Book Description
In nine poignant stories spiked with humor and intelligence, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni captures lives at crossroad moments–caught between past and present, home and abroad, tradition and fresh experience.
A widow in California, recently arrived from India, struggles to adapt to a world in which neighbors are strangers and her domestic skills are deemed superfluous in the award-winning “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter.” In “The Intelligence of Wild Things,” a woman from Sacramento visits her brother in Vermont to inform him that back in Calcutta their mother is dying. And in the title story, a painter looks to ancient myth and the example of her grandmother for help in navigating her first real crisis of faith.
Knowing, compassionate and expertly rendered, the stories in
The Unknown Errors of Our Lives depict the eternal struggle to find a balance between the pull of home and the allure of change.
Download Description
From the bestselling author of The Mistress of Spices and Sister of My Heart comes a collection of moving stories about family, culture, and the seduction of memory.
Customer Reviews:
A book about and therefore for women........2006-04-25
If you do have a hunger to learn about other cultures this book presents some aspects of the Indian culture. I am not Indian, but I am curious.
In an egoistical fashion I declare I find myself in these short stories. In a more general fashion I believe many women will find themselves in these stories. Newcomers to the US, mothers in law, daughters in law, some especially the ooh so much in a rush mothers, and perhaps even a few young women in love. For all the others I would like to suggest to read these stories so as to better understand your relatives, your neighbors and why not yourselves.
I think this is a book that speaks to women, about women. I am glad such a book has been printed, finally.
Brilliant.......2005-12-11
Brilliant book! such moving stories with an artistry of language that makes me feel Ms Banerjee is a poet trapped in a novelist's body. Comparison's to Jhumpa Lahiri are inevitable and that should serve as a good judge of the depth of this book. In my humble opinion, her writing is BETTER than Ms. Lahiri... the same deftness and poetic nuances without the pretentiousness.
Bravo!
A Serious Error Not To Read These Wonderful Stories.......2005-07-20
I found this excellent compilation of short stories in a bargain bin. I had no expectations, other than the quotations on the cover, since I had never heard of this author. My wife indicated that she had enjoyed her novel "Sister of My Heart," but warned me that I might be put off because Ms. Divakaruni is considered a "chick" writer. While each of these stories is written from the perspective of an Indian woman who must confront an unsettling and disturbing Western culture, I did not feel as if the author shortchanged the male characters. Rather, I concluded that all of the characters were fully realized and artfully drawn, and the stories themselves were first rate and equal to Lahiri's "Interpreter of Maladies." They deal with themes of assimilation and familial relationships, and they are rescued from the mundane by the author's compassion, humor and marvellous insights. Highly recommended.
Insightful and Painful.......2003-07-19
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an excellent author and her works captivate and cause one to reflect. In particular, this body of work illuminates painful consequences to sometimes innocent choices...or lack of any choice. This should appeal to any reflective person.
Tries hard but doesn't quite make it.......2003-05-27
While I like Divakaruni's accessible style and simple narration, this book's content leaves a lot to be desired. Divakaruni is good at exposing the, all-too-easy to talk about, conflicts of Indo-American values and does so with a mostly honest voice; however she fails to illuminate, evoke empathy or redeem...
The pulls of Indian tradition are familiar, at least to an Indian audience, so there is nothing new there but if one hopes that the heroines (mostly) will find SOME settlement or form of redemption or even ATTEMPT to find new directions then you're sure to be sorely disappointed. There is no new ground here.
In fact far from finding their own unique answers or even making an attempt at them or, much less so, making peace or even some kind of a compromise with their lives her characters are left as they began, quite bereft of inspiration, hope or imagination - and unforgivably boring!
Many of the stories are shockingly inane in that some of the conflicts are just plain banal and you can't help but wonder why you should care about these people at all esp. if they cannot even face basic irrationalisms of their lives (one example - the young woman who reaches out to but ultimately fails the older woman being accused of being a bearer of bad luck).
The other big problem is that there is not sufficient depth in the stories nor enough complexity in the characters (development) to help one understand the forces behind the protagonists' paralysis.
Overall, most of the stories in this book are unfortunately such that they leave the readers with more ennui than empathy and much less understanding.
