Victorine

Book Description

In 1899, Victorine Texier abandons her small French village, her husband, and her two young children to follow her lover to Indochina. She has fallen for Antoine, her childhood sweetheart, and when his work sends him to Asia she is compelled to go with him, and to leave everything she knows behind. Their five weeks together onboard the ship to Indochina are a kind of honeymoon, a prelude to their liberation in a sultry new world of frangipani trees and monsoons. Victorine gives herself over completely to this exhilarating new life of colonial extravagance — that is, until she encounters her youngest sister, who has also been living in Hanoi and Saigon. This reunion, both joyous and tense, reminds Victorine all too painfully of her life and family in France and forces her to confront exactly what she has done. Vividly narrated through a series of flashbacks, Victorine is a richly textured and passionate story of rebellion, guilt, and unruly love.

Customer Reviews:

Love or Family.......2005-10-12

Have you ever wanted to leave the husband, kids and family behind and start a new life? Victorine and a man she has carried a torch for since she was a teenager do just that. The consequences from that decision made for a great discussion with my book group and we got down to core values and women's roles in a hurry. Well written and very captivating.

not believable or authentic.......2005-02-23

Not being a fan of contemporary, popular fiction, this is not a book I would normally have selected. It was one among many I received, so I read it not really knowing what to expect. Unfortunately the most noticeable aspect of the book was that it was pieced together in a distracting way. Although by the end one is used to it, the timeline of the story jumps around excessively to the point that it is not simple to follow at what point the characters do various things, making it too easy to forget what is going on. Despite being based very loosely on actual events (the author is imagining what perhaps transpired in her great-grandmother's life), and though readable and somewhat entertaining, the book does not make a particular "impression" or connection. The dubious heroine of the novel, Victorine, does not make choices that make sense to me as a reader, or at least the reasoning behind her choices (whether logical or not) is not clear. Victorine's choice to leave her husband and two children behind to pursue adventure and love in Indochina does not seem remarkably agonizing, painful or difficult. Although there are passages hinting at her ambivalence, the book does not delve into Victorine's mind or feelings at a level that can persuade the reader to understand what she has chosen for herself. It is never entirely clear that her desire for adventure and love was so strong that it would propel her to make a reckless choice like leaving her family behind. Nor was it entirely clear that she had any great love for the two children she abandoned, although she returned to them eventually. Somehow, her choices and feelings seemed hollow and artificial in a way that, for example, Anna Karenina's did not (Anna Karenina of course being literature's greatest unfaithful wife and mother). The most truthful aspect of this book, in my estimation, is the idiocy of French bureaucracy, as the government first offers Victorine's lover Antoine a promotion while at the same time informing him that they cannot tender a renewal of his employment contract.

victorine review.......2004-06-06

Loved this book. The author`s writing style reminds me of Anita Shreeve.(The Pilot`s wife). Only this book is about France and indochina. It`s definitely a chick book and worth reading.

"She closes her eyes. She cannot remember more.".......2004-06-05

Victorine is an absolutely gorgeous novel. Lucid, poetic, romantic and sensual, the story tells of one young woman's defiance of social convention in the latter part of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Victorine, a young schoolteacher, lives in Vendee, a quiet province of France. She becomes pregnant at an early age to Armand, and in keeping with the propriety of the time, is forced to marry him. But Victorine's heart is with the blond, virile wonderer, Antoine, and in a fit of lust and abandon, she embarks on a highly passionate affair. Falling desperately in love, and trapped in a loveless marriage that is like an "ever-tightening corset," Victorine abandons her husband and her two children, Madeleine and Daniel. Together with her new lover, and tormented by guilt and remorse, she travels to Indochina to start a new life.

Told in a type of duel narrative that effectively switches backwards and forwards in time - from eighteen ninety nine to nineteen forty - we journey back with Victorine to her home in France with her family, and to her adventures with Antoine along the Mekong River. Victorine is torn between the question of love and the question of marriage, and for her, marriage for love seems to be forever rendered moot. But she can't resist Antoine's desire and ends up defying the entire social rules that she's been bought up with. She describes herself as "always cold in the early winters" of her marriage and she wonders if there is something amiss in her heart. It is as though she has kept the feelings of Antoine's "fingers on her wrist buried under the smooth surface of her life."

