Average customer rating:
- A wonderful read. I will look for more from Jean Thompson.
- Well crafted, enjoyable
- Great writing, good characters, okay story.
- review
- More, please.
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Wide Blue Yonder: A Novel
Jean Thompson
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
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City Boy: A Novel
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Who Do You Love: Stories
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Throw Like A Girl: Stories
ASIN: 0743229584
Release Date: 2002-12-31 |
Book Description
From National Book Award-finalist Jean Thompson comes a compelling, highly charged novel about a family ruled by the weather, the drastic changes that hit their atmosphere, and a midwestern town where chaos doesn't reign -- it pours.
Something big is headed for Springfield, Illinois, a place where weather of all kinds -- climatic, emotional, and even metaphysical -- tends to come in extremes. It is the summer of 1999, and through the long months of blazing heat and fearsome tempests, a quirky quartet of locals will try to ride out the stormy season, each in their own way.
Uncle Harvey believes he is the embodiment of the Weather Channel's "Local Forecast," even though all meteorological evidence points to the contrary. His niece, Josie, is fixed with a different predicament -- she's young and pretty, with nowhere to go except into deep trouble. Her mother, Elaine, lives under a façade of cheerful efficiency, desperately masking a far more urgent quest. And all of them are caught in the path of the loner Rolando -- a human cyclone from the West, fueled by a boundless rage and determined to make Springfield the focal point of his wrath.
Customer Reviews:
A wonderful read. I will look for more from Jean Thompson........2006-10-01
This is the story of a teenage girl who seemeingly has nothing on her horizon but trouble. Her uncle believes that he is the Weather Channel's "Local Forecast". Unknown to them both is that a raging loner from Los Angeles is heading toward their hometown of Springfield.
This is a beautifully written, dark and suspenseful novel. Thompson's writing is crisp, realistic, and she does an excellent job of capturing on paper what life is like in the heartland. I highly recommend this novel. I, for one, will be looking for more from Jean Thompson.
Well crafted, enjoyable.......2005-01-20
There's no doubt that Thompson is skilled at her craft. Her plotlines are strong and her characters unique yet recognizable.
I love her blunt style, the way she fashions things without pretense or overwriting.
That said, this novel lost me from time to time when the point of view began to shift and the writing style changed and changed again to keep that stormy pace. I really did not want to read pages and pages of screwed up text, no matter how "accurate" that is, or how well it gives us insight into a minor character.
As for the major characters, they are well etched and set in constant motion. I liked Josie. I liked the way she moved about the world in her own teenage way. But this never seemed like Josie's book, and I never quite figured out whose book it was.
In the end, I found the novel to be a bit like the storm described within its pages, a force that picks up characters and throws them about, a storm sometimes tame and confusing, but a storm sometimes fierce and strong and quickly cutting.
Great writing, good characters, okay story........2004-09-11
Thompson is a fantastic writer, but I have to say I was into the characters sometimes and at other times not so much. Sometimes I felt too much in a character's head, like there wasn't enough for me to figure out on my own. Other times I felt too distant, like I needed more to care. That, and the conclusion of the story seemed to come from nowhere (this was intentional, as one of the motif's in the book is the weather, how random and powerful an approaching storm can be-but I still didn't like it). But her depiction of small-town life is great, the characters are original, and the writing is superb.
review.......2003-06-24
I love this book. exciting, different, wacko (some of them) characters. liked josie the best. this is my favourite book of all time. i recommend it. what more can i say? i am hooked.
More, please........2003-04-18
While I love Jean Thompson's short stories ... being able to sink my teeth into this delicious hunk of a novel was even more satisfying. And frankly ... sad or dark endings have become trite at this point in literary evolution. What a relief to finish a novel without wanting to weep.
Average customer rating:
- The Demons Return
- Say, Aren't You ...
- Some great scenes, some shortcomings . . . .
- Good, but not great
- A wonderful fantasy adventure.
