Average customer rating:
- Irving's first - and only - book of stories
- A Writer's Memoir
- not Irving's best, but..
- John Irving's Garage Sale
- No-Holds-Barred Irving
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Trying to Save Piggy Sneed
John Irving
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0345404742
Release Date: 1997-02-11 |
Book Description
Here is a treat for John Irving addicts and a perfect introduction to his work for the uninitiated. To open this spirited collection, Irving explains how he became a writer. There follow six scintillating stories written over the last twenty years ending with a homage to Charles Dickens. This irresistible collection cannot fail to delight and charm.
Customer Reviews:
Irving's first - and only - book of stories.......2004-09-25
This is a fine collection of short stories, the only problem being that most people don't like short stories.
This is a particular problem for Irving since readers associate him with huge, emotional roller-coaster novels such as A Prayer for Owen Meany or The World According to Garp.
Also the selection here is a little odd: a mixture of the kind of fiction you might find in The New Yorker plus some non-fiction: autobiographical essays of childhood plus an introduction to a Dickens novel. Since I always thought Irving was more of a Hardy fan, I found this a little bemusing.
Overall, fans of Irving's longer work will tend to a little disappointed with this outing, though this is perhaps no fault of the author.
A Writer's Memoir.......2004-01-28
I love John Irving. When I first read Garp 25 years ago it knocked me out. Mr. Irving was truly an original voice. In "Piggy Sneed" he has given us a memoir, some short stories and essays. The memoir, "The Imaginary Girlfriend", is the best piece in the book. I enjoyed the fusion of his wrestling career and his writing career. I enjoyed the short stories and his attempt to share with us his some of the craft of writing. The homage to Dickens was enlightening and inspiring. I found the final piece of the collection (the one on Gunter Grass) the most difficult to read (perhaps because I haven't read any of his work but the piece has not inspired me). All in all if you love John Irving, you will find this book an excellent companion.
not Irving's best, but.........2003-11-19
Although certainly not Irving's best work, PIGGY SNEED is definitely a great vacation book to bring with you. The stories are faily quick to go through, and if you stop in the middle of one of them, it is pretty easy to pcik it back up again. Some of the stories are rather interesting, while others are a throwback to his days as a wrestler/wrestling coach, which doesn't particularly interest me, but might interest another reader.
John Irving's Garage Sale.......2003-07-06
Take "Trying to Save Piggy Sneed" for what it is, a mismatched collection of "memoirs", short stories, and "homages" to Charles Dickens and Gunter Grass. Unless you like to read about wrestling, the memoirs provide very little true insight into Irving. Do not waste your time buying "The Imaginary Girlfriend" as that comes from this book and is mostly dedicated to Irving's lackluster wrestling career. I think I learned more about Irving in the notes after the short stories than I did by reading the memoirs.
The short stories range in quality. "Weary Kingdom" was Irving's first published work and is a long, dull story (not even the author really likes it). "Interior Space" is my favorite, but even it is not as good as some of Irving's novels.
The homages to Dickens and Grass are somewhat interesting. I decided to give "Great Expectations" a try since Irving said that's the book that really made him want to write. I doubt it will have the same effect on me.
The biggest flaw in my opinion was that the publisher put the notes AFTER the various pieces of writing. I always read those first just to get the background of the story before I read it. For example, it helped me tolerate "Weary Kingdom" when I saw that it was really Irving's first piece of published writing.
At any rate, I recommend skipping this garage sale and sticking with Irving's novels. If you read this in the hope of understanding the author better, you will be disappointed as I was.
No-Holds-Barred Irving.......2003-06-09
Inside "Trying To Save Piggy Sneed" is a chapter in John Irving's life called "My Dinner At The White House" which is, quite simply, the funniest thing he's ever written. Perceptive, ironic, and devastatingly on-target, it reveals the author at his no-holds-barred BEST.
Be warned: "Trying To Save Piggy Sneed" is a collection of essays and short stories, and there are many readers (myself included) who find the stop-and-start quality of anthologies problematic - especially when the contents are as diverse as they are here. But Irving's regular-guy sensibility brings the disparate elements together, and there's something in "Piggy Sneed" to appeal to everyone - especially those who
a) have been ill-treated by a cavalier boyfriend,
b) are familiar with gut wrenches and whizzers,
c) have fallen under the spell of central Europe,
d) admire the works of Charles Dickens and/or Gunter Grass,
e) have experienced an unnaturally close relationship with a car.
Fall into any of these categories? If so, you may want to spend some time with "Piggy Sneed."
