Average customer rating:
- An Intellectual Forrest Gump....
- satirical look at the power through negativism of labeling
- "No trouble about my name before coming to Cambridge."
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The Education of Arnold Hitler
Marc Estrin
Manufacturer: Unbridled Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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Insect Dreams: The Half Life Of Gregor Samsa
ASIN: 1932961038 |
Book Description
Marc Estrin's second novel is the story of a young man who stumbles through the second half of the 20th century bearing a most unfortunate name. At once a chess master, a linguist, an athlete and an innocent in love, Arnold passes through the racial tensions of Mansfield, Texas (home of the author of Black Like Me) in the 1950's, the anti-war movement at Harvard, and both the Upper East Side and the Bowery, meeting Noam Chomsky, Al Gore, and Leonard Bernstein in the process, and finally learning the meaning of meaning.
Customer Reviews:
An Intellectual Forrest Gump...........2006-10-10
That was surely Mr. Estrin's original pitch to his publisher, unfortunately, it falls flat on its face. Mr. Estrin writes well enough, and no one can say he lacks intelligence. The main problem with the book is that Arnold, while intelligent and good hearted (oh and HANDSOME! as Estrin repeats endlessly), is a cypher, with no personality of his own. For all the trouble Arnold has with his unfortunate last name, he never asks his father a simple question, "Dad, what's the origin of our last name?". Most Americans would respond to this question with an annoyed, "Dunno", which could have prompted an interesting episode where Arnold researches his name at a Mormon genealogy center. This would seem to be key question for intelligent (and HANDSOME) Arnold to ask but it never occurs to him. Many other tangents are also left unexplored. Arnold has an Italian-Jewish grandfather that he speaks to through his knee (sure why not), but he never takes the trouble to go meet him. Of course a trip to Italy might have taken space away from Estrin's philosophical musings and reverence for Leonard Bernstein. Arnold also lacks the courage of his convictions. Though he is anything but a racist or anti-Semite, having black and Jewish friends, he allows himself to be endlessly harassed by a fascist descendant of Cotton Mather as well as attends a skinhead Oi! performance with only mild discomfort. Estrin ends his book with Arnold living in a (somehow safe and dry) bunker at a construction site, seemingly no longer his own man but merely a vessel through which his stripper-artist girlfriend (later wife) Eve Brown (Eva Braun, clever eh??) enacts her bizarre notions of living as a Nazi to truly understand Nazism. The novel's ending comes suddenly and awkwardly which unfortunately, does not redeem either Arnold or Estrin.
satirical look at the power through negativism of labeling.......2005-04-19
During World War II in Italy American GI George Hitler met and married half Jewish Anna. Following the fall of his namesake, they move to his hometown Mansfield, Texas and have a son Arnold. They raise their son in a happy home and he turns out to be a genius.
By the late 1950s, six years old Arnold grows into a chess prodigy, but it is at a parade where he observes the impact of the use of the N word in his racist hometown that shapes him the most. He sees the hurt and the power that one word imbues in people. During high school he letters in football but his love remains linguistics and he publishes a popular newsletter on the subject. While he loses his girlfriend to radical feminism, Arnold enters Harvard where the anti ism movements converge but as often clash. He obtains a taste of the world, but sees it through a linguistic lens where words, names, and nomenclature have magic to destroy.
THE EDUCATION OF ARNOLD HITLER is a deep satirical look at the power through negativism of labeling people. Arnold is an intelligent Forest Gump though he plays on a lesser stage as he observes impacts starting with that 1956 parade and continuing through his life including ironically the effect of his last name on how people react to him. Although this is a deep linguistic look at how we use the potency of language to classify and demean others, the tale lacks a central plot; Marc Estrin uses anecdotal incidents to educate Hitler with rhetoric ruling this thought provoking novel that also become difficult to follow.
Harriet Klausner
"No trouble about my name before coming to Cambridge.".......2005-04-12
Focusing on the coming of age of Arnold Hitler, Marc Estrin follows Arnold's life from elementary school in Mansfield, Texas, in the late 1950s (where John Howard Griffin, the author of Black Like Me, did his experiment in racism in 1960), through high school in the 1960s, Harvard University in the late 1960s, and the tumult of the post-Vietnam era in the 1970s. Here Estrin explores the nature of identity--how we find our true identities, how our identities are shaped by those around us, and how false perceptions of our identities are developed by others.