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Demon's Gate
Steve White
Manufacturer: Baen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
United States | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Dark Fantasy | Horror | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1416509224 |
Book Description
Valdar, heir to the throne of Dhulon, was in the fabled city-state of Schaerisa to pay his kingdom's respects to the recently deceased co-emperor. But then he ran into his old mentor, the sorcerer Nyrthim-who was supposed to be dead. The sorcerer's death had been faked so that he could be free to investigate tales that demons, once banished, were returning to the world. And unfortunately, the tales understated the danger. Once demons ranging from deadly imps to evil demigods had ruled the world. They had been cast out and confined to the nether world only with powerful sorcery, using spells long lost. Now someone is trying to summon the most powerful-and unspeakably dangerous-of these accursed creatures back to the world of men, hoping to conquer it through them. And unless Valdar and his companions at arms can thwart the plan, creatures evil beyond all human conception will return to rule the world. And this time, nothing will drive them back into the darkness. Instead darkness will rule the world forever . . .
Customer Reviews:
The Demons Return.......2006-03-14
In a land very much like our own Bronze Age, a young noble is thrust into a world-spanning plot. Demons, which most people think are merely creatures of legend, have begun to return to the capitol of the old Empire. The young noble and companions must return to their homelands on the fringes of the empire and warn the High King.
But demons are not their only problem. Religious and political factions are on the move while the current Emperor is attempting to restore full control over the Old Empire. Plots and counterplots abound and secrets are revealed. Just when it looks like things can't get worse, more revelations make it so. Finally, armies gather to decide the fate of the world.
This was much more of an intrigue and politics novel then it was about fighting demons (although that is at the heart of things). Plenty of action rounds out the intrigue and plotting. There is even a reference to our own world at one point. While the book has a good conclusion, there are some openings for further adventures. If there is a sequel I will certainly pick it up.
Say, Aren't You ..........2005-07-22
An earlier reviewer already noted that one of the characters is clearly supposed to be an analogue for Belisarius. The entire novel is basically a take on an idea developed by Kenneth Hite in one of his "Suppressed Transmissions" columns, collected (if memory serves) in the first volume -- what if Justinian of Byzantium (as portrayed by Procopius) went to war with King Arthur? The author then does that one better by having the central protagonist be a thinly-disguised analogue for Hal Foster's Prince Valiant!
While certainly amusing in segments, it's just too derivative to be taken seriously. And the concept of the relationship between extradimensional "demons" and mortal religion was used to much better effect in Gemmell's "Winter Warriors".
Some great scenes, some shortcomings . . . ........2004-12-28
I have great respect for Steve White after having recently enjoyed the novels IN DEATH GROUND and THE SHIVA OPTION which he co-authored with David Weber. I expected much from this book, but I was somewhat disappointed. DEMON'S GATE has some great scenes that kept me reading, but to my mind the book also has some serious shortcomings. And some of the problems Steve White created for himself.
The names drove me crazy. White creates dozens of odd names. They have too many verbs, or in some cases, too many consonants, and are unpronounceable. What is worse, many of the names are confusingly similar. For example, two brothers are named Khaaradh and Khaavorn. I kept leafing back to the previous chapter, trying to straighten out which was which. I will quote one sentence which can suggest to you how very awkward these names become: "Lanoraak, Khaaradh, and Akhraworn were immediately on their feet besides Khaavorn, bellowing their support for him." I could NOT keep these characters straight.
For another example, two of the most central evil characters in the book, a high priestess and the demon emperor, have highly similar names of about 10 letters and -- again -- I found it almost impossible to keep them straight. The place names are just as bad. This slew of clumsy names is just continual -- the chapters are salted with them. I can't remember having so much struggle just to keep straight who was who. Or where they were! This was completely unnecessary, in my opinion.
The demons were great! Steve White not only sprinkled the book with demons, but he created several orders of demons with different powers and appearance. The scenes where the characters battled the demons were very well executed and were real page-turners. These parts of the book show White at his best. Some of the magic users -- high priests and sorcerors -- were also excellently rendered. The female mages were both drop-dead beautiful and also very frightening.
