Book Description
Caroline Berry is lost at twenty-seven, living in New York -- not as the writer she once hoped to be but as an assistant at two part-time jobs. In an attempt to figure out a next step, she heads for Point Clear, Alabama, to spend several weeks relaxing at an old southern hotel on Mobile Bay -- unaware that it will soon lie in the direct path of Hurricane Ivan.
Ignoring evacuation orders, Caroline hides out in the hotel and braves the storm alone. The next morning, she meets a mysterious man on the beach as he enters the churning water for a swim. He is Walker Galloway, a champion swimmer, which she discovers after learning of his disappearance in the newspaper. Realizing she is the last to have seen him, Caroline becomes entangled with his family and friends, and as she is gradually drawn in to Walker's world, she finds, at last, the story she was meant to tell.
Point Clear is a compelling tale of one woman's quest for self -- who finds it only when searching for another.
Customer Reviews:
Great escape.......2007-07-17
Beautiful setting and lovely story. I picked it up because the cover caught my eye, I'd love to get out to the middle bay lighthouse someday. I'm glad I took the time to read it. I hope to see more from this author.
Disappointed despite high hopes.......2007-07-10
As a long-time resident of the area and an avid reader, I really wanted to like this novel. Unfortunately, after a promising start I found it both unfocused and unrealistic. Unfocused, because Paddock doesn't seem to be able to decide on a central, strong story thread around which to entwine her novel. Is it her career? Her troubled family relationships and losses? Or is it her experiences during the sabbatical in Point Clear? Any of these would have sufficed as a base upon which to build her story, but the author jumps between them in somewhat sloppy fashion, the result of which leaves the reader unsettled as to where to anchor his/her attention and energy. Because the organization isn't there, the telling of the story suffers. But that's not the only reason the novel was a disappointment.
As for the unrealisic part: We stayed here with our children through Ivan and Katrina. As scary as the storms themselves were -- the constant roaring noise, the power loss, endless waiting behind boarded windows through the overnight (for Ivan) -- the aftermath quickly became the bigger and much more difficult reality to endure. The novel minimizes the afteraffects of the storm. As for the conidtion of the bay: I remember seeing aerial photos of Mobile Bay on our battery-powered TV, and later seeing it with my own eyes. There is no way any swimmer, skilled or not, could pick his way through the sloshing, endless debris. Wharf after wharf after wharf was destroyed, as a result there were obstructions afloat for days. To have backstroked through it the day after the storm is laughable...you couldn't have WADED through it.
WARNING: ENDING SPOILER FOLLOWS. Lastly, to ask the reader to feel anything but irritation (at the very least!) for the Walker Galloway character -- let alone empathy -- well, forget it. He dragged his parents through absolute hell for several weeks while he selfishly 'found himself' by camping out at Middle Bay Light? Give me a break. All I felt was disdain for the novel's Galloway character, and a feeling that the author took a sensationalist approach for what was and still is a very real, very painful chapter for local residents.
Point Clear and the Grand Hotel are a much-loved destination for both visitors and residents alike; I had hoped for a truer rendering of this landmark event of 2004, even within the confines of a fictional tale.
Transition.......2007-03-16
This is a great book about a woman making changes in her life and the events that influenced her. Smooth reading with a progressive plot.
Point Clear, My Thoughts.......2007-01-05
This book was hard to put down,I live on the eastern shore in Alabama, just a few miles from Fairhope, where the book is set. I have been to the Grand Hotel, and went through the hurricane to. All the places mentioned in the book were so familure, it was a very personal experience for me. I recomend this book to everyone. A very good read.
When the Levees Broke, Personally Speaking.......2006-11-09
Jennifer Paddock's A SECRET WORD was one of the surprise bestsellers of 2004, and thrust the nearly unknown young writer right into the spotlight of fame, and people in the know began comparing her writing to that of such august Southerners as Eudora Welty and Willie Morris. Some even said she was like the female Faulkner. A SECRET WORD had a great hook--what would happen if you, as a young woman, were haunted by the death of a young male athlete and somehow felt guilty about it. She put three very different heroines through the same emotional wringer, for the death of Trey affected the three girls in multifold ways.
Here the same thing happens! Except for the first time, Paddock restricts her vision to that of a single young woman, Caroline, a failed writer of 27 who is trying to get over the death of her grandfather, and beyond that, she never has come to terms with the more distant death of her dad. She lives in a horrid, rushing, nightmare vision of New York, a Manhattan obsessed with celebrity and the latest chic restaurants, Manhattan divorced from the real. She flees the deathly fake city and makes her way to a hotel in Alabama, right smack in the middle of a hurricane, which is awful but at least Caroline can feel it's real.
