, to see this trash win some critical acclaim. Complete madness.
Comte was onto something with his "mental hygiene" hangup. I'd have my eyes seared with hot pokers before reading something like this again.
Oh. And how wonderful to see the author on the MFA/ writing workshop circuit. Behold the future!
Product Description
Lance Arstrongs story of his journey back to life. Handyman is a novel of romance without being a romance novel. Two great reads in one book
Customer Reviews:
MY FAVORITE JODI THOMAS BOOK.......2006-04-09
I have read about ten of Jodi Thomas's books and this is my very favorite.
It tells the story of Bethanie who has been taken in to live with her mother's sister after the death of her mom. Her father's whereabouts is unknown and her Uncle and Aunt tell everyone that she was born out of wedlock and is a nobody. After several advances by her uncle, Beathanie plans to run away and find herself a better life than being their servant and maid.
Her chance comes when a man comes to stay one night in the hotel they run and Bethanie bargains with him to let her leave with him.
It seems there is trouble in town and when the man who we find is a Texas Ranger doing some undercover work, leaves down with the sunt, her daugher, Bethanie and the young stable boy with the help of a Priest.
The story takes us to a Texas Ranch, California and has many connecting storylines that keep the reader wanting to turn the next page.
I read this book until I finished it at five am this morning.
You will meet some people who have secrets which will be revealed and some won't be.
Enjoy
I NEVER read historical romance until...........2005-07-01
This book has made me a fan of the historical romance genre. I was very pleased with how the characters in this book came to life and how you came to care about them. I hope others will read this and find, as I have that these are great escape reads.
This Book had Too Many Stories Going on at Once.......2001-12-18
This first novel by Ms. Thomas simply tries too hard.
The first half of this book is dedicated to only Bethanie. It is her journey to escape her uncle, who (typically) lusts after her. She presses Josh to help her escape, and falls in love with him. Josh takes her to his brother's ranch, where she can begin a new life. It is here that the plot and momentum of the book shift from a "Josh and Bethanie" story to a "Bethanie and Ben" story. Through a decision made in haste, Bethanie and Josh are separated for three years before reuniting in a quick story that seemed, actually, too quick. Frankly, most of the novel regarding Bethanie revolves around her involvement with Ben, not Josh.
The second half of this book involves Bethanie and Josh's daughter, Mariah and a boy Josh brought with him from San Antonio, Dusty. Again, this is a diversion of what the book states it is about. I simply had a hard time understanding why the publisher sold this as a love story between Bethanie and Josh when it had more diversions from that story than the book simply could handle.
While I am a Texan, and support Texas writers any chance I get, this book is not Ms. Thomas' best. I would recommend skipping this book in favor of her more recent stuff. This book simply tries too hard to include too many stories. It would have been better to split the story about Mariah, and develop Josh and Bethanie's story without the diversion.
This is the only book I have been disappointed with by Ms. Thomas. I do recommend her other novels, just not this one.
A returning award winner -- Very highly recommended.......2001-08-10
Her first novel, BENEATH THE TEXAS SKY, published in 1988, won both Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice for Best Western Romance of 1988 and the National Press Women's novel of the year by a woman in its category. Now Zebra reissues BENEATH THE TEXAS SKY with a new cover.
In 1865 Texas, redhead Bethanie Lane can no longer avoid the lecherous advances of her uncle whom also treats her as an unpaid servant. Her mother's dead and her father left before she was old enough to remember him. Scorned by her neighbors... Bethany has no friends and few resources. Finally she effects her departure by persuading Texas Ranger Josh Weston to allow her to become the cook at his brother's ranch.
She doesn't recognize him, but Bethanie and her mother once saved Josh's life with their healing skills, and he's always wondered if he'd ever again see his angels of mercy. Despite his misgivings, he finds himself traveling into the wildest country in Texas with the redhead, her aunt and cousin, and a precocious boy. Never had a woman frustrated him as much as Bethanie, yet Josh can't resist this fiery, independent woman.
A timeless treasure, new fans of Jodi Thomas will welcome the release of BENEATH THE TEXAS SKY. With a twisting, multifaceted plot that explores the highest and depths of emotion, BENEATH THE TEXAS SKY weaves a fascinating tale of complex relationships and challenges. These strong characters will live in the hearts and imagination long after the last page is turned. Very highly recommended.
Customer Reviews:
Fabulous! Very highly recommended.......2002-01-10
Captain Jace Riley of the Texas Rangers has just two months to track the killers who murdered his mentor during an armored car robbery. So far his undercover assignment as a summer relief driver of a parcel service has turned up nothing in the West Texas mountains. Now he only has two weeks left and no leads. Then a chance encounter with a stranger takes him to Dana Turner's rented trailer.
When she opens the door, Dana sees a man in uniform and fears he's there with an arrest warrant. She spent seven months in prison for the murder of her sister until a judge overturned the conviction. Although she was innocent, she knows many people will only see her prison record rather than her exoneration. Worse, prison changed her. Her claustrophobia has gotten much worse, and she's learned to appreciate every little mundane freedom. Rather trust for her fellow man, she is now filled with suspicion.
