Average customer rating:
- A nicely intertwined story
- Ending problems
- Group sex in Poland!
- Great start, disappointing end.
- I'm sorry, but WHAT?
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The Winter Zoo: A Novel
John Beckman
Manufacturer: Henry Holt and Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0805069046 |
Book Description
A sexy, hilarious novel of wayward young expatriatesand the difference between doing good and feeling good In 1990, a young man named Gurney abandons his newborn daughter in an Iowa delivery room and escapes into Krakw, Poland, where it seems as if everyone is hunting for the next new thing. Upon this seductive frontier, Gurney devotes himself to a life of irresponsibility. Already ensconced in Poland is Gurneys cousin Jane, a master manipulator who occupies the center of Krakws spiderweb of sexual and political intrigue. As Jane and Gurneys relationship swerves thrillingly closer to the incestuous, Gurney crosses pathsand often swordswith Krakws gallery of rogues and innocents. Among them are Wanda, Janes virginal yet rebellious roommate, who harbors for Gurney a not-so-secret crush; Dick Chestnutt, a sodden American expatriate; Jackie Witherspoon, an ambitious young scholar of uncertain sexuality and allegiance; and Zbigniew Zamoyski, Wandas father, a former Communist aristocrat who decides that the fun, and Gurney, must be stopped.Seamlessly juxtaposing totalitarianism and freedom, the political and the personal, John Beckman has created a magical world. Evocative and suberbly crafted, The Winter Zoo marks the debut of a young writer of enormous talent and promise.
Customer Reviews:
A nicely intertwined story.......2006-08-07
This review is for the Henry Holt first hardcover edition 2002, 348 pages. THE WINTER ZOO did not rank in the USA Today list of top 150 best sellers.
In September 1990, Gurney, the 22-year old protagonist, abandons his lover and their newborn daughter in Iowa and flees to Kraków, Poland, to live with his cousin Jane in a boarding house. Fond of adventure and fun, Gurney becomes embroiled in the kooky and sometimes kinky lifestyles of Jane's friends, his landlady and her estranged husband Zbigniew, and their daughter Wanda. Tormented over forsaking his daughter, Gurney keeps her a secret, but as the entangled relationships unravel he discovers that Jane, Zbigniew, Wanda and their wayward friends have secrets too.
The writing is good, but there are some quirks. The dialogue is without quotation marks, which occasionally is confusing, as are a few abrupt switches in the point of view character. The first seventy pages are sprinkled with some obscure mythological references, and throughout the metaphors are often puzzling to the point of distraction. The abundant and mostly unnecessary use of Polish words is stifling. Still, the passions and fears of the intriguing cast of characters are gradually and fully developed in a nicely intertwined story.
Ending problems.......2005-11-02
I had the same problem as many others. The first 3/4s of the book were excellent, but the ending was very frustrating and unsatisfying.
Group sex in Poland!.......2005-07-29
The idea of casting Poland as a land in the grip of a sexual free-for-all at the end of Cold War is pretty funny to anyone who's ever spent time there. A giant pansexual Christmas orgy, complete with underage boys and girls, at a big hotel in the middle of Krakow, advertised all over town on handbills? Can you say "police with machine guns breaking it up?" Beckman's take on things kinda reminds me of the old German stereotype of the sexually-wild Slav (similar to racist American stereotype of oversexed blacks.) There's very little basis in reality here. Certainly, Germans on average give it up easier than the super-Catholic Poles.
Of course, this being a novel, Beckman isn't necessarily required to portray Poland accurately. I think he is required to create interesting characters rather than the wearisome cartoon characters he comes up with: the sexy young Polish teenager; her sexy mom; the big, credulous Iowan galoot; said Iowan's sexily satanic cousin, etc.
Just about everyone in the novel enthusiastically engages in (large) group sex (except for the villain, a tortured ex-commie official tormented by his sexual needs, blah blah.) I tried to determine if there was some complex symbology at work. Nah, I think the author likes writing group sex scenes. If you like reading such scenes, this might be the book for you. Otherwise, probably not.
Great start, disappointing end........2004-01-20
I flew through the first half of the book fascinated with the characters, the location and wondered where it would lead to. A dead end was the final destination. Nothing was resolved, justice was not mete out, confrontations that should have occurred did not and by the end of the novel I had nothing but contempt for all of the characters. Overall this book was a big disappointment. For a good book on Eastern Europe I would recommend Prague or the Russian Debutantes Handbook.
