Plays Well with Others

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Allan Gurganus achieved national fame in 1988 for his award-winning Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All. Through this long, garrulous novel, Gurganus retold and explicated almost a century of American history, life, and culture. In Plays Well with Others, Gurganus applies a similar technique to the New York gay art scene in the 1980s, just as AIDS is appearing. Narrated by Hartley Mins, a young artist who "came to New York to write," the novel is an elegiac reminiscence of a culture that, by encouraging personal and sexual freedom, instilled in its artists the ability to create in the face of mortality, love in the midst of loss, and care in a world in which hope is vanishing. Reading Plays Well with Others is a heady experience: its images and emotions spill into our imaginations and lives, forcing us to reexamine how we see the world and how we look at art.

Book Description

With great narrative inventiveness and emotional amplitude, Allan Gurganus gives us artistic Manhattan in the wild 1980s, where young artists--refugees from the middle class--hurl themselves into playful work and serious fun. Our guide is Hartley Mims Jr., a Southerner whose native knack for happiness might thwart his literary ambitions. Through his eyes we encounter the composer Robert Christian Gustafson, an Iowa preacher's son whose good looks constitute both a mythic draw and a major limitation, and Angelina "Alabama" Byrnes, a failed deb, five feet tall but bristling with outsized talent. These friends shelter each other, promote each other's work, and compete erotically. When tragedy strikes, this circle grows up fast, somehow finding, at the worst of times, the truest sort of family.

Funny and heartbreaking, as eventful as Dickens and as atmospheric as one of Fitzgerald's parties, Plays Well with Others combines a fable's high-noon energy with an elegy's evening grace. Allan Gurganus's celebrated new novel is a lovesong to imperishable friendship, a hymn to a brilliant and now-vanished world.

Customer Reviews:

Five stars for story, writing, and characters.......2005-11-27

Like several other reviewers here, I found myself thinking about this novel many times after finishing it. I never thought that Hartley was supposed to be a spellbinding character. He's telling the story, and he doesn't see himself as that kind of person. His friends are described as excessively beautiful, talented, and fascinating because that's how Hartley sees them.

Gurganus has mastered the voice of a narrator who describes a world he sees through his own unique lenses without self-absorption. Hartley never really fully realizes that his is the love his friends seek. The admiration they crave. The comfort and solid dependability they rely on. And ultimately, his is the voice that will allow them to live beyond the tragedy that cuts short their lives and their self-expression through their art.

The novel is beautifully written and took me on a journey that was by turns wonderfully funny and hauntingly sad. Well done.

AIDS as a metaphor for the 1980's.......2005-04-04

What works best about Allan Gurganus's La Boheme-like book about the AIDS crisis during the 1980's is its description of the friendship of three persons newly transplanted to New York. The narrator, Hartley Mims, a nascent writer from North Carolina, also becomes a caregiver to Robert Gustafson, originally from Iowa, who is the most beautiful man ever to grace the streets of Greenwich Village. Robert is also an extremely gifted composer. One of my favorite parts of the book is its presentation of the New York debut of Robert's unfinished opus, "Titanic," with Aaron Copeland serving as the conductor. A friend to both Hartley and to Robert, is Angela "Alabama" Byrnes, a very Janis Joplin-ish painter, who does everything in life in a big, brassy way.

Angela, Robert, and Hartley form a bond and a love for one another that goes beyond simple friendship. Besides supporting one another in their struggles to find fame and fortune in their newly adopted art world, they become soul mates. One scene in the book has them cuddling together naked, in Robert's bed, which I can only describe as poignant and, in the context of it, also rather heartbreaking.

Written in an episodic way, rather than in a smooth narrative, Gurganus does not always succeed in maintaining the necessary tension to move the story along. His writing style often blunts the impact of its tragic theme and my feelings for the characters. Robert and Angie appear as character types rather than as flesh and blood people. I wish I could have cared for them more. I was concerned for their plights, but found it impossible to really love them. Probably at least partially autobiographical, I got to know Hartley much better than Robert and Angie, but Hartley spends an inordinate amount of time whining about how his father misunderstood and maltreated him. Gurganus's writing style was occasionally torturous and overly metaphorical. An obvious example is Robert's "Titanic Symphony," where the author compares the hubris and fate of many of those who partook in the sexual revolution of the 1970's with those who built and marketed the infamous ship as unsinkable and indestructible. A story in the novel's appendix, written by Hartley, about newly arrived angels in heaven has a certain amount of charm and humor, but is way over the top in its sentimentality.