There she meets a swimmer, Walker Galloway, strong and brave, and yet, despite her instant identification with him, she loses him in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan.
The publishers have done their best to cross-promote POINT CLEAR, opening it during Hurricane Season, just one year in fact since Katrina devastated Louisiana and surrounding regions. In contrast to the thousands of ruined lives in Katrina, Ivan ultimately proves beneficial for Caroline, who doesn't really suffer that much. She explores the haunting loss of feeling, maybe she could have saved Walker Galloway, but the more she investigates his past, the more she thinks, maybe not. So in a way the story of POINT CLEAR is a bit like A SECRET PLAN divided by 3 + Katrina, yet Paddock is too good a writer to be stuck in her own formula for very long and soon she thinks of some new angles by which Caroline can come to a resolution about her bittersweet history.
Can't wait for the inevitable movie version. May I suggest Cameron Diaz as Caroline, and perhaps Jake Gyllenhall as the Stanford swimmer Walker Galloway? He has a swimmer's build and can act mesmerized with the best of them. And for Caroline's love interest (Daniel, the best friend of Walker Galloway) how about Heath Ledger who was Jake's best friend in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, another great story with a very Jennifer Paddock sense of place as matrix of personal change.
Book Description
A brother and sister return to their Southern hometown to rescue their younger sister from her marriage to an evangelical preacher-only to find their expectations turned completely upside down The Owen children long ago left their gracious family home in Point Clear, Alabama, in favor of points north. But when their father takes ill, the youngest, Bonnie, who has spent a decade in Manhattan as an unsuccessful actress, returns to care for him. Soon after his death-unbeknownst to her siblings-she falls in love with and marries a handsome evangelical preacher, and together the couple takes up residence in the stately Owen mansion.When they receive Bonnie's letter announcing her marriage, Ellen and Morris head for Alabama, believing they must extricate their troublesome sister from her latest mistake. To their surprise, they find that Bonnie's charismatic young husband, Pastor, has already saved her from her self-destructive ways, and Bonnie is now nearly three months pregnant. But Bonnie has only recently informed Pastor that Morris is gay, and Pastor quickly undertakes a campaign to 'save' him as well . . .With grace, warmth, and humor, Dennis McFarland reveals the common ground shared by these flawed yet captivating characters-setting them all, and the reader with them, on an unlikely course toward redemption.
Customer Reviews:
Thanks, Dennis.......2007-10-11
If you, as I do, adore domestic realism spiced with dry wit, oblique cultural references, exchanges that don't require authorial intrusion as to meaning, all taking place within marriage and/or four walls of a house, look no further. This is literary fiction at its best: a story based on the characters, not on their actions. Morris is petualant and petty, Ellen is distant and unnecessarily unfulfilled, and Bonnie is rash and probably spoiled, but I'd like to hang out with all of them. You can have your circus stories and your chick lit, I'll take Letter From Point Clear. And check out Tessa Hadley's The Master Bedroom or Accidents In The Home.
Entertaining, but forgettable.......2007-10-10
I love Dennis McFarland. I read Singing Boy and Music Room years ago, and recently found this book on Amazon. It was a pleasure to read, but it's only been a week and I've forgotten the details.
Treat yourself to This One!.......2007-08-27
What a joy! I can't remember enjoying a book so much - or so often wanting to shout "YES!" while reading one.
Dennis McFarland's latest "Letter From Point Clear" is the most touching, interesting and refreshing look at family and religion that I've read since Haven Kimmel's, "The Solace of Leaving Early" - another of my favorites. McFarland writes his characters without judgment or over-explanation; they are who they are and it's just precisely enough to make us care about them and want to turn the page to see what they are thinking next. I wanted them to be real people so that I could know them. Treat yourself to this wonderful story and these interesting and all-too-human characters.
I loved this book........2007-08-23
I have read about 12 books this summer and this is the one that really stands out and lingers in my mind. The heart, the neurosis and especially the wit of the central family echoes Salinger in a way that reminded of why I love Salinger. The writing is beautiful and the characters complex. It is a cliche to say that I was sad to finish it but it is true. I cannot think of a recent book I have enjoyed more.
