Love and Other Games of Chance: A Novelty

Book Description

The flamboyant hero of this zany, wildly comic novel is Isaac Schlossberg—circus performer, entertainer, world traveler. The son of Jewish immigrants who arrived in America at the turn of the last century, Isaac spends his formative years in California, working sideshows, Wild West jamborees, and early films, before going on to India, England, Paris, Hollywood, and perhaps even to the top of Mt. Everest. Isaac organizes the tall tales of his past into one hundred chapters or squares—like those on the children's game of Snakes and Ladders. As he travels, he moves through erotic love affairs with, among others, a Jewish tightrope walker, the daughter of a Hindu snake charmer, and a mystical British aviatrix. Raucous and inventive, this three-ring circus of a novel is at once silly and grand, absurd yet full of meaning.

Customer Reviews:

This changed my definition of the word "Novel.".......2007-03-29

If a book can change the direction of a person's life, then this was my one-in-a-million!

When a friend recommended LOVE AND OTHER GAMES OF CHANCE to me, I began reading it whimsically, without expecting much. After the first few sentences, I was hooked. Lee Siegel took me on a wild ride, following the fictional "autobiography" of a man who sets out his life in accordance to a game of Snakes and Ladders. He was allegedly born in the Dead Sea, the lowest point on the Earth's surface, and seeks to reach the top of Mt. Everest, therefore completing the game of life, from square one to 100 on the board of Snakes and Ladders.

Being born to parents that run a ten-in-one in the early 1900s, Isaac Schlossberg is taught at an early age that lying is not wrong, but merely a way to tell a better story. This sentiment follows him through his vibrant life, in which he meets thousands of colorful characters, spanning from the U.S., to India, to Communist Russia. He falls in love with over a dozen exotic women, including an ambitious tight-rope walker, a slightly bestial daughter of a herpetologist, and a paranoid aviatrix.

This story has everything, including faked deaths, snake charmers, horror theater, and above all, love.

Written in paragraph-less prose, LOVE AND OTHER GAMES OF CHANCE, is an epic novel that illustrates the enormity of human life in a vastly entertaining manner. If you are one who enjoys a quick read and easy language, this is not the book for you. But, if you want a challenge that will not only expand your vocabulary but add to your view of life as a whole, don't waste a second of your time without this book in your hand.

It doesn't get much better than this! Yee-HAW, what a ride!

Really great stuff.......2007-02-11

This book is literary innovation at its highest level. Really great literature shapes at least our language and at best the way we see our culture and our lives and relationships. And if it's really great, as is this book, it also makes us laugh. Language and love, lies and religion, showmanship and again love, and again lies that probably have a lot of truth in them. But we should probably know better than to believe in them. Two of the biggest: "I love you" and "I'm not afraid to die". Who hasn't told them? Are these the pre-requisites to a meaningful or at least an enjoyable life? The book is itself an ingeniously organized board game, a game of chance. Roll the die and take a different path through the life of Isaac Schlossberg, or at least the parts he wanted us to know about, climbing the ladders and falling back on the snakes. This is a book to re-read and re-play, always gaining in meaning and enjoyability. It's bound to offend some people (can you handle jewish humor in the time of Hitler?); great creativity always will offend some. So did Shakespeare, Vonnegut, and Groucho.

Loss and whimsy.......2007-01-26

This is a delightful book. A hall of mirrors blurring of fiction, reality, illusion, intimacy, detachment, chance, and destiny. And lots of yiddish. If you want a story with a traditional arc and cast of characters, you will be sorely disappointed. But if you are willing to take a magician's tour of the world, it's a wonderful confection.

A wonderful and crazy romp........2006-01-20

I loved it. It was all over the place. How many books can have Buffalo Bill, Hitler, Geronimo and a host of others, not to mention a great deal of Yiddish.

If you want a highly structured novel, this is not for you. If you want a riotous time, give it a try.