_Plays Well with Others_ is a good, and often sweet book that I can recommend, if not necessarily as whole-heartedly as I would have hoped.

Well Played .......2005-02-28

This is a wildly alive and comic novel of the AIDS crisis. In the late 70s young writer Harley Mims moves to New York City and promptly falls into a deep friendship with Angie, a raucous talented painter, and Robert, a gifted composer as well as "the most beautiful man in town". The novel lovingly chronicles the highs and lows of this trio as they f*ck, frolic, and establish themselves as artists - oblivious to the specter of AIDS looming on the horizon. As the pandemic slowly surfaces we see a culture decimated by disease, but in the face of panic and death the virus only serves to strengthen the forces of friendship and intimacy among the group. This bond carries over into the care giving and making peace process, which became the adopted lifestyle of a generation. Funny, sexy, smart, and thoroughly rewarding, this is a novel to make you laugh; cry, and most importantly appreciate the awesome and immortal force of friendship

Poignant.......2005-02-13

What this book reminded me of was the song "Lady in Red" by Chris Deburgh. I understand the song was written in about 30 minutes - like a quick sketch - so it retained all the immediacy of someone who was writing down impressions and feelings while they were still fresh. Then he presented them unedited with all the immediacy intact. It may not have been the best song ever written, but it touched a chord because the emotions were so raw, and the feelings were so sincere.

"Plays Well with Others" is very obviously a not very well-camouflaged autobiographical tribute to the author's friends, who lived in pre-AIDS New York during a time period the author refers to as "Before", then died there of the "plague". The writing is rough, and these friends are idealized to the point where you seriously doubt they were as clever, talented and unique as the author depicted them, but the emotions are very real, and the author is trying to describe people striving for a creative life and are at the very verge of great things, when they are all cut down by the sudden, unexpected and very deadly onset of AIDS.

The important things are the emotions and the pain. Part of the beauty of his writing style in this book is the spontaneous feel you get from it. You feel as though you're really reading a story written by someone who experienced all the pain of watching his friends die one by one until his only relief came from knowing they were finally all gone and he had no more friends to lose. That same sense of immediacy is there to remind you that someone real is mourning people who were real. And their deaths were a loss and a tragedy, not only to the author. They represent all the people who died, and are dying now. They were loved and cherished and had great plans to do great things. Instead of doing those great things, they left behind one good friend to clean up the mess, usher in their grieving parents, and write a book so they wouldn't be forgotten.

It's almost diary-like in the way he wrote it. Approach it like you're reading someone's diary, and you'll be more forgiving than some of the reviewers who focused on the book as "fiction" and expected it to read like Gurganus' other great novel, "Confederate Widow". It's nothing like the first book. Please don't compare them. And when you read it, presume there is real grief behind the words - I see it there, anyway.

Just read it as the tribute it is, and use it as a means through which you might understand what all it was like, for one person at least.

Well worth the second chance!.......2004-02-25

I bought this book five years ago with the intention of reading it on a transatlantic flight... well ..When I reached the chapter "Thirty Dildoes" I felt compelled to thumb the pages very quickly as there was a rather prudish lady sat next to me. I judged by the amount of seat squirming that she did not approve of the content of my novel. I quickly popped it back into my carry on bag and read the inflight magazine instead. I forgot about the book until a few weeks ago, when I was looking for something to take away the tedium of a rail journey. I read on, unabashed this time and was delighted by this wonderful narrative. The author's ability to capture the 1980's New York's village lifestyle had me enthralled. The characters were beautifully written "fleshed out " in word. I slowly became friends with Hartley, Robert and Angie and their menagerie of artsy friends. The book is written through Hartley's eyes and as a writer himself he gives us a very endearing account of Grenwich village as a bohemian melting pot of colourful writers, musicians and artists. I particularly enjoyed the witty account of Hartley's first encounter with Angie at the clap clinic. It was a perfect piece of writing where Hartley studies this woman who monopolises the only available public phone. She is unaware that she is being studied while doodling on a wall and using this clinic hallway as if it were her office. This novel gave me a taste of a life I would love to have lived myself had I the resources and the courage to do so at the time. For all you other Hartley wannabes...give this book a chance. It's very amusing yet still manages to deal with the subject of the AIDS pandemic with dignity without being too preachy. I'm glad that I gave this book a second chance and will definately revisit these friends again and again. If you do enjoy it then look out for Felice Picano's "Like people in history". It has been referred to as the gay "Gone with the wind". If you do not enjoy Picanno's book ( and fall in love with Matt Loguidice)you must lack a soul!!

