Average customer rating:
- Wry, Tongue-in-Cheek Tale That Can Reach Many Women
- Stays in the mind for a long long time
- well written but wearisome
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The Shadow Knows (William Abrahams Book)
Diane Johnson
Manufacturer: Plume
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Health and Happiness
ASIN: 0452277361 |
Book Description
The anonymous heroine, N, is a young woman who has broken free of a constricting marriage and is struggling to raise four children alone in a housing project. Coming home one day N finds her door hacked with an ax and smeared with what appears to be a mixture of blood and crankcase oil. A few days later a strangled cat is left outside her apartment door. Everyday, she is plagued by mysterious, disturbing phone calls. Playing detective and attempting to figure out who her enemy may be, N's real fears merge with paranoid fantasy in this fascinating story which rivals the best of Henry James's dark, psychological gothic tales.
• Johnson's most recent novel, Le Divorce, was a phenomenal success.
• Long out-of-print, this classic Diane Johnson novel is now available for all the readers of Le Divorce left hungry for more.
• The Shadow Knows received outstanding reviews.
Customer Reviews:
Wry, Tongue-in-Cheek Tale That Can Reach Many Women.......2002-09-12
This is one of the best books I've ever read. It has a tete-a-tete, intimate style (characteristic of many novels written by women from the '60s to the present). You feel as though you are talking to your best friend, who is telling in an informal way a fascinating story whose events are very bizarre and--and this is what makes this book brilliant--very familiar.
The protagonist speaks in the first person. It is the voice of a middle-class American housewife of the '60s. She is thoughtful and sensitive; she is perceptive; she is mild mannered--even a little self-effacing. She is a devoted and nurturing mother of several kids. She has a warm, gentle, bemused jenny-wren-like quality, not unlike many women we have known and loved.
She is recently divorced from her husband because they were emotionally incompatible.
Here's where the story starts to veer slightly to the left of center. The protagonist, although apparently middle class, is living in a public housing development, because divorce has left her in financial straits with several children to raise. And the character seems to become more anomalous when she starts getting death threats. She gets threatening telephone calls, finds dead animals placed on her car windshield, and threatening amulets in her mailbox. This gentle, mild-mannered, self-effacing, healthy, normal, and conscientious woman is being threatened with death.
For the rest of the novel, our heroine casts about in her thoughts, memories, and fantasies, with greater and greater intensity, to think of who might want to kill her.
And as she ponders this mystery, she puts together a longer and longer list of people who might like to kill her.
At this point, we begin to see the black humor peeping out of the structure of this novel, somewhat akin to ARSENIC AND OLD LACE. Femininity, daintiness, nurturance poised against death and violence.
And this is where the novel finally becomes most radical, most improbable, most bizarre. A wry, subtle humor becomes more and more apparent, as we realize that no matter how truly sweet, how mild mannered, how gentle, how nurturing this prototypical woman is, she still has a very long list of people who would like to kill her.
Diane Johnson makes us want to know who the culprit is, and at the same time she has us laughing and nodding in recognition--that women in general have many virulent enemies--even a woman of valor and sweetness; that the most stable, sane, and healthy people have bizarre currents running underneath their lives and threatening to engulf them.
And that, along with the author's brilliant writing style, is what endeared this book to me.
Stays in the mind for a long long time.......1999-05-15
I read this book when it was first published, a long time ago. I loved it then. It was funny and scary and elegantly written. I'm buying it in this incarnation because I want to reread it. I'm so glad it's available.
well written but wearisome.......1998-07-05
Diane Johnson writes with great sensitivity and skill about a divorced woman with four children, a lover, and ANGST. Her protagonist's interior monologues describe the paranoia engendered by the dislocations and unpredictability of modern life. About halfway through the novel, I found the themes too repetitious and I stopped caring. My ennui ultimately marred my appreciation for this well-written novel.
Product Description
'WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN...?'
1986 - 1992
Highlights: Three(3) DC Series Are Represented !
The Shadow (1986) 1-4
The Shadow (1987) 1-19, Annual 1-2
The Shadow Strikes! (1989) 1-31, Annual 1
A great overview, an instant collection of 25 different issues taken from the three(3) series.
Average customer rating:
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The Shadow Knows
Manufacturer: Alfred A. Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000FDW02I |
Product Description
Her fifth book and fourth novel.
Average customer rating:
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The Shadow Knows
Diana Cohen
Manufacturer: Scott, Foresman & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LZUAS6 |
Average customer rating:
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Shadow Knows
David Madden
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0807109290 |
Average customer rating:
- Not good.