This book can use a good editor.......2003-10-10

This book is a mess: unstructured, long-winded, and pointless. An author's overblown exercise that doesn't merit an inch on a bookstore's shelf space. Nor does it merit a minute of a reader's time. It seems that Mr. Siegel got some issues he needed to work out in his head and he used the form of a "novel" to do that. Well, maybe that's of great important to him, but to the innocent reader, why should he/she be subjected to a total stranger's absurd fantasies?

Average customer rating:

As Good as the First, but Darker

Almost as good as #1

Not as good as the first book

Plain old-fashioned fun!

Impressive!
Scion's Lady (Gil trilogy, Book 2)
Rebecca Bradley
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Lady Pain (Gil trilogy, Book 3)

Lady in Gil (Gil trilogy, Book 1)

Hidden Warrior (Tamir Trilogy, Book 2)

The Oracle's Queen (Tamir Trilogy, Book 3)

The Bone Doll's Twin (Tamir Trilogy, Book 1)

ASIN: 0441007880
Release Date: 2000-12-05

Customer Reviews:

As Good as the First, but Darker.......2004-02-25

If you haven't read Lady in Gil, read it. (Or at least go to the reviews for it and see if it's your cup of tea.)

This is the follow-up, and it's just as stunning an achievement. Few authors are able to find their balance between great writing, engaging plots, memorable characters, yada yada yada, but Bradley has it hands down.

It's a good book. It's fun. It's exciting. It doesn't talk down to you. It's like Dickens, with magic, and fewer first-person descriptions of weather.

Oh, what's the use--go read the first book. If you do, you won't need any convincing to buy the second (or third).

Note: a 3 star ranking from me is actually pretty good; I reserve 4 stars for tremendously good works, and 5 only for the rare few that are or ought to be classic; unfortunately most books published are 2 or less.

Almost as good as #1.......2003-01-19

The First book was a little better...

This book tells the story of Tig and his Bossy but beautiful New bride and a Dangerous trek across the ocean. It is a Little slow going at places but i think sets the reader up for the 3rd book nicely, with the surprise twist towards the end of the book. the humour was not as good in this book as the fist one, and Tig seemed to lack the Cleverness from book #1, but this was still a very nice read...

Relic113

Not as good as the first book.......2002-08-03

There seems to be a lot of positive comments about this book, so I felt compelled write this review in order to show that someone disagrees. First 'Scion's Lady' is not as good as the first book 'Lady in Gil'. Bradley's unique writing style which made the first book interesting is still in evidence but in a diluted form. The hero Tig is there, the same as in the first book but the things that made him unique has been diluted. In the first book he starts his adventures because his brother broke his leg and nobody else was available. He doesn't try to storm the enemy stronghold, he goes in disguised as a kitchen slave. He is no knight in shining amour, he disguises himself in rags so that nobody pays attention to him. The contrast between the typical hero we expect from fairy tales and the one we get here was what made the first book so appealing. In 'Scion's Lady' Tig is still a smart guy but not as remarkable as in the first book. He is almost a normal hero. Some of the elements are there; for example Tig is made to marry a girl he does not particularly care for and he is not bothered when the girl starts taking numourous lovers. Instead he starts thinking about how to turn the relationship to his advantage. This is typical hero behavior we come to expect from Bradley's characters. However the intensity present in the first book is gone. In the first book we had Tig's brother (he is a typical knight in shining amour) to remind us how a normal hero is suposed to act. The contrast between Tig and his brother was what made the first book unique. In the second book we get much less of this.
So I rate this book three stars only. It is a good read and I will probably buy the third book in the trilogy because I want to find out what happens but I do not burn to buy the third book as I probably would if the second had been as interesting as I hoped it would be.

Plain old-fashioned fun!.......2002-07-20

Bradley is pretty inventive. She's not the most sophisticated writer but the stories are always good. I enjoyed the Gil Trilogy a lot. This book is fairly good, book three is the best!

