Zwilling's Dream

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"A father passed down to his son no legacy worse than a lack of initiative."

This is what fiction's supposed to do

WONDERFUL! A STORY WITHIN A NOVEL WITHIN A SCREENPLAY

Zwilling's Dream
Ross Feld
Manufacturer: Counterpoint
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1582430217

Book Description

This richly ironic comedy is a nimble juggle of shifting realities, where the briefest collisions of experience shape the lives of a middle-aged writer and his son.

At the age of twenty-two, Joel Zwilling is emerging as a literary wunderkind. He has published a successful first novel and his story about a widowed writer is about to be featured in a leading magazine. Yet just before the piece appears, Joel's real wife and daughter are killed in a car accident. He is left with a young son to raise, and a resulting writer's block as large and unmoving as a pyramid.

Over the next two decades, Joel's career will be all but eclipsed by that of his son, Nate, whose own youthful writing success has given him the confidence to hope for big things. Thus Nate is astounded-and jealous-when his father is approached by a slick director who wants to capture his tragic early work on film. As the filmmaker and his sensual assistant bedevil father and son, the retributions rain down upon both sides.

In a finely tuned symphony of the wry as well as the heartbreaking, Ross Feld explores the surprising ways in which our lives can be sculpted, not by the people we hold most dear, but by "an invariable troupe of unlikely others."

Customer Reviews:

"A father passed down to his son no legacy worse than a lack of initiative.".......2007-04-26

After I finished Zwilling's Dream, I went looking on the Internet for information about Ross Feld. I found another review of the book on the Curled Up With a Good Book site which began by saying saying that the book was a novel with a secret smile. At first, I kind of resented the line. If there is a smile in Zwilling's Dream, it seems to me the smile that happens when tragedy goes so far that it passes into comedy. But then I realized that my objection didn't make the idea less true. So. Secret smile.

This is the first work by Ross Feld that I have read, and I am sorry that I am only discovering him now, six years after his death in 2001. I am a little bit inadequate to the task of saying how impressed I was by the book, but impressed is really the right word. There's the notion of tragedy, and children, and expression and families. One of the characters remarks something to the effect that everyone has his own issue with God, and Feld makes that issue plain beneath the surface of ordinary lives. Selva and her issues with endometriosis and the end of her fertility; Joel with his dead twin; Barbara and her childlessness; Brian and his beloved daughter with cf. In the world of Zwilling's Dream, God has an awful lot to answer for in life. It is a measure of the strength Feld paints in his characters that so many of them, finally, seem to get the joke.

The quality of the prose is very high-- smooth, bittersweet and (like the main character) almost a little bit too smart for its own good.

I would recommend this book for anyone with an eye for smart literature. I was moved and a little bit wounded by what I found.

This is what fiction's supposed to do.......1999-09-08

Exquisitely-written and captivating. Ross Feld understands as much about love and death--the real stuff--as almost anyone.

WONDERFUL! A STORY WITHIN A NOVEL WITHIN A SCREENPLAY.......1999-09-05

All of the audacity and wit that we've come to expect from Ross Feld are here on abundant display. Read the heartbreaking "story" that starts this off and see if you're not hooked! I love Zwilling, the wunderkind who can't write after having been punished, or so it seems, because he's foretold the loss of his wife and child. I love Harkow, too, the sweetly ineffectual has-been movie producer Suddenly all the BUSINESS of "The Industry," (does sometimes seem it's the only Industry anyone cares anything about) is so humanized by these oh-do-fallable humans, Jews, mostly, who have somehow created something SO DEEP in the creation of a Hollywood that has, in turn, created Modern American Life with its worship of fame. Pour yourself a glass of wine and put your feet up on the hassock by the fire and read this book as the days grow short. The sentences are so beautiful, the grasp and range of Feld's intelligence so wide and kind.

Book Description

Cynthia Kadohata explores human relationships in a Los Angeles of the future, where rich and poor are deeply polarized and where water, food, and gas, not to mention education, cannot be taken for granted. There is an intimate, understated, even gentle quality to Kadohata's writing--this is not an apocalyptic dystopia--that makes it difficult to shrug off the version of the future embodied in her book.

Customer Reviews:

Like Riddley Walker, this is a book for our century........2001-12-01

Except it has a much quieter voice.

This isn't your usual post-disaster novel. I wouldn't even call it science fiction. There's no enabling device or novum or whatever Darko Suvin calls it. I suppose it is what I would term 'speculative' fiction. What I would call it is beautiful.