Les McGehee Plays Well With Others: A "Grown-Up" Handbook of Improvisation and Play

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Les McGehee Plays Well With Others
Insights into the world of improvisation comedy
A fine blend of autobiographical tidbits, comedy field guide, life on the improv circuit memoir
Pearls of Wisdom and wise improvisational advice...
Life-Enhancing Improvisation

Les McGehee Plays Well With Others: A "Grown-Up" Handbook of Improvisation and Play
Les Mcgehee
Manufacturer: Dalton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Decision-Making & Problem Solving | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Personal Transformation | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0974070327
Release Date: 2006-12-01

Product Description

Les McGehee s Plays Well With Others, A Grown-Up Handbook of Improvisation and Play is a breezy how-to book by an improvising pioneer that is part autobiography and part field guide to the life and habits of successful improvisers. It offers rare insights gained through over 20 years of improvisational experience in how to incorporate humor and positive affirmation of in-the-moment opportunities guaranteed to enhance both your business and personal life. With techniques McGehee uses in MBA and government programs, Plays Well With Others provides the basics for the layman and clear advanced tricks of the trade for the professional improviser. Cleverly divided into sections that can be read independently, the reader can delve deep or graze into the fields of play Les so clearly describes. It contains autobiographical passages illustrating how the improvisational life works, an annotated list of classic improv games for business and entertainment, diary entries of extensive improv tours, statistical references on the successful implementation of improvisational techniques in business, and recommendations on how to further your improv education locally, nationally, and internationally.

Customer Reviews:

Les McGehee Plays Well With Others.......2007-07-19

Work tends to be, for lack of a better adjective, work. We steel ourselves to be serious and productive. We plan, schedule, and work towards deadlines like our life depends upon it. Fun, creativity, and imagination seem like something children do, we had to grow up.

Or do we? Plays Well With Others lets us know that improvisation and play are healthy activities for adults too. In fact, happy adults are far more creative, productive, and cooperative. It makes perfect sense and this book shows us how to start with all sorts of activities and games.

After reading this book, I would love to go to one of Les McGehee's improvisation workshops. I think the concept is exactly what most businesses and individuals within those companies need to regain our passion. I like the exercises provided in the book, they were easy enough to follow but I think an in-person workshop would be even more beneficial for those individuals who might naturally hold back a little. I'm sure that the author's passion could get anyone to let go and just play for a while.

Insights into the world of improvisation comedy.......2007-07-05

Reviewed by Richard R. Blake for Reader Views (6/07)

In a fun-filled entertaining way, Les McGehee shares biographical insights into the world of improvisation comedy in "Les McGehee Plays Well with Others." The comment, "Needs improvement in playing with others," on his first report card, changed Les' life. An outgrowth of that change is this book - "A `Grown Up' Handbook of Improvisation and Play."

The book is made up of three main sections: Part I: Memoirs and road stories. Part II: Information and research data on play and improvisation. Part III: Handbook of games and exercises. Les also includes an "enlarged appendix" made up of tools, rules, and testimonials.

A complete table of contents makes this a user-friendly handbook for future reference. Clever "Les Icons" accompany the numerous sidebars featured throughout the book highlighting important improvisational life principles.

Improved positive attitudes resulting from the synergy and power of a group mind through incorporating improvisational living into personal ethics, core values, and business practice will help make your world a better place.

I appreciated the insights I gained personally from the chapter "Communion, Community, Communication." The concept of embracing the moment became especially meaningful.

