For Kings and Planets: A Novel

Amazon.com

Like Philip Roth and Robert Penn Warren, Ethan Canin won the Houghton Mifflin Fellowship for rising stars whose first books hit big. His luminous 1988 story collection, Emperor of the Air remains a must-read, but his second novel, For Kings and Planets, is nonetheless recognizably part of the Canin constellation. He repeatedly features a straight guy (an accountant or other sober type) transfixed by the spectacle of an out-of-control guy (a delinquent and/or child-prodigy brother or brother figure to the main character). This time, it's Orno Tarcher, a Missouri farm boy thunderstruck by his Columbia University classmate Marshall Emerson, a theatrically bratty, sometimes suicidal Manhattan genius. "I grew up with farmers and insurance salesmen," says Orno. "I grew up with Kennedys and insurance salesmen," says Marshall. "I grew up with pigs everywhere," says Orno. "And we had that in common," Marshall replies. (In keeping with their characters, Orno becomes a sensible dentist and Marshall a cynical, coked-up Hollywood producer.)

Canin sensitively evokes Orno's prosaic world--you'd have to read Jane Smiley's The Age of Grief for better fiction about dentistry. But Orno mostly exists to relate Marshall's appealing, appalling antics: his manic raps about his childhood amid the ruins of Istanbul, his sabotage of his own (and Orno's) love life, his Oedipal strife with his chilly, brilliant parents. "Our family seal is a snake twisted in knots," says Marshall's lovely sister. And, reader, Orno marries her. Page for page, Canin's stories better show off his gift for epiphany, but the novel gives him room to develop character, entangle plots, and make a stab at the heart of the family romance. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

From the celebrated author of The Palace Thief and Emperor of the Air, comes this stunning novel about the relationship between two very different men. Orno Tarcher travels from a small town in Missouri to New York City to attend Columbia University, where he begins a new life feeling unsophisticated and insecure. He soon strikes up a friendship with Marshall Emerson, a seductive and brilliant New Yorker whose sophistication dazzles Orno. As time passes, Marshall is revealed to be bent on destruction, and Orno's involvment with Marshall's worldly sister further complicates their friendship. Carefully crafted and skillfully informed by the works of Fitzgerald and Waugh, For Kings and Planets is a remarkable novel. A New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, and Minneapolis StarTribune bestseller, and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1998.

Customer Reviews:

Worth reading.......2007-06-01

I enjoyed Canin's writing and characters and different locales (New York, Missouri, California, Cape Cod). It definitely captured my interest and his friend Marshal added quite a bit of spice to the story. A bit melodramatic, and hard to believe that Orno the main character wouldn't have dumped his friend Marshal, but overall I think it was worth the read.

Not Bad..........2006-07-24

My girlfriend lent me this book because of its setting at Columbia and within New York City. I read it in 2 days and was very entertained by the triangle relationship between sister and brother Simone and Marshall, and Missouri born Orno, the central character in the novel. The book reminded me of 'A Separate Peace' in that you have one character, Marshall, who is so highly talented and so charming that he has a way of bringing everyone in, and Orno, a character who for no apparent reason (at first, the reasons become apparent over time) is brought in as his closest confidant. This is the kind of text you read when you have to write a story for a creative writing professor who constantly tries to imprint the adage 'Show, Don't Tell' into your consiousness. It's a good read, but nothing to become overly ecstatic about.

Perfect.......2006-07-04

This was an old fashioned novel in the best sense. The characters showed the reader who they were. Their interactions were real -- confused, incomplete. The book itself was immensely satisfying. I had to finished the last 90 pages in one flew swoop because I was so terrified of what might happen to the characters. I really cared about all of them.

Teeth aren't named for Kings and Planets........2004-01-05

This is the story of Orno, a self-proclaimed hayseed from Missouri, who moves to New York City to attend Columbia University. There he meets Marshall, a man who changes the course of his life.