Impressive!.......2002-07-08

Any author would be proud to name this book among her works - especially considering that Ms. Bradley is a relatively new writer.
"Scion's Lady" is a marvelous follow-up (in fact, an improvement) to "Lady in Gil", filled with engaging characters and a fast-paced plot that is clear but not predictable. Bradley's writing style is fantastic, conveying the appropriate mood for each scene. Her dry wit perfectly complements the plot, giving the main character a very distinct voice.
Bradley's book has wonderful themes, especially the idea that power corrupts no matter how good one's intentions. Also, magic is portrayed as something that comes at great cost that should be used only in dire need.
Before reading this book, one should finish "Lady in Gil", also a good book; without this background "Scion's Lady" would not make as much sense.
"Scion's Lady" is incredibly addictive - don't start it after midnight or you'll be up past three. This book is among my favorites and is a wonderful introduction into the world of fantasy and an enjoyable experience for a fantasy connoisseur.

Gil Trilogy (Lady in Gil, Scion's Lady, and Lady Pain)

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Gil Trilogy (Lady in Gil, Scion's Lady, and Lady Pain)
Rebecca Bradley
Manufacturer: ACE Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000VGTIXI

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SCION'S LADY
Rebecca BRADLEY
Manufacturer: Gollancz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KD5LKQ

Amazon.com

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a book that most people think they remember and almost always get more or less wrong. Ridley Scott's film Blade Runner took a lot from it, and threw a lot away. Wonderful in itself, the film is a flash thriller, whereas Dick's novel is a sober meditation. As we all know, bounty hunter Rick Deckard is stalking a group of androids who have returned from space with short life spans and murder on their minds--where Scott's Deckard was Harrison Ford, Dick's is a financially strapped municipal employee with bills to pay and a depressed wife. In a world where most animals have died, and pet keeping is a social duty, he can only afford a robot imitation, unless he gets a big financial break.

The genetically warped "chickenhead" John Isidore has visions of a tomb-world where entropy has finally won. And everyone plugs in to the spiritual agony of Mercer, whose sufferings for the sins of humanity are broadcast several times a day. Prefiguring the religious obsessions of Dick's last novels, this book asks dark questions about identity and altruism. After all, is it right to kill the killers just because Mercer says so? --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

It was January 2021, and Rick Deckard had a license to kill.
Somewhere among the hordes of humans out there, lurked several rogue androids. Deckard's assignmet--find them and then..."retire" them. Trouble was, the androids all looked exactly like humans, and they didn't want to be found!

Customer Reviews:

Just as fun reading as it is to watch the movie.......2007-06-30

When I saw Blade Runner for the first time I realized that I had just seen something that was original, smart and that related to me in many, many ways.

I found out that it was loosely based on the book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and decided that if the movie is as good as it is and it's a condensed version of the story in the book, than the book should be just as good, if not better.

I ordered it from Amazon and started reading. I was only a few pages in when I realized just how "loosely" the movie was based on the book. The book was an entirely different experience.

This book is filled with compelling drama, deception, sci-fi, and 1940's crime-noir style storytelling (complete with the classic femme-fatal) and it does not dissapoint.

Sure, you already paid to see the movie, and you might be thinking, "Why would I pay to read the same story?" You aren't. You will be pleased with this book emensely - it's a completely different story.