Some scenes in the book appeared to violate common sense. A good example -- Late in the evening before the great battle, the king gets this "brilliant idea" to defeat the demons. He asks one of his officers if the men can find some digging tools. A few hours later, demons the size of elephants are falling into ENORMOUS hidden pits that have been cleverly covered over with branches and leaves. In other words, soldiers with a few scrounged up shovels -- in a few hours and within sight of the enemy -- have excavated enough dirt to practically dig another Holland Tunnel. I mean, this borders on "nuts." As though a writer would describe how a bunch of janitors have rebuilt the World Trade Center overnight.
A mixed bag. A few great scenes, a few memorable wicked characters, and . . . I have to say it . . . some major shortcomings.
Good, but not great.......2004-06-18
Now that one of the co-emperors has died, Valdor and Khaavorn are on their way to the imperial city of Schaerisa to offer the High King's condolences to the now lone emperor, Tarhynda. However, on arrival, they find themselves waylaid and brought before Valdor's old mentor, the sorcerer Nyrthim. Once, the world had been tormented by demons of great power and evil, and now someone is trying to bring those days back. Someone in the emperor's household is dealing with demons, and it is up to Valdor and Khaavorn to find out who it is. Also, with the empire's armies on the march, things are getting downright dangerous.
Overall, I found this to be a pretty good book. The setting of the story is ostensibly a bronze-age world, but everything in the story seems to point to the sixth century A.D., when the Eastern Roman Empire was seeking to reconquer the lost west. (I could not read "General Vaelsaru" without hearing "General Belisarius.") Overall, I found this to be a good story, with lots of terrifying demons and adventure, but something didn't quite click. The story is good, even very good, but it's just not great.
So, if you are looking for a good fantasy story, filled with warriors and demons and marching armies, then this book is for you.
A wonderful fantasy adventure........2004-05-31
Long ago, the world was ruled by demons. Evil walked the earth and there was much pain and destruction. Using dark magic, the sorcerers drove out the demons and shut the gate behind them. Now, an old evil has risen and threatens to open the gate once again. If it does, the gate will never again be shut and demons will rule the world forever.
Original, interesting and exciting are the words I would use. Highly recommended.
Book Description
No son of Cimmeria ever spent much time mourning what was gone forever....but Conan has never before lost a woman such as Belit, the fierce pirate queen. So great is his grief that the mighty barbarian disappears into the wild green depths of the Black Coast. But Conan cannot hide himself from an adventure for long!Along with a fearsome band of Bamula tribesman, Conan is transported by the Demon's Gate to the distant Pictish Wilderness, where he must lead the Bamula warriors against warring clans of savage Picts, a deadly living statue, and a powerful sorcerer bent on revenge!
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-08-02
After the death of Belit, Conan is trying to get somewhere else, but ends up leading some Bamulas through Pictish wilderness to try and get to safety.
A sorcerer, a sorcerer's comely daughter, and an otherworldly portal get in the way. So does a great big life sucking statue.
Sounds better than it actually is.
The Old Walking Statue Trick.......2005-08-16
The story starts out with a framing story set after the reign of King Conan when one of his sons is in danger. It moves to the time after the death of Belit when Conan wanders the Black Kingdoms and encounters the Bamula tribe. The initial jungle adventure is done well and I was reminded of Burroughs early tales of Tarzan. However, after this promising start, Green moves the story and all of its characters to Pictland where a Pictish wizard is working on the task of animating a statue of an ancient warrior. REH and his pastichers have done the animated statue several times and this adads nothing new to the mix. In a ridiculous plot thread which explains the transportation of Conan and the Bamulas, the statue can be animated by the blood of a loved one ... or 20 total strangers.
Green is and excelent fantasy author but this Conan adventure falls short.