Product Description
This collection of seven stories, six of which had never been published before, was published three years before the American edition. Stories include: "Interior Space" "Almost in Iowa" "Weary Kingdom" "Brennbar's Rant" "Other People's Dreams" "The Pension Grillparzer" "The King of the Novel" & "Trying to Save Piggy Sneed".
Average customer rating:
- 4 1/2 Stars!
- GOOD STORY TOO SLOW PACED
- Not one of her best 3 1/2 Stars
- Great charismatic tale - could this be the start of a new series?
- All you need in a book
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The Seduction of His Wife
Janet Chapman
Manufacturer: Pocket Star
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 141650527X |
Book Description
He set out to seduce her for all the wrong reasons -- but found himself falling in love with her for all the right ones.
Alex Knight is dead -- or so everyone thinks. A widowed logger baron with a risk-taking streak, he took on a South American engineering project and was reported dead after a rebel attack. So when he turns up back in Maine very much alive, his grieving family is shocked. But the biggest shock is Alex's, when he discovers he's now married -- to a woman he's never met.
Sarah Banks is ready for a change from running a quiet Bed & Breakfast, and working for the Knight family offers not only a bigger opportunity, but also the family life she yearns for. So she's glad to help secure custody of Alex's orphaned children, whom she's come to love, by marrying their father by proxy before he's legally declared dead. But when Alex returns, the sexy, determined woodsman upends all of Sarah's plans. Because suddenly she's married to a passionate stranger with an easy smile...and tumbling headlong into a fiery dance of seduction.
Customer Reviews:
4 1/2 Stars!.......2007-08-13
This was such a good read. I try to reserve my five stars and give them out sparringly.
I read this book when it came out and failed to post a review, so pardon the dust as I dig out my index cards with book notes and reviews.
Sarah was the housekeeper for the Knights. The family convinced Sarah to marry their thought to be dead son, Alex, via proxy and moved the dates around to make it "legal." It was a way to gain custody of Alex's children...
Well, Alex turns up NOT DEAD and imagine his suprise to learn he is MARRIED.
I enjoyed this story, found it to be well written and moves right along.
GOOD STORY TOO SLOW PACED.......2007-01-19
This was my first Janet Chapman book. I liked the story and characters however, referring to her other works was a bit much.
Not one of her best 3 1/2 Stars.......2007-01-19
I really thought this was a bland story, but I love this author and most of her other books are fabulous. I don't know, this one just didn't have any spark or spunk.
Great charismatic tale - could this be the start of a new series?.......2006-11-16
Logging engineer Alex Knight returns to from an assignment in the Brazilian jungle that quickly turned deadly when his group was attacked by rebel guerillas and he was reported dead. The last thing he expects to find on his doorstep is a sassy and sexy wife aiming a shot gun at him. Turns out his father made arrangements for housekeeper Sarah to marry Alex by proxy so that the family could retain custody of Alex's children from his ex-wife's family.
Soon his distrust of women thanks to a scheming ex-wife and her distrust of men thanks to a conniving gay ex-husband melt away and bring the duo closer together, as Alex realizes how good Sarah is for him and his family. He attempts to break down her defenses and convince her to remain married to him. But strange things keep happening at the Knight homestead - it looks like someone is out to sabotage the family logging business, and Sarah and Alex might get caught up in the middle of the mayhem.
Chapman has created and engaging and charismatic duo who really sizzle up the pages, while keeping the humorous banter to a maximum and the sap to a minimum. I especially like how she has her heroine a couple of her other novels (and gets the hero to join in no less!) And she has left the door open for further adventures of those fabulous Knight men.
All you need in a book.......2006-10-01
Let's count the stars this book deserves:
1 The perfect love story.
2 Both of them, Alex and Sarah are the heroes all the time without embellish or diminish the other one.
3 A well kept tight family.
4 The thrilling part is easy going and not gory at all.
5 You'll not be able to close the book till you finish it.
6 A wonderful reading.
So I easily rate this book with SIX stars.
Product Description
He will settle for nothing less than her complete surrender . . .
Product Description
the first in a new series by the fantastic janet chapman!!!unique and sizzling historical!!!
Product Description
Here in one monumental volume are all 21 of the stories, novella, and novels which make up Heinlein's famous Future History-the rich, imaginative architecture of Man's probable destiny.
Customer Reviews:
Future History In Order.......2007-03-18
This is a fantastic collection. To begin with, almost the entire contents of the two collections ("The Green Hills of Earth" and "The Man Who Sold the Moon") are here ("Let There Be Light" is not included). Next there is "Searchlight" a short vignette which Heinlein wrote as part of an advertisement for Hoffman Electronics. In addition there is "The Menace From Earth", "If This Goes On-", "Coventry", "Misfit", and the novel "Methuselah's Children. All in all, over 800 pages of stories from Heinlein's Future History.
