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The Thunder Keeper
Margaret Coel
Manufacturer: Berkley
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The Story Teller (Arapaho Indian Mysteries)
ASIN: 0425185788
Release Date: 2002-08-06 |
Book Description
The apparent suicide of a young Arapaho on sacred ground shocks the populace of the Wind River Reservation. But strange events following the death lead Vicky Holden and Father John O'Malley to suspect foul play.
Customer Reviews:
Best.......2007-08-09
This series and Margaret Coel are one of my favorites! I enjoy the descriptions of the southwest and the relationship between the main characters.
Vicky and Father John on the trail of diamonds.......2007-06-05
I really like this series, and Father John and Vicky are two of my favourite sleuths. The descriptions of the scenery in Wyoming around the Windy River Reservation are breathtaking. I realize that Windy River Reservation is fictional, but Wyoming isn't, and it's a place I'd like to visit sometime. The mystery starts with the supposed suicide of a young Indian man. He apparently jumped off a cliff while he was seeking a dream quest. Father John knows it's not suicide, since no Indian would kill himself in a sacred place, but he has a hard time convincing the authorities. In the meantime Vicky is pursuing her own investigation in Denver when a man she is supposed to meet is run down deliberately on his way to a meeting with her. It turns out that the two murders are linked and Father John and Vicky pursue their investigations separately while keeping in touch by phone. This is a fast-moving story, that has a wonderful nail-biting ending (or two endings). And the bits of Arapaho culture are still there, salted throughout the book.
Be Careful Where You Meditate........2005-05-06
Some mysterious deaths, starting with young Duncan Grover from Denver (who'd journeyed to Bear Lake Valley on a vision quest) upset the status quo among the inhabitants of the Wind River Indian Reservation, located thirty miles north of Denver. A medicine man (shaman), Gus, tries to persuade the natives that evil spirits sent by the Thunder order had murdered (or at least caused) the death. He convinced the police that it was just a chance happening, a suicide.
However, there had been a witness to the tragic death who gave details in a confessional to the Irish priest, which is considered 'confidentail' information, not to be repeated even to the police. Thus, Father O'Malley finds himself in a dilemma.
Lexcon has found methane gas in different spots throughout the Reservation, and the "Boss' thought that Grover must have discovered what was going on. Why else would he camp out so long on that cliff, observing things from on high? He'd been deep in meditation with no food and was lightheated and unobservant as he walked toward the edge of the cliff. The police had determined it had been a case of suicide and not accidental, and no longer investigated. Actually, he had been hit in the side of the head with an iron rod by these underlings and thrown over the cliff below the crude carving (looks like an alien) called Thunder in the boulder. He didn't know what hit him or why!
Only after the confession, did the possibility of murder surface. Vicky is summoned via an anonymous phone call, but the caller was killed in a hit-and-run accident before she could get there from Denver. When it comes to big oil companies, anybody is expendable. For this story, Ms. Coel sought the services and expertise of geologists and an archaeologist.
She has written a series which includes THE EAGLE CATCHER, THE GHOST WALKER, THE STORY TELLER, THE DREAM STALKER, and THE LOST BIRD. More recently, she has released WIFE OF MOON, EYE OF THE WOLF, and THE TIVOLI.
Violent death in a sacred place.......2004-01-01
The Arapahos on the Wind River Reservation are shocked to hear that one of their own has committed suicide while on a vision quest in a place that is sacred to the Indians. Their doubt is reinforced when their priest, Father John, is visited in the confessional by a man who says that his boss killed the Indian. Meanwhile Arapaho attorney, Vicky Holden, who has moved to Denver in order to reduce her attraction to Father John, receives a phone call from a man who wants to meet with her and discuss a matter of concern about the reservation. As she is going to meet with him, he is killed in what is seemingly a hit-and-run accident. Even though these two friends are far apart, their two cases begin to intersect and they share information which will help them solve the mystery. Author Cole inserts some interesting moments in her two characters' lives, such as Vicky's son returning to Denver to live near her and Father John's problems with his assistant when a young woman sues him for sexual assault. The books in this series are all well-written and can be counted on to provide a good read.