In his early years, Arnold was the most popular, most successful student in his class, and when he became a football star in a town that lived for football, his reputation and adulation were secured. It was not until he received a scholarship to Harvard, and exposure to a wider world, that he experienced, firsthand, the prejudice that black students, recently integrated into his Texas high school, had taken for granted. Jewish students would not share a room with him, and East Coast WASPs rejected him. His success in Mansfield did not carry over to Harvard, where his unfortunate name became more important than his identity.
Estrin describes in often hilarious detail the day to day life of Arnold Hitler, always connecting him to the history of the period--the Tet offensive, the Harvard occupation of the administration building by the Students for a Democratic Society, the professors who gave seminars on how to avoid the draft, the Watergate scandal, and the My Lai massacre. He meets fellow Harvard student Al Gore, MIT professor Noam Chomsky, and Leonard Bernstein, father of one of his girlfriends. After graduation, he goes to New York, where his "education" in life's realities continues.
Estrin's episodic novel could have been a great collection of interrelated short stories. His keen observation of the world around him casts light on the period and on the inherent racism and prejudice against "otherness" which dominated, and he analyzes the period with a scalpel. Arnold himself does not engender much empathy, however, and his crises do not feel very compelling since the simple expedient of changing his name would have avoided them. His "epiphanies" feel artificial, and his exploration of religion and cultural history feels like a fiction writer's construct to give broader scope to the novel. Readers unfamiliar with the period from the late sixties to late seventies may gain insight into a seminal period in American history; for those who lived through it, it may feel a bit stale. (3.5 stars) Mary Whipple
Book Description
Mystique the sultry mutant shapeshifter, who has stood against the X-Men in battle after battle, is offered the chance at a new life when Professor X recruits her to complete a dangerous mission in Cuba. Can this former mutant-rights terrorist who can disguise herself as anyone on the planet be trusted? In this story of international intrigue and redemption, the sexy Mystique may surprise everyone, including herself.
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03
Professor Xavier recruits Mystique to star in his own little private spy operation. Odd premise? It certainly is. This tale would probably transport ok to Wildstorm if you changed the characters.
Drop dead riveting!.......2007-07-17
Gold! Pure gold. BKV has the midas touch, everything he writes, turns. Mystique was an obscure X-men, until now. Vaughan makes her revelant; more importantly makes her super and, her star shines brightly. This story is a real page turner. Highly recommended!
Keeps the bar up.......2007-07-10
If you are like other items by this author (such as Runaways, Ex Machina, or Y: The Last Man) you should like this one too. It's right up there. Good story, makes me interested in a character I otherwise wouldn't have cared that much about. Good art also.
Simply amazing!.......2005-12-17
I loved this comic book, I am an x-men freak, I've been one since I was five so that's 14 years of reading those comic books. Yes some of the other verisons of x-men stink but this one sure doesn't come close to that. I was hooked from the start, Mystique is such a mysterious and in depth character. And I am a women by the way so this isn't just for men, trust me. Yeah there's a lot of boobage, big deal. It's a comic book, there's support to be boobies. My boyfriend loved this too and just because of the sexy blue woman in there, the polt was interesting and just a great change for me. I recomend spending the 14 bucks and giving this a try, you won't be disappointed.
forget the core titles. the fringe is where the quality is.......2004-08-23
of the past ten or so story arcs i've read among grant morrison's run on new x-men, chuck austen's on uncanny, and chris claremont's on x-treme x-men, not one of them even comes close to the first arc of the solo title mystique, centered on everyone's favorite x-men universe villainess. the core titles' writing has been consistently ridiculously farfetched, slow, or untrue to the characters, and oftentimes all of the above. but vaughan's take on mystique is of the quality of ultimate x-men: loads of great action with surprisingly fresh twists in plot and in characters' powers and personalities. the title has mystique working for xavier as his private 007, and in this first arc she is sent to cuba to avert an international mutant vs human crisis. vaughan's interpretation of mystique's personality is occasionally a bit off and his plot is a bit manipulative at times. he gets mystique's sarcasm and cockiness but doesn't quite successfully figure out how to deal with her sometimes conflicting emotions and motivations. but despite the wobbles on the emotional side (which hopefully will be smoothed out in future story arcs) this one is a definite winner, especially when coupled with some great artwork from jorge lucas. a must read, esp. if you've liked ultimate x-men.