Francie is a Japanese-American girl drifting pretty aimlessly in 2052. She lives in Los Angeles, quite frequently she goes out into the desert with her aunt's boyfriend on a semi-legit trading trip.

The government sounds like it's in trouble, there are rich parts of town where life is continuing pretty much as normal, but most people live in cramped apartments and make do with semi-legit work and collecting and selling whatever they can find: sliding doors, clothes, plants. Someone's going to want it. You are allocated water and gas chits, anyone can go to college, it's something that you do more to give you something to do than anything else, a community center of sorts.

Everyone feels aimless, like something's just happened or someone's just died and you're in shock and don't know what to do about it. The thing that makes this book so wonderful is the depth of Francies voice and the observations she makes. Francie's narrative is detached... but she and the reader both know that she's looking for something, that there must be something that means something, for her to find.

I devoured this book because I loved the simplicity and subjectivity of Francie's voice... such an quiet and individual view of the destination our century is taking us toward is rare. Most speculative fiction that deals with a post-distaster or post-government theme is fairly didactic. There are things to be said and points to be made and people to be convinced. Kadahota's not interested in any of that. She's just written a story about a young woman in the city and the desert who's trying to make sense of her life, but the subjectivity of the narrative reveals the political and social upheaval of Francie's world in such a subtle and believable way that this book convinced me of many things when other, more didactic fiction has failed me.

If there are three things I'm interested in they are: People's responses to their landscapes, coming of age stories and post-disaster fiction. This book fulfullied all those needs as if I'd written it myself, or willed it into existence upon the shelf of my local library. The book is tied together well with a more central purpose for Francie than just finding 'meaning'. Her uncle goes missing in the desert, perhaps he has been arrested maybe he just disappeared, and Francie's narrative and coming of age experience seem to have been sparked by this event, it becomes a central concern.

The thing that made me laugh and cry the most in this book was how superstitious Francie is, she thinks plants have feelings, she carries a twig and stone around in her pocket to represent her dead parents, she writes her name on pieces of paper and throws them into the wind on the side of the highway. Just to let the world know she's there.

We all find ways of coping. But few are as telling and touching as Francie's in In the Heart Of the Valley of Love. I've only just found it and already, it's out of print.

Only *realistic* futuristic novel I've read.......2001-03-22

Most sci-fi books seem to re-hash the same stuff that's been around since the 30s: robots, colonizing other planets, alien invaders, etc. Sometimes that can still make for a good book-- I liked most of Isaac Asimov's robot books for instance-- but usually they just end up resembling mediocre Star Trek episodes. William Gibson injected a little newness with his focus on computers, but there's only so much cyber-slang I can take before it too dissolves into standard sci-fi fare; concerned more with the gadgets and psuedo-science than with any of the characters or storyline.

"In the Heart of the Valley of Love" falls into none of these traps. It's really much more of a regular novel than anything you'd find sitting in the Science Fiction/Fantasy rack. It's set in LA in the second half of the 21st century-- a "dystopian" LA if you really want-- but even though this may sound a lot like Blade Runner and it's many clones, the author avoids stocking her LA with flying cars, androids, or spaceships. The technology isn't really any further along than it is today actually, and because of this Cynthia Kadohata earns my eternal respect. I don't know why it's so hard for sci-fi authors to restrain themselves when they try to imagine what we'll all be using in the future, but I guess that's what the customers pay for. Everyone wants the flying cars and warp travel, but here we are in 2001 and I still drive to work.

Maybe it's closer to the Mad Max movies than anything else, but instead of a world blasted back into the Stone Age, it's more of a portrait of a society that's going downhill. Her understated style of prose brings far more of a sense of dread and paranoia than anything Stephen King tries to shock you with. It really feels like the main character is a product of her decaying society, that she keeps her sentences short and to the point so as not to make any trouble, to keep a low profile. Most of the characters talk and act like they have a protective wall around them, that they've been dulled to the misery around them, too scared to show any true feelings. One of the best parts of the book are these people sarcastically referred to as "chirps" who try to compensate by trying to be sunshine happy all the time.

Book Description

Love on the run...

Roger Barrett has always had a hopeless crush on glamorous, wealthy Lila Fowler. The only attention Lila ever pays to him, though, is to make fun of him in front of her friends. But why shouldn't she, he thinks. After all, he's clumsy and shy and works secretly as a janitor after school.