The novel is quite compelling because of the power of its thought and its writing, and it steadily crescendos towards Victorine's decision to abandon Armand and her children. Her small, original lies gradually blossom into elaborate stories as she tries desperately to keep her affair with Antoine a secret from her family. She realizes she's only buying time in a land of "fuzzy boundaries" where truth - already a shaky concept, gradually gets corrupted, and irremediably altered. Texier has crafted a complex portrait of a woman who is a dreamer longing to escape, and who is irrevocably bound by stuffy conventions.

Texier's style is deceptively reserved, quietly crafted, and with a simple beauty that is impossible not to like. Witness the "sun melting in apricot trails along the horizon," and the "moonlight playing silver circles on her naked arms." And the colours of Indochina: yellow stucco and green shutters, the smells of frangipani, jasmine, overripe mangos, and dried fish.

Texier writes throughout with a fine ear for the sound and rhythms of her sentences and there is a constant pleasure in reading her prose. She also has a way of describing Victorine's sensuality while managing to avoid judging her actions. Like the loosening of her corset, which she does with a sigh of relief, her sensuality awakens and also becomes loose; it suddenly appears to her as an object of desire, "dangerously intimate and precarious." Victorine is a gorgeous evocation of a time and place and is a startling account of one woman's search for independence and freedom from the oppressive restrictions of the time. Mike Leonard June 04.

THIS BOOK WAS DEFINETLY INCREDIBLE READ.......2004-05-09

I don't have nothing to add to other reviewers you review this book, expect the 1st one. I totally disagree because she did the review the day it came out and just read the editorial reviews and based her review on that or read the book fast. I bought the book when it came out, but finish it last night and loved it. I felt book was much better then the 1st reviewer thought it was. Hope this has success and maybe a it will be a movie as well. Thank you.

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Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test
Pamela Enderby , Victorine Wood , and Derick Wade
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Medicine | Subjects | Books

Audiology & Speech Pathology | Allied Health Professions | Medicine | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1861564422

Book Description

The Frenchay Aphasia Screening Test was developed for use by non-specialists, such as junior medical staff, nurses, occupational therapists and others, to assist in identifying patients who have linguistic disturbances. This test is brief and simple to administer, can be used in a busy ward or home situation and has good reliability when used by non-specialists.

Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model & Her Own Desire

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Good read!
Alias Olympia - What a Surprise
Very Disappointing
Dissapointing
An inspiring story with a reward at the end.

Alias Olympia: A Woman's Search for Manet's Notorious Model & Her Own Desire
Eunice Lipton
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Painting | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Women in Art | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Artists, Architects & Photographers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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ASIN: 0801486092

Book Description

Eunice Lipton was a fledging art historian when she first became intrigued by Victorine Meurent, the nineteenth-century model who appeared in Edouard Manet's most famous paintings, only to vanish from history in a haze of degrading hearsay. But had this bold and spirited beauty really descended into prostitution, drunkenness, and early death--or did her life, hidden from history, take a different course altogether? Eunice Lipton's search for the answer combines the suspense of a detective story with the revelatory power of art, peeling off layers of lies to reveal startling truths about Victorine Meurent--and about Lipton herself.

Customer Reviews:

Good read!.......2007-06-13

As an art lover and as I writer, the author's style of blending fact with conjecture was very well done. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Alias Olympia - What a Surprise.......2007-01-20

My girlfriend was going to do a musical about Victorine, so she spent years researching the subject, and offered Eunice Lipton 300 pages of research for free.
Imagine our surprise to read the book's first edition and find out that she had characterized my girlfriend as someone with a drinking problem.
There was a LITTLE PROBLEM with that. My girlfriend has been a lifelong TEETOTALER and had never met Eunice!
The book fails to describe Victorine, and it never delved into her COMPETENCY as an artist. It also doesn't mention enough famous works by famous artists that Victorine modelled for, so don't stop there when it comes to research.

Very Disappointing.......2002-10-27

Being an avid admirer of Manet and of the paintings in which Victorine Meurent appeared, I was happy to see a book about her. Finally, I would be able to learn something of her and her life! I learned that she was a Lesbian and died in 1927 and not as a destitute alcoholic as written in some rather sketchy histories of her. but that is all I learned. The book is actually more about the author and her trying to make peace with her past and her mother than anything else. If you want to learn about Victorine, you must find another book. If you want to know about Eunice Lipton, this is the book for you. Also very few facts in the book; the author puts Victorine in some situations and conversations, but these are all imaginary. Definitely would not recommend. Author was self-indulgent and apparently not very concerned with her subject.