thought provoking but less than great prose.......2007-06-18

Androids takes place in a not-so-distant future where a world war has spread a cloud of radioactive dust across the globe, many forms of animal species are extinct, many of the survivors have emigrated to colonies on Mars and the remaining humans are encouraged to emigrate, except for those who have been tested and classified as "specials" meaning the ones with diminished mental abilities because they have been affected severely from radiation. Emigrants are given androids, very sophisticated robots, as slaves. As the technology gets better, newly manufactured androids become more and more human-like, both in appearance and behavior, to the point that they are very hard to distinguish. Discontented androids sometimes kill their masters and find ways to smuggle themselves to earth, in hopes for a better life. In the post-world war earth, life is regarded so precious that owning and caring for an animal is both considered a highly moral life and a status symbol. Because real animals are so rare, many people have fake, very sophisticated and real-like electronic animals that they care for and hide from their neighbors the fact that their animal is fake. On the one hand there are bounty hunters who catch and kill androids, human robots which dreamt of a better life, evidently with some feelings. And on the other hand there is the value which people place upon animal robots. On the one hand there are intelligent, sophisticated androids like the one who made a successful carrier on earth as an opera singer; on the other hand there are hunters who emotionlessly kill her without regard to her artistic talent, or there are simple-minded specials. Throughout the plot, readers are given a lot to think about questions like what is life, what is empathy, where do you draw a line between the value of real and artificial life? It is a philosophical novel and the author puts all these questions before us with brilliant comparisons between characters. The only negative feeling that one might get is the unusual, somewhat simple prose style but overall, a very good, thought provoking novel.

Things Pretending to be People.......2007-03-24

This anti-robot novel is oft misunderstood by those who come to it with expectations formed by the pro-robot movie. The novel is essentially a paranoid fantasy about machines which pretend to be people. The pretense is so horrifyingly effective that a bounty hunter engaged in the entirely necessary task of rooting out and destroying these monsters finds that his own humanity has become imperiled.

Originally entitled "DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP," this novel was re-titled "BLADE RUNNER" to tie it to the Ridley Scott film loosely based on it. It remains available under either title (and with separate entries on AMAZON), but it is the same book. The film studio wanted to market a "novelization" of the film, but PKD adamantly refused to authorize this, forcing them to instead market his original novel under the film's title. Good move, Phil!

This decision, however, has led to confusion and/or disappointment when readers approach the novel with expectations formed by the film. Many reviewers here (whether they like the book, the film, or both) have commented on how different they are. Few seem to realize, however, the extent that they are in direct and fundamental conflict. Some praise the book for tearing down the distinction between man and machine or promoting other nihilistic views and pro-robot messages that the author would have found abhorent. Others pan it for lack of focus in failing to promote the film's pro-robot agenda as effectively as the film did.

That conflict may be summarized as follows: The book is anti-robot and pro-human, and seeks to uphold the distinction between robot and human, and between illusion and reality, in the face of a most-insidious challenge. The film was pro-robot and anti-human, promoting the idea that a compelling illusion is equivalent to reality, and that its ruthless robots were, if anything, better than humans.

The book glorifies the common man for his basic decency -- specifically his capacity for basic empathy and compassion -- and deplores the robots for their complete lack of these qualities. In the book, even a "chickenhead" (a mentally retarded human mutant) is infinitely more valuable than the smartest robot. The film on the other hand, glorifies the robot as a sort of superman ("more human than human") -- stronger, faster, more beautiful, more intelligent, -- who seem poised to inherit the future on a dying Earth. The film even seems to admire the robots for their ruthlessness.

The book makes Deckard (the protagonist) human, and loyal to humans. The film has Deckard switch sides and join the robots. Indeed, in the film (not the book) Deckard may himself be a robot (the latter is never made explicit, but director has made clear it is what he intended). This means that, in the FILM, there are virtually no sympathetic human characters -- those characters who suggest that a man is worth more than a computer program are portrayed as bigots.

In PKD's view, the androids are unquestionably monsters who must be destroyed. The irony, and the central problem posed in the novel, is that their ability to SEEM human (which,, in the NOVEL, is never more than meticulously-programmed fakery), means that those who must destroy robots risk damage to their own humanity in the process. Thus, the author approves of Deckard's wife, whose sympathy for the "poor andys" is evidence of her humanity, while still approving of Deckard's assignment.