Unique detection team pursues killers in big sky country.......2002-08-16
This mystery novel has two interesting features: its spacious settings in Colorado and Wyoming, and its detective team of an American Indian woman and a Catholic priest. Both these lead characters are sympathetic. Indian legends and a secret revealed in the confessional play parts in this story, which is competently told. On the down side, the scheme that drives the murders is not particularly original. The fortuitous intervention of a male friend saves the female sleuth from violence, a much overused convention. It would have been more interesting to read about how a plucky woman outsmarted the bad guys.
Customer Reviews:
It's Susan!!!.......2002-04-17
I got this because it's got Susan Seddon Boulet as the illustrator. That's all. And that's more than worth it. The pictures here are so beautiful...if you have the Retrospective book, then you've only seen a very small portion of the visual feast that is Buffalo Gals.
The story...the story is an odd one. Fan's of Charles de Lint will like this book, for the characters are very similar to his "animal people." The idea of a female Coyote demi-diety is great! However, the ending was a little rushed and contrived. I actually blinked and re-read the last few paragraphs to make sure that I hadn't missed something.
wow.......2000-08-21
What a powerful combination of work. I haven't seen this particular version of Buffalo Gals (have a weathered paperback copy from a used book shop), but it is such a wonderful collection of stories. I especially like the story for which the book is named. And Boulet was a phenomenal visual artist, her spirit definitely lives on in her work. I can just imagine what a nice gift a copy of this book would be for someone. To pair the art of these wonder-women was a real act of genius.
Dynanic paintings, wonderful writting.......2000-02-13
This is a marvellous collaboration between a wonderful writer and superb artist. Le Guin's captivating story is brought to life by Boulet's dynamic paintings.
It is a story of the relationships among humans, animals and nature as the old ones, the animals, struggle to adapt and survive amid human expansion into their realm.
This subject is a natural for Boulet, whose work has always focused on these themes. There are 22 paintings of animals given human characteristics so vivid you feel you can see into their souls.
This is a wonderful book for an older child. It subtly teaches important lessons in life with a very entertaining story. Any fan Boulet's work will find it a welcome addition to their library.
A modern fairy tale for adults.......1999-09-21
At first glance I thought that Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight was a children's book, but flipping through I was soon corrected. Though set in a fairy tale format, it is definitely a story for adults (and older children as well) and is a beautifully written Ursula LeGuin classic. I read the book in one go, not a hard feat considering it's a short read, but every line and page is masterfully done and I could have hardly put the book down if I had wanted to - the story pulls you in and fascinates. The illustrations are also very inspired and go perfectly hand-in-hand with the story - a wonderfully synergistic combination. A must read for every Ursula LeGuin fan.
Product Description
5 massmarket paperbacks. First 5 Titles in Quantum Leap Series - The Novel - Too Close for Comfort - The Wall - Prelude - Random Measures.
Amazon.com
Alan Davidson's Oxford Companion to Food has been over 20 years in the assembling, but here it is; and it is superlatively worth the wait. In fact, superlatives fall silent. A huge and authoritative dictionary of 2,650 entries on just about every conceivable foodstuff, seasoning, cuisine, cooking method, historical survey, significant personage, and explication of myth, it is supplemented by some 40 longer articles on key items. Davidson himself (no relation to this reviewer) contributes approximately 80 percent of the 2,650 entries, thereby guaranteeing high levels of erudition, readability, and deadpan feline wit. Since this is a monument intended to last, nothing so frivolous as a recipe is included. A decision taken early in the development of the project to abjure issues whose significance is largely topical has also ensured an agreeable high-mindedness--nothing on those crucial but essentially dreary topics of BSE and GM foods, for example.