Dissapointing.......2001-04-13

Lipton seems reluctant to deal with the facts she can recover. Instead, she prefers to create a fiction which is more of a projection of her own neurosis than anything which is supported by her sources. All the primary sources agree that Victorine Meurent was a destitute alcoholic for some time before she dies, but Lipton prefers to imagine her as a proto-feminist heroine. She seems so blinded by her own prejudice that she can only lash out at anyone who presents her with information which paints Victorine in less than favorable colors. For a more balanced view of the same material, find a copy of Otto Freiderich's Olympia: Manet and the Paris of his Times.

An inspiring story with a reward at the end........2000-11-20

This book is more autobiography than the "art history mystery" I had expected, but it's an engaging story, and well worth reading. When the missing diary, or some such document, which will tell all about the real life story of Victorine Muerant fails to materialize, a fictional version is inserted in chapters. I was dissappointed by this because it gives more weight to the story Ms Lipton invented and hoped to prove, than to the facts she worked so hard to reveal. The research is tedious and discouraging, and the results will not rock the art history world. The true reward for the author is not the tidbits of information she aquires about her subject, but in her own growth both as a blossoming writer and a woman. Her finest writing is in the descriptions of the things she knows best and experiences first-hand: the great food in Paris, her past life, her present feelings, her beliefs and self-realization. It's encouraging that Ms Lipton has chosen now to be a writer, and not an art historian, and I will look forward to her next effort.

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Victorine
Frances Parkinson Keyes
Manufacturer: Crest Book / Fawcett Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K1YVCM

Contemplation and Compassion: The Victorine Tradition (Traditions of Christian Spirituality.)

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Contemplation and Compassion: The Victorine Tradition (Traditions of Christian Spirituality.)
Steven Chase
Manufacturer: Orbis Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 157075473X

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Victorine

Manufacturer: Julian Messner, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000C121UY

5 Titles By Keyes - Crescent Carnival - Victorine - All That Glitters - Dinner At Antoine's - Parts Unknown

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5 Titles By Keyes - Crescent Carnival - Victorine - All That Glitters - Dinner At Antoine's - Parts Unknown
Frances Parkinson Keyes
Manufacturer: various
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000Q7KFYS

Product Description

Multiple books shipped as one item. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.

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ANTHOLOGY OF WOMEN POETS
Pamela Victorine
Manufacturer: Dremen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000PJDPXK

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Anthology of Women Poets
Pamela Victorine
Manufacturer: Dremen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VBAG70

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Anthology of Women Poets
Pamela (Edited By) Victorine
Manufacturer: Dremen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K06XH4

Book Description

Volume One features the origin of Aquaman, plus theintroduction of Aqualad, Aquagirl and the mysterious Aqua-Queen! Thrill toAquaman's early adventures when he was Aquaboy, his attempt to swim aroundthe world in 80 hours, and a special "crossover" story with Green Arrow!Watch as the King of the Seas battles ferocious menaces such as the HumanFlying Fish and the Sea Creatures from One Billion B.C.More than two dozen exciting Aquaman adventures are included in this heftyvolume that reprints the Aquaman stories from ADVENTURE COMICS #260-280 282 and SHOWCASE #30-31, with an introduction by Roy Thomas!

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous.......2006-08-27

Ignore the harsh words from an ill-informed fan. Ramona Fradon was, and IS, one of the finest comic artists to have ever come down the pike. I love you Ramona, Aquaman forever.

Ramona Fradon, Queen of the Seven Seas!.......2004-12-15

This wonderful compilation of Aqua-tales from the early Silver Age is both fun and goofy. And the Ramona Fradon artwork is absolutely beautiful. Ms. Fradon's art displays all the detail of pages produced by the late, great Curt Swan yet none of Mr. Swan's tendancy toward stiffness in his figures. This fluidity of form is a must for depicting the Sea King in his natural environment and no one does that better than Ms. Fradon. IMHO only Nick Cardy and Jim Aparo have ever matched her skill in depicting my fav' Aquaman.

The stories, on the other hand, are of the "what sillness can we subject our hero to now" variety that DC seemed to relish in the late 50's and on into the 60's, so knock off a star if you're not as partial to that style of story-telling as I. It is the artwork, however, that makes this Archive truly essential. Fradon is at the top of her game - and the first Aquaman tale drawn by the equally wonderful Nick Cardy rounds out the book!