Customer Reviews:
Mark of the Horselord.......2003-05-23
Warrior Scarlet is one of my favourite Sutcliffs, and Knight's Fee is also a good read, but The Mark of the Horselord beats them both. It's one of those "Wow" books - ones that you keep thinking and thinking about for long after you've read it. Rosemary Sutcliff portrays excellently how a person, even coming from and living through some terrible situations, can rise to the occasion and truly make a difference in the lives around them, making choices not because they are comfortable, but because they are what must be done. I like characters whom I can really respect, despite our differences in situation.
I agree with another reviewer: We MUST reprint this book!
Sword at Sunset.......2000-04-24
I have been an avid fan of Rosemary Sutcliff for at least 30 years...Her novel Sword at Sunset is,to me,the finest and the most believable of the accounts of King Arthur without all the romanticism attached to most versions..She has such a rare gift that I read this book at least once a year and never tire of it!...Mark of the Horse Lord comes a close second but I have read all her books...even junior novels like The Witches Brat etc...I will be forever grateful to Ms.Sutcliff !
Sutcliff's finest novel.......2000-02-27
I have read all three of the books in this collection, and they are all really wonderful. Warrior Scarlet is still in print here in the U.S. and is a marvelous introduction to Bronze Age Britian for young adult readers. Knight's Fee is still in print in the U.K., and I ordered it from an online dealer there. It is set in Norman England, and while it is not my favorite of her novels, it is well written and interesting.
I read Mark of the Horselord 30 years ago, and I have been searching for it since 1995. It is set in Roman Britian, and tells the story of a gladiator slave who becomes a king. This book was written for teens/young adults. It is much more challenging than the muck being written today. The characters are well-fleshed out and memorable (I remembered them for 30 years). It is simply the very best of her novels, and I have read them all. Why this book is not in print is a mystery to me. I know there is a market, at one point the only copy I could find was a paperback that was priced at more than $150.00.
I found a library bound copy through Amazon's Z Shops at a very reasonable price, and reread this book last week. The intervening 30 years has not robbed this book of it's power. I read it slowly, and savored every minute. Find this book. Harass publishers ( I have!). Let's get this book reprinted!
Customer Reviews:
Horselords: One of the finest pieces of alternative fantasy.......2005-04-18
Horselords is a novel I first read over 15 years ago, and it still enchants me today, as much as it did then. It is a novel set in the Forgotten Realms setting, but it is a great book by itself and no prior reading is neccesary to enjoy it.
This is a fantasy novel, not with knights, dragons, and princesses... but based on the Mongols and tribes of the Asian steppe. Set around nomad life, and seen in part from the view of a Tibetenesque monk living with this radically different culture.
It is extremely well written, and while it is a tale of war, there is a majority of time spent on culture and life of the nomad, along with dialogue between the juxtaposed monk and the "barbarians."
This is one of my all time favorites, and while its sequels were not of the same caliber (or even the same author), it is a great stand alone story, that leaves you thirsting for more! If you like non-western fantasy settings, mongols, or just a good story, you will appreciate this book.
The Hordelands!.......2004-07-27
Horselords is the first book in the Empires Trilogy, which deals with a neglected part of the Realms, the Hordelands (located east of Faerun), and its inhabitants.
Specifically the book sheds light on Khahan Yamun, leader of the Tuigan tribe and his campaign of conquest in the lands of Kara-Tur. By his side, is Koja, a priest of Furo and advisor to Yamun.
The plot as a whole is very good. The book is a little slow in the beginning, but very well written, and as it goes on the characters come alive. David Cook does a great job of presenting the distinct culture and civilization of the peoples of the steppe. He has done a great deal of research in order to provide such an accurate and lucid description of the Mongol-like people.
There are strong elements that are characteristic of the TV miniseries Shogun, starring Richard Chamberlain, that aired in the early Eighties.
In conclusion, Horselords is strongly recommended for Eastern/Oriental enthusiasts who have a soft spot for Genghis Khan and everything Mongol.
A good start.......2003-03-13
This is a good novel, with lots of character growth, and impressive characters, it just lacks a little something that makes it a great novel. The characterizations are just amazing, and the Khahan is one of the best figures ever written in the FR.
It is a good book, that sets up an even better series of stories to follow.
Wow!.......2001-04-10
This is one of those books that when you finish it you just sit back in silence and say to yourself "WOW"! Not because it had a revolutionary ending or anything like that, but because it is just a great book that is extremely well written and well thought out. Its nice to read a fantasy novel once in a while where there doesn't have to be a battle every five pages and yet captures your attention so good. What makes it so great you ask? I can't really point out one or two specific things. Its just a really good book. Read it!