If a fault could be found, it would only be that it's often difficult to read to the end of an entry, as the abundant cross-referencing all too easily sends one off to another entry, thence bouncing off to another, and all too soon the original is forgotten. A random alphabet of seductions might include: Aardvark, Botulism, Cup Cake, David (Elizabeth), Enzymes, Fat-Tailed Sheep, Gender/Sex and Food, Hallucinogenic Mushrooms, Ice Cream Sundae, Jewish Dietary Laws, Kangaroos, Lobscouse, Microwave Cooking, Norway, Offal, Puffin, Queen of Puddings, Roti, Scurvy, Termite Heap Mushroom (or Taillevant), Umeboshi, Vegetarianism, Washing up (a very elegant little article), sadly no X, Yin-yang, and Zabaglione. As this might show, Alan Davidson's aim, borrowed from Dumas's great Grand Dictionnaire de Cuisine, that his work would appeal not only to persons of "serious character" but also those "of a much lighter disposition," is utterly fulfilled. --Robin Davidson, Amazon.co.uk
Book Description
The Oxford Companion to Food by Alan Davidson, first published in 1999, became, almost overnight, an immense success, winning prizes and accolades around the world. Its combination of serious food history, culinary expertise, and entertaining serendipity, with each page offering an infinity of perspectives, was recognized as unique. The study of food and food history is a new discipline, but one that has developed exponentially in the last twenty years. There are now university departments, international societies, learned journals, and a wide-ranging literature exploring the meaning of food in the daily lives of people around the world, and seeking to introduce food and the process of nourishment into our understanding of almost every compartment of human life, whether politics, high culture, street life, agriculture, or life and death issues such as conflict and war. The great quality of this Companion is the way it includes both an exhaustive catalogue of the foods that nourish humankind - whether they be fruit from tropical forests, mosses scraped from adamantine granite in Siberian wastes, or body parts such as eyeballs and testicles - and a richly allusive commentary on the culture of food, whether expressed in literature and cookery books, or as dishes peculiar to a country or community. The new edition has not sought to dim the brilliance of Davidson's prose. Rather, it has updated to keep ahead of a fast-moving area, and has taken the opportunity to alert readers to new avenues in food studies.
Customer Reviews:
Great resource.......2007-07-16
I value the Oxford Companion as a wide-ranging resource although it's very scope allows for general rather than specific accounts of the many food items it covers. Nevertheless, it is great to have at hand and it does come with comprehensive bibliographical information for those wishing to look at topics in more detail.
Witty and Informative.......2006-12-05
If you like the dry acerbic wit of P.G. Wodehouse, if you like the straight-faced humour of the Economist, then you'll be a fan of the writing style here. This is a dense, information-packed book that works well as a coffee-table decoration, but you'll find yourself pulling it into your lap and curling up with a nice cup of hot tea/coffee and reading entries at random. The literary tone and multitude of cross-references make this a particularly good way to while away those lazy afternoons. (Remember those pulp adventure novels that, after each entry, asked you to make a choice? "If you choose A, go to p. 235; If you choose B, go to p. 322", etc. This is a little bit like that.)
There are no actual recipes per se, but there are many ideas and tidbits about how certain foods/ingredients are traditionally or commonly eaten in various parts of the world.
Here is one slyly humourous entry that had me choked (!) with laughter:
"CHEEKS of animals, because they usually yield rich, savory juices, are a good choice to include in stews, pies, and sausages. However, because cheek muscles are exercised constantly, the meat is tough and needs long cooking. COD cheeks, on the other hand, are tender morsels, perhaps because cod are not eating all the time and do not exercise their cheeks in making noises."
Too many errors.......2006-07-30
As many others have pointed out, this book is quite biased in it's handling of the cuisines of different countries. Yes this book is quite Anglo-centric, but what would you expect? There is also a clear dislike of all things American and the author would have you think that this countries sole contributions to the world of gastronomy are fast food joints and Coca Cola.
However, the reason I only gave it one star is the accuracy of the entries. We have a right to expect that reference works from this publisher be painstakingly researched to present information without error. But there are just too many factual errors to ignore. Three examples serve to make my point.
In an entry about ice cream sundaes, he refers to one of the towns as Two Rivers, Michigan. Two Rivers is in Wisconsin. Next, in an entry for chuck wagon he refers to wranglers as the assistants to the cook. Wranglers handled the movement of the herd and never, ever assisted the cook who almost always worked alone. Third, in an article about the United States, he writes of the emergence of fast food chains including "White Tower" Huh? I'll admit that sliders aren't for all palates, but the chain is White Castle.
There are just three that come to mind but I'm only up to the letter F. Should obvious, easy to research mistakes such as these be tolerated? For me, it brings the accuracy of the entire book into question.
I expected better from Oxford University Press.