Customer Reviews:
Unfortunately Unbelivable........2006-05-23
This is the fourth book in the Elliotts series and the storyline is not as good as the others. This is the story of Cullen Elliott who lives in NY and who for the past 4 years has kept a mistress, Misty a former Vegas showgirl and five years his senior, in Vegas. After 4 years of supporting her financially, seeing her whenever he was in Vegas, while sleeping with other women inbetween trips, Misty discovers she's pregnant. Now Misty decides she must break off the relationship b/c she feels she's not good enough for Cullen. When Cullen finds out about the pregnancy he wants to do the right thing and marry her. Misty declines b/c he's only doing it out of a sense of duty. She decides that he can still see her and the baby but it would ruin him in the eyes of his very wealthy scandal conscious family and the media if he were to marry her. She feels being an ex lowly Vegas showgirl she's nowhere near in the Elliott's family league. At this point the author is trying to convince you that Misty's doing all of this b/c she's really been in love with Cullen all this time and that's why she's been a kept woman and why she's refusing to marry him now.
I found Misty's character to be unbelivable, unlikeable, selfish and for a 31 year old woman, the senior of the two, juvenile. It seems she'd rather Cullen's family and the press learn that Cullen is having a bastard child with his mistress, a Vegas showgirl, and he isn't going to marry her. Yeah! Such a better scenerio for both Cullen and the unborn child. She'd rather do that than marry a man that swears to take care of both her and his child and by the way a man she purports to love.
Cullen of course doesn't feel that Misty's inferior in anyway and wants to marry her regardless of how his family feels about it. He wants to be a part of his childs life. He just needs to convince Misty she should marry him. During the course of this convincing he seems to have convinced himself that he's really in love with her and has been for some time. Frankly, I think it was b/c Misty was so adament that she wouldn't marry Cullen that he wanted to marry her to begin with.
I didn't like Cullen's character very much either. I thought he was a nice guy and wanted to do the responsible thing. But I felt he didn't really know what he wanted. After 4 years of having exclusive access to Misty, while sleeping with any other woman that catches his fancy, he decides he's now so much in love with Misty. Based on this storyline I found his revelation unconvincing. There was really nothing in the story to negate that the only reason these two people were getting married was b/c of the baby. While I can commend them for wanting to raise their child within marriage, they should at least be honest about the reasons for the marriage. It seems the story was all about convincing themselves and the reader that they were really really in love all this time. If you the reader can believe that, then you will probably enjoy the book more than I did.
Heidi Betts is on my auto buy list!.......2006-05-14
Misty Vale has loved Cullen Elliot for years. An ex-Vegas showgirl, she's been his secret mistress living in Las Vegas while he's lived in New York. A few years older than Cullen, she's always known that she has more invested in their relationship than him, but this hasn't stopped her from living for the moments that she spends his arms. But surprise pregnancy changes everything. Cullen is convinced that they should get married, however Misty knows that she's not the type of woman his high society family would accept, bringing into account the fact that Cullen doesn't love her, and she decides that marriage is definitely out of the question. As the years have gone by and he's spent more time with Misty, Cullen has found his feelings for her deepening. He's not sure what it is, but he knows that he's not ready to let her go, especially now that she's expecting his child. Can they make a marriage together work?
I've never read a Heidi Betts book that I didn't like, and Mr.& Mistress is no exception. I found it a little troubling that Cullen had relationships with other women during the early part of his relationship with Misty. And this knowledge detracted from the romance of the story for me. However I loved the fact that Misty was little older than Cullen and the passion between them smoldered from page one. While the pregnancy storyline is one that is used often, Heidi Betts, writes it so well, that I found myself unable to stop turning pages. Readers who enjoy Silhouette books will want to add Heidi Betts to their auto-buy lists, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see her soon with longer length novels in the very near future!
Melissa
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
Book Description
From shrews to blue whales, placental mammals are among the most diverse and successful vertebrates on the Earth. Arising sometime near the Late Cretaceous, this broad clade of mammals contains more than 1,000 genera and approximately 4,400 extant species. Although much studied, the origin and diversification of the placentals continue to be a source of debate.
