Book Description
In Crossing Bully Creek, acclaimed author Margaret Erhart chronicles change through generations. At the story's heart is the owner of Longbrow Plantation, Henry Detroit — now on his deathbed as the 1960s come to a close. Around him swirl servants, retainers, workers, and family, all gathered to preside over his death, and the death of life as they know it in the South. The book moves back and forth from the 1920s to the 1960s. From Henry's wife Rowena, to the servant Rutha, from his saucy granddaughter to the man running the plantation for his son, characters white and black move through a time when old traditions linger, yet begin to give way — subtly transformed through the small, determined acts.
Customer Reviews:
Crossing Bully Creek-Reviewed by Tom Word.......2005-08-25
Crossing Bully Creek
By Margaret Erhart
(308 pp, Milkweed Editions)
Reviewed by Tom Word
Tucked into the southwest corner of Georgia lies a small chunk of heaven. As different from the rest of the rural south as Tiffany's from Wal-Mart, these unspoiled acres hold the Yankee-owned plantations, Gardens of Eden strewn with live oaks, longleaf pines, magnolias, pecans, and cypresses, trimmed in Spanish moss and carpeted with wiregrass. Discovered by titans of the Gilded Age as the 19th Century closed, and bought up cheap ($8 an acre) from planters and small farmers laid low by recurring recessions and the boll weevil, the lands were transformed into great estates.
The attraction? An ideal winter climate and a small bird: the bobwhite quail.
Quail hunting and collateral sport required a considerable labor force. That force was provided by Southern whites, formerly share croppers, and descendants of African slaves. The interdependence of the three peoples-rich Yankees, crackers, and blacks, made a witches' brew for a brand new culture. Nested in the affections and resentments of these long, close associations live the haunting characters of Crossing Bully Creek, Margaret Erhart's highly literary Milkweed Prize novel. And what characters they are.
Erhart's style is evocative of both Faulkner and Hemingway. By restraint and a slow revealing of secrets in scenes from Longbrow's history over four decades, she creates a gripping story through characters the reader sees lurking in the shadows of Longbrow's ancient trees.
Erhart knows first hand the people and place of which she writes. She has long spent winters on a plantation like her mythical Longbrow, a part of her family heritage. Crossing Bully Creek is her fourth novel, her earlier Old Love, Augusta Cotton and Unusual Company having attracted considerable critical acclaim.
Living Dangerously.......2005-05-27
It's always dangerous for a book or writer to invite comparisons with a great writer, because this almost always leaves the inviter looking smaller. Thus Crossing Bully Creek is living dangerously by inviting comparions with William Faulkner. Though the publisher is prudent enough not to mention Faulkner or other famous southern writers on the jacket, its inevitable that any literate reader will immediately think: Faulkner. For starters, there's the cover: an antebellum mansion set behind a canopy of magnolia trees. Then there's the jacket storyline blurb: the owner of a plantation that's seen better days is dying, and a whole family and a whole southern world seem to be swirling with him to some sort of reckoning, as seen through multiple viewpoints. Now you are thinking not just Faulkner, but As I Lay Dying. The blurb also says that the story moves back and forth between the 1920s and the 1960s, and now you are thinking: The Sound and the Fury--and even Faulkner couldn't live up to The Sound and the Fury. Maybe you notice that the publisher is from Minnesota, and even though Milkweed is one of the treasures of American publishing today, you still know that Minnesota is about the last place where the National Barbeque Association would hold their annual cook-off. Not only that, the jacket says that the author was born in New York City (at this point in the salsa commercial the cowboys around the campfire would say in unison: NEW YORK CITY?!?!) and went to school in Iowa and lives in Arizona. And she is proposing to write about life in the south?