Great Reading, Some odd omissions. No recipes........2005-11-01
`The Oxford Companion to Food', edited by the noted English culinary writer and diplomat, Alan Davidson is a foody reader's compendium to lots of interesting articles about sources, history, some people, and most places regarding food and drink. It is quite properly named a `companion' rather than an `encyclopedia', since, unlike the seemingly similar `Larousse Gastronomique', it contains no recipes whatsoever. This is not an accident or oversight, as Davidson clearly states in the introduction that this was an editorial policy from the outset.
This book has a distinctly British flavor about it with its selection of article topics. While there is an excellent longish article on Elizabeth David, easily the most important British food writer of the 20th century, there are no articles on either Julia Child or James Beard, the two most popular and well known American food writers. Alternately, there is an excellent article on M. F. K. David who is much less well known even among Americans. Child and Beard are mentioned but once at the end of an article on American cookbook writing. This choice is an excellent symptom of what this book is all about. It is not about cooking so much as the writing about food culture. While Child and Beard were cookbook writers par excellence, David and Fisher dealt less with food than they did with appetites, impressions, scholarship, and recollections?
The book is oddly selective in other ways. It has an article of goodly length on H. J. Heinz, but nothing on Milton Hershey. These two men are, in the United States, of at least equal renown; they were contemporaries, and both set up their businesses in Pennsylvania at about the same time. Another oddity is the fact that there is an article on Nepal, where, I suspect, very little grows, but no article on Senegal on the west coast of Africa and the ancestral home of many slaves brought to the new world and, therefore, the source of many food memories which contributed to `soul food' cuisine.
This is not to say this is not a valuable book. Many articles give fuller coverage to many culinary subjects than even books that specialize in some subjects. Two sidebar articles on pasta and chilis, for example, give fuller lists of the varieties of these two items than many good cookbooks on the subject. The pasta article is also careful to indicate the regionality of the names of some pasta shapes. I believe the pasta article, for one, could have been even better if it had given us pictures of the various shapes. I really feel that Orecchiette doesn't really look like ears, even though all texts describing it always say it does.
The book also avoids some common mistakes with accurate information on, for example, the components of the sharp vapors from a cut onion. Unlike lots of simpler minds, the article on same points out that these tearing fumes are really composed of many different components, which is part of the reason why most methods for avoiding them don't work.
The book is so dedicated to it's no recipe policy that it doesn't even give us articles on some basic preparations such as `buerre blanc'. It also does not even include recipes for such basics as mayonnaise or pesto.
This book is very good, but it is not as valuable a culinary resource as the aforementioned `Larousse Gastronomique' which provides thousands of basic recipes and pictures for just about everything imaginable, including uniforms of Renaissance culinary guild members. This book is also a bit pricy, listing at close to the price of a copy of Larousse. So, if you are a foody who must own every notable book on food, then buy this. But, if you are only interested in books to help you cook, get the Larousse. Note that the paperback version of this volume is published by Penguin and is therefore known as `The Penguin Companion to Food'.
Exceptional.......2005-06-06
Perhaps the single most useful, complete and amusing reference book in my collection. It touches on geography, geology, sociology and much else besides. The late editor and journalist Auberon Waugh called this 'The best book written on this, or possibly any other subject.'
The author took twenty-three years to compile this work, dying four years later. It is a work that will live on as long as there are books and a love of food.
It should be on the shelf of every educated person.
Average customer rating:
- for anyone who has cooked, dined out, or eaten anything...