This is a book for business leaders, entrepreneurs, educators, trainers, professional and amateur comedians, and anyone wanting to lighten up. It is Les' sincere desire that the reader incorporate the games and suggestions in this book to "go play," to follow their own instincts, and enjoy the benefits, of fun, productivity, improved health, better relationships, and business success.

In "Les McGehee Plays Well with Others," Les challenges the reader with: "Playing Well With Others. It's the highest skill on your grown-up report card."

A fine blend of autobiographical tidbits, comedy field guide, life on the improv circuit memoir.......2007-06-10

Les McGehee Plays Well With Others: A "Grown-Up" Handbook of Improvisation and Play is a guide to enriching one's life through improvisational comedy, by veteran improv artist Les McGehee whose long list of credentials includes appearances with cast members of "Saturday Night Live" and "Whose Line Is It Anyway?". Written not just for aspiring comedians, but readers from all walks of life, Les McGehee Plays Well With Others offers tips for fostering creativity; using humor to heighten health, productivity, and morale in the office; numerous warm-ups, exercises, and improv games that help comedy professionals get the golden energy flowing; and much more."'Things in...' is a warm-up game where one player asks another to name five things in a category. For instance, name five things in Einstein's sock drawer or name five things in Angelina Jolie's purse. The other player gets to use their imagination to answer... This can also be played with friends all at the same time, and yes, Party Reader, it can even be another drinking game." A fine blend of autobiographical tidbits, comedy field guide, life on the improv circuit memoir, and how-to guide to spice up one's work or social life.

Pearls of Wisdom and wise improvisational advice..........2007-05-15

Les McGehee's "Plays well with others" is not only a veritable Bible of improvisational facts, advice, and games, but a humorous look into the life of a master of improvisation. The book provides insight not only into Les' life and the experiences that made him a guru of improvisational comedy, but provides a philosophy that hits the mark not only for improvisational comedy performance, but for life as well.

Les McGehee is like a combination of Johnathan Winters, Bozo the Clown, and Bruce Lee... This is a must have for any aspiring improv comic performer.

Life-Enhancing Improvisation .......2007-04-09

"While improvising, I have been fortunate enough to see a great many things around the world and I've seen what it does for the people who use it. I have seen improvisation turn people's lives around." ~ Les McGhee

Les McGhee has provided "improv" training to prestigious business schools and Fortune 500 companies like AT&T, IBM and Dell. He has over 20 years experience and is the founder of the Comedy League of America.

"Les McGhee Plays Well With Others" is an autobiography with lessons learned and advice for anyone who wishes to live a more spontaneous life.

"You can have a better time. You can be smarter, stronger, and faster when improvising. You can have joy like you used to. You can like people again and look forward to their input. You can remember the sheer beauty of creation and remember how perfect things are." ~ Les McGhee

The first section delves into memoirs and road stories and then moves into the areas of how play and improvisation can be applied to life and business situations. The third section provides handbook-style games and exercises. Some of the highlights include:

Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Teamwork
Humor and Productivity
Confidence and Trust
Listening
Tour Journal Excerpts
Five Basic Rules for Improv Scenes

The writing style is fresh and honest like a conversation with a friend. The unique witty stories keep you on the edge of your seat. Les McGhee says he often feels like a "vicarious psychologist." In his book, he does seem to be analyzing the life of a comedian as he gives insight into how anyone can develop a stage presence and engage an audience.

~The Rebecca Review

Method for learning to play the trumpet in a warlike way as well as musically: With the organ, with a mute, with a harpsichord, and every other instrument

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Method for learning to play the trumpet in a warlike way as well as musically: With the organ, with a mute, with a harpsichord, and every other instrument
Girolamo Fantini
Manufacturer: Brass Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Plays Well with Others
Allan Gurganus
Manufacturer: FABER & FABER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O5NIQ4

Kindergarten Court: why the best justices are those that play well with others.(The Supreme Court)(Book review): An article from: Washington Monthly

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Kindergarten Court: why the best justices are those that play well with others.(The Supreme Court)(Book review): An article from: Washington Monthly
Stephen Pomper
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Washington Monthly, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2007. The length of the article is 1461 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Kindergarten Court: why the best justices are those that play well with others.(The Supreme Court)(Book review)
Author: Stephen Pomper
Publication: Washington Monthly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 39 Issue: 3 Page: 64(3)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Plays Well With Others

Manufacturer: NY Alfred A. Knopf Nov. 1997.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GZA90A

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Plays Well with Others
Allan Gurganus
Manufacturer: Vintage Books (Random House)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBE52G

Book Description

I'm not a heroine--I just play one. Along with psychotics, vamps, housewives and hookers. As my agent is fond of pointing out, there are more actors in New York than there are people in most other cities. Translation: beggars can't be choosers.