Oh, have I mentioned that the art's really nice ...

Book Description

In the 22d century, when the Japanese ruled an interstellar empire from the Earth, an imperial task group was dispatched to put down with minimum bloodshed the three-way colonial revolt on a factory world the rebels called Suid Afrika.
Interstellar warfare is expensive, so the task group was considerably undergunned, a mix of orbiting ground-attack craft, light infantry, and logistics units. And its quality varied, from the supersharp troops of Lieutenant Colonel Anton Vereshchagin's 1st Battalion, 35th Imperial Infantry (Rifle), to the inept senior officers of the task group staff.
At first, and as usual, the fighting all went the Impis' way. Then the crafty Boers found a way to take advantage of an admiral's stupidity. All too soon, the war came down to a single battalion against a world. . .

Customer Reviews:

GRREEAATT!!!.......2007-06-13

This is without a doubt the best military Sci-fi novel I have ever read!!!
I will not go into details. If you can find it and love sci-fi, You must read this book and it's sequels.(Fire in a faraway place, And Cains land)
A must for military sci-fi buffs.

Be Careful.......2005-11-15

A Small Colonial War(1989) by Robert A. Frezza - 289 pages - rating: 3.0/10

If you are looking for a good Science Fiction book LOOK ELSEWHERE.

The author obviously has a problem writing an interesting story and as a result he attempts to impress you with his use of a thesaurus. Also, his sentance structure is poor, requiring you to re-read paragraphs to get the meaning. The endless multitude of characters have names that are 4 syllables or more and are utterly unpronouncable. He repeatedly uses expressions that are probably understood by military personelle but totally unknown in common language. The overall result is one of a confused awkward delivery that is difficult to read and impossible to enjoy.

As a military story it may be passable. It's difficult for me to tell. If you are IN the military and if you love military Sci Fi you might rank this a 6/10. If you are just looking for good Sci Fi you'll probably give it a 3/10.

For good military Sci Fi that is also excellent reading try:

1. Dorsai (1959) 8.5/10 - 249 pages - by Gordon R. Dickson
2. Forever War (1974) 8.5/10 - 218 pages - by Joe Haldeman
3. A Matter For Men (1983) 9.0/10 - 397 pages - by David Gerrold
4. Armor (1984) 8.5/10 - 426 pages - by John Steakley
5. Ender's Game (1985) 8.5/10 - 384 pages - by Orson Scott Card

Trust me. You'll be glad that you did. These 5 books are great.

Claus Kellermann
2005 November 15
Sci_Fi_Researcher@yahoo.com

Good read in military science fiction genre.......2005-11-12

Highly recommended for fans of Pournelle's Co-Dominium series or David Drake. "A Small Colonial War" is what its name suggests -- the story of a colony world in rebellion and an interstellar empire trying to suppress it on the cheap with a force of not much more than light infantry and armored cars. As such it is not gadgety science fiction nor wildly speculative, but very much like Pournelle's books -- a tale of military characters where the man, not the technology, is the defining and decisive issue.

Just Superb.......2004-09-08

I like the David Drake military SF books very much. Frezza's trilogy is as good as any of DDs, but intended, I think, for the reader who has not only served in a special outfit, but has studied the art and history of warfare - a much smaller and more sophistocated audience. I have read them three or four times and will again. Enjoy.

Speaking as a veteran..........2004-02-01

Superb military SF, but also a book I recommend to people that want to try and understand something about the military life and war in general. Frezza did something with this book that is rare, it made me truly care for the characters and feel sad about the ones who died - on all of the sides. Superb.

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Back to the 'Good Old Days!'

Colonial Small Wars, 1837-1901
Donald Featherstone
Manufacturer: David & Charles PLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

Back to the 'Good Old Days!'.......2001-08-28

A fine book taking up 45 Victorian campaigns. An into. on the Victorian soldier and his weapons is followed by chapters each of 2-4 pages describing certain battles. Forces involved, strategies, commanders, and outcome of battles are packed in laconic passages. 79 maps provide detail on terrain, and forces' set-up and movements. Great info for wargamers. Featherstone carries us through Canada, Afghanistan, China, India, Burma, South Africa, New Zealand, etc. in battles from 1837-1901.