Average customer rating:
- The Prophet strikes again
- Technically fascinating disaster yarn, but no more than that
- A strong effort from one of the masters
- Overrated but good
- Not bad, but nowhere near his best.
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A Fall of Moondust
Arthur C. Clarke
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Clarke, Arthur C.
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Rendezvous with Rama
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Cryptonomicon
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Childhood's End
ASIN: 999740775X |
Book Description
Time is running out for the passengers and crew of the tourist-cruiser Selene, incarcerated in a sea of choking lunar dust. On the surface, her rescuers find their resources stretched to the limit by the pitiless and unpredictable conditions of a totally alien environment.
Customer Reviews:
The Prophet strikes again.......2006-03-22
This is an astounding book from the greatest Science Fiction writer of all time. Reading large scale "space operas", one would expect that the action in this novel is not as gripping since it revolves around a very confined area. Most SciFi writers are able to convey a story, but fall through on their deficiency in technology. Sir Arthur C. Clarke never misses a step when he describes the extremely thrilling story, and so skilfully describes the surrounding technologies and landscapes. What absolutely unbelievable is that this book was written even before the lunar landings in 1961, but all his observations of the moon, the computer technology, descriptions of plasma drives still holds to this day. This novel was one of his most successful, and Clarke has since been humoristically called the "prophet" since the manned and un-manned space flights seem to confirm his observations of space and our nearby planets. He never quantizes technologies, but describe how the story actually revolves in the future technology environment. Where Gibson in "Neuromancer" wrote about the main character "..stole 4Mb of hot ram..." one immediately sets the story to the 90'ties when 4 Mb of Ram was significant memory, even if it was supposed to be in the far future. Clarke never makes such mistakes, making this novel, written in 1960, as relevant today as it was then. In "A Fall of Moondust". Add to this the uncanny ability to explain the action so well it is almost as watching a movie whilst reading the story, this is one book that is highly recommended.
Technically fascinating disaster yarn, but no more than that.......2005-12-16
In this classic disaster yarn the all-too-human crew of moon ship Selene and its 22 passengers are trapped in a vast dust bowl on the lunar surface, and it's up to Chief Engineer Lawrence to find a way to get them out before it's too late. There are lots of twists and turns as various setbacks arise, and plenty of practical science and engineering, despite the fact it's now known that no such dustbowls exist, but that doesn't really matter because the main attraction is trying to figure out how they'll get out of each successive crisis. There are plenty of secenes with Lawrence, and with a newshound who thinks he's got the scoop of the century, and with a disagreeable astronomer whose infra-red observations save the day, but much of the book takes place onboard Selene where we get to see a cross-section of humanity and how they react to their deadly predicament. Suffice it to say that on the whole, Clarke's passengers behave like typical Brits, and for many American readers, this is always the most endearing aspect of his work. His characters (and the scientists particularly) have an unflappable reserve that sustains them through all adversity. They are reading books and putting on plays in circumstances in which Americans would be eating each others' flesh. Not to say that these characters' behavior is unbelievable - just different - almost National Geographic different.
As for the prose, Clarke is often as dry as the dust on which the moon ship Selene sails, but his science is just about impeccable and he knows how to tell an engrossing story. This entire book is basically a tightly interwoven set of technical puzzles. Once the mainstay of science fiction, puzzle stories challenge the reader to solve the technical problem posed - kind of like the "whodunit" of the detective genre. Selene systematically works its way through each successive danger only to face another one, but each arises naturally from the laws of physics as they apply to the given situation; there's no melodrama or coincidence here. Not many readers will be able to guess how these problems will be solved, but Clarke makes sure that we're on the edge of our chairs waiting to find out.
Many of Clarke's most famous works feature a philosophical bent that takes them beyond the mundane: the classics "2001: A Space Odyssey" and "Childhood's End" come quickly to mind. Unfortunately there's nary a hint of such in this book. The man-against-nature conflict in this novel is clever, well-thought-out, and admirably executed, but it's still a puzzle story and nothing more, and a largely dated one at that.