This explains how I wound up prancing around stage half naked the night Golly Gee--the female lead in the off-Broadway show "Sorceror!"--disappeared into thin air. Literally.

Now other performers are also vanishing, and a mysterious stranger is warning me: There is evil among us.

But the producers want me to take over Golly's part.

Looks as if I'm going to need a little magical help if I want to keep my starring role….

Customer Reviews:

too goofy and cheesy...........2007-09-26

Since the book is one of the more expensive Luna line books, I just wanted to throw my two cents in to hopefully save you some of YOUR hard earned money since I already wasted mine on this book.

What started out as quirky and light, quickly turned terribly cheesy, goofy,implausible and over the top cliche' with an almost nonexistent storyline about 80 pages in. It reads like teen fiction-and not in a good way. And yet again in the steadily disappointing Luna line-almost zero romance. Take my advice and skip this sad attempt.

Too Predictable.......2007-07-03

The mystery was almost non-existent. The answer occurred to me 3/4 of the book sooner than the heroine. The characters, however, were great fun and with a little better "mystery" could be really enjoyable.

A feather-light mystery-comedy-romance.......2007-05-18

This is an amusing mystery novel that fills the supernatural-show biz-working girl-comedy-romance niche. (And you just can't have too many of those, can you?)

"Disappearing Nightly" is one of those ostensibly funny books for which the comments, "smart, cool and wicked funny," and "screwball comedy adventure," appearing on the cover blurbs actually contain grains of truth, a middling rare thing. There are actually a few good laughs. More than that, the author knows what a punchline is, has a reliable sense of comic pacing and manages to toss out some effective wisecracks.

All these things have led at least one earlier Amazon reviewer to label the book as a Janet Evanovich imitation. Far worse things might be said about any book. Nevertheless, I would suggest a different and, I think, better model. The blurb on the back cover has it right with the words, "screwball comedy." Admittedly, the book doesn't achieve the rarified heights of "Bringing Up Baby" or "The Lady Eve," but it certainly catches the tone and flavor of film outings by Joan Blondell and Lucille Ball during the late 1930s and through the 40s.

In fact, as I was reading the book, I found myself casting it as a B+ feature from RKO in 1940. Esther, the self-reliant, wisecracking, off-Broadway understudy would be Joan Blondell (or Lucy if Joan were tied up with another film.) Doc Zadok would be Roland Young (or Leon Errol with Lucy), Lysander, Alan Mowbray; Magnus, Edgar Kennedy and Cowboy Duke, Ralph Bellamy (of course!) The smaller parts for young women could be spread among the era's usual coterie of screen chorines and a small but potentially memorable part for a somewhat older lady could tossed up for grabs among the many superb character actresses then on the payrolls of the studios. Casting the gay transvestites might have been a trifle more difficult in those days, but keep in mind that Cary Grant was wearing a frilly negligee in "Bringing Up Baby" when he announced "I've gone gay!" For Hieronymus, I find myself torn between Mickey Rooney and Shemp Howard.

To those of you for whom Blondell and RKO are at one with Burbage and the Globe and they, in turn, with Roscius and the amphitheater, let me suggest a more recent exemplar: call Doc Zadok "the Doctor," then imagine a TARDIS lurking somewhere in the background, modify the supernatural mumbo-jumbo into pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo, and--presto!--you have a fine Doctor Who episode. (I hasten to clarify that I do not refer to the present series or to either of the two comparatively youthful twits currently disgracing the part, but to the vintage, middle-aged or even downright elderly Doctors of the past.)

I have every intention of snatching up the next of Esther's adventures when I stumble upon it and I might even give a try to Ms. Resnik's earlier heroic fantasies. As far as I'm concerned, that sufficiently justifies a five star rating.