In the novel, the robots' increased ability to fool the VK test is merely an advance in programmed mimicry of human test responses. The film, on the other hand, treats the improved performance on the VK test as evidence that the robots are truly "human". But the film's robots do not demonstrate compassion in any meaningful way. The agenda of the film is NOT so mcuh to show that robots are as compassionate as humans, but rather to show that humans are as ruthless as robots (as evidenced, mainly, by their willingness to kill robots). This agenda is eerily similar to that of the TV androids near the end of the novel, who set out to expose human empathy as a myth.

In the novel, the title question must be answered in the negative. Androids DON'T care about other creatures. It is humans who have the capacity care about other creatures -- ironically, even about androids -- even electric sheep.

So many, even among the author's admirers, have missed the novel's true focus that it may be best to defend my interpretation with a quote from the author himself, made shortly before his death (quoted in the book "Future Noir"):

"To me, the replicants are deplorable. They are cruel, they are cold,
they are heartless. They have no empathy, which is how the
Voight-Kampff test catches them out, and don't care about what happens
to other creatures. They are essentially less-than-human entities.

"Ridley, on the other hand, said he regarded them as supermen who
couldn't fly. He said they were smarter, stronger, and had faster
reflexes than humans. 'Golly!' That's all I could think of to reply
to that one. I mean, Ridley's attitude was quite a divergence from my
original point of view, since the theme of my book is that Deckard is
dehumanized through tracking down the androids. When I mentioned
this, Ridley said that he considered it an intellectual idea, and that
he was not interested in making an esoteric film."

Read all Dick's writing as a body of work.......2007-03-09

Philip K. Dick's work has to be taken as a body. All of it encompasses what I call his "ironic paranoia." "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" fits right into this.

The problems with Dick's films are two. They are either (1) too philosophical or (2) action films. Or they are both. What they have not been is ironical. And without irony, you haven't got Dick.

"Minority Report," "Blade Runner," and even "Screamers" were enjoyable films. But they all lacked Dick's wit. Only "Total Recall" came close, with its unexpected twists feeding on paranoia, though the overall result was more burlesque than satire.

Stick with "Androids" and the other novels and short stories, especially the earlier ones (through 1965). Taken as a body of work, they are monumental.

Much different than the movie. .......2007-01-05

Phil's story has a very differnt tone, a married cop, machines with slightly different motives, and much more back story on earth and what is motivating folks. I think in making the movie it was best to cut out the marriage as well as the backstory on why people all crave to have their very own animal such as sheep, horse, goats, cats and yes even electric sheep.
Nevertheless I loved this book for all its differences.

Average customer rating:

The bladerunner
Alan Edward Nourse
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Blade Runner: A Movie

ASIN: 0345246543

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Bladerunner screenplay script
Hampton Fletcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Ring-bound

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000PD17S6

Product Description

screenplay

Bladerunner. American Cinematographer July 1982.

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Bladerunner. American Cinematographer July 1982.
Philip K. based on his work Dick
Manufacturer: American Cinematographer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UUMHWY

The Days of the Perky Rat (The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Vol. 4)

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The Days of the Perky Rat (The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick, Vol. 4)
Philip K. Dick
Manufacturer: Underwood/Miller
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TT5N0E

Product Description

A collection of 19 short stories by Philip K. Dick. Including 'The minority Report' (On which the Tom Cruise movie was loosely based). Philip K. Dick is considered one of the great Sci-Fi writers of our time. A must have for any sci-fi collection.

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Bladerunner
Alan Nourse
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NSME1M

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BLADERUNNER 2 THE EDGE OF HUMAN
K.W. Jeter
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P0ZFA0

Amazon.com

By now just about everybody whose interest in eating runs deeper than fast food knows about Alice Waters. The creator of Chez Panisse, the legendary restaurant in Berkeley, California, that helped create a modern American cuisine based on fresh ingredients, she is also equally well-known as a teacher and cookbook author. Chez Panisse Vegetables is one of the best new cookbooks of the season; it's as useful for its information about vegetables and how to use and handle them as it is for its irresistible recipes, which lead to complex and interesting dishes built from simple ingredients and simple techniques.