Paleontologists Kenneth D. Rose and J. David Archibald have assembled the world's leading authorities to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date evolutionary history of placental mammals. Focusing on anatomical evidence, the contributors present an unbiased scientific account of the initial radiation and ordinal relationships of placental mammals, representing both the consensus and significant minority viewpoints. This book will be invaluable to paleontologists, evolutionary biologists, mammalogists, and students.
Contributors: J. David Archibald, San Diego State University; Robert J. Asher, Institut für Systematische Zoologie; Jonathan I. Bloch, University of Michigan; Douglas M. Boyer, University of Michigan; Daryl P. Domning, Howard University; Eduardo Eizirik, National Cancer Institute; Robert J. Emry, Smithsonian Institution; Jörg Erfurt, Martin-Luther-University; John J. Flynn, The Field Museum; Timothy J. Gaudin, University of Tennessee; Emmanuel Gheerbrant, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Philip D. Gingerich, The University of Michigan; Patricia A. Holroyd, University of California, Berkeley; J. J. Hooker, The Natural History Museum; Léo F. Laporte, University of California, Santa Cruz; Jin Meng, American Museum of Natural History;William J. Murphy, National Cancer Institute; Jason C. Mussell, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Michael J. Novacek, American Museum of Natural History; Stephen J. O'Brien, National Cancer Institute; Kenneth D. Rose, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Guillermo W. Rougier, University of Louisville; Eric J. Sargis, Yale University; Mary T. Silcox, University of Winnipeg; Nancy B. Simmons, American Museum of Natural History; Mark S. Springer, University of California, Riverside; Gerhard Storch, Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg; Pascal Tassy, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle; Jessica M. Theodor, Illinois State Museum; Gina D. Wesley, The University of Chicago; John R. Wible, Carnegie Museum of Natural History; André Wyss, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Customer Reviews:
An integrative view of Placental Mammals origin and evolution.......2005-08-19
This new book offers a whole scope of the evolution of each main group of placental mammals, undiscovers the phylogenetic position of several previously unclassified taxa and integrates, as soon as possible, both molecular and paleontological perspectives of mammal classification. The chapters on bats, rodents and whales summarize the state of the art knowledge of scientifical research in mammalogy dealing with these critical issues. Perhaps, it would have been very interesting the addition of Meridiungulata, the main South American taxon, which is not mentioned in tthis revision. However, all other main taxa are examined thorougly and a wealth of genetic and morphological information is clearly exposed. A superb addition to all scientific libraries.
Average customer rating:
- Bioengineered future
- Don't put your nose up at this debut effort!!
- Where was the editor?
- Addictive as hell!
- Honestly don't understand why people like this book.
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Clade
Mark Budz
Manufacturer: Spectra
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Crache
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Idolon
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Glasshouse
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Old Man's War
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The Ghost Brigades
ASIN: 0553586580
Release Date: 2003-12-02 |
Book Description
IT’S A POST-ECOCAUST WORLD.
WELCOME TO IT.
In the San Jose of tomorrow, all of nature is gengineered—from the warm-blooded plants to the designer people. But even in a rigidly controlled biosystem, with its pheromone-induced social order, the American dream is still the American dream. Caught between these new-old worlds, Rigo is on his way up—he’s going to be part of tomorrow, even if it means he has to leave today behind.
Written off as a sellout on the streets of his old ’hood, Rigo’s got his own ap in an aplex, a 9-to-5er, and a girl. He’s got opportunity. If he works hard, his job with a heavyweight
politicorp could give him a chance to move up in the clades. But when he’s chosen as part of a team to construct a new colony on a nearby comet, Rigo smells a setup. And when disaster strikes, he learns that if there’s a way to bend the rules, there’s also a way to break them…
Customer Reviews:
Bioengineered future.......2007-02-02
Extremely cool ideas, but a tepid plot. Well written -- wanted to like it a lot more than I actually did. Still, worth reading. My understanding is that this is a first novel; if so, it's a standout effort. I'll be keeping my eye on this obviously talented writer.