Clarke's legions of fans will certainly enjoy this book, but the few ideas in it are no longer very relevant. If you're looking for a pleasant diversion that will make you think more about physics than about humanity, Captain Harris has an exciting ride in store for you.
A strong effort from one of the masters.......2005-10-09
This is one of Clarke's better novels. The scope is smaller than his usual work, and the plot feels a bit like a catastrophe movie, but it's very well executed.
A sightseeing shuttle is trapped below 15 meters of dust while travelling on one of the Moon's craters. The rest of mankind are working out a way to dig them up again, while they're slowly running out of calm and oxygen...
The scientific details of the accident, its subsequent terrors, and the rescue operation, are as always authoritative and clearly explained. Very believable.
Characterization was never Clarke's strongest point, and it's a bit cheap here too. Usually, it's not that important in hard SF, but here I feel it would be in order. The trapped people could have been fleshed out to make us care for them more. I came to associate their names with their professions rather than with their personalities. There are some really awkward "romantic" moments between the captain of the shuttle and the stewardess, and the humour attempts are downright cringeworthy. Clarke has the characters "bursting with laughter" over a couple of jokes that are simply embarrassing to read.
Also among the trapped is a "legendary explorer" (more or less presented as the greatest hero of the space age) who always knows what to do, and of course a brilliant physicist with the sole purpose of telling us what troubles he foresees. Including those two in the story I consider outright cheating on Clarke's part.
Of the outside characters, we are constantly told (as opposed to SHOWN) that Dr. Lawson, although helpful to the cause, is obnoxious and without social virtues, but he ended up being my favourite character simply because he wasn't so damn likeable all the time (Clarke's heroes are usually great leaders without a single human fault, or curiosity-driven university nerds, who, if Clarke had his way, would always get the girl).
Anyway, along with the science forming the backbone, Clarke's expertise in storytelling is what really makes this book shine. We follow the parallel storylines of the trapped people and the people on the outside working against and around the clock to save the shuttle. Nature has an endless amount of nasty tricks in store for the trapped ship, and Clarke presents them at just the right time, when you think all is safe for the moment. He makes it feel like you're there yourself, and that I would say is the mark of success in this kind of story. The final stage of the rescue attempt is really thrilling, and I'm not usually impressed with cheesy Hollywood scenes of that kind. But he pulls it off really well, and I finished the book feeling satisfied.
What makes this book fall slightly behind stuff like "Rendezvous with Rama" or "Childhood's end" is mainly that the setting is so small (and realistic!) that the ending becomes predictable. In his other books you often have NO IDEA how the story is going to unfold. Here there are only two possible ends - they live or they die. But he made that question interesting too, and so I recommend the book.
Overrated but good.......2002-08-26
The book is worth reading not so much for the science element but for the characters and situations in it. The plot is a little weak at places but the whole novel still makes for great reading. The story-telling is fairly realistic. Don't expect too much from it - and you will enjoy it.
Not bad, but nowhere near his best........2002-08-12
The first and most obvious problem is that the entire premise of the novel - that there are oceans of ultra-dessicated dust on the moon, and that a ship designed to 'sail' on them sinks and has to be rescued - has been thoroughly disproven. There are no seas of dust anywhere on the moon. The second is that, from a literary perspective, this is definitely a more mediocre performance by Clarke. When you compare it with
Rendezvous With Rama or
The City and the Stars, you may even wonder if the same person wrote them. It's just not as well written as most of Clarke's works. ...
Average customer rating:
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Ring of Bright Water, The Judas Tree, The Edge of Sadness, A Fall of Moondust, A Christmas Carol, Summer of Pride (READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED BOOKS, Volume 4)
Manufacturer: READER'S DIGEST ASSOCIATION, INC.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Dickens, Charles
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Hardcover
| Dickens, Charles
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ASIN: B000E0ICQ0 |
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Customer Reviews:
5 Masterpieces!.......2000-07-25
This collection has 5 ACC stories, and among them 3 of the best science fiction stories of all-time. You will be hard-pressed to find an SF fan who will tell you that 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rendezvous With Rama, and The City & The Stars are not three of the best science fiction books ever written. And the reason, is simply because they ARE three of the best! Each one is a masterpiece in it's own right, the kind of future story that could only have come from Arthur C. Clarke. No one else could've written these books. That's not to discount the other two stories in this collection: The Deep Range (which is a good book about the sea (not space!) which a very poetic ending), and A Fall of Moondust, another ACC classic. If Amazon ever gets this book back, be sure to order it!
