Average customer rating:
- Review of Coal Minerýs Holiday by Kiki DeLancey
- A captivating experience by a new writer
- I Loved the Book
- Mysterious, wonderful stories
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Coal Miner's Holiday: Stories
Kiki Delancey
Manufacturer: Sarabande Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1889330701 |
Book Description
Like a seam of coal, that mineral she knows so well, Kiki DeLancey is a valuable find, and a rare one as well: the self-taught writer who seems to have sprung fully formed out of nowhere. In the pages of Coal Miner's Holiday (mining jargon for a forced layoff), DeLancey introduces us to the culture and characters of coal-mining towns bordering the Ohio River. Though she has a B.A. in political science and English, DeLancey never took a writing course, never had a writing mentor. She learned to write by reading such masters as William Faulkner and Sherwood Anderson, then writing, and rewriting her own stories. And DeLancey is, first and foremost, a storyteller. She tells the stories of unseen American immigrants–Polish, Greek, Irish, and others–who worked under the earth, in the dark and dangerous heart of the heart of the country. The result is a revelatory new voice in American fiction.
Marketing Plans:
Author tour in Northeast (New York City, Boston) and areas of Kentucky and Ohio
National radio campaign
Newsletter, brochure, catalog, and postcard mailings
Advertisements in key literary and trade magazines
Reader copies available to booksellers through participation in Book Sense Advance Access Program
Born Kiki Nicolozakes,
Kiki DeLancey was brought up with close ties to the Greek community, with four grandparents from the island of Crete. DeLancey spent fifteen years in the coal industry, beginning as a permit clerk and finally, as Executive V.P. of Marietta Coal Company. Her stories have been published in literary magazines since 1987. She still lives where she was born and raised, in Cambridge, Ohio, now with her husband and children, where she works part-time as an investment manager, and is at work on a new collection of stories and a novel.
Customer Reviews:
Review of Coal Minerýs Holiday by Kiki DeLancey.......2003-04-18
Coal Miner's Holiday by Kiki Delancey is a book of short stories that more closely resembles poetry. She writes a variety of different types of stories with the constant being her use of vivid metaphorical descriptions. The first story is told from the perspective of the main character's thought processes. The accuracy with which DeLancey puts the character's thoughts into writing creates an interesting effect since we rarely think with the same focused coherence that we use to tell stories. The result is that we read two stories at once, what is physically happening and what the character thinks is happening.
Most of the stories in Coal Miner's Holiday are not long narratives involving fantastic or complex plots. Rather they could be compared to snap shot portraits of moments that capture an emotion or mood. These stories are of the colorful characters and personality quirks that arise to make life interesting in small towns of working folks where there is nothing better to do. The artistry the author displays in expressing the nuances of these moments has the quality of works you might find in photographs hanging on fancy museum walls.
A captivating experience by a new writer.......2002-09-30
I've just finished COAL MINER'S HOLIDAY after delaying the ending for a few months. I hated to see this excursion end. Kiki DeLancey's style of writing is unique and engaging. She introduces the reader to unknown worlds of labor, strife and the bowels of the earth in one large sweep of pure unadulterated reality. This is a world of coal miners, a world unavailable to the average reader. Their passions and disappointments, their pleasures and personal endeavors are unlike those of the average citizen. I enjoy new experiences, delving into lives that are remote from my journey and learning something new when I read a book and Kiki provides all of these things with vigor and charm. Her stories engage the reader, her characters captivate the reader, and her themes linger long after leaving this particular road. I cannot say that I preferred one short piece over another, or one character more than another, but I can say that I'll be first in line when her next book arrives.
I Loved the Book.......2002-08-04
When I began reading the first story in Coal Miner's Holiday, I Loved the Squire, I thought of Hemmingway, mostly because of the stark and sometimes choppy prose. I'm not a huge Hemmingway fan, so I had my reservations, but by the end of the story, I found myself marveling. Delancey is a unique voice, and her stories stick in the mind. As is often the case in good writing, their complexity is belied by the simplicity of their language. It isn't the stuff of MFA programs; it's real, often rough, sometimes down-and-dirty.
These are not all stories about coal miners, although they are set in midwestern coal country. Some, like the trilogy bracketed under the heading "Swingtime" and the marvelous little gem, "Story of the Bread" (My personal favorite; I believe it should be required reading for EVERYONE, period), spring from the author's Greek background. Delancey jumps back and forth in time--"The Seven Pearls," for example, delivers us an oddball prophet in the Hippie age, while Dinger and Blacker is set in and around a speakeasy.