- Good Book, but Better Series
- Nothing short of exceptional...
- excellent
- AMW
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Midnight's Mask (Forgotten Realms: The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Book 3)
Paul S. Kemp
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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ASIN: 0786936436
Release Date: 2005-10-27 |
Book Description
This is the final title in a new trilogy featuring the most popular character from the Sembia series.
The author of Resurrection concludes the tale of the
Forgotten Realms most enigmatic hero, Erevis Cale. Drawn deeper and deeper into the service of Mask, Cale may find himself so lost in the shadows that he can never return.
Customer Reviews:
Not good. .......2007-05-22
I did not like this book. It was too much like "Resurrection". At the end the bad guy's motive to destroy the world is "just because". The only worse ending to a series was "Resurrection". Yet if you like dark books without any humor, very serious, and a good guy who is bad then this is the book for you.
Good Book, but Better Series.......2007-04-05
Midnight's Mask (Forgotten Realms: The Erevis Cale Trilogy, Book 3)
SERIES: A
BOOK OVER ALL: B
Story: B, Prose: A-, Dialogue: B+, Romance: C, Action: A-, Plot: C+.
This is a very good series, yet this is my lest favorite of the three books, but still worth reading. Paul S. Kemp, is one of the best fantasy writers today, certainly one of the few really good ones writing Forgotten Realms books.
PROS:
Great Characters, well developed, with interesting interplay, and good dialogue.
Vivid prose, vivid portrait of the world, vivid action!
CONS:
The evil protagonist Vhostym, is too weird and way too powerful / God like, makes the story difficult to `get in to' for me, and very unbalanced!
The setting is just to dark and dull.
Why is Erevis Cale a Cleric of Mask, he hates Mask, they don't share a philosophy, this makes little sense to me. Why dose Mask give Cale magic and promote him in his church?
Nothing short of exceptional..........2007-01-10
I've been a fan of the fantasy/D&D genre since the original boxed set of Dungoens and Dragons WAY back in the 70's, and have been a fan of the FR books since R.A. Salvatore came on the scene with The Crystal Shard. R.A. Salavatore breathed life into the Realms, but few authors have been able to give it a pulse (Ed Greenwood and very few others excepted).
Then along came Paul Kemp. I was first introduced to his exceptional writing ability in the 'War of the Spider Queen' series. After dragging myself through a couple horribly written Realms novels (if you see 'Master Of Chains' lurking on store shelves, run away screaming!), I recognized Paul's moniker on the Erivas Cale trilogy and decided to give it a try. FINALLY! This series has reinvigorated my imagination, and I find I'm eagerly awaiting more titles with Paul's name on the cover. The realms now have two master storytellers... Mr. Salvatore and Mr. Kemp. They set the bar high for any others wishing to tap into the genre. Thank you, Paul Kemp, for keeping the Realms alive.
excellent.......2006-12-13
Paul S Kemp is great. he knows how to make you really care about all the characters. excellent book. excellent series.
AMW.......2006-08-10
I do not like to criticize authors, but in this case I feel it's necessary. I obviously disagree with the other reviews on this series of books. The series was-to put it lightly-CHEESY! I like Salvatore-love Gemmell-and no disrespect to the author of this book along with one and two, but the characters were entirely laim. If you intend to buy this, get Salvatore's Silent Blade first.
Customer Reviews:
It was OK.......2007-02-12
It took me quite some time to finish this book. I normally get through one in a couple days but not this one. Charles Boynton has loved Marguerite all of his life. Because of his unrequited love he has turned to writing poetry with a pseudonym of B. C. Rose. He poses as the Midnight Bandit to attract his love by writing love poems to her. Her husband has died and she is labeled the Poison Widow incorrectly. It is quite a tale with the two of them keeping secrets from each other but love finally prevails. There are some dangerous twists and turns throughout the book to keep it interesting though. It was a good enough book but not one to keep me up late reading. I will be reading A Lover's Kiss next as it is the next one in the trilogy. The Midnight Bandit appears in this next book.
A charming tale of a passionate lover and his prey........2000-12-20
Charles Boynton has loved Marguerite Lennox for years, and she has not given him a bit of encouragement. His unrequited passion has driven him to write poetry that has been received avidly by the ladies of the community. Marguerite has endured a repressive, loveless marriage for several years, and even her husband's death does not free her. People suspect that she did away with her husband herself, thus gaining her the nickname of the Poison Widow. The local women are titillated by the Midnight Bandit, a man who recites poetry as he steals. To win Marguerite over, Charles writes to her as the Midnight Bandit. But her dark past is connected with Montagu Renny who is blackmailing her. She feels that she must hide her dark past at all costs.