Book Description

For twenty-five years, Alice Waters and her friends at Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California have dedicated themselves to the ideal of serving the finest, freshest foods with simplicity and style. From tender baby asparagus in early spring, to the colorful spectrum of peppers at the height of summer; crisp, leafy chicories in autumn, to sweet butternut squash in the dark of winter, much of the inspiration about what to put on the menu comes from the high quality produce Waters and her chefs seek out year-round.

Using the treasures from the earth , Chez Panisse Vegetables offers endless possibilities for any occasion. Try Grilled Radicchio Risotto with Balsamic Vinegar at your next dinner party, or Pizza with Red and Yellow Peppers for a summer evening at home. Why not forgo green-leaf lettuce, and opt for Artichoke and Grapefruit Salad drizzled with extra-virgin olive oil? Or serve Corn Cakes with fresh berries for breakfast instead of cereal?

Throughout Vegetables, Waters shares her energy and enthusiasm for what she describes as "living foods." When she first began in the restaurant business, the selection of good-quality vegetables was so limited that she found herself searching out farmers with whom she might do business. Luckily, today's explosion of markets and organic farms across the country ensures that any home cook can find freshly harvested produce to put on the table. And with the increased popularity of home gardening, more and more people are taking their vegetables straight from the earth and into the kitchen.

Cooks, gardeners, vegetarians and everyone who appreciates good food will find Chez Panisse Vegetables to be not only a cookbook, but a valuable resource for selecting and serving fine produce. From popular vegetables like corn, tomatoes and carrots, to more unusual selections like chard, amaranth greens and sorrel, Vegetables offers detailed information about the seasonal availability, proper look, flavor and preparation of each selection. Arranged alphabetically by vegetable, and filled with colorful linocut images, Chez Panisse Vegetables makes it easy for a cook to find a tempting recipe for whatever he or she has brought home from the market.

Customer Reviews:

All you need.......2007-06-13

Vegetables never tasted so good. I wish I had this book years ago. I wish my mom had it when I was growing up. Trained cooks and newbies can benefit from this book.

Not my favorite.......2007-04-22

In my first go-over of a cookbook, I look for the inspiring recipes. Well, I found none here. The incredible amount of space given to discussing the vegetables themselves is a waste. I have other sources for that information. And, the lack of pictures or drawings of the completed dishes is a serious omission. I love Alice Waters and what she has done for American cuisine, but save your money.

A Touchstone Recipe Book .......2006-06-17

This gorgeous book looks like an art piece, reads like an authority, and has wonderful recipes for the chef. I love this book! Vegetables is a book that I pull out to just read about squash varieties with no inttention of cooking them! The recipes are divine.

The most beautiful cookbook you've ever seen..........2005-12-10

It's my sister's, so I've only made one recipe from it. A great (easy) butternut squash recipe for Thanksgiving. I've asked for it for Christmas. Reason one - to have the most lovely cookbook I've ever seen. Reason two - to put an end to my long-time search for good vegetable side and main dishes.

Excellent Source for Vegetable Dishes, But Not the Best........2005-01-02

`Chez Panisse Vegetables' by Alice Waters is a book you will want to seriously consider for your library in general, and especially if you are very fond of cooking vegetable dishes. This is not to say this is the best book on the veggie bookshelf, as there are several, both vegetarian and non that are as good or better. The most similar volume is `Vegetables Every Day' by Jack Bishop which, like Waters' volume is organized by vegetable. And, in most easily measurable regards, Bishop's book is superior if you simply cannot have more than one veggie book on your shelves.

For starters, Bishop's book weights in at 388 pages for a list price of $30 while Ms. Waters has 336 pages for a list price of $35. Bishop covers 68 named vegetables in his table of contents while Waters covers only 44; however, some of her 44 chapters cover two similar veggies, as in the chapter on broccoli and broccoli raab. Yet, while Waters gives us five recipes on these two products, Bishop gives us eleven (11) recipes on broccoli and four recipes for broccoli raab.