Marshall is a genius with the gift of eidetic memory. He's a rogue student, voyeur, classic alcoholic/drug addict, and maybe even manic-depressive. Orno is magnetized to him like an alter ego, and consequently, Marshall is also drawn to Orno, recognizing in him the qualities he lacks in spite of his seemingly privileged background. They attend many of the same classes, date the same women and eventually, after he makes the decision to attend dental school (much to Marshall's disapproval), Orno falls in love with Marshall's more stable and wise sister. Belittling his own stable yet naïve background, Orno tries to make his way in an unfamiliar world, mistaking the dysfunction of the Emerson family for sophistication. Triumphant, Orno manages to hold onto his integrity, learns to appreciate his own father and is an earnest and likeable character.

For Kings and Planets is a love story (exploring love between friends, siblings, parents and children and lovers), and ultimately a coming of age tale. Beautifully-written, a fast read and I highly recommend.

From the author of "I'm Living Your Dream Life," McKenna Publishing Group.

I can think of younger days....and so can Dr. Canin........2003-04-29

Beautifully written yet painfully spare, the events in "For Kings and Planets" whoosh by the reader like a subway train. For me the style worked, and it didn't work: It worked in the sense that evoked a certain kind of nostalgia; Canin writes peering back into the past, and his ability to boil down affairs and big moments into singular pages is impressive, to be sure. Less can be more.

But less can be less, too, and at times there just doesn't seem to be much excuse for the sheer lack of dialogue in the book. Canin's characters can barely breathe, he does so much of the talking for them. On the book's opening page two women are mentioned, and you'd guess they figure prominently, but only one of them actually has a speaking "part" in the book, and a small one at that. I can appreciate that Canin is guiding us to package this knowledge as a hazy fling that our main character, Orno Tarcher, once had, but still. At times, it just isn't enough.

The story is not complicated: There is Orno, an earnest Midwestern kid and Marshall, a brilliant, depressed New Yorker. They become friends when they meet Columbia University, mostly by chance, and then remain friends ever as Marshall drifts away into other circles. Canin draws Orno very nicely as a decent kid with a tad too much give in his personality. He takes it on the chin from Marshall a few too many times. And Marshall seems more than willing to throw the punch. And there is Simone, Marshall's sister, a sweet, considerate girl with less brilliance than Marshall but twice as much maturity. Orno recognizes those qualities in her and falls in love.

The book appeals to a certain taste. These days, the "in" thing is to delve and delve and delve into a scene or a character or a subject until it's been turned inside out. Canin rejects that. He has great instincts; the book is well thought-out, and well executed. It takes a lot more effort to write a book this way than it does to write a 1000-page tome that just goes on and on. Canin is after crafting realistic characters. That means that not every burden of the week is included.

Did some of the critics have a tough time with this one? Sure they did, because many of them are from the Marshall Emerson set, and it's not in their natural prediliction to side with someone without nihilism and sarcasm. Books like these are hard for the critical community for two reasons:

1. They want more ugliness to get their hands around, more pure, mean drama, more villanous behavior, more tension, more rivalry, presumably because it equals their life.

2. They see earnestness as a naivete, as intellectually underwhelming.

Thus, they disapprove of some of Marshall's changes late in the book, but they disapprove because they, like Orno, saw the Marshall they wanted to see, not the one Canin was quietly creating. Canin craftily shows us just he wants to show us, revealing Marshall's layers slowly, but clearly. There's much more, and in a sense less, there than we first believed.

Are we disappointed with how Marshall turns out? You bet we are. That's part of the point, and what a lot of critics failed to understand. It's clear to me some mistook their disappointment that Canin didn't uphold the jaded academic "standard" of greatness as poor or boring writing.

But "For Kings and Planets" is neither poor nor boring, it's simply a curve ball; for once here's a colorful genius that, we figure, will probably fail, but in a spectacular, weird, grand way that befits an intellectual giant. Orno, we sense, half expects it, too.

The trick, then, is that Marshall has invented half of his greatness, maybe because he wanted to be great, but didn't know how to be, and, in the end, is pretty blase like all the other wasted geniuses out there. Like the book that Marshall writes, the words are there, but not the music; Marshall has the knowledge to lead a great life, but not the style.

Thankfully, Dr. Canin knows the music to make this story sing.