Book Description
The original four short stories introducing the controlled anarchy of planet New Hong Kong and hero Buck Godot, the futuristic gun-for-hire who is "always available, but never free..."
Customer Reviews:
Painfully funny. I laughed till it hurt........1998-11-24
If you ever saw Star Wars and thought "Han Solo would be much cooler if he were 300+ lbs." This book is for you. If you ever harbored a desire to shoot up an intergalactic saloon & get paid for it... This book is for you. If you've ever considered resigning from your current job and becoming a disciple of the SlagBlah priests... This book is Definitely for you. Phil Foglio was also co-author of 'Illegal Aliens' and is the illustrator of a whole bunch of those 'Magic the Gathering' cards with his wife Kaja. If you can get it, this graphic novel is well worth it.
Very Funny........1998-03-09
Absolutely the funniest author on the planet. No kidding. No, I'm not related to him and I dont work for him. This series involves a large private detective on a planet with no laws. The comic art is first rate (the pictures are funny even without the text) and the dialog is priceless. Foglio also did a graphic novel of the first MythAdventures book which is a real hoot, and is the author/illustrator of XXXenophile, the sweetest natured absolutly filthy comic book you ever saw. The comic book versions of these are available here and there, but they really deserve to be in print. Whom do we petition?
Funny Space Adventure.......1997-12-12
This hard to find graphic novel is worth the read. The one liners used by the characters are repeated by my friends and I to this day, years later. VERY funny book!
Average customer rating:
- Beware -- recycled short stories
- Lighter on the brain than most PKD books
- Very funny, often prescient, look at a different sort of "arms race"
- When Marketing Runs the Military
- A weak spot in the PKD library
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The Zap Gun
Philip K. Dick
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The World Jones Made
ASIN: 0375719369
Release Date: 2002-11-12 |
Book Description
Scaldingly sarcastic yet enduringly empathetic,
The Zap Gun is Dick’s remarkable novel depicting the insanity of the arms race. Lars Powderdry and Lilo Topchev are counterpart weapons fashion designers for a world divided into two factions–Wes-bloc and Peep-East. Since the Plowshare Protocols of 2002, their job has been to invent elaborate weapons that only seem massively lethal. But when alien satellites hostile to both sides appear in the sky, the two are brought together in the dire hope that they can create a weapon to save the world, a task made all the more difficult by Lars falling in love with Lilo even as he knows she’s trying to kill him.
Customer Reviews:
Beware -- recycled short stories.......2007-08-15
Much as I love PKD, I have to penalize him on this one for brazenly ripping himself off. While reading this, I recognized elements from (at least) two of his short stories I've read previously. One of them is "War Veteran," and the title of the other (about a toy that teaches empathy) escapes me for the moment; tellingly, I did a quick Google in preperation for this review to try to find it, and while unsuccessfull, I did see a reference to another story of his called "Project Plowshare" which I'm willing to bet is related to Zap Gun, too.
Even if you are not familiar with his vast corpus of works -- and thus are less likely to be bothered by recycled ideas -- I'd recommend skipping this one. The few interesting concepts that come up, such as 'why a pulp comic book writer is telepathically picking up classified blueprints' are hinted at but never explored. Even if I weren't put off by the short-story rehashes, I'd have been frustrated by the unexplored avenues that often were more interesting that the "real" plot.
This book is for PKD completionists only, who cold probably make a game out of recognizing the earlier ideas.
Lighter on the brain than most PKD books.......2007-01-14
I am generally a PKD fan. Most of his books have so many sub texts and paranoia that it takes a little neurosis to understand. This is one his few books where this is a little less intense. The plot and character interactions are straight forward. Themes are reitierated in a concise language. And the book has an unusual optimistic feel in the ending. Which, it being a PKD book, freaked me out.
Very funny, often prescient, look at a different sort of "arms race".......2006-11-21
One of the happy results of Philip K. Dick's posthumous, Hollywood-fed, popularity is that his work is very widely available. The Zap Gun is surely one of his less well-known novels, but here we see it in a brand new large-sized paperback edition. It's not one of his masterworks, but it is a fine, enjoyable, very funny, novel.