Ride the wilds ..........2000-04-01
This book opens one of the best series I have ever read. It tells the story of a Koja, the Khazari monk, who finds himself sent to the side of Yamun, the leader of the barbarian tribes called the Tuigan. The story allows the reader to see the culture of the Tuigan barbarians through the monk`s eye and puts a large question mark on the meaning of the word "barbarian". Yamun is revealed as a leader full of both diplomatic and tactic wisdom, and as the story goes on Koja is being troubled with the definition of his position at Yamun`s side - an ambassador or a consultant ?
A great storyline, deep and evolving. You will not be able to stop until you finish it. And a after that - two more books await ...
Product Description
ALL THREE BOOKS OF FORGOTTEN REALMS EMPIRES TRILOGY BK 1 HORSELORDS BK2 DRAGONWALL BK3 CRUSADE
Book Description
This is a science fiction novel of enormous scope, filled with wonders. Set earlier in the same "future history" as Inherit the Earth, Architects of Emortality, and The Fountains of Youth, The Cassandra Complex is the independent story of events crucial to the creation of the universe in which the others take place. It is the twenty-first century, a world of rapid change and biotech threats and promises. World War Three, the biotech war, is on the horizon and the world as we know it is going to end. The fateful question is, who is going to choose the kind of future that will follow, and who gets to live in this new world to come?Lisa Frieman, a forensic researcher working for the police, is attacked in her apartment. Jordan Miller, a distinguished scientist with whom Lisa once worked, has disappeared with a secret discovery. But what has he discovered that everyone wants? And why do the thieves, and their remote masters, think that Lisa has any knowledge of the secret Miller guards?Profound scientific extrapolation combined with riveting suspense make this at once a futuristic thriller and a cutting-edge SF novel. The Cassandra Complex expands the scope of Brian Stableford's growing future history and adds another major accomplishment to his long list of triumphant creations.
Customer Reviews:
A weak effort.......2007-01-15
The plot of _The Cassandra Complex_ is not terribly engaging. I don't really care about the character who was abducted, since I have never met him. I don't care a lot about the viewpoint character who is not terribly sympathetic. And there is almost no other characterization in the book. Stableford gives us chalk outlines of his major characters and caricatures of his minor characters.
Compounding the slow-moving and not very engaging plot are the long, boring flashbacks which provide very little background information on the story. It took me several days to plow through this book because I wanted to know the secret.
Unfortunately, that doesn't really pay off either, as most of the characters play down the importance of the secret in the end. Couple this disappointment with an almost deus ex machina ending and this is certainly a weak effort. The concepts are interesting, and Stableford can certainly do better.
I recommend _Architects of Emortailty_ - I picked it up in a used bookstore the other day, and 2 pages in I knew I had read it before. I read it again anyway. Read that one instead. This one's a stinker.
Below average scifi.......2006-03-14
Ever since "The Empire of Fear" I have been looking for other Brian Stableford books to match it. The "Architects of Emortality" was pretty good, but this one is the worst so far.
I really couldn't get into this book. There are a bunch of interesting ideas in it, about bio warfare, feminism, ageism, etc... but they are not developed as much/well as they should. Basically, he could either not mention them and simplify things. Or he could expand on them since they are supposed to be important. Instead he chooses a murky middle path of not-quite-relevant details repeatedly-mentioned-in-passing. Sorry, but in the context of a sci-fi book, just mentioning overpopulation, mega-corporations and the like does not make it an interesting book - these are subjects that pop up again and again in SF.
Mostly, what's lacking is an engaging plot. The main character could be interesting, but her personality is complex, not immediately likeable, and hard to write about and the writer does not carry it off very well. The use of flashbacks feels clumsy and overdone and the idea of one sleep-deprived not-quite-a-cop "going rogue" and magically solving everything in one night by herself isn't presented in a credible fashion, in my opinion.
GIVE ME A BREAK!.......2002-10-09
The themes in The CASSANDRA COMPLEX are much too complex (overpopulation,longevity,biological warfare). The story as told by an emotionally confused, female forensic pathologist is very confusing. The book would have been easier to digest if it were read back to front. That everything came out nicely in the end was contrived and not motivated by any of the character's actions. Everything just sorted itself out in the last few pages. Well made stories show great craft but rarely enlighten the reader...