Bishop also gives a lot more routine information on each vegetable. Every article, regardless of how many recipes may be given, has the same seven (7) paragraphs in the introductory article. The first paragraph simply introduces you to the vegetable and gives you a general idea of the appeal and usability of the vegetable. The next paragraph on availability gives the best season for the produce and whether or not the vegetable is currently available year round in American markets. The third paragraph on selection gives us criteria for whether we want to pick up today's selection of a species or let it alone. The paragraph on storage is especially useful, as there is probably very little wisdom handed down from your Eastern European grandma on storing tomatillos, taro, or jicama or from your Mexican mom on dealing with arugula, bok choy, or burdock. The basic preparation paragraph can be simple for leafy greens or very complicated for artichokes. The very short section on best cooking methods is primarily useful for totally unfamiliar vegetables. A very useful last entry gives recipes on other vegetables in which the titular ingredient appears.

But then, this review is about Waters' book, so let's get back to it. From the point of view of a book lover, there are a few things that recommend this book. First, like all of the Chez Panisse cookbooks, this one is very attractively illustrated in a vaguely French Art Nouveau style with what appear to be color pencil drawings for each vegetable. The table of contents also has the complete title of every recipe in the front of the book, which is a great help if you happen to be doing a quick search for a particular carrot or sweet potato recipe. Ms. Waters' volume also includes recipes for some vegetables not covered in Mr. Bishop's book such as Amaranth Greens, but Mr. Bishop returns the favor by covering several not highlighted by Ms. Waters.

Even though Ms. Waters dedicates more pages to mushrooms than does Mr. Bishop, Bishop offers fourteen (14) mushroom recipes to Ms. Waters twelve (12). And, Mr. Bishop tends to give more basic and more traditional recipes. Among his mushroom recipes, for example, he has a recipe for duxelles and for duxelles with scrambled eggs. Bishop also includes more recipes that include meat; but neither book should be considered a vegan or vegetarian book, as both make heavy use of dairy products in their recipes.

The two most positive things I can say about Ms. Waters book are that there is very little overlap of recipes between her book and Mr. Bishop's book and her comments are much more fun to read between commercials while watching Rachael Ray or Alton Brown on the Food Network. The introductory text is less formal, but more interesting.

While I have had Ms. Waters' book longer than I have had Mr. Bishop's volume, I still go to Chez Panisse first over all my other vegetable books, as Waters' recipes are simple, elegant, and very well explained. I go to Bishop second if I can't find anything that appeals to me from Miss Alice.

If you can, get both of these books over any other vegetable cookbook I have seen (although I have certainly not seen all). But do not get them if you need strictly vegetarian recipes. For those, see Deborah Madison's books, `The Modern Vegetarian Kitchen' by Peter Berley, or Crescent Dragonwagon's encyclopedic `Passionate Vegetarian'.

Highly recommended for foodies and cookbook collectors.

Chez Panisse Fruits and Vegetables Two-Book Set: Chez Panisse Fruits and Chez Penisse Vegetables

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Chez Panisse Fruits and Vegetables Two-Book Set: Chez Panisse Fruits and Chez Penisse Vegetables
Alice Waters
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Fruits | Cooking by Ingredient | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Vegetables | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0060537426

Vegetables of Chez Panisse 2003 Engagement Calendar

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Vegetables of Chez Panisse 2003 Engagement Calendar
Chez Panisse , Alice Waters , and Patricia Curtan
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound

Vegetables | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This engagement calendar features beautifully detailed illustrations of vegetables culled from the restaurant's menus and the cookbook Chez Panisse Vegetables, along with new vegetable recipes.

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Chez Panisse Vegetables
Alice L. Waters
Manufacturer: Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEHUXC

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Chez Panisse Vegetables
Alice; Streiff, Fritz; Tangren, Alan Waters
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PBH6RO

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