When Roger wins the qualifying heat for a big race, he becomes a school celebrity overnight. And to his surprise, even Lila starts to chase after him. But Roger knows if he runs in the race finals, he'll lose his job. Will Lila still notice him when he's no longer a star?

Customer Reviews:

A Big Change for the Series...........2003-08-22

This is a Land-Mark SVH Book because it is the First to Revolve around Other Teenagers at Sweet Valley besides Jessica and Elizabeth...Other than that, it was an okay book.

it is good.......1999-12-28

I feel bad for roger considering he has always had a humongus crush on Lila . But she has never felt the same passion for him at all. She liked to make fun of him and laugh when ha slipped or tripped. Then a big race came and roger decided to run. He won not only first but Lilas heart. She was kissing his shoes pretty much. Then he finds out who his true love is and that lilas a fake. Will he win th final race? Will his true love still want him too?

Why?.......1999-04-11

Why does Roger like Lila? He barely ever talks to her, and she always puts him down. (The romance in this book is similar to that in #8) The part besides that, him having to deal with a cruel boss, and his friends helping him out is really good. I'm glad they talked some sense into him.

Fairly typical SVH teen romance fare........1998-06-20

Penniless outcast Roger ignores his loyal "friend" Olivia, while pining for snobby Lila. A scholarship race offers a chance to qualify as a suitable boyfriend for the girl of his dreams, but how can he run without losing his job and displaying his poverty?

Fairly standard SVH romance attempts to deal sensitively with the problems of poverty-stricken kids at school. One of the better volumes.

Average customer rating:
Hearts of Hidden Valley: A Love Stroy

Manufacturer: Chelsea House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000E91GRI

Average customer rating:
Spring Moon by Bette Bao Lord
Bette Bao Lord
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000L9AFLE

Product Description

At a time of mystery and cruelty ... in an ancient land of breathtaking beauty and exotic surprise ... a courageous woman triumphs over her world's ultimate tragedy. Behind the garden walls of the House of Chang, pampered daughter Spring Moon is born into luxury and privilege. But the tempests of change sweep her into a new world -- one of hardship, turmoil, and heartbreak, one that threatens to destroy her husband, her family, and her darkest secret love. Through a tumultuous lifetime, Spring Moon must cling to her honor, to the memory of a time gone by, and to a destiny, foretold at her birth, that has yet to be fulfilled.

Web of Fear, Summer of Deceit, Affair of Hearts, Trial By Love, Valley of No Return

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Web of Fear, Summer of Deceit, Affair of Hearts, Trial By Love, Valley of No Return
Liliane Robin, Denise Noel, Michelle Cambards, Claudette Virmonne Luisa Maria Linares
Manufacturer: Worldwide Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q6XB9K

Product Description

good reading for those who love mystery and romance together

8 Titles in Sweet Valley High Series - 2 Secrets - 3 Playing with Fire - 4 Power Play - 5 All Night Long - 6 Dangerous Love - 8 Heart Breaker - 10 Wrong Kind of Girl - 11 Too Good to Be True

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8 Titles in Sweet Valley High Series - 2 Secrets - 3 Playing with Fire - 4 Power Play - 5 All Night Long - 6 Dangerous Love - 8 Heart Breaker - 10 Wrong Kind of Girl - 11 Too Good to Be True
Francine Pascal
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Product Description

8 Titles in Sweet Valley High Series - 2 Secrets - 3 Playing with Fire - 4 Power Play - 5 All Night Long - 6 Dangerous Love - 8 Heart Breaker - 10 Wrong Kind of Girl - 11 Too Good to Be True

9 Titles Sweet Valley High Series (2-10) : 2. Secrets 3. Playing With Fire 4. Power Play 5. All Night Long 6. Dangerous Love 7. Dear Sister 8. Heartbreaker 9. Racing Hearts 10. Wrong Kind of Girl

Average customer rating:

9 Titles Sweet Valley High Series (2-10) : 2. Secrets 3. Playing With Fire 4. Power Play 5. All Night Long 6. Dangerous Love 7. Dear Sister 8. Heartbreaker 9. Racing Hearts 10. Wrong Kind of Girl
Francine Pascal , and Kate William
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000W742GO

Product Description

multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.