But not so fast there. Margaret Erhart wouldn't stand a chance in the annual bad Faulkner parody contest. She is the genuine goods, a graceful writer with her own voice and a story worth hearing. Just for starters, this story is set mainly at the end of the 1960s, an era Faulkner and other famous southern writers never lived to have a chance to come to grips with, an era of dramatic social change--or was it? One of the strengths of a novel with multiple viewpoints is that different characters are moving at their own speeds in their own orbits. Both the story of the times and the story of the family can look pretty different depending on whose eyes you look through. Indeed, the multiple viewpoints mean that you can either view the whole book as the story of a time as seen through the experience of a family, or the story of a family with the backdrop of a particular time. The multiple viewpoints also mean that every reader can take a particular personal interest in a different character or storyline and end up having a unique experience of the book. However you add up the whole, Erhart brings her own strengths to it. She has a keen poetic eye for the telling symbol or incident. She has a tender but not naive eye for human drama and family dynamics--and here's where women writers may have some advantages over the male writers whose heads are still ringing from the cannons and lost honor of the Civil War.
There are lots of poetic jewels in here, and not just sparkling word-images but meaningful sums. Here, almost at random, is one, occuring on Christmas Day: "Lewis had the whole long holy day to think on what he believed, and he sat down at the kitchen table intending to turn his mind in that direction. But it was an old man's mind, full of gravel, full of foolish starry shapes and dusty roads untraveled and the weak cry of birds at dusk and the caw-caw of crows in the morning....He believed in blackbirds, yes he did. Now, was that enough? That might be enough. But oughtn't he think on it until he could say why?"
My favorite image in the book is a stroke of poetic genius. (Don't read further if you don't want to spoil the surprise) One of the characters is the granddaughter of Union General William T. Sherman, who makes a brief but seemingly unimportant appearance by letter along the way. But in the end the cremated ashes of the plantation owner end up in the passed-down battle-dented metal cigar can that Sherman had carried with him in his march across the south. Now there's a punch of a symbol for the fate of the plantation south--a burned-up man in a can for long-burned-up cigars, cigars no doubt of Virgina slave-grown tobacco Sherman found delicious after he lit them with the same hand that lit the plantation mansions of the south on fire.
Book Description
One of the most widely read authors in the Netherlands, A.C. Baantjer continues to captivate a growing audience of American readers. This volume contains two of his favorite stories.
"DeKok and the Sunday Strangler" opens with the strangling death of Fat Sonja, an Amsterdam prostitute of whom Inspector DeKok was fond. Soon a second prostitute is killed, and along with his assistant, Viedder, DeKok begins down a trail of twisted motives and hidden agendas.
"DeKok and the Corpse on Christmas Eve" proves that DeKok himself is not above breaking the law to serve the interest of justice, as he engages a burglar to commit a break-in and then tampers with evidence to entrap the murderer of a young woman.
"Inspector DeKok is part Columbo, part Clouseau, part genius, part imp."-West Coast Review of Books
Customer Reviews:
Good, intelligent mysterry.......2005-07-03
Mysteries that take place in other countries, othere cultures are enjoyable on two levels. Here the story is well developed and convincing every step of the way. you can tell Dekok is based on real police work. And the sociological atmosphere of Amstedam is wonderful
An excellent and entertaining mystery.......2004-01-15
A.C. Baantjer is a very popular author from the Netherlands. He knows whereof he speaks, as he is a former Detective Inspector for the Amsterdam Police, with a career which spanned thirty-eight years. He features Inspector Dekok in at least sixteen addition mysteries which have been translated into English.
This volume includes two Inspector Dekok mysteries: Dekok and the Sunday Strangler and Dekok and the Corpse on Christmas Eve. Both stories deal with the murder of women: the first is a killer who preys on prostitutes, and the second is a killer who preys on the office workers at his company. Both are excellent studies in human nature. Dekok is the epitome of the grizzled veteran detective, and his sidekick, Vledder, is in awe of Dekok's experience and intelligence:
"Of course, you didn't dare tackle it on your own, I bet. You thought: come, let's call Dekok out of bed. The old man will take care of it, right? You thought: Why should I take a chance on messing it up, when I can lean on the old man. Isn't that so? That's what you thought, right?' Vledder looked at him searchingly. Was that a reproach? Did it sound as a reproach? He did not know. The expression on the face of the experienced photographer was unreadable."
