Average customer rating:
- The book was not nearly as confusing as some of these reviews.
- Some Books Are Meant to Stay on the Rack
- Likeable, but national book award?
- ZZZZZZZZZZZ
- Once was NOT enough
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Charming Billy
Alice Mcdermott
Manufacturer: Dial Press Trade Paperback
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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McDermott, Alice
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ASIN: 038533334X
Release Date: 1999-01-12 |
Amazon.com
Charming Billy is a devastating account of the power of longing and lies, love's tenacity, and resignation's hold. Even at his funeral party, Billy Lynch's life remains up for debate. This soft-spoken, poetry lover's drinking was as legendary among his Queens, New York, family and friends as was his disappointment in love. But the latter, as his cousin Dennis knows, "was, after all, yet another sweet romance to preserve." After World War II, both young men had spent one sun-swept week on Long Island, renovating a house and falling in with two Irish sisters--nannies to a wealthy family--"marveling, marveling still, that this Eden was here, at the other end of the same island on which they had spent their lives."
By the end of their idyll, Billy and Eva were engaged, though she was set to return to County Wicklow. Determined to earn enough money to bring her, her family, and if necessary her entire village back to the U.S., Billy took two jobs, one of which would indenture him for years. But despite the money he sent, Eva never returned, and then was suddenly dead of pneumonia. The true tragedy is that she had simply kept her fare and married someone else--a secret Dennis keeps for the next 30 years as he watches Billy fall into a loveless marriage and the self-administered anesthesia of alcohol.
Alice McDermott's quiet, striking novel is a study of the lies that bind and the weight of familial wishes. She seems far less interested in the shock of revelation than in her characters' power to live through personal disaster. As Dennis's daughter pieces together Billy's real history, she also learns of the accommodations her own family had long made--and discovers that good intentions can be as destructive as the truth they mean to hide.
Book Description
Billy Lynch's family and friends have gathered at a small Bronx bar. They have come to comfort his widow and to eulogize one of the last great romantics, trading tales of his famous humor, immense charm, and unfathomable sorrow. As they linger on into this extraordinary night, their voices form Billy's tragic story and their mourning becomes a gentle homage to all the lives in their small community fractured by grief, shattered by secrets, and sustained by the simple dream of love.
Customer Reviews:
The book was not nearly as confusing as some of these reviews........2007-09-12
This book offers a thoughtful, poetic dissection of a man's failed life. Okay, it's not exactly the feel-good novel of the year, and any book that starts at the funeral of a man who drank himself to death is probably not in the running for that award, anyway. I found it beautifully written but a bit confusing. Readers looking for plot-driven novels won't like it a bit, as it is about people finding jobs, getting married, making choices, getting sick, dying.
There is a specific way in which this novel excels; while reading it, I was able to visualize people and scenery and sunshine and household interiors as if I were there. This writer evokes physical space in an almost eerie way.
I had no trouble with the timeline, but I did have trouble keeping track of how the people were related to each other. Small parts of the narration are directed at the narrator's husband in the second person, making it clear that this entire book is an attempt to explain Billy, where he went wrong. However, that variation in narrative technique can be oddly jarring.
Some of the reviewers on here seem to have Billy mixed up with his uncle. His uncle was the extraordinarily generous man who gave it all to "Paddy," the ubiquitous Irish relative in need. His cousin also answered the phone day and night, often to help Maeve with Billy. Billy was dramatic and doomed, remembered with love, but he was not "Paddy's" savior.
See what I mean? A bit confusing, but still beautifully written and so very, very atmospheric.
Some Books Are Meant to Stay on the Rack.......2007-08-02
This was another dollar rack pick-up for me. I'd heard the author's name before, and was fascinated with her rise (she started as an assistant at a vanity press). Charming Billy, though, offers little incentive to pick up another book by the author.
The story starts out plodding as McDermott paints a somber picture of a New York Irish clan gathered to mark the passing of the title character, a flawed but impossibly generous. Here McDermott subjects the reader to a setting whose narrator is uncertain, perhaps to lend authenticity to this private event and the attendant emotions. Of course, it tends to have a dizzying effect as we sit there vainly trying to decipher the words and the names and establish trees and groupings.