Horrible Conan novel........2005-02-14
In "Conan at the Demon's Gate", Conan is in mourning for his lover pirate Beliet. While he is in the Black Kingdoms, he becomes involved in tribal intrige. Then he is thrust into a battle with Picts and an insane wizard as he is transported to the distant North. I was really looking forward to this book. I really wanted to know more about Howard's Picts (I had no illusions I was going to learn about the real ones). But this book was awful. The characters are one demintional, very flat and dull; the sort we've seen a million times before. The girls are almost as bad, although the wizard's daughter is alright, sometimes. The depiction of the Picts' tribe are stereotyped from Indians from old John Ford westerns; they are savage and evil, no act of terror is too base for them. Conan is establishing himself as a real leader, but the rag tag group of African tribsman he is leading is not fleshed out, except for the young cheif who is Conan's annoying protege, and the man who wants to rule the tribes. The style is over long and very long on details we really do not need. Just a wasted effort all the way around.
An Odd Conan Interlude.......2004-06-05
So Conan is out in the jungle, just crushed over the death of Belit, living solo off the land. He runs into a band of Bamula, rises to a tenuous position of prominence in the tribe via their ongoing conflict with a rival tribe, and suddenly weird animals start getting teleported into his front yard. He kills a dragon, then a polar bear, then he and a gaggle of his adopted tribe get teleported to the Pictish wilderness. There he encounters an exiled sorcerer who's using The Demon's Gate to wormhole things around the world to his own nefarious ends. Enter the Picts and things get ugly quick. Conan fights, slays, suffers a setback or three, but ultimately calls on deep reserves of barbarian tenacity and subtle craftiness to win the day.
This is an odd one, but good. It moves really fast, but is not stretched thin. Conan makes a few friends here and there, does a big-brother bit with a young tribesman, gets a couple of girls, and is generally The Man. If you like Conan, but want something off the beaten path, give it a shot. Three stars for originality, plot and chracter development. It does get a little hectic and could have been edited a bit better, but all in all a good homage...enjoy.
Swashbuckling Sword&Sorcery.......1998-08-25
A fast-moving Sword&Sorcery adventure that, chronologically, falls between "Queen of the Black Coast" and "The Vale of Lost Women" (both from "Conan of Cimmeria"). The plot, not being bogged down with either gorgeous or gory detail, and also interspersed with subtle humor, almost made this a Conan "Lite". The ease with which the Cimmerian extricates himself from one impossible situation after another makes the story line somewhat simplistic, although the flash-backs and flash-forwards do add some otherwise-needed depth. This is escapist fun nearly at its best!
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Bookwatch, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2006. The length of the article is 690 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: Baen Books.(Emerald Sea)(Demon's Gate)(Castrophes, Chaos and Convolutions)(Conrad's Lady)(Bridge of the Separator)(Music to My Sorrow)(Masters of Fantasy)(The Wizard of Karres)(The Two-Space War)(Blood of the Heroes)(Princess of Wands)(Blackcollar)(Book review)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication:
The Bookwatch (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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David Starr Space Ranger/lucky Starr And
Isaac Asimov
Manufacturer: Spectra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0553291661
Release Date: 1993-03-01 |
Average customer rating:
- Very dated, still fun to read
- We Meet "Lucky" Starr
- good reading for science fiction fans of all ages.
- The first of the Starr series of science fiction for youth.
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David Starr, space ranger (His The Lucky Starr series)
Isaac Asimov
Manufacturer: DoubleDay
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006ASZWY |
Customer Reviews:
Very dated, still fun to read.......2007-02-24
It is clear that juvenile space fiction was not Isaac Asimov's strong suit as an author. While the dialog and descriptions are somewhat typical of what is found in such stories, Asimov uses a higher level of scientific discourse than others do. Written under the pen name of Paul French, Asimov wrote a series of stories about David (Lucky) Starr, Space Ranger, in the early fifties. This book was the first in the series.
Over fifty years later, the descriptions of planetary conditions are completely inaccurate, as Asimov makes clear in the introduction. Therefore, the story must be read by adopting a mindset of increased disbelief. In many ways the story is similar to tales of the settlement of the American west. The pioneers were sturdy, self-reliant people who solve their problems their own way. Like the dueling code of the west, the human transplants to Mars had their principle of the "fair fight." If such a statement was made, then no person could be held responsible for any negative consequences, even if one of the protagonists were to be killed.