This is great stuff. Buy, enjoy, give it to someone who appreciates fine, quirky writing and very human characters.
Susan O'Neill
Author, Don't Mean Nothing: Short Stories of Viet Nam
Mysterious, wonderful stories.......2002-07-13
With vivid characters and some gallows humor, Kiki Delancey's stories -- set mostly in run down and dying coal mining towns -- introduce the reader to familiar and mysterious human longings. In the hilariously punchlined story *What The Hell* a guy and his old high school sweetheart engage in a long running and doomed from the start attempt to consumate what had never been, even though by the time they can actually find the time to "get together" the woman is 6 months pregnant and the baby in the oven is an active little bugger. The last line (I won't ruin it here) made me roar with laughter. I mean, it's irony or whatever it was was just too good, too funny.
A story in the collection that affected me in quite an opposite way was *Washed,* wherein the simple act of a mother washing her little children is tranformed into a deeply symbolic and sacred act of final devotion and letting go. It's like slap-you-in-the- face sobering and austerely beautiful.
There are so many great stories here that it's hard to choose which ones to include here in this 1000 word max review. There's the Mississipi Review Best Story of the Year (2000 I think) prize winner "The Mystery of George Jones" that portrays a strange boy, wise beyond his years, whose hero worship of George Jones goes way beyond the normal fan club dues and autographed photos of the average rabid fan. Anyway. He emulates the country singer to make himself forget the mundane ordinariness of his life, as kind of a poultice from having to face *it.* It's a great story. And then there's the creepy basket case of the collection's first story *I Loved the Squire* who, it is made clear, is not all there. But whose heart-felt appreciation of beauty (even if it is a floating girl he just knifed) makes the reader sympathize with this murderer somehow. He reminded me of the murderous necrophiliac in Cormac McCarthy's *Child of God.* And the story *Two Strippers* is short and sweet and packs a real punch along the same lines as *Mystery of GJ* in that it's pov character is striving to give order and beauty to an austere world that offers no outward signs of either.
And there are loads more I haven't even touched on. The characters shine and the settings are depressing. The fantastic dynamic in most of these stories is the character's often futile but dogged attempts to transcend their circumstances and find some diamonds in the pile of coal that life has dealt them.
Book Description
The seventh level of Hell is on the rise, with the death of The Chairman of the Vampire Council, who is none other than the Unnamed Ones son. But this time, a ruthless and carefully planned strategy has been developed. There is only one entity who can best Damali, send Carlos Rivera packing and put the Guardian team at mortal risk. He was once banished into a forsaken land, and possesses everything that would drop a Neteru to his or her knees. This time, the fight is not so clear cut, nor is the enemy known.
Customer Reviews:
Vivid Story written to excite and question choices........2007-09-28
I am enjoying the whole series I am now reading The Cursed and sad because I have to wait until next year before continuing the Journey of the Neteru's and thier Guardians. Keep writting and I will keep reading.
God Bless.
Didn't do for me what the other books did!.......2007-06-19
I have read all of L.A. Banks Vampire Huntress books and have loved them all! I love her story telling, her characters, her fight between light and dark, but I did not feel that way about this book. For me, there was too much preaching, too much talking and not enough action. Parts were poignant, but parts were down right boring. This is the first book of this series that I just didn't get into. However, that will not stop me from buying the next one, the Wicked.
For God's sake Damali...SHUT UP!.......2007-02-21
If Damali would ONLY shut up! Could any author possibly write worse dialog? I doubt it. Don't get me wrong, the action and sex in the books are great, but when Damali starts that crap about her music, her wants and desires, the men, the other people in her camp, and when she starts that crap with Marlene...well, just skip a couple of pages. You won't miss anything. BORING! Then Marlene starts her Jemima talkin' Whoo girfrin! Oh, Lawdy. The absolute indignity. Give us the Devil, Carlos, The Chairman, Lilith, Yonnie...and kill EVERYBODY else off. Please!
Kudos to L. A. Banks!!!.......2007-01-09
I've been so taken by the characters in this series that I've read every book and can't wait until the next installment in February 2007. It keeps the readers in the present time with real time issues and problems while taking on certain biblical aspects. A must read for suspense and thriller readers!
You must read this book!!!.......2007-01-05
I love reading any book by L.A.Banks because she is an African American woman who loves to surprise her readers with something new. Even though "The Forsaken" is a part of her Vampire Huntress Legends series, this book completely takes you by surprise. It has the same characters as the previous books of the series but she introduces someone new that you'd never think of. You must read this book to understand what I'm talking about.