This stultifying introduction sets the tone for the rest of the book. By the time I dragged myself out of the mire of words and thoughts, I was left with little interest for the minutiae of Billy's and Daniel's (his cousin and the narrator's daughter) lives. McDermott does have some poetic flourishes in her arsenal, but they're difficult to appreciate as part of a story that can't engage.
Likeable, but national book award?.......2007-05-14
First of all, I am far far removed from the irish roman catholic new york milleau that McDermott paints, and I do think she describes it well enough for someone not indoctrinated in its culture. I can imagine that those part of that group REALLY appreciate it.
The author protrays her hero, the dead alcoholic, as a human being as well as an alcoholic, which is touching to me. There are some other poignant characters as well.
The primary flaw of this book is the pacing. Boy.....does....it...move...slowly. That alone is annoying enough to knock it down a star.
As my title suggests, I will have to do some research on why this one got a national book award. It's good, but not THAT good.
ZZZZZZZZZZZ.......2007-02-17
I would like to write a review of this book, but it has put me into a comma-like sleep.
Once was NOT enough.......2006-12-16
When I finished this book I turned off my light and tried to sleep.
My mind would not let go. After tossing and turning for awhile, I
turned on my lamp, picked up the book and re-read it from start to
finish. This was a first for me - but I was afraid I may have hurried
through it, not doing justice to MS MCDermott's extraordinary and
lyrical writing, and I'm glad I did. It is one of the most touching
and remarkable books I have ever read and I am a prolific reader who
is approaching 70 yrs of age. It is definitely a 5 star in my opinion.
Average customer rating:
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CHARMING BILLY
Manufacturer: Delta Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GR5F7K |
Average customer rating:
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Charming Billy
Alice McDermott
Manufacturer: Delta Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NVPXSA |
Average customer rating:
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Charming Billy
Alice McDermott
Manufacturer: Farrar Straus & Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O5LGAE |
Book Description
The book titled "Charming Little Billy, The Saga of Billy the Kid, What Really Happened" is an interesting concept of the old story of the famous outlaw from New Mexico. It goes beyond the grave into a new area of history. The book titled "Legends of Sam Bass, The Denton Mare and Longhorn Caverns" opens new doors to this famous Texas robber and the hidden treasure of his loots.
Book Description
Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?
Turn to "Novels for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: author biography; plot summary; character analysis; an overview of the novel's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.
Why choose "Novels for Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Novels for Students."
Average customer rating:
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Charming Billy/Weddings
Brigid O'donoghue
Manufacturer: Center for Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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ASIN: 1560777885 |
Average customer rating:
- Major flaws, but not bad overall.
- Disappointingly limited.
- Gentle science fiction from 1969
- Wonderful plot about co-existing races.
- So what if it's 30 years old?
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Decision at Doona
Anne Mccaffrey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
General | McCaffrey, Anne | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Paperback | McCaffrey, Anne | ( M ) | Authors, A-Z | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
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Doona
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Power Play
ASIN: 0345353773
Release Date: 1987-10-12 |
Book Description
After the first human contact with the Siwannese ended in a mass suicide, the Terran government made a law that no further contact with sentient aliens would be allowed. But since their own planet was overcrowed, they looked to colonize Doona--until they found the Hrubbans. Their choice was simple but dangerous. They could kill the cat-like Hrubbans, or for the first time in history, learn to to coexist with an alien race....
Customer Reviews:
Major flaws, but not bad overall........2006-12-24
My overall impression after reading this book was that it was a cute little sci-fi throwaway novel.
As a lot of people have pointed out, the book is over thirty years old, and it shows. The portrayal of the women is enough to make you cringe. They are perfect housewives who have a sole purpose of keeping a clean home and raising the children while their `men folk' do all the hunting and gathering. I thought it was ironic that the aliens seemed to be more advanced in that regard than the humans.
Todd, the child character was written so that he seemed almost cartoonish. Although he was six he had an entire ship load of people in terror at his tantrums. At times when I was reading his descriptions and his terrors though the book I was wondering out loud if this was a joke.
Also the ending, with all the different earth organizations just outright confused me. Eventually I lost track of trying to keep track of the names of the government officials because I eventually realized it didn't even matter.