The setting is one where there is a large human colony on Mars and a large percentage of the food consumed on Earth is grown there. The quantity is so great that the people of Earth would starve without it. A small number of Earth people have been poisoned and the source is traced back to Martian extortionists. Their goal is to bankrupt the Martian farmers by threatening panic on Earth, bankrupt the farmers and then buy up all the farms. David Starr, newly named member of the powerful Council of Science, travels to Mars to investigate. He poses as an Earthman whose sister was poisoned and his goal is to find out how it was done. While trying to obtain employment, he meets Bigman, a small man living on Mars who is full of spunk and courage. They form an immediate alliance and eventually the extortionist ring is uncovered.
Reading this book is a trip back in time to a point where the imagination of a science fiction writer had fewer bounds regarding the conditions on the planets. Asimov could plausibly use a Mars that humans could walk on with only a breathing apparatus. He could also postulate the existence of ancient Martians who now live deep underground and no longer have physical bodies. In their actions and attitudes, the Martians are Gods rather than creatures. I read the book with amusement, it is a demonstration of a less cynical, more hopeful time, and in my experience the young people of today would find it too campy and too cerebral.
We Meet "Lucky" Starr.......2006-06-09
In the first book of this six book series it may be difficult to see that Isaac Asimov wrote these stories. In later books Asimov put in significant clues that should have led an astute read to see that Paul French, the pseudonym he used for the original publication of these books.
In this book we meet David Starr, who we will know as Lucky for the remaining five books in the series. David is eating in a restaurant when one of the patrons dies. David is soon on his way to Mars to try and understand the source of the poisoning that has killed a number of Earth people randomly across the planet.
Working incognito, David encounters John Bigman Jones, a blustering little man whose big mouth is matched by his courage. In spite of the help that Bigman gives David, David's life is nearly ended more than one time. David also discovers a surprise on Mars that he decides does not need to be revealed to anyone else in the solar system.
Eventually David figures out how the poisoning was done, and who the poisoners are. The ending of this short book is fun and makes this book a quick read.
Isaac Asimov originally wrote the Lucky Starr books in the 1950s. By the time the books were reissued, our knowledge of our solar system had changed dramatically. Asimov's description Mars has been invalidated by flybys and landings from various space craft, as Asimov explains in a forward to the revised books.
This book is also available collected with the second and third book in this series as "The Adventures of Lucky Starr" and in a single volume titled "The Complete Adventures of Lucky Starr."
The Lucky Starr books are a casual read and perfect for readers who enjoyed the Tom Corbett, Space Cadet series of books and Heinlein's juvenile books. There is a lot of logic in each of the books, and just enough hard science fiction to tantalize a reader and hopefully cause the reader to learn more. These books do have a flavor of Asimov's other books, but are less sophisticated. I enjoy these books, but some other readers may find them too mundane. I recommend these books carefully, because I do not know which category of reader you may be. Good luck!
good reading for science fiction fans of all ages........1999-07-17
i have enjoyed these books several times, several years apart. good reading that i enjoyed.
The first of the Starr series of science fiction for youth........1999-06-09
In the 1950's, Isaac Asimov, writing under the pseudonym Paul French (later the books were republished under the Asimov name), wrote six science fiction novels for teenagers about a young agent of the "Council of Science," an organization which has considerable power in a world in the distant future. The agent, David Starr, travels throughout the Solar System to combat crime and to protect Earth. Asimov was using these stories to teach the readers facts about the Solar System. Nevertheless, in an introduction written in 1978, Asimov apologizes for the science inaccuracies in this first volume that are now apparent after all of the space probes to Mars. But, as of 1952, it was accurate. (Actually, this introduction to a later reprinting of a science fiction novel is rather unique. I can not recall another author who makes an effort to point out the changes scientific investigation have provided since the original publication of a story. Asimov should be commended for this. In so doing, he continues to teach.) In this first story, David Starr must discover who is the cause of a series of fatal poisonings on Earth and who is blackmailing the farms on Mars. In so doing, he accidentally comes in contact with ancient Martians living beneath the surface.