This collection of Future History stories was published in 1967, and while the claim made on the back cover of having all the Future History works included is not true, it is a truly great collection of 21 of them. A couple of the missing ones include the aforementioned "Let There Be Light", and "Farmer in the Sky", and there may be some other ones which I have forgotten. The stories were all written between 1939 and 1962, with the majority of the work coming from the 40s. Here is a list of the included material, along with some of the recognition it has received:
* "Life-Line" - Short Story - August, 1939 - Tied for 14th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for Short Fiction written before 1940.
* "The Roads Must Roll" - Novelette - June, 1940 - Tied for 28th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction.
* "Blowups Happen" - Novella - September, 1940.
* "The Man Who Sold the Moon" - Novella - 1950 - Tied for 35th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction. 5th on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Novella's. Won the Retro Hugo in 2001 for Best Novella for the year 1950.
* "Delilah and the Space-Rigger" - Short Story - December, 1949.
* "Space Jockey" - Short Story - April 26, 1947.
* "Requiem" - Short Story - January 1940 - Tied for 17th on the Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories in 1999. Nominated for the Prometheus Hall of Fame in 2002. Won the Prometheus Hall Of Fame award in 2003.
* "The Long Watch" - Short Story - December, 1949 - Tied for 30th on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll of Short Fiction. Tied for 33rd on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories.
* "Gentlemen, Be Seated!" - Short Story - May, 1948.
* "The Black Pits of Luna" - Short Story - January 10, 1948.
* "It's Great to Be Back!" - Short Story - July 26, 1947.
* "-We Also Walk Dogs" - Short Story - July, 1941.
* "Searchlight" - Vignette - August, 1962.
* "Ordeal in Space" - Short Story - May, 1948.
* "The Green Hills of Earth" - Short Story - February 8, 1947 - Tied for 2nd on the 1971 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for Short Fiction. 10th on the 1999 Locus All-Time Poll for Short Stories.
* "Logic of Empire" - Novella - March, 1941.
* "The Menace from Earth" - Novelette - August, 1957.
* "If This Goes On -" - Novella - 1940.
* "Coventry" - Novella - July 1940.
* "Misfit" - Novelette - November 1939.
* Methuselah's Children - Novel - 1941 - 26th on the 1966 Astounding/Analog All-Time Poll for books. Won the Prometheus Hall of Fame award in 1997.
The stories are presented in Future History chronological order. The first story "Life-Line", takes place in 1951, and Methuselah's Children leaves us approaching the 23rd century. This is an outstanding collection of stories, from what many feel is the greatest science fiction writer of all time.
The collected works.......2006-05-05
This is a collection of all the Future History stories beginning with 'Life-Line', RAH's first story written in 1939 through 'Methuselah's Children' which introduced Lazarus Long and the Howard Families which appear so prominently in his later works.
RAH's Future History, for those unfamiliar with the series, describes an alternative history of earth, particularly America. The stories begin during the 1930's and feature a society very much like the history with which we are all familiar. As the stories progress they build on each other and increasingly depict a society very different from ours, a permanent colony in the Moon has been established in the 1970's, Mars and Venus are colonized by the early 21st century while back on earth America falls to a religious dictator.
This is an excellent place to begin reading RAH's work and is definitely a volume that belongs in the permanent collections of any Heinlein fan. Many of these stories have appeared in other collections including: THE MAN WHO SOLD THE MOON, THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH, REVOLT IN 2100 AND METHUSELAH'S CHILDREN and others.
Terrific throughout.......2006-03-29
I've been a fan of Heinlein's work for a while, so I snapped this book up as another chance to read some of his work.
Rather then a novel this is a collection of his short stories that, though on the surface may not seem to be, really are related.
Through subtle nuances that other authors leave out, he makes these stories engaging, thought provoking and thouroughly relavent for every generation. Telling the tale of a history yet to come, these stories travel the road of immortality and the way human life changes the universe.
One of his best works, though usually overlooked. A real gem for anyone that enjoys great science fiction or a fan of Heinlein's other works. Never a dull moment, you'll find it hard to put down.
Pretty Decent Work.......2004-12-28
This is a pretty good piece of work, quite possibly the definitive Heinlein collection. If there's anything wrong with it (other than perhaps the occasional irritating political philosophy) it might be that several of the unwritten stories are listed on the Future History chart, but neither the essay explaining that they're unwritten (nor, for that matter, the one omitted story, "Let There be Light") are included. Other than that, an excellent collection. One of my favorites.