So why did I give this four stars? The plot itself was very original. I loved the way that Anne Mccaffrey painted life on earth. It really drew you in and made you realize truly how desperately the colonists needed to get out. The aliens were original as well, and I truly enjoyed the twist at the end (which I will not give away here).
So despite its major flaws in the characters, the book didn't make me feel like I wasted my time. My advice is to read it knowing that you will be reading something that was written in a society with a different set of gender morals. If anything it shows how things have changed since then - for the better!
Disappointingly limited........2004-08-07
I enjoyed this book as a child, but re-reading it as an adult was disappointing. It's hard to believe I didn't notice at the time how absolutely pathetic the female characters are. Though set in the future, women cook and look after children - that's it! The protagonist's wife is the only woman who gets to say more than a sentence or two and she spends most of her time in tears. Except when cooking. The author was able to create female characters who weren't idiots in the Pern books, so it's surprising that she made no such attempt here. Even thirty years ago, this should have seemed oldfashioned, and it certainly isn't necessary to the plot. Perhaps the sequels were more believable in this area, but I am reluctant to try them now.
Gentle science fiction from 1969.......2001-03-12
Humans are forbidden to have contact with other intelligent races in space. That edict comes as a result of the fact that human contact with the Swiannese race resulted in their mass suicide. This rule is tested when a race of human colonists finds that they are not alone on their uninhabited planet.
The writing in the book is spare and often elegant. While elements of the plot show its age, it demonstrates McCaffrey's consummate skill as a science fiction/fantasy author.
Wonderful plot about co-existing races........1999-09-28
I was so tired of sci-fi books dealing with Humans going out to murder another race. This book gave a welcome change, two completely different species working together to create a new world for themselves. I've never read the sequels, but having just read this book alone was wonderful.
So what if it's 30 years old?.......1999-07-20
I enjoyed this book a lot. The writing style was not flowery or poetic, just easy to follow and understand. Ken, Hrrestan, and the other main characters are interesting and fun to read about, and we sympathize for the human colonists as they try to understand a new alien race, and face the possibility of having to leave this paradise of a colony world to return to an overpopulated and excessively structured Earth. Don't miss it.
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Average customer rating:
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DECISION AT DOONA
Anne McCAFFREY
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GZGHGK |
Average customer rating:
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Decision at Doona
Anne McCaffrey
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000J5UKM4 |
Book Description
GARTH OF IZAR: The legend of Captain Garth, the hero of Axanar, has spread throughout the Federation. His exploits are required reading at Starfleet Academy -- where he became a hero of a future legend, James T. Kirk...
GARTH OF IZAR: Brutal injuries sustained on Antos IV forced the native Antosians to heal him by means of giving him their natural shape-changing abilities. But the cure proved worse than the disease, as Garth was driven insane...
GARTH OF IZAR: His madness apparently cured at the rehab colony on Elba II, Captain Garth has returned to service to mediate a crisis on Antos IV, with the aid of Captain Kirk and the Starship Enterprise™. But has Garth truly put his insanity behind him, or will he renew his plans for conquest -- starting with the Antosians?
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating concept, mediocre execution........2004-02-04
We start with a fascinating question: In the original series episode, "Whom Gods Destroy", the villain of the piece was "Garth of Izar", a former starship captain then an inmate in a mental institution for the criminally insane. By the end of the episode, Kirk and the Enterprise have successfully delivered a new drug that is supposed to cure his insanity, and it shows every sign of working. SO....if he's been cured, and is no longer dangerous or insane, what do you do with him? Surely, the Federation and Starfleet have sufficiently progressive ideals that they would not continue to penalize a man for what he did while clinically insane after he's been cured, don't they? Not to mention, they wouldn't deprive themselves of the services of one of their best captains when it was no longer neccessary to do so, would they? So if the cure worked, and Garth was reinstated at full rank, how come we've never heard of him again?
This book does an excellent job of answering those very good questions. And other than the fact that for the first ten pages, they can't seem to make up their minds whether his most famous exploits were at the expense of the Klingons or the Romulans (a mistake that probably comes from having two authors working together, but which it is unforgivable that no one, authors or editors, caught before going to print) the book is reasonably if not spectacularly well-written.