Average customer rating:
- This Book Defines Science-Fiction
- Buckle your swash for interstellar adventure!
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David Starr, Space Ranger & Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids (Lucky Starr, Book 1)
Isaac Asimov
Manufacturer: Bantam Books (Mm)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Paperback
| Asimov, Isaac
| ( A )
| Authors, A-Z
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0553562061 |
Customer Reviews:
This Book Defines Science-Fiction.......1998-04-28
You should definetly check this book out if you haven't already, especially if you're into Sci-Fi. All the Lucky Starr books are wonderful. I've been hooked on them since I was ten. They are great for any age. Playful, well-written and in praise of science (which deserves all the attention it can get). A real feel-good-about-science-and-the-human-race/spirit-lifter. Not to mention the quaint substitutes for real swearing ("Sands of Mars!") Read them, I bet you'll be hooked, too.
Buckle your swash for interstellar adventure!.......1998-01-30
NO ONE HAS REVIEWED THIS BOOK??? Fie on you SF snobbists! "Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids" and "Have Spacesuit, Will Travel" are the best two SF novels of the last half of the 20th Century. Asimov and Heinlein.
I must be missing something. Maybe Amazon accidentally erased the reviews.
Even though the Lucky Starr series was published under the name of Paul French, they were Asimov stories thru and thru. He targeted the younger audience with these books but talent will out and I challenge anyone to say the Lucky Starr series isn't exciting and fun to read no matter what your age.
In the first two books David Starr and Bigman Jones meet and embark on interplanetary adventures working for the Council of Science. Heck, don't waste time reading this review, get 'em and start reading.
Book Description
From two acclaimed, award-winning restaurants came two of the most acclaimed, award-winning cookbooks ever published—now packaged together in a luxurious slipcased boxed set, the ideal gift for any food lover.
First there was French Laundry in Napa Valley, setting a new standard for American fine dining. Then there was The French Laundry Cookbook, setting a new standard for American cookbooks. In 1998, Chef Keller opened Bouchon, “so that I’d have a place to eat after cooking all night at the French Laundry,” and that restaurant, too, gave birth to a groundbreaking cookbook. Now, fifteen years after Thomas Keller first set foot in what would become a landmark restaurant, these two extraordinary books are offered in a striking new slipcased edition. With this year’s opening of the Bouchon Bakery in New York City, and last year’s momentous Michelin guide that awarded Keller’s Per Se the top honors, Keller is increasingly in the limelight—and his inventive, delicious food is increasingly in the consciousness of a national audience. The Complete Keller is the perfect gift for anyone who loves fine food.
Customer Reviews:
This can only be described as "food porn".......2007-03-24
These books are outstanding - the level of description, the quality of the books themselves, the full color pictures of what the dishes look like... I gave it as a Valentine's Day gift to my girlfriend who loves them - and keeps calling the books "Food Porn".
Great Delivery.......2007-01-18
Service was great. I recieved the package 2 days after i ordered it. Everything turned out great and I apprechiate it.
Excellent Books...not for Beginners.......2007-01-14
Having been to both Bouchon and The French Laundry makes these two volumes even more special. We have made a few of the recipes, but recommend perfecting them yourself before entertaining...they can be quite challenging! Great pictures too...a must have for the serious cook that wants to try and imitate Keller, and a great memory if you have been to the restaurants!
Possibly The Best Contemporary Cookbook.......2007-01-10
Although probably not for the casual home cook these books are perfect for those interested in preparing fresh food correctly and with patience. I myself am a young cook in the food industry and have gleened much knowledge from both The French Laundry and Bouchon. Bouchon, being the more accessible of the pair, probably offers more for the home cook. Yet being able to cross-reference the two is exciting and insightful, and gives one a look at how Keller came to be one of the greatest chef's in the world.
Food Porn.......2006-12-06
That is probably the best way to describe these cookbooks. They are a beautiful, sumptious feast for the eye and palate. The techniques that are taught are so valuable you will find yourself using them when not using either of these cookbooks. The pages are beautiful and glossy.The recipes, are beautifully laid out step by step. There has been criticism that Keller's cookbooks are almost too nice to use. I beg to differ. As with everything Thomas Keller does, these too are first class.