Don't put your nose up at this debut effort!!.......2007-01-16
"Clade" is an excellent first novel from Santa Cruz resident Mark Budz. The novel, set in a near-future world recovering from an ecological disaster, gives a refreshing and original outlook on the future of bioscience. In this future, you are assigned a certain biochemical signature which basically forces you to remain in your specially designated part of the world or suffer from an intense allergic reaction. Neat idea, right? The plot centers on a young man trying to move up in the world, who hopes through hard work and some luck he can get out of the ghetto clade (San Jose of all places!) into which he was born and achieve the middle class American Dream! Now, this wouldn't be a very interesting novel if all the kid did was work hard and remember his boss' birthday, so you have to read the rest of book to find out what happens. I really enjoyed it. The future society was very believable and very frightening in many ways. The main character was also very believable and very likable. You want to see this kid have a happy ending, despite all the problems he encounters. Now, having been to San Jose many times, I can totally understand why the author chose this city for his setting, but many residents may not approve of how the city is portrayed! Other then that, a great debut effort and I enjoyed it more then the author's third novel, "Idolon", which was also very original, but lost me at the end.
Where was the editor?.......2006-06-15
The author of this book seems well intentioned, but just was not up to the task. He seems to know quite a bit of Latino slang, but that is not enough to save the book.
The plot is incoherent, the dialogue clunky, and the sex scene laughable. However, I really blame the editor for the mess. He or she seems to have run out of steam after about 100 pages and left the author to founder on his own. I doubt that even he has any idea what is supposed to be happening, and he is completely incapable of explaining it to the reader.
The last straw for me was when he used "penultimate" to mean "ultimate". Buy a dictionary, dude!
Addictive as hell!.......2005-07-17
If you're simply passionately into SF you will love this book. I can't speak for people who write irrelevant reviews (uhm- how is 375 pages "a short book"???), but I think anyone who can appreciate a truly inventive vision of a dystopian future will love it. The world that Budz has created is so meticulously detailed and thought out that you never need to suspend your disbelief. I can't wait to read the sequel.
Honestly don't understand why people like this book........2005-02-25
Clade will take its place in the canon not so much alongside cyberpunk novels in the mold of Gibson, Stephenson, and Dick but rather with the countless offerings warning of looming catastrophe from climate change and genetic engineering. It also makes pretensions towards the problems of a police state armed with too much power over the (lack of) privacy in its citizenry. But even for this very forgiving audience it is a highly forgettable book. It is a good idea that got stood up at the altar by the plot. It is a short book that is over before it really found anything to talk about. It may live with some readers for the cool idea (and name) of "clades" as private, autonomous, and closed cultures but really there's nothing here that hasn't already been explored. The canon will completely absorb this book and--aside from pushing notions of what can be done with biological rather than mechanical agents--will do nothing to influence the genre.
WHO SHOULD READ
The hardcore Greenpeace adherent might find some merit in this book and it really appeals to any reader absorbed in the politics of anti-capitalism and climate change. However, those readers would be far, far better served by Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain. For readers interested in how future technology might change society, there might be some interest here as well but, again, they would do better to read the works of Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash and The Diamond Age. We really don't see much else in this book and we're honestly puzzled where the positive press is coming from.
WHO SHOULD PASS
Every point of plot has been done already and done better as we mentioned above. The coolness of the novel is in the idea of "pherions" and "clades" both of which can be summed up in a 2-page synopsis of the plot without the bother of buying and reading. After that, the best recommendation that the book has is that it's over quickly and that's hardly enough reason for anyone to buy. Here's hoping that those of you who invested in Crache found something better than we found here.
[...]
Book Description
Designed for the "jack of all trades" technician, this unique book covers all five major areas of industrial maintenance knowledge -general, mechanical, electrical, welding, and preventive maintenance- in one complete volume! More than 700 photos and illustrations throughout complement the information that multi-crafted technicians need to know within each of these major subject areas. This book covers everything from basic information on safety, tools, industrial print reading and electrical theory to the inner workings of machinery and equipment so technicians can understand and effectively diagnose, troubleshoot, and provide preventive maintenance on industrial machines. Coverage is comprehensive in nature and is arranged in a modular format to make finding information quick and easy, making this an excellent reference for both the novice and the experienced technician.