Dana came to West Texas to work at an isolated observatory and gaze at the stars. Now for the first time in a long time, Dana is attracted to a man. Conflicting emotions lead to alarming complications to her previously quiet existence. Worse, Dana and Jace come to realize that she's in danger from her landlord's grandson. And Jace can't decide if she's associated with the cop-killers, or the woman of his dreams.
I confess to having a weakness for bold characterizations with an unconventional past. Author Rebecca Winters fills that type with flair, creating heroine Dana who tries to leave the pain of imprisonment behind her while embracing the newfound strengths such an experience produces. Her understandable distaste for law enforcement creates a delightful conundrum since her soul mate happens to be an undercover Texas Ranger. Further, Jace's early misgivings about her background create the perfect balance of tension and passion. Indeed, the balance of strong characterizations and a fascinating plot makes BENEATH A TEXAS SKY a terrific read. Very highly recommended.
engaging police procedural romance.......2002-01-09
Six months ago in Austin, two men held up an armored car stealing a million dollars and killing three people that included retired Texas Ranger Gibb Barton. Most of Gibb's law enforcement associates mourn his death, but Ranger Captain Jace Riley obsesses on bringing the murderers to justice as he lost a close friend. Clues lead Jace to go undercover in the Cloud Rim vicinity of the Texas' Davis Mountains.
In Cloud Rim, Jace wonders if female astronomer Dana Turner, recently released from prison when a California judge vacated a murder conviction, is involved with the killers. He plans to interrogate her, but to the shock of Jace and Dana, they are very attracted to one another. However, she does not trust males except for her famous father because of her murder rap and a graduate student stealing her scientific work while she lingered in prison. He does not trust her because he feels she must be a cohort of the killers. Though this couple falls in love, an infinite future together seems darker than the night sky over the Davis Mountains.
BENEATH A TEXAS SKY is an engaging police procedural romance that stars two delightful but wary lead protagonists. The hunt for the killers engages the audience on two levels: that of the actual investigation and the growing romantic feelings between Jace and Dana. The astronomical tidbits interwoven into the enjoyable story line provides fascinating starry references. All this leads to the fact that Rebecca Winters remains a writer for all seasons.
Harriet Klausner
Average customer rating:
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Beneath A Texas Sky
Nina Sandel Harris
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 142574933X |
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The Gate to Women's Country
Sheri S. Tepper
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General
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Tepper, Sheri S.
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General
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( T )
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| Takahashi, Rumiko
| Turtledove, Harry
General
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The Companions
ASIN: 0553280643
Release Date: 1993-02-01 |
Amazon.com
Scholars in the age of Charles Darwin, writes feminist scholar Barbara Gates, were of two minds about women: on one hand, they embodied "the restful responsiveness of nature" and were somehow closer to living in a state of nature than were men; on the other hand, by the very virtue of this naturalness, they were less capable of being truly civilized and educated. Despite this, generations of women labored to speak on nature's behalf and to study its ways; "denied formal higher education," Gates writes, "they also constituted large portions of the audience at public lectures on science and read whatever was available to them on the subject," including a large literature in popular science written by women. Gates recounts the lives of many important naturalists of the age, among them traveler and Africanist Mary Kingsley, independent scholar Arabella Buckley (who served as secretary to the eminent English geologist Sir Charles Lyell and was acquainted with many of the leading scientists of her time), eminent illustrator Jemima Blackburn, and antivivisectionist Frances Power Cobbe. Although these women are not well represented in standard histories of science, Gates demonstrates that their contributions to their contemporaries' understanding of the natural world were estimable indeed. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
In Kindred Nature, Barbara T. Gates highlights the contributions of Victorian and Edwardian women to the study, protection, and writing of nature. Recovering their works from the misrepresentation they often faced at the time of their composition, Gates discusses not just well-known women like Beatrix Potter but also others—scientists, writers, gardeners, and illustrators—who are little known today.
Some of these women discovered previously unknown species, others wrote and illustrated natural histories or animal stories, and still others educated women, the working classes, and children about recent scientific advances. A number of women also played pivotal roles in the defense of animal rights by protesting overhunting, vivisection, and habitat destruction, even as they demanded their own rights to vote, work, and enter universities.
Kindred Nature shows the enormous impact Victorian and Edwardian women had on the natural sciences and the environmental movement, and on our own attitudes toward nature and human nature.
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Deferrals of Domain: Contemporary Women Novelists and the State
Martine Watson Brownley
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Women Writers & Feminist Theory
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| Literature & Fiction
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20th Century
| British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
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General
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General
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ASIN: 0312228112 |
Book Description
Contemporary female novelists tend to portray the relationship between women and the state as profoundly negative, in contrast to various constructions in current feminist theory. Martine Watson Brownley analyzes novels by Margaret Atwood, Paule Marshall, Nadine Gordimer, and Margaret Drabble to explore the significance of this disparity. The book uses literary analysis to highlight elements of state power that many feminist theorists currently occlude, ranging from women's still minimal access to state politics to the terrifying violence exercised by modern states. At the same time, however, feminist theory clarifies major elements in many contemporary women's lives about which the novels are ambivalent or misleading, such as romantic love and the role of sexuality in state politics. Deferrals of Domain fills a double gap, both authorial and topical, in current critical treatments of women writers and will be of interest to both literary and women's studies scholars.