Baantjer's writing style is smooth and flowing. Dekok is a superb character...sort of a combination of Columbo and Hercule Poirot. He is intelligent; is a family man; has a good heart; and is very forgiving of the blunders of his prot??. The plot lines are steady and believable, and the dialogue is full of interesting witticisms and give-and-take between Dekok and Vledder. One feels as if Dekok is very much of a master detective, shaping Vledder into what will eventually be a fine detective to take his place. At the same time, Dekok is very much in control of his own emotions as he navigates through the world of murder and intrigue.
Baantjer is a expert narrator who takes the reader deep into the world which police have to inhabit as part of their jobs. He even makes funny little asides to the reader about people who love mysteries, almost as if he is reaching out to touch his audience and give them a tweak on the cheek. This is an excellent and entertaining mystery from a skillful writer and profound thinker.
Shelley Glodowski
Reviewer
Book Description
A day of rest
And a day to die . . .
A serial killer who strikes on Sundays is back in business, and workaholic FBI agent Charlotte "Charly" Dow will do anything to catch him. For Charly, the investigation is personal. Her sister was one of the victims murdered during the psychopath's vicious killing spree. The tragedy destroyed Charly's family . . . even sending her mother into a mental institution.
Now Charly has a new partner -- agent Nick Marshall, who is just as reluctant as she is when it comes to trusting other people. Nick has his own problems. He's emotionally detached and has enough skeletons in his closet to keep him from sleeping at night. However, investigating the serial killer keeps him plenty occupied, and Charly herself is fast turning into a compelling distraction.
But bodies keep showing up -- and someone knows Nick has a secret . . .
Customer Reviews:
Flawed but not truly horrible.......2006-07-08
I hate to say this was a bad book. It wasn't downright sucky, but it was uninspiring and had a lot of flaws.
The plot isn't all that original. Serial killer suspenses are rather common, along with the God-complex serial killer. It's been done before, many times. All that just made the book typical. Aside from that, the plot was just flawed, and the development average. I knew early on who the killer was. It was glaringly, blatantly obvious. The first major scene with the killer and it was like a blinking red light. And the author did nothing to cast suspicion elsewhere. So you spend the whole book knowing how it's going to end up. Add into that, the author isn't that great with procedural aspects of FBI - one point being that personal relationships between agents in the same command is generally frowned upon. And there were many other points that were just handled badly, details not dealt with, predictable events, etc.
As for the romance, it was seriously lackluster. There was only the barest blip of chemistry. There's a general attraction when Nick and Charley first meet, then for like 200 pages, nothing. Supposedly there were feelings building, but if there were, I don't know when. It was like they ended up being two people who worked together and became sex buddies. The author just didn't build the emotional level between them and I felt no connection to the romance.
All in all, just a poorly developed and written book. Grammatically and stylistically it wasn't bad, but the storyline and the characters and relationships just didn't have it. Not worth reading.
Too easy to spot the killer.......2006-03-18
I've always been a Marie Ferrarella fan and try to buy everything she writes. She's a good writer and storyteller. This book flowed smoothly and told a decent story. The characters were fully developed and I did enjoy the storyline overall. However, I'm giving it only two stars because I figured out who the killer was by page 30. In a 344 page book, that's just ENTIRELY too early. Short of printing the killer's name in bold red type with a hovering balloon stating "THIS IS THE KILLER," it couldn't have been more obvious. On a personal note, I've worked for or with the Federal government and "special agents" for nearly 20 years. I've been in a lot of offices and in NOT A SINGLE one, do the agents go around formally calling each other "SPECIAL AGENT." That was a very cumbersome part of the book.
strong romantic police procedural.......2006-01-14
Stacy Pembroke becomes the twelfth victim of Santa Ana's Sunday Killer, whose murders have baffled the local cops and the FBI. The M.O. of this serial killer especially hits home to FBI Agent Charlotte "Charley" Dow as the murders are identical to the killing of her sister.
New agent Nicholas Brannigan is assigned to team up with Charley. However, her reluctance to see the corpse surprises him until he learns about her sister. As they work together they seek information on Stacy; that leads the Feds to her married lover Robert Pullman. He had opportunity and perhaps a motive since she broke off with him, but how does he fit in with the other eleven dead. As the two Feds along with another team struggle to stop a serial killer, they begin to fall in love. First however, they must end the reign of terror of a psychopathic predator before they can explore their feelings in depth.
