The Best Awful There Is

Amazon.com

Carrie Fisher's The Best Awful returns Postcards from the Edge fans to the often hilarious, occasionally tragic, but always captivating world of Suzanne Vale, a bi-polar, celebrity talk show host with a six-year old daughter, a gay ex-husband, an aging starlet mother, and an unbreakable will to survive. After Suzanne stops taking her medication, Fisher treats us to the wild, hysterical ride that follows Suzanne's manic episodes, including a search for Oxycontin in Tijuana with her tattoo artist and a new house guest in the form of Hoyt, a clinically depressed patient Suzanne picks up at her psychopharmacologist's office. Even after the inevitable psychotic break lands Suzanne at Shady Lanes, where she's the "latest loony to hit the bin," Fisher never deviates from her trademark wit and uncanny ability to find truth in every irony:

You entered the hospital broken, found some other like broken patient people, and once in their company, looked down on the other more pathetic inhabitants of the bin you shared, those flying even lower than you and your lo-flung co-conspirators...

An insider's look at the Hollywood most of us only read about in supermarket checkout lines, The Best Awful doesn't strive to be anything other than what it is--a rambunctious, honest, wise-cracking trip to rock bottom and back again. Supporting characters are just that, a backdrop against whom Suzanne hopes to find a plausible sense of self. For readers who can accept this novel for what it is, The Best Awful promises over 250 pages of uninhibited entertainment. --Gisele Toueg

Book Description

Suzanne Vale, the Hollywood actress, whose drug addiction and rehab rigors were so brilliantly dissected by Carrie Fisher in Postcards From the Edge, is back. And this time she has a new problem: She's had a child with someone who forgot to tell her he was gay. He forgot to tell her and she forgot to notice.

Suzanne's not sure she has what it takes to be the best mother to her daughter, Honey. She can't seem to shake the blues from losing Honey's father to Nick -- the man who got the man who got away. Or maybe those aren't the blues, just more symptoms of her sprawling multi-symptomatic bipolar illness: an illness Suzanne can't bring herself to take all that seriously, no matter what her doctors say. How serious can an illness be whose symptoms are spending sprees, substance abuse, and sexual promiscuity? And worst of all, under the watchful round eyes of the pills the doctors' plied her with, her friends are starting to find her a little...boring.

The obvious solution is to take a little walk on the wild side. But what starts out as a brief gambol through the scary/fun world of twenty-first-century dating becomes a vigorous jog-trot through the latest drug wonderland -- and finally a wild gallop toward a psychotic breakdown and a stay in "the bin."

Based on a truant's story, The Best Awful is Carrie Fisher's most powerful and revealing novel: hilarious, moving, and fully informed by the wisdom of a true survivor.

Customer Reviews:

"Awful" is right.......2007-03-17

I bought this book on cd, read by the author. If I were not trapped in a car driving for 6 hours with nothing else to do, I would never have finished it. It was painful. Ms. Fisher clearly paid for this to be published out of her own pocket. And she should have paid someone else to read it too, since she was way over the top.

Stringing together a bunch of "SAT" words and profanities to try to hide the fact that she is a poor writer just doesn't work. It became laughable as my co-worker and I waited to hear what would happen to the annoying main character in this ridiculous book. At the end, we both wanted our 6 hours back.

The Best Best Awful.......2007-02-14

Carrie Fisher is a brilliant author, mother and gadabout in Hollywood. She manages to prove this and more in the aptly titled "The Best Awful". It doesn't get any more grittier, funnier or insane. This loosely based autobiography had me trying to figure out who some of these fictional characters were. Although some are loosely veiled, there were others that I had to do some research on to figure out who they were. Carrie romps in the pretty playground of Beverly Hills. Despite not having her wits about her at all times, she manages to keep her nanny, her daughter and most of her friends.

Fisher is an extremely talented writer, her sense of observation and unique way of seeing and describing is priceless. She'll have you laughing and crying, sometimes on the same page. Don't expect a tightly written book, the chapters are loosely association to one another but still fun to read. I would definitely recommend reading this if you enjoy clever prose and an unpredictable plot. Carrie's your girl.

This book had me until the end.......2005-11-26

I was willing to take this journey with narrator Suzanne (and I know very little about Carrie Fisher, so I do see it as Suzanne's story and not Carrie's). I enjoyed the humor, the clever phrases, and the madness of it all. I was willing to forgive Suzanne's spotty parenting and general carelessness, because I believed that she was mentally ill and not just self-indulgent.