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A Small Colonial War
Robert FREZZA
Manufacturer: Ballantine/Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0099439417

The colonial schoolmaster (Society of Colonial Wars. Rhode Island. Publications)

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The colonial schoolmaster (Society of Colonial Wars. Rhode Island. Publications)
Walter Herbert Small
Manufacturer: Printed for the Society by Charles G. Cowan Associaties
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006Y3SZE

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The Frederica homefront in 1742
J. T Scott
Manufacturer: Georgia Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Spain | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

Pocahontas guide to Jamestown Exposition,: And all points of interest connected with colonial, revolutionary, and civil war history, and how to reach them at small expenditure of time and money

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Pocahontas guide to Jamestown Exposition,: And all points of interest connected with colonial, revolutionary, and civil war history, and how to reach them at small expenditure of time and money
A. C Pryor
Manufacturer: [s.n.]
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00089INRA

Tower Hill before the rebellion: A history of the small Virginia plantation before the Civil War

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Tower Hill before the rebellion: A history of the small Virginia plantation before the Civil War
William Nivison Blow
Manufacturer: Earl Greg Swem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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Peanutty-Tofuey-Broccli(y) Deliciousness!

Beautiful and inspiring

Recipies not good

A cute title but I expected more....

awesome cookbook!

The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking)
Mollie Katzen
Manufacturer: Ten Speed Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Low-Fat Diet | Special Conditions | Diets & Weight Loss | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
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The New Moosewood Cookbook (Mollie Katzen's Classic Cooking)

Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven: Over 200 Recipes for Uncommon Soups, Tasty Bites, Side-By-Side Dishes, and Too Many Desserts

Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery)

Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home: Fast and Easy Recipes for Any Day

Still Life With Menu Cookbook

ASIN: 1580081266

Customer Reviews:

Peanutty-Tofuey-Broccli(y) Deliciousness!.......2007-02-11

This spring I went over to a friend's house and his mom graciously made me a vegetarian dish from this book. I'm not sure of the exact name but it is amazingly good. Try it - now!

Beautiful and inspiring.......2007-01-15

Although not as practical as other cookbooks in some regards, this is definitely among my favorites. As other reviewers stated, some of the recipes are lengthy and best suited to weekends when you have a lot of time to do a major cooking session. What I love about this book is the whimsical nature of it, and the way Katzen conveys such love and joy at preparing the dishes. The hand-lettering isn't always super-easy to read, but it is such a treat! The illustrations, such as the comic-style guide to bread making, are fun. Also, it includes a really helpful guide to grains, including history, where to find it, how and why to use it, and especially, how to cook.
This book is a great addition to a vegetarian's cookbookshelf, though probably not ideal for a first book on veg cooking.

Recipies not good.......2006-10-15

Sorry to say but the recipies in this book are yukky! I don't know what Mollie was thinking, she however is not the good cook people think she is.
You will be much better off sticking with the Moosewood cookbooks...every single one is truly wonderful. And the other reviewer was right, what's so special about the title recipie...nothing. Don't waste your money, I threw my copy out!

A cute title but I expected more...........2005-12-25

A fun cookbook to look through but when you start making the recipes, its actually a disappointment, especially considering how many gazillllllion copies have been sold of Ms. Katzen's books. Shows what the right marketing can do. The recipes that I tried were VERY hearty but not in a good way, too much fat and rich ingredients and strange combinations of these ingredients too . The Enchanted Broccoli Forest recipe is just a dish of rice with broccoli stuck into it, nothing special. I gave up after the 3 or 4th recipe. This is NOT one of the best veggie cookbooks out there, in spite of the hype!

awesome cookbook!.......2005-12-05

i have many vegetarian cook books (ive been veg for over 7 yrs) & i use this one the most frequently.
it's simple, delicious, & lots of cooking basics, like pie crust & the (BEST, EASIEST) Indian flat bread, that most veg cookbooks leave out. We have also made delicious enchiladas, upside down vegetable cake, and more. My boyfriend is not vegetarian but he loves the delicious food too. The recipes in this book hold up even with major improvisation & experimenting which I love to do. There are also wide margins to write your cooking notes right next to the recipe.

Yes, many of these recipes take longer than heating up a veggie burger in the microwave but if you are concerned enough to eat vegetarian you should be interested in how to eat right, and sometimes that takes time.

There are 2 things I dislike: 1)the "prep" time listed for a recipe is too short in many cases- but once you make it you get an idea of how long it takes for next time. 2) the pages are regular paper, not glossy, so splashes always seem to find their way onto my book. However, its cheap enough & it dries fine, so just buy it & find your new veggie favorites :)

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