Great book, bad series.......1999-03-03
Unlike the other Rama books, with the possible exeption of number 2, this was escellent. The plot, the action, the characters, and even the setting was unbelievable. This was a well-written, well thought out book. And the last line was incredible....The Ramans do everything in threes...
One of my all-time favourites.......1998-04-16
The story of an expedition to a giant cylindrical craft that passes through our solar system. It's long been a favourite of mine and I have read it dozens of times. Apparently someone in Hollywood is going to make a film about it soon. Can't wait.
Average customer rating:
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A FALL OF MOONDUST
Manufacturer: Dell Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GQZONG |
Amazon.com
First opened in 1895, Delmonico Restaurant and Bar in New Orleans was a Creole cooking landmark. Acquired by celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse in 1995, the new Delmonico's features classic dishes as well as Lagasse's riffs on traditional fare. Emeril's Delmonico offers 130-plus recipes from the restaurant--favorite dishes like St. Paul's Seafood Gumbo, Shrimp Remoulade, and Chicken Rocambeau (prepared with marchand du vin and hollandaise sauces), and "newer" fare such as Chorizo and Manchego Cheese Omelet, and Lump Crabmeat and Brie Strudels with Herbsaint Cream Glaze. This is, for the most part, rich, saucy cooking that requires a commitment of time--and in many cases, ready cash--to accomplish. Though the recipes aren't difficult, many entail multiple preparations (as well as Lagasse-brand products) to complete, and are probably best reserved for weekend cooking and eating. With an attractive section on desserts that includes Velvet Chocolate Tort with Clear Orange Caramel Sauce and Delmonico's famed baked Alaska (as well as a crème brûlée recipe that directs cooks to partially burn its sugar glaze--diners beware!), color photos, and sections on drinks and brunch dishes, the book will appeal to Lagasse fans who want either to fantasize about the master's cooking, or give themselves a kitchen workout. Those interested in Creole cooking, one of America's great inventions, should also take a look. --Arthur Boehm
Book Description
For more than 100 years, Delmonico has embodied the spirit of New Orleans. First opened in 1895, Delmonico Restaurant and Bar in New Orleans reopened its doors a century later to tremendous acclaim as Emeril's Delmonico. In his latest cookbook, America's favorite celebrity chef presents a collection of recipes that are adapted and simplified for home cooks, featuring a combination of Creole classics and Emeril's kicked-up creations.
Emeril's Delmonico is full of recipes for hearty, innovative food steeped in New Orleans style. Illustrated with both contemporary full-color and vintage black-and-white photographs, Emeril's Delmonico paints a lively, evocative portrait of Emeril's classic cuisine and the rich culinary history of New Orleans.
Customer Reviews:
A good book but....Seems to be missing some of the ingredients.......2007-07-03
I have eaten at delmonicos in vegas a few times ..and I tried to recreate the dishes with this book ....not even close ...however the recipes were good ...! I have many emeril books and he is a great chef!
From the "BAM" Master Himself!.......2007-01-09
We are impressed, my wife and I have bought several cookbooks over the years and this one surpasses most if not all of them. Professional and yet personal in content, there are numerous recipes for soups, salads, brunches, seafood, poultry, side dishes, meats, sweets, cocktails and libations with easy to read recipes all backed up by full page COLOR photos. Even the most inexperienced cook ~ yours truly ~ can follow and fix these recipes without much difficulty and end up with mouth watering food that will curl your toes, make you smile REAL BIG and make you say, "Mmmmmmmmmm, that's so GOOOOOOD!" Talk about turning it up another notch!
My wife said that usually there is only one or two recipes in any given cookbook that she is normally interested in, that's mainly why she buys them but doesn't like spending the money for just 1 or 2 recipes, but in this book she has found several that she likes and said that the money spent was worth it, especially the dessert section!