(Spoiler) But why, WHY, did Suzanne's gay ex suddenly return to her, not just in a friendly co-parenting way, but as if homosexuality can be turned on and off at will? I never saw that coming, and it tainted my view of the novel.

well written but hard to get through.......2005-07-28

I was really looking forward to reading this book and am disappointed in it. I found the witticisms to be to hard to swallow and the writing seemed choppy. i couldn't get lost in this book because i kept having to re-read sections that i didn't even have an interest in because i found my thoughts drifting away.
In the first chapter the narrator describes her ex husband's ability to work a room full of people with a mixture of metaphors and descriptions that i found dull and within the next few chapters, when the writing didn't recover, i gave up.

Suzanne/Carrie's Best Awful is, Like it IS!.......2005-07-03

It has been along time in coming with Carrie Fisher's 4th book a decade since the publishing of "Delusion's of Grandma" in 94'.
This BEST AWFUL IS sequel of sort's continuing the saga of character Suzanne Vale hollywood actress from "Postcards From the Edge" having overcome addictions, stardom & rehab recovery this followup is unlike any other semi-autobiographical story in that this character has single-motherhood co-share parenting and Bi-polar charting the inner working's of a manic-depressive's mind.
All to true I found having purchased and read thrice times over, as a "manic" myself for over 20yrs & I'm only in my mid 30s now Carrie has articulated just how it truly is to soar between the extreme high's to the desperate ever so black low's in an insightful, helpful and for reading purposes highly entertaining.
However it is very different from previous entries published and is a bit confusing for the uniniated "Manic" perhaps to grasp and follow but due to the material supplied about the character's struggle through mental-Illness, Kudo's Ms.Fisher for bravery, honesty and telling the experience woven within the fabric of Suzanne Vale's continuing misadventures.
Can't wait for the "Star Wars" tell-all book to come next as I understand that is the next book project in the work's.
Recommended Reading!

Amazon.com

Fern and Will, the children of a feckless art dealer, find themselves sharing the remote farmhouse he has inherited with his current, and sinister, mistress. Something snuffles outside; a stone in the garden, which bears an odd resemblance to a passing tramp, moves in the night; a wolfish dog befriends them. Dreams and sleepwalking and the most remarkable videotape ever watched provide 16-year-old Fern with evidence that the world is not the controllable, rational place she thought it was--and that her own future is to be altogether more remarkable, and full of pain and wisdom, than she has expected.

Jan Siegel has taken the material of a hundred good children's fantasies and woven a story which hovers, like her heroine, on the brink of being fully adult, with the visionary power that often comes from inhabiting the threshold between states. Her handling of shopworn questions--the paradoxes of time, the price of souls and the sinking of Atlantis--is as fresh and remarkable as fantasy gets; this impressive first novel is a classic in the making, and, it is to be hoped, the debut of a brilliant career. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk

Book Description

It began ages past in fabled Atlantis, when a mad, power-hungry queen forged a key to a door never meant to be opened by mortal man--its inception would hasten her own death and the extinction of her vainglorious race. For millennia the key lay forgotten beneath the waves, lost amid the ruins of what had been the most beautiful city on Earth. But however jealously the sea hoards its secrets, sooner or later it yields them up. Now, in present-day Yorkshire, that time has come. And for young Fernanda Capel, life will never be the same again . . .

Customer Reviews:

Disappointing choice... .......2007-01-05

Although, like many reviewers, I liked the first part of this book (despite occasionally being long-winded), and found the second half disconnected and not-so-great, that is not the reason I am writing this review.

This review contains a spoiler, which I think adults should read before recommending or buying this book to younger readers.

The heroine has barely-consensual sex with an older guy she met only one or two days ago. This is also shown, rather subtly, to be a good thing.

Now, while the telling of it was by no means detailed or graphic, it still seems to me like a very bad thing to have in a young adult novel. Basically, setting up the idea that it's okay, even good to have underage sex with an older guy you just met -- that it could be the love of your life, even though you just met him, and never exactly said 'yes' to his advances. (He tackles her on the beach.) She is sixteen, a virgin, and small for her age. We are never exactly told his age, but it seems to be early to mid twenties.

Well, I just thought you should know.

Brilliant.......2006-06-27

In our day and age, people who analyze books often talk about plot and character, meaning, theme, liteary style, and underlying approach. We rarely talk about beauty anymore.