High Mystery with some Cool Magic .......2006-12-13

I really enjoyed the "cast" of the book, mainly the "crew" with the super-old guy as the fighter of evil with the help of the very smart and Agatha-Christie-like heroine. She's the kind of young woman you want at your side, really a role model as a great friend, and she ends up helping strangers. I think this is a good scifi/paranormal read for any age. I was amazed at her organizational skills (decidedly usually reserved for male roles) and tenacious adherence to solving the mystery. If you like Poirot, Murder She Wrote, and X-Files, you will love this book

Light but fun.......2006-07-18

As someone going through real Buffy-withdrawal, I've been sampling the growing variety of supernatural mystery series out there hoping for a new series to love. The good news here is that the dialogue is mostly fresh and funny, and the cast of characters is fun (though there may be too many players for Resnick to manage effectively). The bad news is that the action is extremely minimal, which makes for a long middle stretch, and the story slams to a stop every time a new mystical concept is introduced and explained. Also, the romance is - as pretty much every reviewer has pointed out - is decidedly cheesy.

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DISAPPEARING NIGHTLY
LAURA RESNICK
Manufacturer: Luna
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TOCPR8

Futureshocks
Average customer rating:

Not Free SF Reader

Any who enjoy speculating about the future's dangers will relish a collection which gathers engrossing stories of future dangers

Science Fiction And Fantasy By Leading Writers

interesting science fiction anthology

Futureshocks

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Fast Forward 1: Future Fiction from the Cutting Edge

The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Third Annual Collection (Year's Best Science Fiction)

Millennium 3001

Beyond Singularity

ASIN: B000IOERTI

Book Description

In this stunning collection of short fiction, 16 of today's masters of speculative fiction reveal the terrors, triumphs, and seeming impossibilities awaiting humanity in the years to come. Featuring never-before-published stories by Kevin J. Anderson, Paul Di Filippo, Alan Dean Foster, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Louise Marley, Sean McMullen, John Meaney, Paul Melko, Robert A. Metzger, Chris Roberson, Adam Roberts,Mike Resnick & Harry Turtledove, Robert J. Sawyer, and Robert Charles Wilson.

Customer Reviews:

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-08-01

This is an interesting book, if a little flimsy quality if you are going to be paying trade prices. Groovy cover, though. Some decent stuff here, and it was certainly interesting to see Chris Roberson in something like this.

A pretty good collection, average rating for stories almost makes 3.5.

Futureshocks : Shuteye For the Timebroker - Paul Di Filippo
Futureshocks : Looking Through Mother's Eyes - John Meaney
Futureshocks : The Man Who Knew Too Much - Alan Dean Foster
Futureshocks : The Engines of Arcadia - Sean McMullen
Futureshocks : The Pearl Diver - Caitlin R. Kiernan
Futureshocks : Before the Beginning - Mike Resnick and Harry Turtledove
Futureshocks : Man You Gotta Go - Adam Roberts
Futureshocks : Homosexuals Damned Film At Eleven - Alex Irvine
Futureshocks : Contagion - Chris Roberson
Futureshocks : Absalom's Mother - Louise Marley
Futureshocks : Job Qualifications - Kevin J. Anderson
Futureshocks : The Teosinte War - Paul Melko
Futureshocks : Slip - Robert A. Metzger
Futureshocks : All's Well At World's End - Howard V. Hendrix
Futureshocks : Flashes - Robert J. Sawyer
Futureshocks : The Cartesian Theater - Robert Charles Wilson

Degenerate gambling sleepless now sleeper finds dream power.

4.5 out of 5

Birth is really, really draining on the parents.

2 out of 5

Brainbook junkie.

4 out of 5

A man, bored with his safe, controlled, present society, rustles up a time machine and goes far into the future. He is somewhat surprised to find a society of medieval mutant munchkins, that behave very differently.

3.5 out of 5

American fascist Orwellian Dilbert hell sacking bejewelled transformation.

3 out of 5

Either end of eternity, a Jewish domain.

3.5 out of 5

AI FTL depopulation.

4 out of 5

Genetic stoning.

2 out of 5

A man's job is to carry retroviruses in his blood to pass information. Society is stratified into castes by what protection from disease they can afford. When he discovers what he is carrying, and what sort of people he has been working for, everything changes.