There is a short history of the restaurant itself from it's origin back in 1820 to the one presently located in New Orleans, there is a short tribute to the old Delmonico cooks, and a thank you section for all that contributed in the making of this book by Emeril himself that really adds a personal quality to the content of this book. This book was not something that was thrown together at the last minute that had Emeril's name attached to it so that it would sell, it is really something special that came together during it's making that I am sure you will see if you buy one. It's in hardback so that it can take a beating in the kitchen while recipes are being made. My wife says that it's also good for running your husband out of the kitchen while things are cooking!
I am a mediocre cook at best, however, when I am armed with this book while I'm cooking, I really do feel super and I have a lot more confidence than I normally do! My wife is the master cook of the family and she loves it and recommends it, I think that it is safe to say that you probably won't be disappointed if you buy it. If you're still not sold on this book then I encourage you to go to one of the retail book sellers in your area to look at the book and check it out for yourself in their store. That way you don't have to spend any money. Thanks for letting me share!
cambell cream of mushroom.......2006-11-16
I judge all books on Louisiana cooking aganst Paul Prudhomme's great Louisiana Kitchen that's a high standard but a worthy one. Emeril comes up short. When a cook book author lists LeGout thick Chicken Base as an intigral igrediant can Cambell's soup be far behind? The truth is that a lot of these Louisiana glopy mixtures do tast really good. So I'm sure that these recipes will work and after a couple of good Martinis they are just great.But they do not lead us to our Better Cooking Angels.
Cookbook with A Future.......2005-12-30
Emeril has many amazing talents, developed by zest for good food and preserving yet extending the culinary past. Here, infamous Delmonico NYC and NO are propelled into a rich future by the BamMan.
Lagasse pays homage to the past Creole and NY menus, yet gives them twists and kicks up a few notches with his offerings. It's neat that he lets the former chefs test kitchen these and incorporates much of their tastes and advice.
There is much here to try from this varied and sophisticated collection of recipes. Feast your eyes and tastebuds on such as: Lump Crabmeat and Brie Strudels with Herbsaint Cream Glaze; Oyster Artichocke Soup; Arugula, Duck and Strawberry Salad with Balsalmic Brown Sugar Vinaigrette and Candied Pecans; Chorizo and Manchego Cheese Omelet; Trout Delmonico (awesome dish with shrimp/oysters in lemon butter sauce, simple yet elegant showstopper); Individual Beel Wellingtons with perigourdine Sauce; Stilton Potato Gratin; Velvet Chocolate Torte with Clear Orange-Caramel Sauce; Lemon Meringue Pie (improved custard with thick, blowtorched meringue).
This certainly isn't for the intimadated by multiple steps or fresh and some exotic ingredients, but for rest and the venturesome in the gastric, this book is toprate. The home gourmet will have ample ammo for that next blow-away dinner party. This is superb, outstanding recipe collection from one of today's best.
Great photos as well as pointers and history of restaurant is outstanding.
Better than average Emeril fare. Buy It........2005-11-07
`Emeril's Delmonico' by (nominally) the poster boy of celebrity chefs, Emeril Lagasse, is a very nice celebrity chef cookbook. It is certainly more appealing to me than the last three of Emeril's books I have reviewed, and even better than the only one of Lagasse's books, `From Emeril's Kitchens' to which I gave five stars.
Since I have so many different cookbooks, it often takes but one recipe in a new book to turn on my interest. That recipe in this book is the one for turtle soup. I have been pouring over soup cookbooks for months looking for a good turtle soup recipe, but there are none to be found. Even better, Emeril has given us a source for turtle meat and no warnings about these beasts being on any endangered species list, so I suspect the turtle meat source is from farm raised turtles.
My discovering that recipe put me in a good frame of mind to look kindly on this book and once I was settled in, I was pretty happy with what I saw.
For starters, there is a brief history of the Delmonico's restaurant name and its various incarnations in both New York City, where the Delmonico family opened the original restaurant in the 1820's. Yes, that is over 180 years ago! The New Orleans Delmonicos founders have no family connection to the New York restaurant, although the New Orleans founders did ask for and receive permission to use the famous New York restaurant's name. The family that has owned and run the New Orleans Delmonico's sold their name and location to Emeril Lagasse's company in 1997. Emeril reopened the restaurant under his name in 1998, with many recipes carried over from the earlier owners' regime, created by chefs employed by the earlier owners.