Dick's novels very often have a comic aspect, but this is one of the funniest. Curiously enough, it is set at almost the present time -- our present, that is: 2005. The US and allies (Wes-Bloc) and the Soviet Union and allies (Peep-East) have secretly come to an agreement: instead of continuing the ruinous arms race, they will pretend to be constantly developing new weapons, which are then "plowshared": turned into goofy consumer products. The weapon designers are psychics, who dream up their new designs in trance states. The Wes-Bloc designer, Lars Powderdry, or Mr. Lars of Mr. Lars Incorporated (the conceit being that weapons are basically fashion), is the main viewpoint character. He is tortured by the knowledge that he is essentially a fraud -- his designs are useless. He is also obsessed with his opposite number in Peep-East: Lilo Topchev, of whom he knows nothing. This despite his very sexy mistress, Maren Faine, head of the Paris branch of Mr. Lars, Incorporated.
Dick mines this central idea for some comic play, then introduces a slightish plot. Aliens from Sirius invade Earth, looking for slaves. Earth has a problem -- for decades nobody has developed new weapons. In desperation, the two blocs decide to have Lars and Lilo collaborate -- which satisfies Lars's desire to meet Lilo. But Lilo, instead of cooperating, immediately tries to kill Lars. And even when they work together, their designs, though unusual, seem hardly useful. There is a fairly pointless, though also funny, subplot about a paranoid conspiracy theorist and White Supremacist who is elected as an "average man" to the governing body of Wes-Bloc. The eventual solution involves a wild mix of time travel, androids, drugs, toys, and comic books. All of this hardly matters -- Dick was under less control of his plot than usual here -- I think his main concern was to be funny.
Lars is a fairly sympathetic main character. Dick's extrapolations of the future often seem quite prescient -- indeed, the book has hardly dated at all. And he succeeds in being funny, and very entertaining. The Zap Gun isn't a great work, but it is well worth reading.
When Marketing Runs the Military.......2005-12-22
I liked the concept of mass marketing taking over everything, even the military and the problem of what would happen if real weapons were needed but the story didn't move at the compelling pace that Ubik did.
A weak spot in the PKD library.......2004-11-13
Fascinating premise (as usual) but characterizations were subpar.
Customer Reviews:
Zap back to childhood.......2001-08-13
I love books about the backwaters of American popular culture so I was pleased to get a copy of Leslie Singer's affectionate look at ray guns of the past. The hundred color photos in this nicely presented book will provoke plenty of nostalgia for those who grew up with Buck Rogers. Mr Singer's favorite is the Atomic Disintergrator (page 18) but my favorite is the space car (page 48) streamline curves straight out of the New York World's Fair in 1939, though it was made by Wannatoys in the fifties. Not a gun but it looks so good Singer included it anyway!
If you are really into the subject have a look at: Ray Gun by Eugene Metcalf and Frank Maresca, plenty of excellent color photos, including a quite stunning gun (page 101) from sixties England, the Space Outlaw Gun. There is also a selection of film posters and boxes the guns came in. Both books have a useful bibliography and 'Ray Gun' even lists web sites.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover
Average customer rating:
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Buck Godot: Zap Gun for Hire (single issues)
Phil Foglio
Manufacturer: Palliard Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Comic
General
| Comic Strips
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ASIN: B000MPP60M |
Product Description
Long running comic by Phil Foglio has appeared in many forms and currently appears as a popular web comic. This is the 8 issue comic book series that was published in the 90's.
Average customer rating:
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Zap Gun
Philip K Dick
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTHU9G |
Average customer rating:
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Zap Gun
Philip K. Dick
Manufacturer: Pyramid Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBMPMS |
Average customer rating:
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The Zap Gun
Philip K. Dick
Manufacturer: Dell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000JVVQTO |
Average customer rating:
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The Zap Gun
Manufacturer: Pyramid Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GS9MQO |
Average customer rating:
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Zap Gun
Philip K. Dick
Manufacturer: Panther
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000J2Q4UO |
Books:
- The Stranger at the Palazzo d'Oro and Other Stories
- The Transformation of the Avant-Garde: The New York Art World, 1940-1985
- The Turtle Warrior: A Novel
- The Woman of Rome: A Novel (Italia)
- There's No Room for You, Maddie Morrison
- Trademarks of '20s & '30s
- Voice Through A Cloud
- Walking Towards Walden: A Pilgrimage in Search of Place
- War Nurse {A True Story of a Woman Who Lived, Loved and Suffered on the Western Front}
- We Don't Live Here Anymore: Three Novellas
Books Index
Books Home
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![THE ZAP GUN : Alien satellites circle the Earth-and mans only hope is a mad cartoonist! [ 1st ]](http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/21SBD1i67vL.jpg)