Though one would believe that Charley would be taken off the case for obvious reasons, readers will still appreciate this strong romantic police procedural. The five member task force especially the lead duet seems genuine as their feelings come across with how they handle the investigation. The case is cleverly pursued above all else including the growing attraction between Charley and Nicholas, which in turn adds to the realism. Though serial killers have become a too often used staple, SUNDAYS ARE FOR MURDER is a fine thriller with the romance enhancing the law enforcement efforts to apprehend an infamously successful serial killer.
Harriet Klausner
Product Description
2 Books: Sundays Are For Murder (Harlequin Signature Select) / Ladies' Man (Unboxed Set of Contemporary Romance Suspense Books), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.
Product Description
Multiple books shipped as one item. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Average customer rating:
- Beautifully illustrated, good story. Sexy & violent
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Narcoleptic Sunday
Jeremy Haun
Manufacturer: Oni Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General | Comic Strips | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
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Last Call, Volume 1
ASIN: 1932664742 |
Book Description
Jack Larch can sleep anywhere. Buses, police stations, strip clubs... In fact, being a narcoleptic, he can't help but sleep. But Jack's condition doesn't make him a murderer. Or does it? After a one-night stand with the girl of his dreams, he wakes to find her dead and himself a suspect in her murder. Following a series of anonymous clues, Jack fights for his life as he gets closer to the secret surrounding her mysterious death.
Customer Reviews:
Beautifully illustrated, good story. Sexy & violent.......2007-10-08
Excellent graphic novel with superb illustrations by Brian Koschak and a cool noir story by Jeremy Haun. Beautifully drawn sex scenes and lovingly illustrated beatings with the blood and viscera to make your day. It's sexy, it's violent, and the bad "guy" is a wonderfully disturbing drag queen. Definately worth checking out.
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Sunday best
Bernice Rubens
Manufacturer: Eyre and Spottiswoode
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Classics | Comic | Contemporary | Literary
ASIN: 0413448304 |
Book Description
Objective, unbiased and hyperrational, the Vulcan 3 should have been the perfect ruler. The omnipotent computer dictates policy that is in the best interests of all citizens—or at least, that is the idea. But when the machine, whose rule evolved out of chaos and war, begins to lose control of the “Healer” movement of religious fanatics and the mysterious force behing their rebellion, all Hell breaks loose.
Written in 1960, Philip K. Dick’s paranoid novel imagines a totalitarian state in which hammer-headed robots terrorize citizens and freedom is an absurd joke. William Barrios, the morally conflicted hero, may be the only person who can prevent the battle for control from destroying the world—if, that is, he can decide which side he’s on.
Winner of both the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards for best novel, widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day, and the object of cult-like adoration from his legions of fans, Philip K. Dick has come to be seen in a literary light that defies classification in much the same way as Borges and Calvino. With breathtaking insight, he utilizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves.
Customer Reviews:
Who "is" a Philip K. Dick fan?.......2006-03-14
Well, it seems to me like this book has a little bit of controversy around it. "Is" it a "true" Philip K. Dick sci-fi masterpiece, or isn't it? I suppose your answer to that question will depend on whether or not you like this book. For me, so far I'm still just dipping my toe into the PKD world. I've read Man in the High Castle, Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, Lies Inc, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and A Scanner Darkly so far. I have to say, I very much enjoyed Vulcan's Hammer.
Yes, it's certainly more conventional than some of the others, but I found plenty to like. I especially liked the thematic device that all of the humans were acting like robots (I suppose except the Healers), and the computers were acting more like living organisms. A bit predictable perhaps on some of the story threads, a bit immature perhaps when compared to later works, but still... highly enjoyable, at least to this reader. I have to say, I certainly prefered it to Valis, which I've attempted and given up on. I found that one just a bit too... obfuscatory, I guess.
If you can keep an open mind, if you like good classic sci-fi, I think Vulcan's Hammer stands up pretty well. If you liked HAL in 2001, then the Vulcan 3 might have some resonance for you. But if you're expecting the full-on Dickian mind-twist, then this book probably will not live up to your expectations, unless you really dig down into it (and even then, it's not the same). But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it. I did, and it certainly encourages me to continue delving the world of all things Dickian.