Book Description
John Carter of Mars - Volume 3 - Chessmen of Mars & Mastermind of Mars. A freak storm on Mars throws Tara, Princess of Helium and beautiful daughter of John Carter, wildly off course after she embarks on an imprudent flight. Gahan, Jed of Gathol, her new admirer, takes off in pursuit and they soon find themselves in a land of bodies without heads and heads without bodies. In Chessmen of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs once again whirls the reader into an entertaining maelstrom of breakneck action. The second novel in this book, Mastermind of Mars, introduces us to Ulysses Paxton. Whisked from the battlefields of the Great War to Mars, Ulysses is pitched into a nightmare world of brain and body transference underpinned by the high adventure we expect from the John Carter of Mars books. Burroughs fans will not be disappointed by this third volume in Leonaur's ongoing series.
Customer Reviews:
Leonaur Ltd. is publishing the definitive Edgar Rice Burroughs 21st century editions........2007-04-13
Leonaur Ltd. is publishing the definitive Edgar Rice Burroughs 21st century editions. These usually contain 2 books of the different ERB major series in order - thus far John Carter, Pellucidar, and Carson of Venus. In the future, possibly Tarzan!
These books are handsome and my rating is mainly based on this - the ERB fan knows best about the rest of it.
Volume 3 contains "The Chessmen of Mars" in which the author introduces a Martian chess game, complete with rules and description. This game actually had a small, dedicated group of practitioners back in the 60s or 70s and you could buy sets of Martian chess. The other one introduces another earthman who travels to Barsoom(Mars) into a different part of the planet from John Carter's.
These books cannot equal the original John Carter trilogy but are nevertheless good ERB. ERB produced more quality book in the John Carter series than in any other series he wrote. including Tarzan.
All ERB fans who can afford them should buy these magnificant Leonaur Limited editions.
Book Description
Former Earthman Ulysses Paxton served Barsoom's greatest scientist, until his master's ghoulish trade in living bodies drove him to rebellion. Then, to save the body of the woman he loved, he had to attack mighty Phundahl, and its evil, beautiful ruler.
Download Description
"The Mastermind of Mars" is the sixth novel set upon the realm of Barsoom by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. The new hero in this book is the second to brave the red planet of Mars. American Ulysses Paxton becomes the chief assistant to the greatest scientist on Mars. Ras Thavas falls in love with Valla Dia, whose mind was transplanted to the ancient body of Xara. Vad Vara attempts to restore his love to her own body and faces a series of obstacles to save her. Another great book of humor and adventure in science fiction. Please Note: This book is easy to read in true text, not scanned images that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. This eBook has bookmarks at chapter headings and is printable up to two full copies per year.
Customer Reviews:
GOOD ADDITON TO A GOOD SERIES.......2005-01-01
Again, we have pulp fiction at it's best. I gave this one five stars simply because it is Burroughs, even though it probably was not up to the standards of "Chessman" or some of the earlier works in this series. I had problems following the many, many characters when I was a young boy, and found I still had the same problem now that I am in my dotage. We do have a new character here, a fellow by the name of Baxter, so we get away from following John Carter somewhat. In a way this was good. All this series should be read and studied by SiFi and S&S Fans, as they are the basis for so much that is written today. All in all recommend this one and the entire series quite highly.
Martian Series, Part 6.......2003-09-27
This is the sixth novel set upon Barsoom, and it finds a second American making the fateful crossing to the red planet during the first World War. This time, it is Ulysses Paxton, and he arrives upon a thus unmentioned area of Mars, the city of Toonol. Here he meets Ras Thavas, the greatest physician upon the planet and becomes embroiled in his grisly and amazing experiments.
Thavas has discovered how to transfer not only organs from body to body, but brains as well. He proceed to train Paxton, now known as Vad Varo, in this discipline, with the objective of achieving immortality for them both. The plan runs astray though, when Vad Varo falls in love with a beautiful woman whose body has been sold to an evil Jeddara, leaving her a wrinkled old husk. What follows is the rather standard "chase the princess across Barsoom (or at least the body of the princess) that has been the mainstay of the Series thus far, with the new added wrinkle of having bodies change hands with regularity. There is, of course, the obligatory meeting with John Carter at the end where everything is wrapped up quite succinctly.
Like all of his martian novels, "Mastermind of Mars" is a fast moving easy to read and enjoy adventure. There's nothing horribly new here, but any chance to walk again upon Burrough's red planet is a delight, and most fans will be thorougly pleased with the visit.