"Orca and octopus, giant eel and electric serpent, countless sharks--sharks tiger-striped and leopard-spotted, ghost-aple and shadow-black--all gathered in their wake. In the coral-groves beaneath, nameless creatures waited with glittering antennae and sharpened pincers, knowing it would not be long now. A mottled flank heaved out of the waves to starboard, many times the length of the boat. Crawling tentacles twined the boom, thick as a man's arm: the water became opaque with a writing flood of ink. And in the midst of the chase rode the mermaid, mounted on the back of an enormous shark--she whom the beasts of the sea had often hunted, never caught, now summoning them to her need with the feckless arrogance that was her most human characteristic. At the helm, the young man heard his companions' cry of warning, but he did not look back again. The storm had ripped the shirt from his chest; salt clogged his lashes and stung his lips. The wind pricked his eyes into tears that evaporated on his cheek. Something which hung on a chain about his neck glinted against his breast with its own light, but the flicker of power was lost in the raging of the elements, helpless as a firefly in a hurricane." (page 2-3)

"Prospero's Children" is a book about beauty: where it is, how we find it, and how we lose it. It is fitting that it be written in a beautiful style. The prose in this novel is gorgeous. Jan Siegel uses outstanding vocabulary, startling images, poetic and lyrical devices in almost every paragraph. This parade of stunning prose goes on and on, not a gimmick but a fundamental part of the tale. She can awaken our senses as much in the description of an attic or an art gallery as in a portrait of a starry beach or the lost wonders of Atlantis. You can't teach writing like this, and you can't learn it; some people simply have it. Siegel's talent with words brings to mind Lord Dunsany, E. R. Eddison, Mervyn Peake and H. P. Lovecraft. She really is that good.

Of course great writing is useless without a story. This one focuses on Fern Capel, a teenager reluctantly helming a rudderless family as they move to an old mansion is Yorkshire. Their new home turns out to be an unusual place: a monstrous beast roams the grounds at night, and one of the stones on the nearby moor has a tendency to move about. Revealing anything more would deprive you of the pleasure of reading this book for yourself. The tale is a fine one: intelligent and succinct, witty, terrifying, and romantic by turns.

If you're surprised to hear that Del Rey would produce a story so marvelous, well, so am I. They seem the company most dedicated to filling bookstore shelves with low-rent hackwork. Even so, some people have a literary genius that can't be kept down, and Jan Siegel is one of them. Dazzled critics often say something like, "This is a book that will remind you why you love fantasy." Well this is a book that will remind you why you love reality, with all its lumps and bumps, heartbreak and history and mystery. They don't write them like this anoymore, expcet that once in a while, they still do.

Two Books or One?.......2006-05-05

I liked the first half of the book. The young girl in the possibly haunted house with an elemental man/mage/thing lurking outside really got me interested.
Then we are suddenly transported to Atlantis in another time with a different(?) girl like it is a totally new story; a story that does not flow as well, and seems as if it was written by a different person.
I did not like the second half of the book. It was wordy and seemed pointless. I did not buy the second book, and at this time have no plans to do so.

"The Roots of Stories Go Deep...".......2006-01-19

Fern is a no-nonsense kind of girl, who acts as her befuddled father's aid and her young brother Will's mother-figure and certainly has no time for games or imaginings. But all that is about to change when her family inherit a home in Yorkshire and her father introduces two new business associates; the cold and creepy Javier Holt and the sensuous and manipulative Alison Redmond.

A painting of a lost city, a rock that looks like a cloaked man, a sinister talking idol, a ship figurehead, a large but silent wild dog...all these elements are dispersed throughout the novel, all of which are ultimately connected as Fern uncovers the mystery of the house. Forces of both good and evil are convinced that a mystical object is hidden in the house, a "key" which opens up the door to Time; and each individual after it wants it for a different reason. Though the story employs such typical fantasy-adventure components such as a pubescent heroine, the battle between good and evil, a summer holiday and mentor-wizards, Siegel rearranges them in such a way that is fresh and fascinating, and throws a curveball midway through that changes the entire tone of the novel.

Jan Siegel's most prominent feature is her language, which is beautiful and poetic prose, put to best use in her descriptions, images and evocation of feelings. Only occasionally does it slip into trite or cliched formulas, but most of the time it lifts a fairly straightforward story into something unique and memorable. After a haunting and poetic prologue concerning a soulless mermaid, a drowned sailor and a strange key, the story switches to Fern's point of view in the Eighties, and then (as mentioned) abruptly switches for a third time. As well as this, the story is littered with smaller enigmas, some which may possibly be picked up again in the sequels, some which exist only to enrich the story.