You've got to be kidding, right?.......2005-02-16
The late Philip K. Dick was a genius. He wrote 6-8 masterpieces, which should be required reading for anyone with some interest in science fiction.
However, he also wrote some plain awful novels in order to make a living. In general, the books he wrote in the 1950s are his worst with Vulcan's Hammer being his worst published novel ever (in my opinion). The story is flimsy and dull...one of Dick's biographers (Lawrence Sutin) also cites it as probably being his worst book.
I'm only writing this review because I just can't believe the number of positive reviews for this book. If "Man in the High Castle", which is probably Dick's best work, deserves 5 stars... then by that scale, Vulcan's hammer deserves a 0.5.
The fact that this book was even reprinted is a shame...a real waste of paper.
Hammer misses.......2004-08-23
This minor novel in Dick's oeuvre is the tale of a giant computer, Vulcan 3, to which humanity has acceded absolute power over the fate of the world. Its flying "hammers" are deadly extensions of itself, spying on everybody and killing whomever it perceives as a threat. One needs to be very paranoid indeed to survive against this paranoid machine. Vulcan 3 is not as memorable a character as another killer computer, HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both, however, are representations of the disembodied intellect becoming self-aware and preempting the unmechanical wisdom of the feelings. Vulcan is a metaphor for the failure of the rational thinking mind to integrate the irrational feeling side of the personality. The result is that the ego is mechanized, or Vulcanized, and the wrath of the fire god is visited upon a self-destructive humanity. These mythic overtones aside, the book is mainly of interest to the Dick afficianado; those new to PKD could more profitably begin with almost any of his other science-fiction novels.
suspenseful and fun; perhaps not for Philip K. Dick fans.......2003-07-30
Vulcan's Hammer is a very conventional early science fiction story about the future of the world dominated by a computer. Naturally the humans catch on that this situation has drawbacks, and a rebellion is launched. But with Vulcan's Hammer the computer doesn't take kindly to any encroachment on its reign.
Unlike the author's later works there aren't any deep-rooted social commentary with Vulcan's Hammer. And this story is completely readable; I believe many Philip K. Dick fans enjoy deciphering his often unintelligible prose. Best of all the story reads as a suspense novel, with the author deftly placing in twists to keep the reader hooked .. and it worked for me.
Bottom line: a fun if somewhat unremarkable read. Recommended.
Man and machine.......2002-10-28
In the world of `Vulcan's Hammer', humans have apparently given up on their political power. They are under the authority of Vulcan III, a massive underground computer that ended war, unemployment and poverty years ago. Two human factions are set against each other: the Union, led by many high-profile directors including William Barris, and the `Healers', a rebellious group seemingly led by a mysterious figure named Father Fields. Many questions are submitted daily to Vulcan III, but the machine has not yet said a word about the group; people are quick to blame head-director Jason Dill, the only one allowed to submit such questions. In addition to the powerful Vulcan III, there's also the older Vulcan II, which is destroyed but still reveals crucial insights about the Healers and Vulcan III when some of its remains are reconstructed. The `Union versus Healers' opposition can be multiplied by at least three, because there is some discord a) in the Union itself, b) in the Healers movement, and, most interestingly, c) between the machines. Both of the Vulcan computers play as big a role as the humans, and often seem just as `alive' as they are. The entire work can be seen as an ongoing mind game, sometimes between men, sometimes between man and machine, sometimes between the machines themselves; it is a lot more substantial than its dismal reputation would lead the unsuspecting reader to believe.
Product Description
Science fiction novel.
Book Description
In No One Can Take Your Place, Sheri Dew offers powerful insights and profound testimony as she discusses the importance of doing what we came here to do. In her personable and straightforward style, she emphasizes our unique roles as men and women of God, the divine power that is available to help us fulfill our mortal missions, the lessons we can learn from those who have gone before and the legacy we will ultimately leave behind. A stirring call to action, this motivational book points to the urgent need for us as Latter-day Saints to have a clear vision of who we are.
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No One Can Ever Take Your Place
Mr Rogers
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Baby-3
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0394887794
Release Date: 1988-09-12 |
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