I'm sorry, but WHAT?.......2002-11-20
First things first. This is an amazingly well-written book with an impressive cast of characters. I was also pleasantly surprised by Beckman's fair depiction of Poland and its people--he resisted the obvious temptation to be condescending. On the other hand... While the first 150 pages were gripping, the ending was simply ludicrous and made me lose a lot of respect for the novel. (Apparently, if you can't figure out what to do with your characters, you just throw them into a couple of orgies? Right, whatever.) A lot of the sex scenes in the book felt gratuitous to me, and I'm not the kind of guy who minds sex scenes in books at all. There are also plot holes you could fly a plane through. Oh, and Beckman's Polish (and this is a minor gripe) is very erratic--there are tons of misspelled words and inappropriate verbiage. This won't bother most people but if you happen to speak Polish, it will drive you crazy. In the end, however, all that is forgivable. It is the plot that ruins The Winter Zoo. And given the author's natural gift for hypnotic, poetic language, that's a shame.
Book Description
A CAT-NAPPED PRINCESS
The feline sorceress Balkis has returned to Maracanda to reclaim her royal title. But a vengeful foe sprouts a diabolical scheme to spirit away the Princess of the Eastern Gate and send her tumbling forever through unknown worlds. Now an unprecedented search is begun, led by Balkis's mentor, Royal Wizard Matthew Mantrell.
But the hardship of finding his apprentice cannot compare to Balkis's own struggle to escape the strange world in which she has landed. With the aid of a soul-weary young boy named Anthony, Balkis mounts a magnificent, though treacherous, journey. Together they must rely on each other and their powers--both mortal and magic--to defy the forces of darkness and embrace the destiny they are fated to share . . .
Customer Reviews:
Another Good One!.......2003-05-05
THE FELINE WIZARD is one of the latest, the eighth I do believe, in C. Stasheff's the Wizard in Rhyme series and it doesn't disappoint. The secret to keeping a storyline fresh and interesting over an extended number of volumes can be tricky but Stasheff had demonstrated that he has the knack. One such trick is to change the focus or main character of the story while still keeping the same "universe" that has been built up over the past few years. In FELINE WIZARD Balkis, Matt's former apprentice and now princess of Maracanda is the main protagonist having been kidnapped and transported far away from home much to the dismay of the ... Kala Nag who wanted to keep her as far away as possible from "the Other." As with most fairy tales you can guess where the winds of fate took her!
FELINE WIZARD doesn't have the power, originality or freshness of HER MAJESTY'S WIZARD or THE OATHBOUND WIZARD but what would you expect? In all it's a nice, pleasant read filled with action, suspense and romance, a pretty good combination if you ask me.
I'd RECOMMEND it, especially for those who have been following Matt Mantrell for the past few years.
In need of better proof-reading, but still a good read.......2001-07-07
Continuing the "Wizard in Rhyme" adventures of the Lord High Wizard of Merovence and his friends and family, this volume pairs our hero with a young, female apprentice (with the self-protective ability to transform into a cat and a difficulty coming up with endings for her spells) in order to retrieve his children from a vile kidnapper. Like all the novels in this series, Stasheff does a wonderful job of combining medieval myths and legends with lively, likable characters. However, the story is marred by errors in proof-reading (changing the names of characters or cities back and forth, often several times within a few pages, where paragraphs from earlier drafts with different names seem to have been incorporated without correction). Enjoy the story, but beware those editing mistakes.
Balkis gets her own story.......2000-12-08
Christopher Stasheff has evidently recognized that Matthew Mantrell (Matt) is getting stale and has launched Balkis, the princess girl/cat as the major protagonist in this Wizard in Rhyme fantasy.
Kidnapped by servants of an evil goddess, Balkis turns cat, finds the boy of her dreams, and sets off to find her way home. On the way back, Balkis and Anthony (the boy) see a veritable Gulliver's Travels assortment of strange people, creatures, and places out of medieval myth. The device of having Balkis unable to finish a rhyme and Anthony unable to start one (he was the youngest brother and never allowed to go first) is both amusing and a chance for the two characters to work together.
Meanwhile, Matt rides Stegoman the dragon to the rescue (not that Balkis needs much rescuing). Stegoman finally gets his chance for a little dragon-girl action.