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In the Heart of the Valley of Love
Cynthia Kadohata
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ0340

Average customer rating:

In the Heart of the Valley of Love
Cynthia KADOHATA
Manufacturer: Viking
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VAU6LC

Book Description

A killing virus has swept the earth, sparing only children through the age of twelve. There is chaos everywhere, even in formely prosperous mid-America. Gangs and fierce armies of children begin to form almost immediately. It would be the same for the children on Grand Avenue but for Lisa, a yen-year-old girl who becomes their leader. Because of Lisa, they have food, even toys, in abundance. And now they can protect themselves from the fierce gangs that roam the neighborhoods. But for how long? Then Lisa conceives the idea of a fortress, a city in which the children could live safely and happily always, and she intends to lead them there.

Customer Reviews:

Absolutely wonderful book.......2007-08-21

I first read this story back when I was only 13 years old and I loved it. Ten years later, I still really love this book. The author made such a wonderful story out of something so tragic. I think I really connected with this book because I was the same age as the main character the very first time that I read it.

A plague wipes out everyone over 13 years old all over the world. Without any adults to rule or help control the world, the children have to fend for themselves and make the best of the situation. The main character takes it upon herself to help as many children as she can. She overcomes so many obstacles and it's amazing what the writer did with this story.

No matter what age, I think anyone can learn what this book has to offer.

A world with no grown-ups.......2007-07-24

We've thought of it often. The what ifs. What if the world lost all its men and there were only women? Or vice versa.

The Girl who owned a city by O.T. Nelson writes about a world with no one over the age of twelve. In spite of some unanswered questions, I quite enjoyed this book, especially the telling of it from an eleven year old Point of view.

As with other reviewers, my questions are pretty much the same. Where did all the dead bodies ago? The smell alone from millions of putrefying corpses would make hard for anyone to live, and how would children that age bury (or burn) them all if they were left behind? My next question is. If only those under age twelve survived, what happened to the infants? Surely there were newborns in hospitals, at home, in the markets in strollers etc. They were left to die. And does anyone have a clue how hard it is to get a toddler I (I assume some of them survived in the city) to sit still for a nano-second?

That town that Lisa and company came upon that had "died and they didn't dare look inside any of the buildings because they knew what they would find."
I assume insects and flies still lived and they would have gotten to the bodies and sent up a powerful stink causing diseases that the survivors would never be able to endure.

The author made the main characters in the book a little too super for me in some cases. Reading a book does not a doctor make. I would have chosen something a little less invasive than removing a bullet (no matter how superficial) from Lisa's arm.

Another question I had was, does this mean that these children do not live beyond age twelve? Is the plague still prevalent? Or are these the new people, to be new adults?

The author did prove that one or two things will ALWAYS abide and that is, as long as there are two people in the world there will be conflict. (EDEN is finished). There will always be one who wants to lord over the other. It's the human way.

I did like the fact that the story didn't get bogged down with the current problems at hand, racism, style trends etc. They were children forced to grow up as MUCH as they as FAST as they could.

It was however a very thought provoking and entertaining read.

I can't help feeling scared..........2007-06-03

When I read this as I kid I would try to place myself inside it thinking about all the people that I know who would be dead or alive thanks to that virus. I was about eight or nine when I read this. Now I'm fifteen, scary thoughts.
Anyway i've always loved this book and for a long time I had forgotten about it. We had read it in gradeschool so when it came up on my recomedation's list I recognized the title. That happens alot, strange. I love this book and still remember most of the story even though i've only read it once and that was... what? seven years ago? It's a really great story and it gets a person thinking about things like that. I'm mean think about it how would you handle being in a destroyed world ruleing over like 150 kids all 12 and under. Every grown up you've ever loved and respected gone from you forever? I'd freak.

Still a good story though.

the Girl Who Owned a City.......2007-05-21

The kids in my class really enjoy this book. I can't seem to get enough copies, because they all want to read it.

A Story of Survival by Chelsea and Joe.......2007-03-13

Could you imagine a life where kids are the only survivors? Imagine having to make everything work again and having to fend for yourself. In The Girl Who Owned a City, kids are forced to take care of themselves because a plague killed everyone thirteen and older. "Not since The Lord of the Flies has there been such a powerful story of children forced to survive in a world without adults." O.T. Nelson makes you feel the lonliness the kids are feeling and gives you a sense of suspense. Ten year old Lisa Nelson and her little five year old brother Todd Nelson are forced to take care of the kids on Grand Avenue. Grand Avenue is a small street in Illinois. Deep down, Lisa is scared, but she suppresses that to be a superlative commander for Grand Avenue. Even when Lisa's house is burned down, she never gives up hope. She must have been really brave. She uses her clever mind to transfer an old high school into a big bustling city full of many kids. Unfortunately, the Chidester, Elm, and Lenox gangs sieze the school. Someone shoots Lisa as she is trying to run away. Todd formulates a plan to get Craig, wounded Lisa, Jill, Erica, and himself to a trustworthy farm. Anybody who reads this amazing tale of survival will realize how everything could change in an instant, and how thinking things out could solve almost every problem you face. Even though you don't figure out how the rest of Lisa and Todd's life goes as they continue to lead the kids, you still know that they have a wonderful life. O.T. Nelson sends out important messages that everyone should take note of. One message is "Having things is something, but not everything. Earning the values for your life is more than just something, it is everything." I would reccommend this book to young adults.