Not a great Star Trek book, but a good one; an excellent idea, tolerably well-handled.
Dull And A Bit Confusing!.......2003-05-01
The beginning of this novel consists of a disjointed dream by James Kirk in which the villan switches between Romulans and Klingons in midstream, although I have to say in defense of the writers than dreams often do not make much sense, so this can be explanined in that way. This novel is based on a character in the earlier original series, the authors state that this character rivals Khan in interest; I like at least one previous reviewer disagree. Overall, my impression of this novel was one of slight boredom as I read it, it just did'nt have that spark that the top Star Trek novels have, this is just pulp science fiction, average and run-of-the-mill. Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski are veteran Star Trek writers, and perhaps when two talented writers work together it kind of muddies the waters, with the result being a work that seems to be a result of tedious labor and not much inspiration. My favorite Star Trek novel is SPOCK'S WORLD, this novel is not nearly as good. However, if you are like me and partial to the original series it is nevertheless well worth reading.
Dull And A Bit Confusing!.......2003-05-01
The beginning of this novel consists of a disjointed dream by James Kirk in which the villan switches between Romulans and Klingons in midstream, although I have to say in defense of the writers that dreams often do not make much sense, so this can be explained in that way. This novel is based on a character in the earlier original series, the authors state that this character rivals Khan in interest; I like at least one previous reviewer disagree. Overall, my impression of this novel was one of slight boredom as I read it, it just did'nt have that spark that the top Star Trek novels have, this is just pulp science fiction, average and run-of-the-mill. Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski are veteran Star Trek writers, and perhaps when two talented writers work together it kind of muddies the waters, with the result being a work that seems to be a result of tedious labor and not much inspiration. My favorite Star Trek novel is SPOCK'S WORLD, this novel is not nearly as good. However, if you are like me and partial to the original series it is nevertheless well worth reading.
ST-TOS: Garth of Izar.......2003-04-30
Star Trek-The Original Series: Garth of Izar written by Pamela Sargent and George Zebrowski is a novel that continues the television episode "Whom Gods Destroy."
The legend of Captain Garth is known Federation-wide and his exploites are taught at Starfleet Academy and read by Captain James T. Kirk. Garth sustained some rather extensive injuries while on Antos IV. Antos IV is a planet of shape-shifters and after Garth sustained his injuries the tried to bring Garth back to his former health, but now he has shape-shifting abilites and the cure has proved to be worse than his injuries driving Garth to insanity.
Captain Garth is sent to Elba II due to the madness that the Antosians inadvertinatly passed to Garth while being treated. Now, Captain Garth has been "returned" to service after being treated for mental illness... and Garth has returned to mediate a crisis on Antos IV as Captain James T. Kirk and the Enterprise crew come to Garth's aid.
The book was well-written and I found it to be better than this duo of writers did on "Heart of the Son" TOS #83 and "Across the Universe" TOS #88. I found the storyline to be captivating and the reintroduction of Garth to be a strong character to balance the character of Kirk.
I enjoyed the book as it was a very quick read at 263 pages with a larger print made this book easy to read. This book is, so far, the best work by this pair of authors as found in the genre of TREK. I have always wanted to know of what became of Captain Garth from the television series and this book fills in that gap. We get a good fleshing ourt of the character of Garth.