Stasheff always writes an entertaining adventure. Although not as strong as the initial three books in this series (all of which were wonderful), THE FELINE WIZARD is certainly entertaining. If Stasheff continues this series, he may wish to revive some of the early concepts, such as the land's power over its people. These were what elevated the initial novels.
It's an enjoyable read.
Back to the way it should be........2000-11-26
I have to say that I disagree with the person who gave it two stars. For me, this book was a welcome return to a more readable adventure. The last several books (before this one) have made me find Matthew Mantrell and his family utterly unbelievable. Could I take the fact that he entered a world in which he could do magic? Sure! It's suspension of disbelief... The thing I've had a problem believing is that Matthew and his parents seem to know absolutely everything... poetry, other languages, literature, history, the specifics of every religion known to man... That's what I could not fathom. It stopped me from relating to them on a personal level. Of course, Mr. Stasheff has done his research, but to expect that the characters, who have lives devoted to things other than this, have too is too much.
This book was a refreshing break from that amount of history, religion, etc... Back to a pure adventure, with people, wandering lost through amazing new territory, meeting new people and creatures.
It was the first time in four books that I got caught up in the story and wanted to find out what happened next.
It was _before_ this book that I thought the Wizard in Rhyme series had played itself out, but now I'm not 100% certain.
**A side note. Mr. Stasheff should prevent the publisher from putting that moronic poem as advertisement... "Join our crusade. Your choice will be made. Isn't it time for a wizard in rhyme?" I can tell he didn't write it, and it's just plain awful.**
I'm not to win any Friends here.......2000-10-02
Firstly, please let me say that I am a fan of Stasheff's work, and count some of it among the best written and most enjoyable books I have encountered.
I have only one criticism, and that relates to Stasheff's ongoing series - he keeps turning them out long after he has run out of anything fresh to say. This is the case with the Feline Wizard.
The early books in the Wizard in Rhyme series were fresh, well characterised, well plotted, with reasonably consistant internal logic. All in all, they developed a believable world with an interesting and likable cast of characters.
For the last three books in this series, this trend has weakened to the point where - for a series reader - the series is no longer viable.
Errors in the series internal logic and premise have grown. Matthew Mantrell and friends are frankly tired - with no real effort at character growth or development.
Frankly, at this point the plot is banal. What started out as a reasonably fresh series, has finally degenerated into a piece of mass market pablum.
I can only assume that Stasheff is as tired of it as I am.
I cannot recommend this book, I cannot recommend the two immediately prior to it in the series. I very heartedly recommend the first three as excellent reads.
Please don't judge the series or the author by this book - both are capable of SO MUCH BETTER.
Book Description
Have there been occasions when you have felt spellbound while interacting with cats? or seasons when mice been uncommonly plentiful? If so, don't be surprised if your cat has been practicing the art of feline magic.
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
Customer Reviews:
Australian SF Reader.......2007-08-01
Morgan Roche, a woman with a talent for computing, is given a mission to safeguard a portable A.I.. A chase story with telepaths, enigmatic superhumans and other fun elements.
So, she is in danger a lot of the time, but not quite sure why she is, or why the 'Box' is so important to what is going on.
Well paced plot but dissapointingly cliched characters.......2004-12-13
I had read a lot of hype about Williams and Dix's work of space opera. Since quality space opera (Vinge, Banks, Reynolds...), as opposed to stupid and tacky stuff, is one of my favourite genres, and since the authors are fellow aussies, I thought I'd give their book a try. I didn't expect another Van Vogt or Heinlein, but I thought it might be interesting.
Unfortunately what I too often found was an example of what bad SF is all about: today's world projected onto a galactic setting with space ships and ray guns. Many of the characters and events looked like they were lifeted straight from television sci fi. Cliches abound: loyal officer entrusted with an important mission, enigmatic AI, mysterious stranger, telepath girl, new adavanced ship, prison world, ruthless megacorp, brave rebels, toxic mutants, and so on and on. A few cliches are inevitable, even useful, in any good work of sci fi, but there's a limit. What's more, the various protagonists are never really fleshed out, or where they are it is not convincingly, their background is as cliched as the plot elements.
On the plus side, the pace was enjoyably snappy and fast - a refreshing trait so often missing in many stories - the writers have gone to some trouble to create their universe (there is a useful glossary at the back), and the cliche of the humanoid alien is thankfully missing. Instead there are castes of humans (races or species that evolved from the original "pristine" type) among which is the innovative transhumanist concept represented in the book by the High Humans.