ERB's pulp fiction adventure of brain transplants on Barsoom.......2003-09-19
For "The Mastermind of Mars," the sixth volume in his Martian series, Edgar Rice Burroughs introduces another new hero as American Ulysses Paxton crosses the void between Earth and Barsoom to become the chief assistant to the red planet's greatest scientist. Original published in the first "Amazing Stories Annual" in 1927, the story again begins with a letter, from Paxton, a Captain in the U.S. Army, to ERB in which he tells how he was fatally injured on a World War I battlefield and was transported to Barsoom, in the same way John Carter made the trip in "A Princess of Mars." Paxton has sent the author the manuscript, which allows Earthmen to "become better acquainted with the manners and customs of Barsoom." In what strikes me as an attempt to further explore the brain switching from previous novel, "The Chessmen of Mars," with the Kaldanes and Rykors, ERB's pulp fiction story has to do with human brain transfers performed by the title character, Ras Thavas.
Early in the novel Paxton witnesses the scientist transferring the brain of Xara, Jeddara of Phundahl, in the body of a young girl. Now called Vad Varo, Paxton becomes the bodyguard and assistant to Ras Thavas in the city of Toonol, and falls in love with Valla Dia, the young girl whose mind is now in the ancient body of Xara. Our hero helps Ras Thavas transfer his brain to a younger body as well, but extracts a promise from the scientist to help restore Valla's body. Of course, just to make things interesting, Valla is the daughter of Kor San, Jeddak of Duhor, so once again ERB's damsel in distress is Barsoomian royalty (that is to say, yet another princess of Mars). The remainder of the novel follows Vad Varo's attempt to restore his beloved to her own body, which is complicated by a series of brain transplants that alternately help and hinder his effort.
The brain switching angle is rather interesting, and actually makes more sense than your standard "strange alien device transfers consciousness between bodies" that we usually find in such science fiction stories (I just saw that on an old "Farscape" episode), but "The Master,ind of Mars" is pretty much an ERB potboiler where everything is resolved in the final chapter. The novel also has his standard indictment of the futility of war and a rather humorous little attack on false religions, as well as a rather confusing roster of characters. After the classic "Chessman" this next Martian yarn is a bit of a disappointment, but it is still at least an average offering in what is ERB's best series.
MORE BARSOOMIAN FUN!.......2003-03-04
"The Master Mind of Mars" is book #6 of 11 John Carter adventures that Edgar Rice Burroughs gave to the world. It first appeared in the magazine "Amazing Stories Annual" in July 1927, and John Carter himself only puts in a cameo appearance near the book's end. Instead, our hero is another Earthman, Ulysses Paxton, who mysteriously gets transported to Barsoom (Mars) after being critically wounded on the battlefields of WW1. Paxton becomes an apprentice of the eponymous mastermind Ras Thavas, and from him learns all manner of surgical miracles, including brain transplantation. Paxton falls in love with a young woman, Valla Dia, whose body has been sold to an old empress, so that that empress can now live on in her new hotty body. Paxton vows to travel across Mars, kidnap the empress, and restore his beloved's body to her. He enlists the aid of some of Ras Thavas' medical subjects: a Barsoomian white ape with a half-human mind; a professional assassin; and another Martian who has had his body bought/stolen by another. This is a short but extremely entertaining and fast-moving fantasy novel. In it, Burroughs gives us some interesting philosophy on the correlation of mind and body (as he did with the kaldanes in "Chessmen of Mars"), as well as some interesting speculations on the necessity of war in any culture. He also pokes fun at the mumbo-jumbo aspects of organized religion. So there is some actual food for thought, in addition to the fun. And that equilibrimotor chase and scene in the Temple of Tur ARE very much fun! The heart, lung and other assorted transplants that Ras Thavas is engaged in must have seemed like real sci-fi improbabilities back in 1927, although these things are fairly commonplace today. The brain transplants are another matter, of course. (Perhaps one day...)
"Master Mind" seems to be slightly better written than some of the earlier Barsoomian novels; Burroughs DID improve with age, at least as far as technique is concerned. Still, there are the usual inconsistencies that crop up. For example, in one scene Thavas complains of the new young blood in his new young body, when it has been established that recipients of new bodies receive their old blood back. I was confused by this. In another scene, the 15-foot-tall ape/man puts on the leather harness of a regular-sized man. Does this seem possible? Clouds are said to obscure the moon in another scene, yet in earlier books, Burroughs has told us that clouds exist on Barsoom only at the poles. A body of a dozen Toonolian soldiers at one point mysteriously turns into 20, and the great scarlet tower of Lesser Helium, which was destroyed in "Chessmen," is inexplicably back again in this book. (I grant that it may have been rebuilt, but Burroughs might have said something to this effect.) The surprise regarding Valla Dia at the book's conclusion was one that was so obvious to me that I don't even think it was really meant to be a surprise after all. And here's another quibble: Paxton falls in love with Valla Dia only after he has seen what her actual body looks like. It might have been more effective had he fallen in love with her only AFTER she was trapped in the haggish body of the empress. A young, strapping American male falling in love with an old ugly woman, based solely on her gracious personality. Now THAT would have been a REAL fantasy!