Average customer rating:
Cosmic Checkmate and King of the Fourth Planet: Two Complete Novels
Charles V., Katherine McLean and Robert Moore Williams De Vet
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JL62IO

Amazon.com

Ever since she was a teenager, children's book author Molly Somerville has been infatuated with handsome Kevin Tucker, quarterback for her sister's Chicago Stars football team. Unfortunately, Kevin doesn't know she's alive until one fateful weekend when they're marooned together at the family vacation cabin. When Molly gets carried away by her creative imagination and compromises Kevin, the results are disastrous and before the dust settles, Kevin's in trouble with his boss, Molly's in deep trouble with her emotions, and both of them are in danger of losing their hearts. Their journey to a happy ending is dicey, at best, and even if they can get past their outrageous and painful beginning, whether these two can lower their guards and let the other into their equally wary hearts is questionable.

Bestselling author Susan Elizabeth Phillips makes her hardcover debut with this wonderful contemporary tale that features two familiar faces from prior novels as the hero and heroine. The characters are complicated, with difficult pasts that have shaped the adults they now are, and Phillips uses a deft touch in sketching their personal growth as they're tested with tragedy and bound together with love and a healthy dose of humor. As always, Phillips brings her delightful wit and a warm family setting to this novel that is sure to captivate readers. --Lois Faye Dyer

Book Description

Molly Somerville loves her career as the creator of the Daphne the Bunny children's book series, but the rest of her life could use some improvement. She has a reputation for trouble that started even before she gave away her fifteen-million-dollar inheritance. Then there's her long-term crush on the quarterback for the Chicago Stars football team her sister owns—that awful, gorgeous Kevin Tucker, a man who can't even remember Molly's name!

One night Kevin barges into Molly's not-quite-perfect life and turns it upside down. Unfortunately, the Ferrari-driving riving, poodle-hating jock isn't as shallow as she wishes he were, and she soon finds herself at a place called Wind Lake. Surrounded by paintbox cottages, including a charming old bed-and-breakfast, Molly and Kevin battle their attraction and each other as they face one of life's most important lessons. Sometimes love hurts, sometimes it makes you mad as hell, and sometimes—if you're lucky—it can heal in a most unexpected way.

Download Description

Take a children's book illustrator, who's a bit down on her luck; add a handsome new quarterback from the Chicago Stars; and throw in a poignant search for a birth mother. The result is This Heart of Mine, a mesmerizing tale from a bestselling author at the zenith of her storytelling powers. 384 pp. National ads. Author appearances. 100,000 print.

Customer Reviews:

disappointing .......2007-08-05

I couldn't wait to read this book after reading "Nobody's baby but mine" but I was sooo disappointed. I was hard to see where the characters fell in love. There were a few funny moments but nothing like in "Nobody's baby but mine" (which made me laugh out loud and cry). The secondary plot about the older couple didn't flow very well in this book...their relationship really made no sense to me, the whole time I was reading about them I was thinking "huh?" Maybe I just didn't understand the humor and the chemistry of the characters, there were parts that i just didn't understand why were in the book...

H-O-T.......2007-07-08

Okay. Like any piece of romantic fiction, there were some silly elements to this story. However, I found the characters sexy enough to keep reading. Enjoy!

Improbabilities Sweetened by Sugary Romance.......2007-04-09

Susan Elizabeth Phillips is a master of the romantic fiction genre, and she has a clever turn of phrase that makes her dialogue always funny and never stale. However, despite her skill with conversation, sometimes Phillips tends to lack in the practicality quotient of the novel.

Molly Somerville is a child storybook author, the sweet, mousy (yet actually quite pretty), and spunky heroine romance authors love to write ... again and again and again. When she spends a weekend at her sister's spare house, an unexpected visitor drops in - the star football player of her sister's sports team. He is, of course, a handsome, speeding, thrill-seeking, close-mouthed bad boy that would never, ever, not in a million years, fall in love or even so much as look at a girl as plain as Molly Somerville.

And yet, the inevitable happens, but in such a way that it almost distasteful - this is the book's lowest point, a period where giving it up seems almost preferable to moving on. No sort of romance would seem to blossom from this soil, and the fact that it happened at all is so utterly improbable that you're laughing through the bizarreness of it all.