Also, unlike other trilogies, this book doesn't end on a cliffhanger, another plus.
However, at least for me, these advantages - admirable as they are - are not sufficient to compensate for the rather banal story, characters, and setting, and I am not really inspired to read the other books of this series.
Perhaps paced a little too fast, but still enjoyable.......2004-08-04
Williams and Dix deliver us into a universe many millennia in our own future, where homo sapiens sapiens has speciated into several distinct Castes. Indeed, sometimes the speciation has gone far enough that to us, these new varieties of humanity would seem more alien than human. After learning there really wasn't anyone else out there, humankind has come to rule the stars--but traditional human rivalry is never far below the surface.
Tensions have run high since the Dato Bloc's secession from the Commonwealth of Empires (COE). Morgan Roche is a COE intelligence agent on a mission to deliver a powerful Artificial Intelligence unit to her superiors. When her ship comes under attack and she is forced to crash-land on a barren planet with a handful of survivors, her job becomes that much more difficult.
Williams and Dix are two of Australia's newer science fiction talents. This series marks their American debut, and whilst their prose is never particularly evocative, the plot certainly runs along at a fair clip. The absence of any truly "evil" characters also lends the opening book an interesting air of ambiguity. Who should win? Why? Whose side are we supposed to be on?
If I could, I'd give this book four and a half stars. There are just too many missed opportunities for the book to rate five. But what *is* here is good enough for a lazy summer afternoon, or a couple of days on a road trip. The book is short, there's little meandering, and the characters grow throughout the book (albeit sometimes in a rather facile fashion). Even the enigmatic Adoni Cane seems to have the glimmers of a personality by the time the book ends. However, we are rarely afforded the time to see a character grow subtly--the changes are shoved at us via internal monologues or overt auctorial influence.
If you're a fan of space opera, definitely give this one a try. If, on the other hand, you find space opera trite, and prefer something more like _A Fire Upon the Deep_, then you might want to give it a miss.
I guess, in the end, it's something like the literary equivalent of fast food. You'll love it while you're reading it, but when you're done you might want something more.
Out of the frying pan.......2004-05-13
Two aussie up and coming authors write a sci-fi story with Indianna Jones like rolling action. Ideas and depth of culture and science I found most enjoyable. The book was full to the brim of twists, betrayals and action.
Two males writing from a female perspective, I found this intriguing, being a male I can't say whether they pulled it off or not with any authority.
Although this is the first of a trilogy it easily stands alone as a work with a begining and a definate outcome, which I find refreshing.
Decent space opera.......2004-01-15
Commander Morgan Roche is an intelligence agent for the Commonwealth of Empires (COE), on a mission to escort a powerful artificial intelligence back to Intelligence headquarters. She meets up with a mysterious man named Adoni Cane who has no memory of his past, who is found later to be a genetically-enhanced super-soldier. The ship she is travelling on is ambushed and destroyed by the Dato Bloc, a government that has broken away from the COE. With the help of the AI known as "The Box", and the warrior Adoni Cane, she escapes the destruction of the ship and crash-lands on the prison planet Sciacca's World. From there, the rest of the book chronicles her mission to escape the planet and return the AI to COE Intelligence HQ, while constantly on the run from Dato Bloc forces, who are in league with the corrupt COE officials on the planet.
If I could give this book a 3.5 star rating, I would. It's good but not great, and as another reviewer said, it doesn't have a lot of original ideas. If you like a space opera type of story with a good deal of action, you'll like this book. My problems with it were the cliches of the "all-powerful AI" and the "mysterious warrior". In every dangerous situation that Commander Roche faces, it's either Adoni Cane or The Box that pulls her out of it, through some kind of trick or previously unknown ability. After a while, it starts to read like an episode of one of the newer Star Trek shows, where the characters are put in seemingly impossible situations, but are really not in very much danger at all, because it becomes obvious that either Cane or The Box will always come through and save her.
The ending of the book, especially for the first in a trilogy, was a little too much of a "happy ending" for me. Usually, at this point in a story, there should be a certain level of tension that is worked through in the second book, and then ultimately resolved in the third book. The reader is not left with a lot to look forward to in the next installment.