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The Girl Who Owned a City
O.T. Nelson
Manufacturer: Recorded Books, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
Similar Items:

The Girl Who Owned a City (Young Adult Fiction)

ASIN: 078872634X

Product Description

A deadly plague has swept the earth, killing everyone over the age of 12. Children are hungry and afraid. Some have joined fierce gangs that roam the streets, bullying and stealing. The children of Grand Avenue have a better life than most. Lisa, their 10-year-old leader, has found a supply of food. She has even devised a plan to keep them safefor now. They have a lot to learn, though, such as how to defend the school that is now their city, how to get along with each other, and how to do all the jobs that adults used to do. Espousing such values as cooperation and the importance of making informed choices, O.T. Nelson tempers a potentially disturbing situation with a strong young heroine and a positive prognosis for the future. Julie Dretzins skilled narration brings life to this powerful book requested by teachers all over the country.

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The Girl Who Owned A City
Nelson
Manufacturer: Lerner Publications Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JGEE66

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Girl Who Owned the City
O. T. Nelson
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: School & Library Binding

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

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0613646258

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The Girl Who Owned a City

Manufacturer: Dell Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9994110489

Amazon.com

Nancy Oakes and Pamela Mazzola opened the doors of Boulevard in San Francisco in 1993, and fans have been waiting ever since for just this cookbook. A bigger and better payoff for all that patience is hard to imagine. Boulevard glows on a table top like burnished gold, and suggestions of epic meals seep out from beneath its covers. "We cook because we love to feed people and also because we love the process of cooking," the authors explain in their opening statement. "We don't think for a minute we've invented a new cuisine or discovered a new approach to cooking--only a never-ending quest for what's delicious."

The structure of the book is as classic as many of the underlying cooking techniques--Salads, Soups, and Starters give way to chapters on Fish, Poultry and Game, Meat, and Desserts. A central dish surrounded by its sides or segments renders several recipes per page, making this a book of careful perusal. Mediterranean Mussels with Panzanella and Arugula, for example, gives us recipes for panzanella, the Italian bread salad, for the mussels' poaching medium, a fennel confit, saffron sauce, and arugula salad. Among the soups you'll find White Corn, Roasted Ratatouille, Braised Chestnut, Provencal Fish, and Artichoke Soup as well as the dozen side recipes that help elevate each dish. Ingredients are carefully delineated, followed by chefs' notes, kitchen and shopping notes (how to buy the best scallops, for example), then the cooking method for each piece of the flavor puzzle. Some cooking experience is necessary. There are some challenging dishes between these pages. But new cooks should not shy away. Boulevards establishes a level of culinary rigor to which the best cooks can aspire.

If you can find the main ingredient, Glazed Veal Sweetbreads in Potato Crust with chanterelles and a red wine sauce is a standout appetizer. Pan Roasted Halibut Fillets and Cheeks takes full advantage of morel mushrooms and crisp spring vegetables. Don't miss the Buttermilk-brined Fried Little Chickens with cream biscuits, a trip South for Cornish game hens. Beef shortribs are elevated to new heights with "Steamship" Short Ribs Bourguignon. You might want to finish with Bittersweet Chocolate Cake with caramel corn ice cream and caramel sauce. In each and every case the main theme is flavor, the attack is simple, the effect totally satisfying and elegant.