Whom Gods Destroy ... they first make write bad sequels !!!.......2003-04-22
As with most modern Star Trek writers I always worry when they decide to write a sequel to one of the original stories. This is because they rarely capture the style or fun of the show that started the Star Trek legend. These two authors to my mind have an erratic history with Star Trek as their first novel together, "Heart of the Sun", was a boring go nowhere story with no action whereas their second, "Across the Universe", was an exciting fast paced little adventure. Unfortunately this book is an uneven mix of the two. While there is a bit of excitement in it, the plot is an absurdly constructed mess, full of situational and logical errors. The dialogue is painfully bad at times and the mistakes and disjointed nature of the dream sequence at the beginning of the novel makes you question just how closely the two authors were in contact when they wrote it. As others readers have pointed out the authors can't seem to figure out if the adversaries are Romulans or Klingons !!! Though as every real Star Trek fan knows for the timeline to be consistent (*not that modern writers seem to give a damn about that sort of thing these days !!!), it would have to be the Klingons engaged in the battle. The other big problem with this story is again the rather dubious idea that it was inspired by an original series character who was so interesting the authors felt we should hear more about him. Well I completely disagree with the statement that "Captain Garth was only rivalled by Khan Noonien Singh as Kirk's greatest adversary". In fact he was just one of a long line of interesting characters who Kirk met during his career, a number of which have featured in various other novels, and personally I don't think that Garth was anywhere near the top of the list. I suspect that these two authors sat down one day and said ... "Hmm, who can we write about to give us a link back to Star Trek that hasn't already been covered" ... and thus this novel was born. Certainly I don't believe they captured the feel of the character, or delivered a particularly credible adventure with this novel. However once again the most disturbing thing about this book, and indeed the current generation of writers, is the lack of credit they give to past writers. As with Greg Cox, who wrote the atrociously bad novels about "Khan Noonien Singh" in 2001 and 2002, these two authors are full of praise for the actor who breathed life into the central character of their novel, who they claim was their inspiration, but give absolutely no recognition what so ever to to his creator. For the record, while Steve Ihnat played the character of "Garth of Izar", it was Lee Erwin and Jerry Sohl who conceived him and without them he simply wouldn't exist. This lack of respect for the original series writers is both disappointing and I suspect indicative of why so much modern Star Trek is weaker than its' predecessor. Current writers don't understand the in and outs of how the original stories were constructed and subsequently often fail to reproduce the sense of style and entertainment that they had. As for this novel it is a barely adequate excuse for yet another mediocre adventure.
Amazon.com
From anchovy to wolffish, Mark Bittman, the executive editor of Cook's Illustrated magazine, presents fish and shellfish by name, offering discussions on preparation and presentation along with sumptuous recipes. Bittman proposes everything from traditional fare--Dungeness crab salad and marinated grilled salmon--to more complex dishes like curried mussels and raw sea bass salad. The more than 500 recipes are tried-and-true, and any cook with access to a decent fish market is advised to take full advantage of Bittman's expert and substantial overview. The book won the 1995 Julia Child Cookbook Award in the Single Subject Category.
Book Description
Fish: The Complete Guide to Buying and Cooking is a book that simplifies, once and for all, the process of preparing fish. Organized in an easy-reference, A-Z format, Fish gives you the culinary lowdown on seventy kinds of fish and shellfish commonly found in American supermarkets and fish stores. Each entry describes how the fish is sold (fillets, steaks, whole, salted), other names it goes by, how the fish should look, and buying tips. Fish begins with general guidelines on how to store, prepare, and cook fish, whether sautéing, frying, grilling, or smoking, and you will find easy-to-follow illustrations of such important basics as how to gut and fillet a fish. Fish also includes up-to-the-minute information on the health benefits of fish in our diet. In addition, there are more than five hundred recipes and variations, all of which use low-fat, high-flavor ingredients to accent the intrinsic natures of the individual fish rather than mask them. And the vast majority of the recipes are ready in less than thirty minutes.
Customer Reviews:
newbiefishlover.......2007-08-10
a little outdated but still gives great advice and good recipes. all you ever wanted to know about cod but were afraid to ask.
Fish: the complete guide to buying and cooking.......2007-01-09
This book was ordered as a gift. The recipient, my daughter, called me and said she went through the book and has marked off all the recipes that she wants to try. Her best friend is jealous and wants one too!
Chef's Choice.......2006-08-28
This is the best book I have found for preparing and cooking all types of fish. This book is particularly useful as a gift for someone who wants to serve fish to others, but cannot or will not eat it themselves due to allergies, illness etc. If the directions are simply followed, it will turn out great and you don't need to sample the dish before serving (unless, like me, you just can't help yourself!).
Everything but Tilapia.......2006-07-20
I would have given this book five stars - all the recipes I have tried are fantastic, but the summary dismissal of tilapia disappointed me. Well chosen tilapia is delicious.
Good basic book.......2006-03-10
This book covers a broad range of types fo fish as well as cooking styles. It is easy to understand and makes a very good gift for someone who likes to cook but not sure what to do with fish.
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