- A fascinating and useful resource
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The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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The Oxford Companion to Food 2nd Ed
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Culinary Biographies: A Dictionary of the World's Great Historic Chefs, Cookbook Authors and Collectors, Farmers, Gourmets, Home Economists, Nutritionists, Restaurateurs, Philosophers, Physicians, Scientists, Writers, and Others Who Influenced the Way We Eat Today
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ASIN: 0195307968 |
Book Description
Offering a panoramic view of the history and culture of food and drink in America with fascinating entries on everything from the smell of asparagus to the history of White Castle, and the origin of Bloody Marys to jambalaya, the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink provides a concise, authoritative, and exuberant look at this modern American obsession. Ideal for the food scholar and food enthusiast alike, it is equally appetizing for anyone fascinated by Americana, capturing our culture and history through what we love most--food! Building on the highly praised and deliciously browseable two-volume compendium the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, this new work serves up everything you could ever want to know about American consumables and their impact on popular culture and the culinary world. Within its pages for example, we learn that Lifesavers candy owes its success to the canny marketing idea of placing the original flavor, mint, next to cash registers at bars. Patrons who bought them to mask the smell of alcohol on their breath before heading home soon found they were just as tasty sober and the company began producing other flavors. Edited by Andrew Smith, a writer and lecturer on culinary history, the Companion serves up more than just trivia however, including hundreds of entries on fast food, celebrity chefs, fish, sandwiches, regional and ethnic cuisine, food science, and historical food traditions. It also dispels a few commonly held myths. Veganism, isn't simply the practice of a few "hippies," but is in fact wide-spread among elite athletic circles. Many of the top competitors in the Ironman and Ultramarathon events go even further, avoiding all animal products by following a strictly vegan diet. Anyone hungering to know what our nation has been cooking and eating for the last three centuries should own the Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. BL Nearly 1,000 articles on American food and drink, from the curious to the commonplace BL Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of historical photographs and color images BL Includes informative lists of food websites, museums, organizations, and festivals
Customer Reviews:
for anyone who has cooked, dined out, or eaten anything..........2007-05-05
Don't let "Oxford" scare you. Although amazingly researched and documented, the book is written for everyone who has eaten a twinkie to a
buche du noel.
Amazing history lessons on everything you like or dislike to eat.
As a native marylander, i was happy to learn the derivation of "stuffed ham"
A great gift for anyone who eats.
A fascinating and useful resource.......2007-04-19
It's hard to put down - you can just open up to any page and find something interesting about food in American history - and drink too, of course. The foodie will absolutely adore having this book on their shelf! The illustrations and the historical images throughout are very interesting. The quality of the writing is excellent - I wouldn't expect anything less from Oxford. I'll be putting this right alongside my Oxford Companion to Wine!
Book Description
Here is an inspiring, wide-ranging A-Z guide to one of the world's best-loved cuisines. Designed for cooks and consumers alike, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food covers all aspects of the history and culture of Italian gastronomy, from dishes, ingredients, and delicacies to cooking methods and implements, regional specialties, the universal appeal of Italian cuisine, influences from outside Italy, and much more. Following in the footsteps of princes and popes, vagabond artists and cunning peasants, austere scholars and generations of unknown, unremembered women who shaped pasta, moulded cheeses and lovingly tended their cooking pots, Gillian Riley celebrates a heritage of amazing richness and delight. She brings equal measures of enthusiasm and expertise to her writing, and her entries read like mini-essays, laced with wit and gastronomical erudition, marked throughout by descriptive brilliance, and entirely free of the pompous tone that afflicts so much writing about food. The Companion is attentive to both tradition and innovation in Italian cooking, and covers an extraordinary range of information, from Anonimo Toscano, a medieval cookbook, to Bartolomeo Bimbi, a Florentine painter commissioned by Cosimo de Medici to paint portraits of vegetables, to Paglierina di Rifreddo, a young cheese made of unskimmed cows' milk, to zuppa inglese, a dessert invented by 19th century Neapolitan pastry chefs. Major topics receive extended treatment. The entry for Parmesan, for example, runs to more than 2,000 words and includes information on its remarkable nutritional value, the region where it is produced, the breed of cow used to produce it (the razza reggiana, or vacche rosse), the role of the cheese maker, the origin of its name, Moliere's deathbed demand for it, its frequent and lustrous depiction in 16th and 17th century paintings, and the proper method of serving, where Riley admonishes: "One disdains the phallic peppermill, but must always appreciate the attentive grating, at the table, of parmesan over pasta or soup, as magical in its way as shavings of truffles." Such is the scope and flavor of The Oxford Companion to Italian Food. For anyone with a hunger to learn more about the history, culture and variety of Italian cuisine, The Oxford Companion to Italian Food offers endless satisfactions. BLMore than 900 headwords BLThought-provoking and entertaining essay-style A-Z entries make this the ideal companion for anyone who wants to learn more about Italian cookery BLEntries written not as dictionary entries but as short surveys, detailing the context in which a dish or food was conceived or developed; how it is, or was, prepared and consumed; and its historical and contemporary importance BLExtensive cross-references facilitate ease-of-use BLIn addition to the A-Z entries, the Companion will include a thematic index, a general index, comprehensive bibliography, and list of suggested further reading
Product Description
Brand new! LEATHER BOUND book accented in 22kt gold!
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