As a protagonist, Fern is not exactly a totally sympathetic character. She starts out cynical and unimaginative, but mellows out continuously as she is faced with phenomena that gets more and more bizarre as she goes along, finally immersing herself completely in her role as one who deals with the supernatural, a Gifted descendant of Atlantis. However, even when this occurs she comes across as rather distant from the reader, and I for one never felt completely invested in her character or the way in which she reacts to her circumstances.

Siegel instigates several traditional elements from legend and folklore; werewolves, unicorns, the importance of names, telekinesis, time-travel, house goblins and (most importantly) the city of Atlantis. The range of supernatural components incorporated into the novel is impressive and lends a sense of authenticity to the entire book, though she adds her own ideas such as a videotape that rivals the one featured in "The Ring".

Reading over some of the other reviews it seems quite a few people were somewhat disappointed in the novel as a whole, mainly because of the second part of the novel seems so detached from the first half. However, it is an essential component of the novel and the time-travelling conceit (in which Fern is transported to Atlantis in its final days) is handled beautifully, with past and present colliding at exactly the right time, all Siegel's plot points connected up, and a final sentence that will take your breath away as the entire book comes full circle. It's one of the best uses of the time travel device I've seen in young adult fantasy. It won't appeal to everyone, but when read with an open mind that is prepared to see the standard fantasy clichés turned upside-down, it is immensely rewarding.

Weird and boring.......2005-12-31

This book is written in such a strange lyrical fashion that I thought I was hallucinating parts of it. I kept going back to re-read sections to see if I'd imagined the odd passages and chapters, but no, I hadn't. This Jan Siegal has no skill at all in making fantasy seem real, she just makes it seem like all of her charecters are dreaming throught the entire book. And to make it worse, she tries to pass these books off as seriouse fantasy with language and other indexes from Atlantis!

Look at the author photo in the back of the book. See how concited the author looks? Well, thats how her writing comes across, as concited. I really wish I'd trusted the reviews on this more, because I couldn't even finish the first book and Now I'm stuck with all three! yeesh!

Two stars-I did not like this book at all.

Average customer rating:

Prospero's Children

Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965447014

Average customer rating:

Prospero's Children
jan siegel
Manufacturer: del rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LRNL8A

Average customer rating:

Prospero's Children
Jan Siegel
Manufacturer: BALLANTINE PUBLISHING GROUP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OKPZI8

Average customer rating:

Prospero's Children
Jan Siegel
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVR5KI

$PROSPERO\'S CHILDREN$
Average customer rating:

PROSPERO\'S CHILDREN
JAN SIEGEL
Manufacturer: VOYAGER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S8CKXO

Average customer rating:

Yo Juego Con El Buho Prospero
Luis Camps , and Alain Gree
Manufacturer: Everest Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

General | Infantil y juvenil | Libros en español | Formats | Books

Average customer rating:

Prospero's Children
Jan Siegel
Manufacturer: Voyager
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8MM54

Average customer rating:

Prosperos Children
Jan Siegel
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVN6MY

Average customer rating:

Waste of money!

Visually stunning

A good read, but not enough for perfection

Lanterns Light

An Entertaining Read-Outstanding Artwork

Green Lantern: Fear Itself (Green Lantern)
Ron Marz
Manufacturer: DC Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
Superheroes | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
DC Comics | Publishers | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books
General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Green Lantern: New Journey, Old Path

Green Lantern: Traitor

Green Lantern: Circle of Fire

The Final Night

Baptism of Fire (Negation, Book 2)

ASIN: 1563893118

Book Description

The Green Lanterns of three generations, Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, and Kyle Raynereach face a foe that brings their greatest fears to life. The story begins in the 1940s, moving through the 1960s, and concludes in the 1990s, bringing three heroes to life through incredible, computer manipulated-photography.

Customer Reviews:

Waste of money!.......2006-01-08

Wow! This book is bad! I bought it because I'm a huge Hal Jordan/Green Lantern fan and I keep an open mind for all interpretations of his story. Unfortunately, the artwork on this project is so muddy and dark that it's nearly incomprehensible. Had I not seen this type of "let's be artsy" approach before, I would have assumed my copy was messed up by the printer and asked for a new copy.

If (like me) you think Hal Jordan's best work resulted from the Denny O'Neil/Neal Adams pairing in 1970-'71, be aware that "Fear Itself" is 180 degrees different in every way.