Introduces one of the best anti-villains in SF & F.......2000-12-16
Ulysses Paxton proves that John Carter is not as unique as the reader was led to believe. Mortally wounded on a World War I battlefield, Paxton is transported to Barsoom much like Carter was decades before. His sojourn on the red planet starts out more humbly, as Paxton fidns himself apprenticed to Ras Thavas, arguably the greatest scientist of the day.
ERB dons his lecturer persona once again as he unwinds an intriguing story about the perils of allowing science and political power to proceed in all directions unchecked. Knowledge gained irresponsibly leads to irresponsible actions. Paxton struggles to transport the moral lessons he has learned from the horrors of World War I to the almost savage and near-mercenary social hierarchy he finds himself trapped in on Barsoom.
The best elements of the story are undoubtedly the bizarre twists and turns which unsettle the hero and force him to fall back on his courage and ingenuity.
Customer Reviews:
Two for one........2006-06-11
This is a hardcover book published for the Science Fiction Book Club in 1973. It contains the sixth and seventh books in Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Mars" series. The book has a great painted cover by Frank Frazetta.
The Mastermind of Mars is about an American soldier in WWII who gets transported to Mars. He ends up as the assistant to a Martian mad scientist. He falls in love with a beautiful girl whose body was stolen by an old hag. Naturally, he goes on a quest to get her rightful body back for her.
A Fighting Man of Mars is about a native Martian who goes on a quest to rescue a beautiful kindnapped woman that he loves. That is a typical Burroughs plot, but there are a few twists here that keep it from getting too formulaic. The most intriguing variation on the plot is that he meets a different woman along the way, who may be a better match for him than the woman he set out to save.
These are both good examples of pulp fiction that should appeal to fans of ERB.
Product Description
Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
Average customer rating:
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The Mastermind of Mars
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FPLY1O |
Product Description
Science fiction / American soldier awakened from battlefield in France finding himself on Mars/ experiments w/ brain transplants by mad scientist pages 160
Customer Reviews:
Snoozefest.......2006-10-06
This book deals with the politicking surrounding the election of a new Pope after the death of Paul VI. I would normally be interested in something like this but I couldn't even finish half of it. The entire first half consisted of the various dialogues between pessimistic Cardinals bemoaning the state of the world, and tallying up the votes of the various blocs in the College of Cardinals. Is it fiction? Is it history? I don't know. I just know that with its obsession with the Soviet Union and liberation theology, the book is extremely dated in addition to being boring.
History as Fiction.......2004-08-14
Martin has written of the Conclave, the secret ceremony wherein certain designated bishops elect the next Pope. What is not generally understood is the degree of politics and pressures that accompany the election of every Pope. Today, with the waning of Catholicism, the emphasis is not on theology or who can lead the Church Triumphant. Instead it is on how best the Church can function in an increasingly secular society.
Martin has all the key players - the traditionalists hankering for the days of Latin and total obedience, the Liberation Theology type heady with leftist ideology, the "continue the same at all costs" type and the "let's form an alliance with secular groups" type. It is difficult to grasp the author's own prejudices (I think a combination of traditional and make new friends). The story is based on the politicking that went into making John Paul I the Pope and his alleged "betrayal" once he understood how dire the situation really was. Although it is dated, it is still a good read.
Revealing analysis of the pontificate of Paul VI.......2004-02-19
When this book was written in 1978, the author was still generally a devotee of Pope Paul VI. Yet his analysis of Paul's pontificate is unintentionally quite damning. It becomes obvious to the reader that Paul's goal was a secular utopia quite contrary to Catholic teaching and prophecy; and that Paul's methods were quite Machiavellian, and their effects on the faithful often downright unChristian.
The second half of the book appears to be a speculative guess at what was happening at the August 1978 conclave which eventually elected the ill-fated Pope John Paul I.
Average customer rating:
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THE FINAL CONCLAVE
Manufacturer: Stein & Day
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000GR0MYQ |
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