In a nutshell, the cuisine at Emeril's Delmonico as represented in this book is a high end synthesis of local Cajun and Creole dishes with fine dining dishes made famous by great restaurants of the past in New York, New Orleans, and other famous dishes such as, for example, the Caesar salad from Tijuana, Mexico. While this is food for `high end' dining, it is not really the same as what you would expect to find from `haute cuisine' shops such as those of Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, Alan Ducasse, or Daniel Boulud. The good news here is that while many dishes require a lot of ingredients, some of which may be a bit unfamiliar to the average amateur chef, they should almost always be easy to find, with the possible exception of that elusive turtle meat and crawfish, which I have never seen in the flesh here in the darkest Lehigh Valley, even at our high end megamart.
One very easy way I had to gauge the quality of the recipes was to look at Emeril's recipe for Caesar Salad. It is actually almost identical to my very favorite method from Mark Bittman's `How to Cook Everything', including the use of a coddled egg and anchovies in the dressing. Emeril even goes Bittman one better by writing it up in such a way that the Caesar dressing can be made in advance, necessary for restaurant use. My only concern is that Emeril puts a bit of raw, chopped garlic in the dressing rather than rubbing the cut garlic on the salad bowl. I have made Caesar salad with raw garlic and if one is not very careful, it can be just a bit too strong a bite for some people.
Many of these recipes have lots of different ingredients, which involves a lot of prep work. The recipe for hearty vegetable soup, for example, calls for sixteen (16) ingredients, nine (9) of which require peeling and chopping. Surprisingly, one of the ingredients is a commercially prepared chicken base, even though the book gives recipes for at least two different chicken stocks. The plus side of this picture is that the instructions for making this soup are extremely simple. And, this is pretty true of most recipes in this book. And, while you need some good basic kitchen skills and equipment, you don't need a CIA degree to make these dishes. One of my family's favorite dishes is fried oysters, and Emeril gives us a very nice and simple recipe which should be easy, as long as you know your way around a deep frying rig, whether it be a high end fryolator, a Fry Daddy, or a Dutch oven plus thermometer. This is important, because Emeril doesn't give us the tutorial on making the oil deep enough and gives no more details than to state the temperature of the frying oil, letting it up to us to realize you will need a candy / deep frying thermometer.
Before I had the epiphany over finding the turtle soup recipe, it seemed to me that Emeril was being just a bit excessive in putting in all the recipes for staples such as mayonnaise, but I changed my mind. Even if you don't use them, at least it tells you that at Emeril's Delmonico, they make their own mayonnaise, and here is how they do it. On the other hand, I was more than casually interested in seeing Emeril's own recipe for Worcester sauce. This is probably not something you want to make on a regular basis, unless you happen to be opening `Joe's Delmonico' in New Hope, but if you wanted to entertain and really aim to impress, this is one way to do it.
Emeril, unlike some other celebrity cookbook authors such as Rachael Ray, is someone whose books you have to examine one by one, because he covers so many genres, but this one I recommend to everyone who cooks, especially to anyone with more than a passing interest in old school New York / New Orleans restaurant dining.
Books:
- The Essence of the Thing: A Novel
- The Fearless Man: A Novel of Vietnam
- The Green Snake and the Beautiful Lily
- The Guiltless
- The Iron Tracks: A novel
- The Log of a Cowboy: A Narrative of the Old Trail Days
- The Man in My Basement: A Novel
- The Orphan Game: A Novel
- The Place Will Comfort You: Stories
- The Real Life of Alejandro Mayta: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Understanding Variation: The Key to Managing Chaos
- Squishy Turtle and Friends
- Glory Denied: The Saga of Jim Thompson, America's Longest-Held Prisoner of War
- History: Fiction or Science
- Man in White
- The Dark Is Rising Sequence: Silver on the Tree; The Grey King; Greenwitch; The Dark Is Rising; and
- Rainforest
- Jobs 98: From Entry Level to Executive Positions Leads on More than 40 Million Jobs
- International City Tourism: Analysis and Strategy
- Trade Policy Review: Hong Kong/japan 2002