Visually stunning.......2004-04-05

This book is worth the price alone for Brad Parker's stunning paintwork. You'd be hard pressed to find a better illustrated graphic novel out there and the visual impact alone is sure to satisfy long-time fans of the GL as well as draw in new readers. The writing does not quite live up to the high standard of the artwork but is still perfectly serviceable and offers a very cohesive, easy-to-digest storyline spanning 3 generations of the GL. Well worth your time.

A good read, but not enough for perfection.......2002-04-26

This is one of those graphic novels, to sum things up for fans only. IT's a great story don't get me wrong. It's just not for everyone.

The story spans three generations of the Green Lantern. Starting in WW2 with Alan Scott, then proceeding to Hal Jordon, and ending with Kyle Rainer. The story starts off with some Nazis attempting to summon a deomn inside the eye of osiris. Instead they awaken a creature who craves energy. It's primary attack is to induse your worst fear upon the character. In that image they are virtually paralyzed unless they can overcome this problem. Alan Scott confronts his worse fear and than we proceed to story two.

Story two starts off with Hal Jordon trying out a new jet for the US Military. In the test it's shot down by a Russian sub which is carrying off the remains of the creature. Hal inadvertadly awakens the creature and then the battle begins. He to is forced to face his worse fear before he can defeat the creature for good.

The final story revolves around the final Green Lantern Kyle Rainer. He is still uncertain about his new gift and is low in the imagination department. When in an art museum he finds a radical priest wannabe preaching about god decending from earth in the form of the dormant creature. Kyle inadvertadly awakens it once again and the final confrontation occurs. In the end The creature is finally defeated and all is well in the world.

This definetly more for fans because it shows us readers what it is each one fears. It really has no meaning to the main storylines themselves but it's good sidetrack for those who like the series. Mostly because of the difference in costume, charcters, and the story as a whole.

Lanterns Light.......2002-03-16

Ron Marz. Green Lantern. Need I say more? This man worked WONDERS with GL the last few year. Fear Itself is a great read and Ron outdoes himself again! I highly recomend all the other Green Lantern books and JLA books here on Amazon. As well as Nightwing too! That whole series is just amazing...

An Entertaining Read-Outstanding Artwork.......2001-07-17

...I considered [the book] to be a good, entertaining read about this beloved hero(s). I then reviewed the book again and determined that the book is good, but that it probably upsets some Green Lantern purists.

Since, I'm not particularly a Green Lantern devotee, the story appeared fresh and interesting. The story generates a sense of history and tradition as it chronicles three generations of "Laterns": Alan Scott, Hal Jordan, and Kyle Rayner and how they deal with the same enemy. The story is probably a little short and that is the downfall. Character development of the villian is sometimes as important as the hero in bringing enthusaism in the plot. This, however, does not negate the interesting link with each of Earth's Lanterns.

The artwork is great! Art is often a matter of taste, but the skill involved of using different mediams in this book is truly excellent and criticism in this aera is not warrented. I think non-Green Lantern fans may enjoy this read very much - for the Lantern purists, I don't know.

Average customer rating:

Many 'sure thing' recipes!

Lovely compendium

KingArthur Flour Cookie Companion

Just simply wonderful

Spectacular Cookbook!

The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion: The Essential Cookie Cookbook
King Arthur Flour
Manufacturer: Countryman Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Cookies | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion: The All-Purpose Baking Cookbook

King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking: Delicious Recipes Using Nutritious Whole Grains

The King Arthur Flour 200th Anniversary Cookbook/Dedicated to the Pure Joy of Baking

Pie: 300 Tried-and-True Recipes for Delicious Homemade Pie

Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets

ASIN: 0881506591

Amazon.com

Americans spend over $550 million annually on Oreos, some indication of our cookie infatuation. Meeting that passion head-on, The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion offers 400-plus recipes for almost every cookie under the sun--from traditional favorites like oatmeal and chocolate chip cookies (13 recipes including the soft and crisp kinds, plus 11 variations, such a Orange-Pistachio Milk Chocolate Chippers); to global treats like shortbread, tuiles, springerle, and biscotti; to all kinds of bars and soft bites such as brownies, Whoopie Pies, and Hot and Sweet Ginger Squares.