Nancy Oakes and Pamela Mazzola have distilled between the covers of Boulevard their years of combined efforts in the commercial kitchen, translating for the home kitchen. Their friendship, good humor, and fierce determination to achieve the best flavors imaginable tumble out of these pages. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

Every once in a while a restaurant changes a city's dining scene forever. In San Francisco, that restaurant is Boulevard. In 1993 Nancy Oakes first breathed life into a glorious but forgotten beaux arts building —a survivor of the 1906 earthquake —with her gutsy and ebullient cooking. Just a decade later, the Audiffred Building overlooks a bustling Ferry Plaza, and it 's impossible to imagine a San Francisco without its Boulevard. Bathed in the glow of the restaurant's hand-blown lights, with stunning views of the waterfront, dining at Boulevard always feels special. Oakes and long-time collaborator and chef de cuisine, Pamela Mazzola, have seduced locals and visitors alike with their artful yet accessible French-influenced regional American cooking. In BOULEVARD, Oakes and Mazzola present 75 recipes, each anchored by a favorite main and accessorized with an exuberant collection of irresistible sides, all eminently cookable at home. Consider, for example, Pan-Roasted Wild King Salmon in Cider Sauce with Potato-Bacon-Watercress Cake and Shaved Apple and Fennel Salad; Buttermilk-Brined Fried Little Chickens with Cream Biscuits; and Veal Chops with Porcini and Asiago Cheese Stuffing with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Tomatoes, Pancetta, and Arugula. With every recipe prefaced by the chefs' wise and unapologetically opinionated cooking notes, BOULEVARD answers the long-running demand for a dialogue with the creative team behind the restaurant 's enduring popularity.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful: A cook's cookbook!.......2007-01-19

Wonderful tips, perspective and techniques. Definitely not for the beginner or a "semi-homemade" type of chef. Besides being an inspirational cookbook, it is also very nice on the coffee table ... lots of fun to page through. Written in a very honest, personal style. I love the glossary and tips on where to buy certain products. The only downside is that it is a little expensive and would be great to have a few more recipes.

Nany Oakes is a Goddess!.......2006-06-14

It is sad for me to see so many "bad" reviews for this wonderful cookbook; I think Nancy Oakes and her crews have done a fabulous job in sharing her delicious recipes. Grand it I have just started cooking for less than a year, sometimes the recipes are challenging and overwhelming but with patient I was able to follow the recipes and cooked wonderful meals with it. The gig for me has been grazing the farmer markets and seafood stores every Saturday for the ingredients to cook from this book for my family, so far I have done more than ten of her recipes, and let me tell you, they are all fabulous. Cheers to Nancy for sharing!

Not Suitable for Home Use.......2006-06-13

I'll be brief: this lavishly-designed book is eye-candy, straight up. It is the quintessence of that lamentable recent breed of art-house "cook"books that are far better on the coffee table than on the kitchen counter. One overwrought, decorative, fussy recipe follows another in a titilating but ultimately boring succession of vanity shots. Basically, this book and its ilk are an extension of the interior decorating market: if you print it, they will come. Any experienced cook can glance through this book and instantly dismiss its recipes as outrageously unsuited to the domestic kitchen. Very silly indeed. But nice pix!!!

NOT A KEEPER.......2006-04-21

This is a beautiful book for the coffee table but forget the kitchen unless you have a brigade of chefs. Most of the ingredients are special purchase not something you would have in your pantry. A cup of blood anyone?? And what the hell is "paradise" as in "a few grains of paradise". I can't even find that one in my dictionary of foods and cooking terms. I am an excellent cook with more than 40 years of cooking experience Thomas Kellers "The French Laundry" was workable, albeit complicated. A cup of blood anyone, I think I have 1 left after paying more than $35.00 plus $8.00 shipping for this book. (not from Amazon) Amazon I have learned my lesson I will write 500 times I will not buy books from any source other than Amazon and I will not pay shipping on purchases over $25.00 Thank You!!! However I will keep this book and frame it as a reminder never to purchase thru over priced cook book clubs. Membership now canceled.

Toes a Fine Line.......2006-04-14

I love this restaurant very much. The food is solidly fantastic, if not very adventurous. I eat here because I want to eat fantastic quality food, beautifully and carefully prepared and I want to do it in a warmly lit, unpretentious (and untrendy) space.

The restaurant itself translates almost exactly into the cookbook. Beautifully prepared, if a little unadventurous. Intensive, if unexciting.

That makes it a difficult book to review. I own it and I am very glad that I do. I love the food, I think Nancy Oakes does a beautiful job.

I'm a quite competent cook, I live in San Francisco, and I think, for someone of my level, this isn't the kind of cookbook you really -need- but it's the kind I definitely enjoy just -reading-.

I think most very competent cooks will find it a bit boring and most less skilled cooks will find it daunting. It's best suited for people, like me, who enjoy paging through stacks of cookbooks for visual and other sensory inspiration. And for that...it's perfectly suited.

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