3.5 out of 5

Child soldier vacuum suicide protest.

4 out of 5

Multiple Man of the people.

3.5 out of 5

Multiverse experiment massacre.

4 out of 5

Canine chronological edge coercion.

3.5 out of 5

Annihilation practice is ordinary.

2.5 out of 5

Interstellar information overload anarchy.

4 out of 5

AI's secret hiring post double death act suicide promotion of philosophy.

4 out of 5

Any who enjoy speculating about the future's dangers will relish a collection which gathers engrossing stories of future dangers.......2006-06-17

Lou Anders oversaw the fine anthology LIVE WITHOUT A NET: his latest compilation, FUTURESHOCKS, gathers new science fiction and horror stories which have roots in biological, technological and sociological change and feature works by seasoned authors, from Paul Di Fillipo and Mike Resnick to Harry Turtledove and Louise Marley. Any who enjoy speculating about the future's dangers will relish a collection which gathers engrossing stories of future dangers.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Science Fiction And Fantasy By Leading Writers.......2006-03-06

For those of you that prefer pure 'Hard' science fiction please be advised that some of the sixteen stories here contain elements of fantasy, and I for one also prefer 'Hard' science fiction. Nevertheless, every one of these stories are page turners and will keep your interest. These writers are veterans, and at the beginning of each story editor Lou Anders, also an accomplished writer, introduces each one of them, they all have impressive credentials. All of the stories demonstrate great creativity, and the words just flow off the pages. After reading this, perhaps you, like me, will realize that a lot of unanticipated bad things may materialize out of future capabilities. Read and enjoy.

interesting science fiction anthology .......2006-01-03

As described in the introduction, this sixteen collection science fiction anthology focuses on future trending of "new fears arising out of sociological, biological or technological change". Each tale centers on a particular hot button that a relatively large populace believes will lead to the end of society as we know it; similar as pointed out by Mr. Anders to the 1950s and 1960s nuclear trepidations. The contributions range the spectrum of controversy such as bioengineering or "living" after death, and of course AI, etc. Overall the compilation is superb with some tales going very deep in spite of the shortness. A shocked audience will ponder bad choices that lead to the denigrating of a group; not necessarily purebred human. Though a few tales surface the potential, they do not dig deep into the impact; however, for the most part most of the compilation will leave readers wondering whether Pogo is right that we met the enemy and he (or she or it) is us.

Harriet Klausner

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Futureshock: El Gato 2002
Michael Aushenker
Manufacturer: Original Syndicate Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H00CB0

Customer Reviews:

A history that starts with Plymouth rock.......2005-08-23

This book is a great overview of women, religion and social change in NORTH America. But I felt that it did not sufficiently cover Native American religous traditions, which is a significant component of our history.
With that caveat in mind, I feel that Ms. Hill Lindley did a great job surveying an immense topic in a way that was interesting, readable and empowering. This is a great resource and jumping off point for studying how women and religion interacted throughout the history of the U.S.

"You Have Stept out of Your Place": A History of Women and Religion in America. (book reviews): An article from: Journal of Church and State

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"You Have Stept out of Your Place": A History of Women and Religion in America. (book reviews): An article from: Journal of Church and State
Debra Campbell
Manufacturer: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Journal of Church and State, published by J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State on June 22, 1997. The length of the article is 475 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: "You Have Stept out of Your Place": A History of Women and Religion in America. (book reviews)
Author: Debra Campbell
Publication: Journal of Church and State (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 1997
Publisher: J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
Volume: 39 Issue: n3 Page: 601-602

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

"You Have Stept Out of Your Place": A History of Women and Religion in America. (book reviews): An article from: Theological Studies

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"You Have Stept Out of Your Place": A History of Women and Religion in America. (book reviews): An article from: Theological Studies
Heather A. Warren
Manufacturer: Theological Studies, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Theological Studies, published by Theological Studies, Inc. on September 1, 1997. The length of the article is 877 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: "You Have Stept Out of Your Place": A History of Women and Religion in America. (book reviews)
Author: Heather A. Warren
Publication: Theological Studies (Refereed)
Date: September 1, 1997
Publisher: Theological Studies, Inc.
Volume: v58 Issue: n3 Page: p554(3)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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