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- Opening the Gate to Tepper's Universe.
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The Gate to Women's Country
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000CSZIZM |
Customer Reviews:
Opening the Gate to Tepper's Universe........2006-05-12
For all those who are unaware: Sheri Tepper has very strong view points. She is a feminist militant and a pacifist. Her books express parables of her sights. Even if I do not agree with Ms. Tepper I've enjoyed her work very much. Her imaginary universes always cast lights and shadows to our own world, allowing the reader to take a different perspective, to think, to argue; never to be indifferent.
Her prose is strong, her imagination fertile and her ability to write interesting stories is outstanding.
The present tale is set in a post-apocalyptic world. After devastation, a new civilization is struggling to give humankind another chance. Nothing is easy. The new organization is composed by fortified city-states, where women rule inside cultivating the arts, sciences and agriculture aided by a small group of male servitors. Men are deployed outside as protecting warriors, centered in martial arts, wrestling and having sports competences. In the surface this arrangement is working quite smoothly sustained on complex rules and ceremonies. Nevertheless there are strong undercurrents and rivalries between both groups.
The main character is Stavia, a Councilwoman of Marthastown, and her life is shown in three critical moments. The reader will have an inkling of what's going on, at the same time that Stavia does; even if these the three periods are not sequentially described, following the thread of Stavia's life is not difficult.
One more interesting feature in this provoking book: Ms Tepper rewrite and retranslate the Greek tragedy The Trojans, transforming it into a central myth of this civilization.
This is book to enjoy and draw independent conclusions.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.
Book Description
An action-plan for self-fulfillment that helps people find their true calling in life
This practical and inspirational guide helps Christian men and women of all ages identify and use their God-given gifts to find purpose, direction, and joy in their life and work. Based on their years of counseling and experience, Kevin and Kay Marie Brennfleck offer action-oriented tools and a proven methodology to help readers develop the decision-making skills they need to discover and live the life that God intended, maximizing the synergies between ministry, work, and spiritual gifts.
Kevin and Kay Marie Brennfleck (Pasadena, CA) are nationally recognized experts in career counseling, work satisfaction, and productivity. Their Web site, www.ChristianCareerCenter.com, is the most visited Christian career site on the Internet.
Customer Reviews:
Live Life Now.......2005-09-01
Has some great insights into growing into a new job/life and is an easy read.
A Worthwhile Book.......2005-05-24
I find this book inspiring and uplifting! A book that will touch the hearts and minds its readers! Its abundant life renewing principles are a paragon example of a worthwhile person in more ways than a million!
Everyday People Making an Extraordinary Impact
Simeon Johnson
Live Your Calling A practical guide to Finding and Fulfiling.......2005-03-22
This book is exacty what I have been looking for. I am the director of Career Services at Azusa Pacific College and it has been difficult to find a sophisticated book that brings Gods calling together with the pragmatic aspects of finding a career. I highly recommend this remarkable book to use with individuals, classes on life planning or in small groups.
Live Your Calling.......2005-02-28
Live Your Calling provides tremendous help in understanding your life's calling. Practical, helpful, motivational. Excellent for young adults who are trying to make significant decisions regarding career choices and direction.
A great resource for individuals, schools, and churches........2005-02-27
The practical information, assessments, and helps in "Live Your Calling" offer encouragement and hope as people seek the best way to use their personal strengths and gifts in their life work. This unique book can be used by individuals or for small group study (a small group study guide is included), as my church is doing. It is appropriate for young people making career decisions for the first time and for adults who want to review their mission in life.
Books:
- The Ice Storm: A Novel
- The Last Great Dance on Earth
- The Lemon Table
- The Money-Whipped Steer-Job Three-Jack Give-Up Artist: A Novel
- The Night In Question: Stories
- The Plague, The Fall, Exile and the Kingdom, and Selected Essays (Everyman's Library)
- The Poor Mouth: A Bad Story About the Hard Life
- The Ramage Touch (The Lord Ramage Novels)
- The Red Notebook: True Stories
- The Snow Garden: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
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- The Sword in the Tree
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- Migrating Raptors of the World: Their Ecology and Conservation
- Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis: A Portrait of Her Private Years
- INTERNATIONAL REAL ESTATE HANDBOOK - ACQUISITION, OWNERSHIP AND SALE OF REAL ESTATE RESIDENCE, TAX A
- The Young Zillionaire's Guide to Buying Goods and Services
There Will Never Be Another You: A Novel
Golden Days (California Fiction)
Dreaming: Hard Luck And Good Times In America
Making a Literary Life
Making History