A Little Disappointed.......2004-04-16
This is a collection of Heinlein's "Future History" stories, set in chronological order by story. Some of these were boring enough to make me want to cry rather than read more... others were much more interesting. The real disappointment of the book was the novella bit in it, "If This Goes On---". It had terrific buildup, a good protagonists, then fell flat on its face with a mundane and boring ending. I'm rating the book low, simply because the few gems, while shiny and good, weren't worth reading the duds for. Not recommended unless you are a die-hard Heinlein, hard sci-fi fan.
Product Description
Fables based on the Pragya puran and preachings of Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya,,
it is hoped that it will be useful in making the children as responsible citizens in the forthcoming Golden Era of human values
Product Description
fables based on the Pragya Puran and preachings of Pandit Shriram Sharma Acharya, The present publication Pragya tales is compiled for children based on his inspiring teachings. It is hoped that it will be useful in making the children as responsible citizens in the forthcoming Golden Era of human values
Book Description
"Lévi-Strauss is a French savant par excellence, a man of extraordinary sensitivity and human wisdom . . . a deliberate stylist with profound convictions and convincing arguments. . . . [The Raw and the Cooked] adds yet another chapter to the tireless quest for a scientifically accurate, esthetically viable, and philosophically relevant cultural anthropology. . . . [It is] indispensable reading."—Natural History
Customer Reviews:
Genius, but no model.......2003-10-31
Claude Lévi-Strauss's Mythologiques, of which this is volume 1, are brutally difficult to work through, endlessly fascinating once you get the hang of them, and ultimately not something one ought to imitate or emulate. But until you have read The Raw and the Cooked, at the least, you are not really entitled to speak about the study of myth, and certainly not about structural anthropology (or its weaknesses).
The whole book-the whole four volumes, actually-is structured according to a complex musical metaphor, and the Overture to The Raw and the Cooked explicates this metaphor in detail. You'll need to know something about serialism (i.e. Schoenberg) to understand it, but once you do you'll really begin to see what Lévi-Strauss is up to. He thinks that myth is not like poetry, and is more like music than ordinary language. I think his comparison is misguided, based on a misunderstanding of serialism, but it's essential to understand why he correlates myth and music to understand the project.
In the main part of the book, he goes on to select a "key myth," a somewhat arbitrarily-chosen tale from the Bororo, a people he has studied fairly intensively (and did some fieldwork among). He then begins a massive project of connecting this myth to other myths from South America, breaking down and analyzing all the little bits and pieces as he goes. The logic can be hard to follow at times; his little diagrams don't help much, and in fact he seems to see this and ditches them in later volumes. But if you lose the thread, you can lose track of the whole book.
Ultimately, he's going to link up a thousand-odd myths from both Americas, demonstrating how each transforms and adds to other themes, until we get a vast complex of American mythical thought laid out in a mesmerizing sort of crystalline web of relations.
In short, Lévi-Strauss thinks that myths are a way of thinking, using concrete objects, about such problems as self and other, social relations, kinship, cooking, culture and nature, and so forth. He argues that each myth demonstrates a particular thinking-through of such problems by what amounts to cultures as intellectual entities. This may seem hard to believe, but if you've read The Savage Mind, this is the bricoleur at work.
The big problem, as various people have noted, is that his readings are necessarily somewhat subjective; he could be breaking the myths down incorrectly, splitting up whole units or lumping discrete pieces. What we really see is Lévi-Strauss giving it a shot, not a conclusion. Indeed, he calls this a "prolegomenon to a science of mythology," which hits the nail on the head.
I doubt very much whether anyone ought to continue the work, correcting the readings on the basis of further fieldwork or computerized analysis, as he seems to want. Once you've read through this series, you really have to wonder whether it's worth going further, or whether there aren't more interesting questions to ask about mythology. But his point really does stand: myth cannot be taken as a bunch of moral tales and ritual foundations; it must be recognized as thought enacted, or action thought-through.
The big question he doesn't address is history; as in The Savage Mind, he wants to exclude the historical from analysis. Thus the next big step would be someone like Sahlins, who tries to build an appreciation of the historical into structural analysis. Nevertheless, these books really do deserve serious study. If you want to see what mythology really is about "in the raw," as it were, you need to read this. As far as I'm concerned, those who haven't read The Raw and the Cooked have no business saying that structuralism is dead, or that it's unhelpful; they don't know what they're talking about.
Lévi-Strauss is a genius, and if he goes in directions that maybe now seem a bit dated, let's remember when he wrote all this stuff (i.e. the 60s). But only the intellectually lazy can afford to pass over this essential moment in the study of myth and religion; we have to work through, not skip over.
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