Amazon.com
To eat at Thomas Keller's Napa Valley restaurant, The French Laundry, is to experience a peak culinary experience. In The French Laundry Cookbook, Keller articulates his passions and offers home cooks a means to duplicate the level of perfection that makes him one of the best chefs in the U.S. and, arguably, the world.
This cookbook provides 150 recipes exactly as they are used at Keller's restaurant. It is also his culinary manifesto, in which he shares the unique creative processes that led him to invent Peas and Carrots--a succulent pillow of a lobster paired with pea shoots and creamy ginger-carrot sauce--and other high-wire culinary acts. It offers unimagined experiences, from extracting chlorophyll to use in coloring sauces to a recipe for chocolate cake accompanied by red beet ice cream and a walnut sauce. You are urged to follow Keller's recipes precisely and also to view them as blueprints. To keep them alive, they must be infused with your own commitment to perfection and pleasure, as you define those terms.
Keller's story, shared through the writing of Michael Ruhlman, shows how this chef was both born and made. After winning rave reviews when he was still in his 20s, it took a more experienced chef throwing a knife at him because he did not know how to truss a chicken to open his eyes to the importance of the discipline and techniques of classical French cooking. To acquire these fundamental skills, he apprenticed at eight of the finest restaurants in France.
Grounded in classic technique, Keller's cooking is characterized by traditional marriages of ingredients, assembled in breathtakingly daring new ways, such as Pearls and Oyster, glistening caviar and oysters served on a bed of creamy pearl tapioca. Continually piquing the palate, his meals are a procession of 5 to 10 dishes, all small portions vibrantly composed. For example, Pan Roasted Breast of Squab with Swiss Chard, Seared Foie Gras, and Oven-Dried Black Figs require just three birds to serve six. The result: you are never sated, always stimulated.
The 200 photographs by Deborah Jones include more than just beauty shots: they show how to prepare various dishes; how Keller, shown stroking a whole salmon, respects his ingredients; and how the perfection of baby fava beans still nestled in the downy lining of their succulent pod, or the seduction of an abundance of fresh caviar, calls out the best from the chef. --Dana Jacobi
Book Description
Thomas Keller, chef/proprieter of the French Laundry in the Napa Valley—"the most exciting place to eat in the United States," wrote Ruth Reichl in
The New York Times—is a wizard, a purist, a man obsessed with getting it right. And this, his first cookbook, is every bit as satisfying as a French Laundry meal itself: a series of small, impeccable, highly refined, intensely focused courses.
Most dazzling is how simple Keller's methods are: squeegeeing the moisture from the skin on fish so it sautées beautifully; poaching eggs in a deep pot of water for perfect shape; the initial steeping in the shell that makes cooking raw lobster out of the shell a cinch; using vinegar as a flavor enhancer; the repeated washing of bones for stock for the cleanest, clearest tastes.
From innovative soup techniques, to the proper way to cook green vegetables, to secrets of great fish cookery, to the creation of breathtaking desserts; from beurre monté to foie gras au torchon, to a wild and thoroughly unexpected take on coffee and doughnuts,
The French Laundry Cookbook captures, through recipes, essays, profiles, and extraordinary photography, one of America's great restaurants, its great chef, and the food that makes both unique.
One hundred and fifty superlative recipes are exact recipes from the French Laundry kitchen—no shortcuts have been taken, no critical steps ignored, all have been thoroughly tested in home kitchens. If you can't get to the French Laundry, you can now re-create at home the very experience the Wine Spectator described as "as close to dining perfection as it gets."
Customer Reviews:
A treatise on perfection ... {just don't try this at home}.......2007-08-20
The easiest way to put this book into it's unique perspective is with an amusing metaphor. This is the sort of book that hardcore foodies and regular line chefs alike read in the same way that a horny teenage boy will oogle a drop-dead gorgeous penthouse centerfold ... the essential experience is one of vicarious (but maddeningly indirect) communion with utterly impractical & unnattainable perfection.