Memorable and frightening vision.......2002-01-24
The time is 40 years in the future -- maybe not our lives, but certainly a reality that could be our children's. A novel of frightening and important ideas and issues: extreme overpopulation, megacorps, and hyperflu wars. The future of humanity hangs in the balance. Who will determine how the scales tilt? The characters are not sharply defined, but the novel is more about the vision than about the people.
Entertaining if not memorable.......2001-11-28
Stableford has set The Cassandra Complex about 40 years in the future with the seeds of the action sown in our time. The novel is a prequel to earlier work but stands solidly on its own.
The Cassandra Complex is really more of a techno-thriller than science fiction novel. The action is more in line with a police thriller than most hard SF. However, there is enough SF to satisfy fans of the genre. Stableford tends to fall in the trap when setting mysteries in SF that the investigator knows information about the times that the reader doesn't. If one likes to solve the mystery based on the clues then the information isn't in The Cassandra Complex to do so.
All in all it was a fast-paced enjoyable read, I read it some time ago, but it hasn't stuck with me. It isn't new or original but it is well constructed.
Customer Reviews:
A New Perspective on Hysteria.......2000-04-14
Laurie Layton Schapira, a Jungian analyst, has taken the mythological figure of Cassandra and explored the changes and mutations of her story throughout history. She also examines the history and etymology of hysteria in medicine and psychoanalysis.
This book presents a bit too much in the way of details regarding the various gods and goddesses in mythology and their development over time.
Its greatest strength is the 2nd half, in which she explores the "Cassandra Complex" in the lives of two of her analysands. Their stories are very interesting and illustrative of the points she makes in the lst half of the book.
Definitely worth the reading for those interested in women's or Jungian psychology.
Average customer rating:
|
The Cassandra complex: A comedy in three acts (Plays from Palmer Press)
Thomas P Millar
Manufacturer: Palmer Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
 British
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
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| 19th Century
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ASIN: 0969327161 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Southern Medical Journal, published by Southern Medical Association on May 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1743 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: Tuberous sclerosis complex in a young woman diagnosed incidentally on the basis of pregnancy ultrasonography.(Case Report)
Author: Cassandra Caprez
Publication:
Southern Medical Journal (Refereed)
Date: May 1, 2004
Publisher: Southern Medical Association
Volume: 97
Issue: 5
Page: 512(4)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
- Unbelievable Desserts with Splenda: Sweet Treats Low in Sugar, Fat and Calories
- Great cooking!
- Unbelievable Desserts With Splenda
- Guilt-free Delicious
- The good, without the ugly!
|
Unbelievable Desserts with Splenda: Sweet Treats Low in Sugar, Fat and Calories
Marlene Koch
Manufacturer: M. Evans and Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Desserts
| Baking
| Cooking, Food & Wine
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Fantastic Food with Splenda: 160 Great Recipes for Meals Low in Sugar, Carbohydrates, Fat, and Calories
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Graham Kerr's Simply Splenda Cookbook
ASIN: 0871319640 |
Book Description
The very first cookbook to showcase a revolutionary, new, no-calorie sweetener that is free of unpleasant aftertaste, safe for the entire family and tastes like sugar!
Customer Reviews:
Unbelievable Desserts with Splenda: Sweet Treats Low in Sugar, Fat and Calories.......2007-08-24
I didn't know that Splenda tasted as good as it does--almost like real sugar----wonderful desserts
Great cooking!.......2007-03-20
I love this cook book! More than just recipes. It has a lot of info on
using Splenda in all you baking!
Unbelievable Desserts With Splenda.......2007-01-09
I think this cook book will help me make desserts I will be able to enjoy now that I have been diagnosed with Diabetes. There are several desserts that I will make & take to cook outs & parties.
Guilt-free Delicious.......2006-11-30
Great recipes. Easy enough for a guy like me who doesn't cook much.
I especially like the Peanut Butter Pie!
The good, without the ugly!.......2005-10-26
I bought this book because my husband's best friend is diabetic. Every time I had them over for dinner he'd never be able to have dessert. We'd all eat and he'd watch. I felt really bad and needed a plan B, and this book was it. Now we can all have dessert the healthy way. I no longer use my other dessert books that are loaded with sugars. Great book, I absolutely love and recommend it!!!!
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- Second Draft of My Life : A Novel
- Simple's Uncle Sam: With a New Introduction by Akiba Sullivan Harper
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