However, after this lapse, the book picks up and develops a sweet, tender romance that gets quite good. The male lead is one of Phillips' most attractive, being a little broody and taciturn and of course everything turns right and rosy in the end.

The getting there, however, takes some teeth-gritting. If you like Phillips, you'll love her other works, like It Had to Be You, Match Me If You Can, and Ain't She Sweet. This Heart of Mine has the same irresistable lead and witty dialogue, but the plot gapes illogically.

Couldn't put this one down to save my life...........2007-01-25

I've become a romance novel junkie and I've read a ton but this one really stands apart for me. This was my first read from SEP and I almost didn't pick it up because the cover art reminded me of historical romance which totally isn't my thing but after reading the back cover I went for it and boy am I glad I did.
I fell in love with these characters. I want to be Molly, I want to marry Kevin. Not only are the main characters wonderful but the supporting characters are charming as well. I've read other books where I've just wanted everyone else to go away except for the hero and herione but not this one.
Although the general plot is the tried and true girl has crush, boy doesn't even know she exists, girl catches his attention and they eventually fall in love SEP does it with twists, turns and humor. At one point I thought I knew exactly where the plot was headed and I was totally wrong.
In addition to everything else that I loved about this book I adored the Daphne The Bunny children's books that Molly writes. I wish they were real, I'd buy them for my kids in a heartbeat. I wish Daphne and Benny had been the cover art for this book!
I am heading right out to find more books by SEP. I think she's just moved right to the top of my favorite authors list which includes Janet Evanovich, Rachel Gibson, Susan Donovan, Susan Anderson, LeAnne Banks, Christine Dodd, JoAnn Ross and when I want something a little naughtier I pick up Shannon McKenna, Erin McCarthy, Lori Forester or Jenelle Denison.

Entertaining, but a little disappointing.......2006-07-27

I have to admit that I was disappointed by this book. I liked the Kevin character from Nobody's Baby But Mine, and Molly from It Had to be You.... so what happened to them? I was entertained and found several parts of this book funny, but Molly's actions that force the characters into each other's proximity are pretty preposterous. Also, it was a little disconcerting to find that the intelligent Molly from It Had to Be You turned out to be pretty flakey. It was nice to see the continuing connections between the characters we were introduced to in other SEP books. All in all, This Heart of Mine is a worthy read if you can get past a few bizarre plot points.

Nobody's Baby But Mine and This Heart of Mine

Average customer rating:

Two great stories for the price of one!

Nobody's Baby But Mine and This Heart of Mine
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Manufacturer: Avon A
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060894709
Release Date: 2006-03-28

Book Description

Nobody's Baby But Mine

Genius physics professor Dr. Jane Darlington desperately wants a baby but doesn't want her child growing up, as she did, feeling like a super-intelligent freak. So Jane needs someone. . . well. . . stupid to father her child—someone like legendary Chicago Stars quarterback Cal Bonner. But this good-looking good ol' boy is a lot smarter than he lets on—and Cal's not about to be used and abandoned by a brainy, baby-mad schemer.

This Heart of Mine

Molly Somerville's reputation for trouble started even before she gave away her fifteen-million-dollar inheritance. And her long-term crush on Chicago Stars football hunk Kevin Tucker doesn't help matters—especially since the gorgeous, Ferrari-driving, poodle-hating jock can't even remember her name! But then, one night, Kevin barges into Molly's not-quite-perfect life and proceeds to turn it upside down.

Customer Reviews:

Two great stories for the price of one!.......2006-05-04

You get a two for one with this purchase - two of the six (so far) books in the Chicago Stars/Bonner Brothers series of books. Each book in the series stands alone as a separate story, but the common thread in these two books is Kevin Tucker.