The Cookie Companion is in the King Arthur tradition, which means that it's a teaching cookbook--one overflowing with tips, pointers, lore, and other compelling information. Thus, for example, the introduction to Special Roll-Out Sugar Cookies informs readers that thorough dough-rolling creates thin, snapping-crisp cookies, but roll the dough a bit thicker, and "you've got crunchy." Their no-detail-too-small introductory basics are greatly aided by the tour-de-force illustrations of Laura Hartman Maestro. For example, a box on bar-cookie cutting shows readers the five basic size configurations, depending on pan dimensions. Bakers who have routinely paused, knife in hand, before a pan of just-baked brownies, trying to decide how to end up with, say, 24 large squares, won't, following the illustrations, do so again. A section on cookie decoration is equally definitive, as is a final chapter on ingredients, which offers, for example, a full discussion of sugars, plus asides like "Is Splenda the Answer to Low-Calorie Baking" (maybe) and "Can I Substitute a Liquid Sweetener for a Dry One to Make My Cookies Sifter?" (sometimes, but never measurement for measurement).

With "Create-a-Cookie," a section that focuses on manipulating basic dough mixtures to make checkerboard and pinwheel cookies among others; recipes for glazes, icings, dips and finishes; illustrated equipment profiles; plus color photos that depict the cookies in all their edible glory, the book is, simply, a must-have for cookie bakers everywhere. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

America's favorite bakers turn a fresh eye on cookies—everyone's favorite homemade treat.

Drawing on the same commitment to the home-baking community that has earned them hundreds of thousands of dedicated followers, the bakers at King Arthur Flour guide you through hundreds of recipes, revealing the secrets to making your own mouthwatering cookies for any occasion.

The bakers begin by singling out the "Nine Essential Cookies" and variations that reflect a variety of tastes, textures, and ingredients:

brownies
sugar cookies
chocolate chip cookies
shortbread
oatmeal cookies
peanut butter cookies
molasses-ginger cookies
biscotti
decorated cookies

From whoopie pies to ladyfingers, it's all here in one place. The King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion includes full chapters on drop cookies, roll-out cookies, shaped cookies, batter cookies, no-bake cookies, and bars and squares.

You'll find complete instructions for making cookie icings, fillings, and dips. You'll find a thorough overview of the essential ingredients of cookie baking, explaining the chemistry of flours and grains, leavens, sweeteners, fats, dairy products, flavorings, and the science of how these ingredients work together. You'll also learn tips on substitutions and variations; measuring and weighing ingredients; even advice on high-altitude baking. Recipes are enhanced with sidebars providing hints, shortcuts, troubleshooting advice, and recipe lore. And each recipe is accompanied by a complete nutritional analysis. Illustrations throughout the book provide clear step-by-step instructions that take the mystery out of such baking terms as "creaming," "soft-ball stage," and "folding." Finally, a comprehensive illustrated chapter describes the essential baking tools you'll want to have on hand. 150 line black & white illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Many 'sure thing' recipes!.......2007-10-04

I bake a lot, and love it - and am always in search of great cookies/desserts. This book is terrific with many recipes that I know will be an absolute 'hit'! Great descriptions on baking basics, too. I just wish they made more cookbooks for other categories besides cookies!

Lovely compendium.......2007-05-29

Those great folks up in Vermont really take a lot of care with their recipe books, that's for sure. Their efforts show in this mammoth cookie book that includes a wide range of recipes, variations on those themes, and very helpful baking tips.

A must-have for any cookie baker.

KingArthur Flour Cookie Companion.......2007-03-08

I find this an excellent book. Easy instructions to follow. Wonderful recipes some I never heard of and I bake alot. I would highly recomment this book to anyone.

Just simply wonderful.......2007-02-27

I've been a fan of King Arthur flour and mixes for a long time. Their cookie cookbook has been a marvelous addition to my cooking library. From the detailed discussion of ingredients and methods to the recipes, they've not only provided some fabulous cookies for my family and friends, but also educated an experienced baker. I especially like that they provide quantities for ingredients by weight as well as by conventional measure. I have a good kitchen scale and prefer to measure by weight when I can, but I don't always have the time to figure out equivalents--this book does it for me.

One thing I've enjoyed is the variations given for old standards. My family prefers soft or chewy cookies, so I've used both of those recipes for oatmeal raisin rather than the crisp or crunchy versions.

I find myself just reading this book--browsing through the recipes, making lists of cookies I want to try in the near future, familiarizing myself with categories of cookies I haven't yet made. It was worth every, single cent, and I am *so* glad I bought it!

Spectacular Cookbook!.......2007-01-29

I received my copy of the King Arthur Flour Cookie Companion cookbook in Brazil. Fantastic cookbook! Very complete. Good recipes and reference book. E a Amazon é o máximo, preço bom e a entrega garantida!

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