I was also a little puzzled by this installment's title, "The Prodigal Sun". It's apparently supposed to be a play on words for "The Prodigal SON". This phrase is mentioned in the book (with the spelling SON), as it relates to one of the characters, but there is nothing in the book to indicate what is meant by the spelling of SUN in the title. Perhaps this will be revealed in later books; so far I have only read the first one.
Average customer rating:
- premise gives you much to think about
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The prodigal sun
Boschka Layton
Manufacturer: Mosaic Press/Valley Editions ; Distributed in the U.S. by Flatiron Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: 0889621896 |
Customer Reviews:
premise gives you much to think about.......1999-04-14
I read this book years ago, and never forgot it. The basic premise is thought-provoking, possible (in a sci-fi way)and would be wonderful if it happened! With all of the current talk about the "greenhouse effect" and the changes in our weather patterns, this would be a very up-to-date book if written today.....an excellent read!
Average customer rating:
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The Prodigal Sun
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000H0Q49Y |
Average customer rating:
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Prodigal Sun
Philip E High
Manufacturer: ACE BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UCH50Q |
Book Description
This collection of over 300 recipes is a celebration of the traditional southern cooking that made this Lynchburg, Tennessee boarding house a legend. Many recipes use Jack Daniel's whiskey. Illustrated and indexed.
Customer Reviews:
Miss Mary Bobo's Boarding House Cookbook.......2007-07-11
I collect cookbooks and this one has quickly become a favorite! Every recipe I have tried has been excellent. They are easy to follow and have simple ingredients, most of which I have on hand. I would recommend this book for anyone who loves down home cooking at its best.
Authentic without the booze.......2006-03-27
It is obvious that Jack Daniels is trying to put their stamp on the cookbook, but they should at least be honest and say Ms. Mary didn't prepare her meals with whiskey. The book has a lot of recipes that I have been looking for for years and I intend to use them. These aren't the kinds of recipes you will find on the Food Network, but they sure remind me of my childhood and I plan on sharing them with my granddaughter ---minus the booze.
Sinfully Good Eating.......2005-10-13
Once upon a time when folks made the trip to Lynchburg to visit that famous distillery, they had to stop at Mary Bobo's boarding house, because to pass up one of her home-cooked meals if your were so close would be nothing short of a mortal sin. Mary lived to be a hundred and one, leaving us in Nineteen Eighty-three, but you can still sample her delicious home-cooked fare by faithfully following the recipes in this book.
However, this is more than just a cookbook. There are many wonderful boarding house stories housed within these covers, so you can read a bit about Miss Mary Evans and her Beau during her courting days, or learn a bit about porch sitting, or even see a picture of Al Gore with Mary on her 99th birthday.
Last night I made up Miz Crutcher's Convent Pudding, which is a whole lot like the Macaroni Pie you can get anywhere in Trinidad. It's delicious and easy to make. In the book it explains that this was served a lot during WW II, because of shortages and the fact that people didn't have very much. Well it's still being served in the Caribbean, probably for the same reasons.
I've also done Mary Bobo's Baked Turkey with Cornbread Dreassing and let me tell you, scrumptious. Don't be lookin' for low fat, fancy dancy, new age cooking here, but what the heck, once and a while you just have to have an old-fashioned, down home, doggone good, sinful meal. And if that's what you're looking for, look no further. Five stars from me for this super book.
Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
A fine gift shop purchase, but not an heirloom Southern cookbook. .......2005-08-29
Please read all the reviews here for a better picture of this cookbook. Perhaps the recipe are enjoyed by some, particularly those fond of putting whiskey in everything from salad to dessert and every dish between.
There is an out-of-print book "Miss Mary's Down-Home Cooking" by Diana Dalsass, which includes superb Southern recipes from Mary Bobo's boarding house. These are the recipes used during Mary Bobo's tenur. These are the recipes which the tea-totaller Miss Mary would approve of. My wife and I thought it was worth the expense of using a book finder service to get.
Before using the book finder service, I bought the Mitchamore book listed here. I figured it would contain the same recipes and I'd save a buck. They aren't even close. Even without comparing the two books, I still can't recommend this book to anyone who doesn't vehemently adore Jack Daniels. This really is a whiskey cookbook. A fine gift shop purchase, but not an heirloom Southern cookbook.
Yummies for the tummies!.......2005-08-14
This cookbook is awesome! I found recipes for things my mother used to make, but I never got her recipe. There are some recipes that raised an eyebrow or two, but, so far I am having a 'gas' trying out the different tasty treats!
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