Nobody's Baby But Mine ~ Hilarity ensues when brainy physicist Jane wants to get pregnant by a dumb jock so her spawn won't be a lonely genius like she was, so she dons a big pink bow and presents herself as a very inept hooker to Chicago Stars QB, Cal Bonner. When Cal finds out that he was used for stud services, he insists on becoming more than a donor and the two get married and move to his hometown to wreak havoc in each other's lives, as they follow the rocky yellow brick road to love. This is the best story of the series. (****)

This Heart of Mine ~ artist and children's author Molly acts on her crush over QB Kevin Tucker, which results in pregnancy. They are forced by her sister and brother-in-law (who manage and coach the Stars respectively) into a loveless marriage which soon turns to tragedy. The tragedy wakes them both up to realize their true feelings for each, cleverly played out in the pages of Molly's books. This is the most heart tugging book in the series. (***)

Average customer rating:

Nothing More Or Less Than "Eh"
Should be called "This Heartache of Mine"
Terrible
Velvet is definitely Her Mothers Daughter
LEAVE ALEX ALONE!

This Heart of Mine
Bertrice Small
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 034535673X
Release Date: 1988-11-13

Book Description

Velvet de Marisco proves herself every inch Skye O'Malley's daughter. Be it Alexander Gordon from the Scottish Highlands or the Grand Mughal of India, each man must win her heart before they can claim the sensual joys of her passionate and erotic desires....

Customer Reviews:

Nothing More Or Less Than "Eh".......2003-05-03

Let's get some perspective. Velvet is a character that really grows and develops through the course of this lump of a novel. She begins as a whiny little girl only to come out a resourceful woman at the end. Honestly I haven't read many romance novels where a character's development has been so well done.

That being said, the rest of the novel is a veritable travesty. Off the top, I cannot possibly believe that Adam de Marisco and Skye O'Malley would make an arranged marriage for their only "miracle" daughter in the first place. If I'm not mistaken, her parents' absence during important formative years of her life is what's responsible for Velvet's outraged attitude towards marriage and, well, life. It's good that there's an excuse, because otherwise it doesn't make much sense that an Elizabethan girl would raise such hell about a betrothal.

As for the betrothed, Alex Gordon, whatever else you can say about him, he is a real character. Sure he's thoughtless and insensitive and every bit as involved in his own needs as Velvet is in hers. In later books he's said to have become Velvet's virtual love slave, however this book ends leaving me with a feeling of two strong individuals working on an equal relationship. At least Alex doesn't fizzle and mellow out by the end.

The real fly in the ointment here would be Velvet's time in India and her sublime love with the emperor Akbar. Better to have left Alex for dead and developed a storyline about Velvet's love in the exotic wilds of India. That would have thrown some much needed spice into the O'Malley series. Above all, Velvet genuinely falls in love with Akbar--isn't that what romance is all about? Their daughter is like a natural sanction of their union. I think Small made a huge mistake in bringing Velvet back to England and to a situation that was tenuous at best.

Nevermind enough name dropping that picking them all up would break your back. William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Walter Ralegh, Bess Throckmorton...it goes on, but thanks Ms. Small for letting us know you can read an encyclopedia. Let's not forget Queen Elizabeth's actual speech delivered to her troops at Tilbury Plain. All this makes it feel less like a novel and more like an academic exercise.

If you're hooked on the saga, you will of course have to read this. I'd advise anyone else to proceed with caution.

Should be called "This Heartache of Mine".......2003-01-03

Since I'm a diehard Bertrice Small fan, I love everything she writes, mostly because she's a fine and very descriptive writer. This holds true with THOM, but...what was Ms. Small thinking?!?! I've never read a Small novel so fraught with heartache. Why oh why was Velvet snatched away from Akbar, a man she loved who loved her in return and with whom she had a child, and returned to arrogant, boorish Alex Gordon, who had about as much finesse as a bull in a china shop. I don't get it! And it's an annoying characteristic of Ms. Small's novels to let all the misfortune fall on the good guys (such as Akbar and Rory Maguire of WILD JASMINE) and let the annoying "heroes" have the woman -- as is the case with this novel.

As if being snatched away from Akbar wasn't disheartening enough, Velvet had to endure the presence of Alex's love child. More maddening yet, it was perfectly okay and expected of her to live with this brat while her own lawful child was lost to her. Is it me, or was there something wrong with the rationale and logic of this novel?

Terrible.......2002-11-24

This book is horrible and biased. I found this to be an ignorant book written by an ignorant person.