Customer Reviews:
Disaster.......2005-10-03
This book is all what maintenance people don't need: tones of vague explanations that should show author's broad knowledge, but are very complicated and incomplete at the same time - and no practice at alll.
Authors all the time state that broader explanations should be searched for somewhere else. But then why to introduce so many complex terms, for instance in chapter dedicated to variable frequence drives, and then not to finish a single theme in a manner anybody could use it in practice.
Talking about practice - practical tips in 750 pages book stated as handbook for maintenance people are squezeed in no more then 2 pages of very general talk.
And what about theory? In addition to what is mentioned for variable frequency drive here is an exemple how authors cover grounding: one or two sentences like "grounding is good measure for protection and you can find details in NEC" (!!!)
I could find many different examples, but the "thin line" in the book is a feeling that it was never intended to be useful to anybody but the authors that want to make many on careless buyers (like myself sometimes).
To conclude, maintenance people should totally avoid this book.
And what a price! You can find valuable maintenance books full of practical tips, experience and cleverly explained theoretical thems important in maintenance for $20 (IPT or Audel books) and look at the price of this book!
I would really like to sell my copy but it would be unfair not to warn possible buyer...
Average customer rating:
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La haute saone autrefois
Jean-Louis Clade
Manufacturer: Cabedita
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 2882953666 |
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La Relacion Hombre-Mujer en Perspectiva Cristiana (CLADE IV)
Manufacturer: Ediciones Kairos
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 987940324X |
Product Description
Two excellent presentations on the relations between men and women. These were originally presented at the CLADE IV conference in Quito, Ecuador in 2000.
Product Description
This volume includes the eleven papers and final document from the "Holistic Mission and Poverty" (Mision Integral y Pobreza) Consultation at the CLADE IV (Congreso Latinoamericano de Evangelizacion) in Quito, Ecuador in 2000. This Consultation was chaired by eminent Latin American theologian Rene Padilla. The Micah Network of Holistic Ministries grew out of this consultation.
Product Description
This volume contains the thirteen papers and the final document from the "Christian Presence in the Academic World" Consultation that took place within CLADE IV (Congreso Latinoamericano de Evangelizacion), Quito, Ecuador in 2000. This consultatino was chaired by Dr. Sidney Rooy and includes importante contributions from Jose Miguez Bonino and other Latin American professors.
Customer Reviews:
Contents:.......2004-03-30
Donald Barnhouse could see in every happening, every situation, every scene, a message of some eternal truth. This gift, given of God, is shared with the world in these nearly 500 graphic illustrations that cover some 130 commonly used subjects: Christian growth, faith and works, incarnation, marriage, promises, separation, trust, worship. There is an index in back. 379 pages.
Example: Meekness...
What is meekness? Many people have a totally wrong idea of it, but they can learn the true meaning by listening to jockey's and horse-trainers after a horse race. The horse that wins the race is "the meekest on the track." This is the horse most under control, the horse that responds most quickly to the jockey's guidance. The self-willed horse, the factious horse, is frequently left at the post; when he does get started he may run faster than some of the others, but he does not finish with the leaders who were meek. In the Word of God, meekness is presented to us as a vertical virtue, not as a horizontal one. Meekness is the way a man stands before God...even as Moses was able to stand before Pharoah...he is bolder than any man. "The meek shall inherit the earth."
Dr. Barnhouse was the pastor at the Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, PA and was the founder of The Evangelical Foundation and for many years the radio voice of the Bible Study. He was born in Watsonville, CA.
Refers to the hardback, 1967 edition.
Books:
- The Villagers: A Novel of Greenwich Village
- The Vintner's Luck: A Novel
- The Wedding Date
- Three Novels of Ancient Egypt: Khufu's Wisdom, Rhadopis of Nubia, Thebes at War (Everyman's Library)
- Under the Red Flag: Stories
- Walking Through Shadows: A Novel
- WINDOWS ON THE WORLD
- Woman Destroyed (Pantheon Modern Writers)
- A Dangerous Mourning (William Monk Novels)
- A Sin and a Shame: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
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Arranged Marriage: Stories
The Vine of Desire: A Novel
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The Mistress of Spices: A Novel