The recipes that Thomas Keller creates & serves at The French Laundry in Napa Valley California (which is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest restaurant experiences in America) simply cannot be made at home, or even in 95% of most restaurants, without the aid of a top-flight fully staffed "brigade system" of supporting chefs, along with a commitment to using nothing but the absolute best and freshest high-end ingredients available, without regard to labor or cost.
The average chef, hardcore or not, simply doesnt keep (for example) a speed rack of 12 varieties of freshly made herb oils, 12-15 varieties of freshly made and perfectly clarified and reduced demi-glaces of assorted wild game, veal, beef, and lobster on hand ... and that's just for sauce bases and garnishes. Even the simpler recipes with relatively few ingredients are all difficult, if not impossible to make, without 'brigade' support, because the ingredients required aren't commonly available (or are of insufficient quality/freshness), and require skills and/or time commitments that are beyond one's ability, impractical, or both. And even if you DO succeed in making a given dish, the essence of 'amuse bouche' is to enjoy only a tiny portion (a mere 1-2 bites) before palate fatigue can mute the expience.
Like I said ... most home chefs arent going to expend copious manhours making a dish that you're only supposed to have 1-2 worshipful tastes of.
So, this is a book that you read because you want to commune, in some small way, with the mindset and spirit of the man who authored it ... and Thomas Keller is all about the quest for brief moments of sublime perfection. He will stop at nothing to attain the perfect taste experience. That's what "amuse bouche" (small 1 bite appetizers) are all about.
It's a humbling experience to buy and avariciously savor, from cover to cover, an entire cookbook, and STILL know that it's unlikey that you'd ever be able to do justice to even a tiny handful of the recipes described within.
Very highly recommended ... but also wildly impractical for most home cooks.
Thomas Keller - French Laundry.......2007-08-15
i have not cooked much from keller's books, but i am not going to review them from that perspective; i will assume that the results of his cooking practises are good, and focus more on his methods.
i have noticed that, even in the more acclaimed cookbooks, by the big names, recipes are either very sloppily executed by the chef, or they have left out steps or details from the recipe in the book. this is fine some of the time, because not everything can, or needs to be, included in a cookbook recipe. however, i have found that it is by including certain details that an author helps a reader to actually learn how to cook, and not just to follow recipes. even if the author does not present them as a clear set of general rules, specific examples still allow further cooking principles to be derived, and over time it they get the reader thinking about refining and developing their methods. the examples of good principles can be found in every one of keller's recipes, not so much as general methods from first glance, but as specific examples that point to the general method. then there are the "importance of" sections, where keller makes more of an effort to formalize a certain element he believes is important - case in point is his stellar section on stocks (though for me, Richard Olney's stock instructions in "The French Menu Cookbook" are the best of any in book form). keller seems to take traditional or classical starting points, and refine or elaborate on them according to his philosophy; he seems to do things properly, and does not skimp for time, money, diets, or effort required. other authors who write similarily to keller in this respect are Richard Olney and Paul Bertolli; Jeremiah Towers, Judy Rodgers, and Michel Richards also have good books in this respect.
i would recommend keller for those who enjoy the prospects of refined cooking done through well developed methodology.
Great (and useful) Cookbook.......2007-07-12
This book, like Bouchon, is both a beautiful look at Keller's food and a practical book for producing it. In contrast to the complaints about the
recipes being too complicated, too fussy, etc, I've found that the recipes are challenging but not impossible--if you take the time--and that the technique translates well to all kinds of other cooking. Not weeknight cooking but that's hardly a surprise. The agnolotti are great, the "pot-au-feu" is wonderful, the truffled custards are lovely, and I could go on. Regardless, this is a great book for the kitchen and for the library.
LOST FOR WORDS.......2007-06-28
Unbeliavable! The best cookbook I have, very good to read, beatifull pictures, fantastic advice ], not only recipes... A must have!
The only cooking book I have ever bought........2007-01-16
I don't like to compile cooking books. But this is the one I think it's worth my money.
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