Velvet is definitely Her Mothers Daughter.......2002-08-23

This was a very good read. I couldn't put the book down. Velvet is a little spoiled as you would except the daughter of Skye and Adam to be. Considering her age and experience I can see how she would want her mother when she thought Alex had been killed. She had been through a lot at that point with little or no guidance from the other adults in her life. The time in India was the best part of the book. I agree with the other reviews I think she would have been happier with Akbar. The had me crying when she had to leave.

LEAVE ALEX ALONE!.......2002-08-05

I loved this book. The characters were interesting. Their flaws made them unique. Yes Velvet was spoiled but that was expected. I also dont understand why most readers were so appled that she was very intelligent, meaning she didnt use her head all the time. She was young and the baby of the family, of course she was impetious, it made her interesting and allowed plot twists.

I loved Alex, he possessivness of Velvet was something I found very sexy. I hated the fact that he took a mistress (Alanna) but Velvet (not using her head) had basically left him so naturally being the macho Scot he was of course he would take up with some other woman in one way or another. I like agressive men and Alex was just that.

The sex scenes were average for Small (which is still good just not her greatest).

Those O'Malley women...do they attract sexual slavery or what!

Average customer rating:

Good read.. This was the first Small book I have read.
THIS HEART OF MINE
BERTRICE SMALL
Manufacturer: BALLANTINE
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Small, Bertrice | ( S ) | Authors, A-Z | Romance | Subjects | Books
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Just Beyond Tomorrow

ASIN: B000B8UEC0

Product Description

Customer Reviews:

Good read.. This was the first Small book I have read........2007-06-23

The story was done very well. It was the fourth in the O'Malley series and one of the best. Velvet is beautiful, but a very self-centered brat at the beginning of the story. Her parents have gone sailing away when Velvet's betrothed comes down from Scotland to claim her as his property.
This doesn't go so well when Velvet inlists herself as one of the Queen's maids of honor. She eventually falls in love with Alex and agrees to marry him before her parents return. All seems well, until Velvet gets captured and sent to an Indian harem. All she can do is survive love lost, love found, and love lost again.. I loved it!!

6 Book Set By Susan Elizabeth Phillips; First Lady; Breathing Room; Dream a Little Dream; This Heart of Mine; Nobody's Baby but Mine; Honey Moon.

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6 Book Set By Susan Elizabeth Phillips; First Lady; Breathing Room; Dream a Little Dream; This Heart of Mine; Nobody's Baby but Mine; Honey Moon.
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000WUHZQ0

Product Description

6 Book Set By Susan Elizabeth Phillips; First Lady; Breathing Room; Dream a Little Dream; This Heart of Mine; Nobody's Baby but Mine; Honey Moon.

All the Bar Room Poetry in this World Can't Mend this Heart of Mine Dear.

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All the Bar Room Poetry in this World Can't Mend this Heart of Mine Dear.
Kell. ROBERTSON
Manufacturer: Salt Lake City: Litmus
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Pamphlet
ASIN: B000UBKMFW

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In This Heart of Mine
Helen Alexanian Smith
Manufacturer: Dorrance Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0805938125

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Nobody's Baby But Mine and This Heart of Mine
Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Manufacturer: Avon Trade
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEYCL0

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This Heart of Mine
Bertrice Small
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NPVR3Q

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This Heart of Mine

Manufacturer: Books on Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000G7HK0U

Average customer rating:

great book!

Great read for novice and experienced alike!

For Sale by Owner: Do You Really Need an Agent?
David H. Lawrence
Manufacturer: PublishAmerica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Self-Help | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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The For Sale By Owner Handbook: Fsbo Faqs: From Pricing Your Home Right And Increasing Its Curb Appeal To Negotiating The Contract And Hassle-free Closing

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How to Sell Your Own Home: The Practical Homeowner's Guide to Selling by Owner

ASIN: 1413751385

Book Description

I have seen individuals attempt to do what a realtor does by selling their home themselves. Many had financial motivations for this endeavor. Many had the motive of the poor performance of the agents they'd had experiences with. This book is intended to assist someone who needs the guidance to close on a transaction and desires to save the commissions, regardless of their reasons. You will see many books on the market of real estate secrets and other how-to books. It is my intention to make this one affordable without a catch or the lure of some mystical society of real estate. Sales are sales. The procedure is what I will identify along with what is necessary to occur. My basis for what is in here is based upon my experience as a real estate broker and as an escrow officer. I have many years of experience in each.

Customer Reviews:

great book!.......2007-09-17

If your going to sell your house on your own, this book is full of great information! Highly recommended!

Great read for novice and experienced alike!.......2005-05-13

There are many books out about selling your home without an agent. This one in particular is the best I have seen. The author does a good job of not talking over your head with "industry jargon" and uses language that is easy to read and understand. The author provides specific ideas on how to effectively market your home, identifies each of the necessary parties involved in the transaction, and clearly details all of the costs involved for the seller which most people do not realize exist.

As a Real Estate Appraiser, I have been involved in thousands of transactions over the last 5 years. Only after reading this book did I finally understand all of the complexities involved in selling and purchasing real estate.

Book Description

Over the past two decades, North Americans have become increasingly interested in understanding and reclaiming the rites that mark significant life passages. In the absence of meaningful rites of passage, we speed through the dangerous intersections of life and often come to regret missing an opportunity to contemplate a child's birth, mark the arrival of maturity, or meditate on the loss of a loved one. Providing a highly personal, thoroughly informed, and cross-cultural perspective on rites of passage for general readers, this book illustrates the power of rites to help us navigate life's troublesome transitions.
The work of a major scholar who has spent years writing and teaching about ritual, Deeply into the Bone instigates a conversation in which readers can fruitfully reflect on their own experiences of passage. Covering the significant life events of birth, initiation, marriage, and death, chapters include first-person stories told by individuals who have undergone rites of passage, accounts of practices from around the world, brief histories of selected ritual traditions, and critical reflections probing popular assumptions about ritual. The book also explores innovative rites for other important events such as beginning school, same-sex commitment ceremonies, abortion, serious illness, divorce, and retirement.
Taking us confidently into the abyss separating the spiritual from the social scientific, the personal from the scholarly, and the narrative from the analytical, Grimes synthesizes an impressive amount of information to help us find more insightful ways of comprehending life's great transitions. As we face our increasingly complex society, Deeply into the Bone will help us reclaim the power of rites and understand their effect on our lives.

Customer Reviews:

Many strengths, one yawning weakness.......2001-03-29

There are many good things to be said for _Deeply Into the Bone._ As an overview of the rich possibilities that ritual presents for solidifying both abstract meaning and concrete community in our lives, it is excellent. In particular, the specific descriptions of rituals from many cultures illustrate the immense variety that ritual practice takes worldwide. The first-person accounts of ritual experiences, from birth to marriage to more problematic life passages such as abortion and divorce, are extremely well-chosen; I found several of them so affecting that I was moved to tears.

Grimes's book, however, falls short of the promise of its subtitle, "Re-inventing Rites of Passage." The author attacks those who exploit other cultures by borrowing their rituals out of context, but also points out that ritual experimentation can lead to rites that ring emotionally false or seem awkward to the participants. Grimes presents this conundrum without offering any clear advice on how to negotiate it. While he gives a number of examples of innovative rituals that he sees as effective, he fails to explain why these rites are effective while others fall flat; his commentary each time is specific to the ritual described, rarely stepping back to give a larger perspective. Additionally, he muddies the issue by praising ritual groups that seem to violate his rules about taking other cultures' rituals out of context, as when he spends several admiring pages on Paul Hill, the founder of the National Rites of Passage Institute, while never addressing the fact that Hill has evidently conflated the diverse initiation rites of several African cultures into one unified "African-centered" rite.

As an aspiring creator of rituals, I am thankful for the rich context that Grimes provides the question of how Westerners might re-invent ritual. Ultimately, however, the book fails to speak to the question itself. At the end of the book, rather than feeling inspired, I was left frozen between the desire not to take others' rituals out of context and the fear of failing to create effective ritual. Though Grimes ostensibly wrote this book in order to help others imagine their own rituals, his harsh criticisms of the sincere mistakes that seekers make tend to discourage rather than encourage innovation.

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Deeply into the Bone: Re-Inventing Rites of Passage
Ronald L. Grimes
Manufacturer: Univ. of California Press; Berkeley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000V98HLO

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